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Vagabond

(Vagabond)

8.37

Description:

In 16th century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive. After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto. Vagabond is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself. (Source: MAL)
Type

manga

Volumes

37

Chapters

327

Status

finished

Started

1999-03-23

Gintama

(Gin Tama)

8.25

Description:

The samurai didn't stand a chance. First, the aliens invaded Japan. Next, they took all the jobs. And then they confiscated everyone's swords. So what does a hotheaded former samurai like Sakata "Gin" Gintoki do to make ends meet? Take any odd job that comes his way, even if it means losing his dignity. (Source: VIZ Media) Included one-shots: Volume 1: Dandelion Volume 2: Shirokuro Volume 24: 13 Volume 38: Bankara-san ga Tooru Volume 41: Special Lesson.
Type

manga

Volumes

77

Chapters

709

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Started

2003-12-08

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

(Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story)

8.24

Description:

The story of Rurouni Kenshin takes place during the early Meiji period in Japan. It tells the story of a peaceful wanderer named Himura Kenshin, formerly known as the assassin Hitokiri Battōsai. After participating during the Bakumatsu war, Kenshin wanders the countryside of Japan offering protection and aid to those in need as atonement for the murders he once committed as an assassin. When arriving in Tokyo, he meets a young woman named Kamiya Kaoru, who was in the middle of a fight with a murderer who claims to be the Hitokiri Battōsai from her swordmanship school. Kenshin decides to help her and defeats the fake Battōsai. After discovering that Kenshin is the real Battōsai, she offers him a place stay at her dojo as she notes Kenshin is a gentle person instead. Kenshin accepts and begins to establish lifelong relationships with many people, including ex-enemies, while dealing with his fair share of enemies, new and old. (Wikipedia) Also includes the one-shot: Crescent Moon Over A Country At War (Vol.6)
Type

manga

Volumes

28

Chapters

259

Status

finished

Started

1994-04-05

Jigoku Raku

(Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku)

8.23

Description:

Gabimaru the Hollow is one of the most vicious assassins ever to come out of the ninja village of Iwagakure. He’s ruthlessly efficient, but a betrayal results in him being handed a death sentence. He has only one hope—in order to earn his freedom, he must travel to a long-hidden island and recover an elixir that will make the shogun immortal. Failure is not an option. On this island, heaven and hell are just a hair’s breadth away. (Source: Viz Media)
Type

manga

Volumes

13

Chapters

127

Rating

Violence

Status

finished

Started

2018-01-23

Mugen no Juunin

(Blade of the Immortal)

8.16

Description:

Manji is an immortal swordsman, who has been cursed with eternal life. He has grown tired of living with all the death he has created. He has no skills other then those of killing, thus he forms a plan to regain his mortality: he shall kill one hundred evil men for each good one he has killed. The old witch who afflicted Manji with immortality agrees to Manji's proposition and Manji is set on his path to kill one thousand evil men. On his journey he meets a young girl, Rin, who has her own vengeance to seek against the sword school whose members slaughtered Rin's family. Rin and Manji journey together, each hoping to find some kind of peace. In their way are many varied enemies. Rin and Manji are almost constantly under attack and must learn to live their lives, avoiding being consumed by revenge. (Source: ANN) Note: Originally published with 219 chapters, which were then recollected into 207 chapters in the tankoubons.
Type

manga

Volumes

30

Chapters

207

Rating

Violence

Status

finished

Started

1993-06-25

Kozure Ookami

(Lone Wolf & Cub)

8.15

Description:

In the feudal era of Japan, Ogami Itto is the elite executioner for the Shogun until the ruthless Yagyu clan frames him in an attempt to gain the position. His name dishonored and his wife murdered, Itto and his infant son Daigoro wander Japan as assassin for hire Lone Wolf and Cub. Ultimately, Ogami Itto strives for revenge against the Yagyu clan. (Source: ANN)
Type

manga

Volumes

28

Chapters

142

Status

finished

Started

1970-09-01

Katanagatari

8.13

Description:

