From the creator of Naruto comes a new series and this time its about samurai. Like Naruto Kishmoto does not deliver a world that is based on history but instead uses the cultural idea of the samurai to craft a completely new world and yet one that still has familiar tropes to the samurai genre. This time the author explores samurai in a deeply scifi context where they are warriors chosen by gods and given fantastical cyborg bodies that are so complex and advanced as to appear mystical in theif function and abilities. Samurai are planetary defenders in this setting as opposed to gaurding a fiefdom for a lord. Most are also paired with a mechanical animal companion called a Holder which serves a multitude of purposes with their transformable bodies.
The story starts off leading and misleading us rather brilliantly into thinking the story has taken place with a powerful and dashing samurai warrior only for our expectations to be subverted when we discover the hero is a crippled little boy. As with Naruto, Kisomoto offers us a new bratty protagonist whose disruptive personality is a defense against the torment that is his life. The author loves to see an under dog rise up from the depths of despair through guts and sheer will and he delivers once again with Hachimaru. You know he is going to be destined for great things and it is exciting to see him get there.
Also in the issue is a great demonstration of the relationship between Hachimaru and his father. The dynamic is on full display with all the love and angst laid bare for the reader. The author has always been be quite good at portraying relationships in his manga and this trend continues here. One of Kisimoto’s other great strengths is his tremendous world building. We are given a detailed explanation of what the samurai are and their function in the world as well as the overarching mission, for our hero’s adventure in the making. We get a great idea of the level of technology in this world and a bit of societal structure and cosmology. Its all incredibly creative as expected of this author and once again completely engrossing.
ART
The art chores in this book are handled with Kishimoto doing breakdowns and Okubo doing the finished artwork. Okubo has worked with Kishimoto before starting with Naruto Vol 16. Because of this the art style is familiar but still quite distinct from the Naruto serious. It is sumptuously detailed with dynamic storytelling and expressive characters and all in all is quite beaitiful. However I do find there are times when the panels are cluttered with too much line work and or details which can make the over all image confusing to the eye. Last thing I want is to have to take time to decipher what it is Im looking at. In some manga this is offset by using tones to help separate figures and items but that is not the case here with its purely black and wite art style.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This has the makings of another classic manga, all the elements you expect are there and Kishimoto still brings something new and exciting while sticking to some of his well tread tropes. Check out the first chapter here for yourself…FOR FREE! https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/samurai-8
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
4.5 out of 5
REVIEW: SAMURAI 8: THE TALE OF HACHIMARU 1
Writer:Â Masashi Kishimoto
Art:Â Akira Okubo
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