Monday Manga Madness: The Bare Neccesities – II

All hail the Samurai, for his sword is swift and true. Countless tales have been written about the precision of the way of the sword. Countless romantic sagas, recording the brave deeds and the ideals of the Samurai. Tales abound of Bushido, the warrior’s way. The code of conduct and chivalry by which ancient Japanese swordsmen lived, and died. But they are all tales, stories, fables…untrue.

Pick up any one of them, give it a long hard stare with a questioning eye and you will see it as a story and little more. Fitting and perhaps even grand to read, but in no way possible in the realities of life. And then there is Shigurui. Literal meaning Death throes. This aptly titled manga is truly one of the most underrated works out there. Not many know of it, even amongst those who do know of it, not many have managed to finish it. It takes a strong stomach to read through this manga. Surely not for the faint of heart.

There is despair in this manga. Despair so thick, it will cloud your senses. Despair and honor and horror aplenty. Not the supernatural horror, no, but a purer psychological horror that can only be wrought by man, glorious in all his failings. For sure, it is the more terrifying horror of the two. How far will two men go to realize their obsessions? What is a Samurai, but a tool in the hands of his master? Just as a sword is a tool in the hands of the Samurai. To what lengths does devotion run? To what limits must a man obey his master’s wishes? The way of the warrior is narrow and the darkness that surrounds him is thick. When does he know he has strayed from the path?

These are the questions that are asked by this compelling manga by Takayuki Yamaguchi. Hard questions, and not all of them are answered. Visually this manga is a treat. The artwork is beautiful and almost Hellenistic in it’s attention to proportion and details. The homoerotic nudges notwithstanding, the artist shows a remarkable eye for the human body and for all the muscles that allow us our daily activities. The story is first rate with an ending that has the power to move you to tears, if you are the sort to be moved by such things.


Shigurui is second on my list of most wanted manga that you as an avid manga reader can absolutely not do without.


It is a true Samurai story, one you can easily imagine to have occurred in the era depicted. Truly if a society existed where the art of the warrior was given such paramount importance then it would have been thus, as presented in these pages. It made a believer out of me. There is a tragic beauty to this manga. I was smitten by a sense of loss and waste, for there is no hero and no villain. Hardly any rights, and few punishable wrongs. Besides, heroes and villains belong in the world of storybooks. And whatever this manga is, it is no storybook.

Red is their favorite color

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