Long ago the masterful swordsmith Shikizaki Kiki crafted 1000 blades, though his twelve final works, the legendary deviant blades were prime among the rest. All with uniquely defined traits, these swords are among the greatest in Japan. Leap forward many decades and arrive at an isolated island, where Yasuri Shichika and his older sister Nanami reside. Togame: A woman with long, white hair and the talent as a strategist begins a quest with Shichika in order to collect the twelve blades. They must face the blade wielders in intense battles while they learn more about themselves and their real goals and wishes. Shichika has yet to realize what he really inherits as a Kyoutoryuu sword...
Type

novel

Volumes

12

Chapters

55

Status

finished

Started

2007-01-01

Oooku

(Ōoku: The Inner Chambers)

8.07

Description:

In an alternative timeline of feudal Japan, a strange disease that only affects men caused a massive reduction of male population, thus females have to pick up men's jobs, changing the social structure. Now, after 80 years of the initial outbreak and current man:woman ratio of 1:4, Japan has become completely matriarchal, with women holding important political positions and men being their consort. Only the most powerful woman -- head of Tokugawa shogunate -- can keep a harem of handsome yet unproductive men, known as "Oooku." (Source: ANN)
Type

manga

Volumes

19

Chapters

79

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

finished

Started

2004-06-24

Seirei Gensouki

(Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles)

7.85

Description:

Meet Rio: a callous orphaned boy living in the slums. At only 7-years-old, he realizes he’s actually the reincarnation of Haruto Amakawa, a Japanese university student with a tragic past. While still reeling from this shocking epiphany, Rio also comes to learn that he possesses extremely potent magical abilities and uses his new powers to solve the kidnapping case of a little girl. His good deed is acknowledged, and he’s rewarded by being enrolled into… a prestigious academy for noble children...? (Source: J-Novel Club)
Type

novel

Volumes

0

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

current

Started

2015-10-01

Kaze Hikaru

7.82

Description:

During the Bakumatsu revolution which marked the end of the Tokugawa era and the beginning of the Meiji era,a young girl named Sei Tominaga,seeking to avenge the deaths of her father and brother,disguises herself as a young boy named Seizaburo Kamiya to join the Shinsengumi. (Source: ANN)
Type

manga

Volumes

0

Status

current

Started

1997-01-01

Kubikiri Asa

(Samurai Executioner)

7.81

Description:

In a prison world, there are few good stories, and this is the world of Kubikiri Asa, the beheader and master samurai under the Shogun. It's a world full of vengeance, greed, and violence. A world of depravity and sin. One man can set things straight if he can keep his wits. This is a story of extreme proportions, of sword study thick in tradition and with grim purpose, of blood rivers, agonizing screams, bondage, torture, and the evil prevalent in human failure. Drafted by the confirmed masters of the international medium of manga, Samurai Executioner is a shocking combination of darkness and fire, fine lines, and a fine man in the face of human decline. (Source: Dark Horse)
Type

manga

Volumes

10

Chapters

54

Status

finished

Started

1972-01-01

Azumi

7.79

Description:

Azumi focuses upon the life of the female assassin Azumi. The manga begins an indeterminate number of years after the Battle of Sekigahara, but as the Azumi begins her assassination missions, the manga introduces the characters into mainstream history. Many of the early assassination missions that Azumi undertakes are the assassinations of the prominent supporters and generals of the Toyotomi Clan, against whom the Toyotomi Clan expected to again go to war. (Source: Wikipedia)
Type

manga

Volumes

48

Chapters

350

Status

finished

Started

1994-01-01

Gekijouban Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien Nare

7.76

Description:

Novel of the second Gintama movie, written by Oosaki Tomohito, the same author of Ginpachi-sensei. What would have happened if the Shiroyasha never existed? Edo is thrown to chaos by a mysterious cause. Sakata Gintoki, now lives in a world where the future has changed, without him. What has happened to the Yorozuya? Gintoki, who is now a ghost of the past, must once again carry the burden in order to save his friends. He must finish the biggest job ever, which may be the final job of Yorozuya.
Type

novel

Volumes

1

Chapters

21

Status

finished

Started

2013-07-08

Saraiya Goyou

(House of Five Leaves)

7.76

Description:

Masterless samurai Akitsu Masanosuke is a skilled and loyal swordsman, but his naïve, diffident nature has time and again caused him to be let go by the lords who have employed him. Hungry and desperate, he becomes a bodyguard for Yaichi, the charismatic leader of a gang called“Five Leaves.”Although disturbed by the gang’s sinister activities, Masa begins to suspect that Yaichi’s motivations are not what they seem. And despite his misgivings, the deeper he’s drawn into the world of the Five Leaves, the more he finds himself fascinated by these devious, mysterious outlaws. (Source: Sigikki)
Type

manga

Volumes

8

Chapters

57

Status

finished

Started

2006-01-01

Red

7.75

Description:

Set in nineteenth-century America, Red is the last living survivor of a Native American tribe that was slaughtered by white men. On a long journey in search of revenge, he travels with Iero Ito, a samurai who ran away to America after being defeated in the Seinan civil war, and Ann, a mysterious prostitute. The bonds of friendship between the three are touching. Although it is all fiction, the story seems very real as it is based on actual battles between US troops, Apaches and other tribes. This is a Western written by a Japanese manga artist. (Source: kodanclub.com)
Type

manga

Volumes

19

Chapters

151

Rating

Status

finished

Started

1998-01-01

Tenkaichi: Nihon Saikyou Bugeisha Ketteisen

(Tenkaichi: Battle to Decide Japan's Strongest Martial Artist)

7.74

Description:

Battle tournament manga set in the Sengoku Era. The year is 1600. Ten years have passed since Oda Nobunaga unified Japan. When Nobunaga realized that he was dying, he announced that he would hand over the country to the one who produced the strongest warriors. The warlords, whose dreams of unifying the country had been dashed, set up their own strongest warriors and set their sights on becoming the ruler of Japan (Source: Kodansha, translated)
Type

manga

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

current

Started

2021-01-07

Drifters

()

7.71

Description:

Shimazu Toyohisa, whilst involved at the Battle of Sekigahara, manages to mortally wound Ii Naomasa, but is critically wounded in the process. As he walks from the field broken and bleeding, Toyohisa finds himself transported to a corridor of doors, where a bespectacled man at a desk waits for him. This man, Murasaki, sends Toyohisa into the nearest door where he wakes up in another world. There, Toyohisa meets other great warriors like him who have been transported as well, to be part of a group known as "Drifters". (Source: Wikipedia)
Type

manga

Volumes

0

Status

current

Started

2009-04-30

MookHyang - Dark Lady

(Mookhyang: Dark Lady)

7.68

Description:

As the master of the School of Unholy Arts and as the undefeated Unmasked Demon, MookHyang unfortunately falls to a strange fantasy world by the magic of his enemies (School of Blood Arts). In the new world of elf, sorcerer, knight, and dragon, MookHyang’s adventure of finding a way back to his old world (Murim) unfolds. (Source: MU)
Type

manhwa

Rating

Teens 13 or older

Status

current

Started

2019-07-04

Sidooh

7.65

Description:

During the political upheavals and social strife at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan (1855), two parent-less brothers Yukimura Shoutarou and Yukimura Gentarou struggles to survive in these turbulent times. With their only possession being their deceased father's sword and clinging onto the wisdom of their mother's final words, the brothers seek to embark on the Path of the Warrior: Sidooh. (Source: MU)
Type

manga

Volumes

25

Chapters

266

Status

finished

Started

2005-06-22

Deadpool: Samurai

7.54

Description:

Marvel raids Shonen Jump + ?! The irresponsible hero "Deadpool," an extreme outlier even amongst American comic heroes, is finally serialized !!!! A super collaboration manga that involves both the Avengers and Shonen Jump characters! Anyway, Deadpool lands in Tokyo with a bang! What could possibly go wrong when Iron Man invites Deadpool join the Avengers' new Samurai Squad? After all, Deadpool is just in it for the money…and the trip to Japan. This is fine, right? (Source: VIZ Media) Note: Includes 2 extra chapters.
Type

manga

Volumes

2

Chapters

17

Status

finished

Started

2020-12-10

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