Forums

Spotlight Manga: Samurai Executioner



MAL Manga Information Page: Samurai Executioner


MAL Score - 8.17 (by 127 users)
Ranked - #324
Popularity - #1974

For the next week I would like to have a discussion about the manga that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate a manga: Art, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment.

I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this:


Art - insert rating
Characters - insert rating
Story - insert rating
Enjoyment - insert rating

Art - discuss any pros and cons of the art styling used in the series, try to include some specifics.

Character - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to specific characters in the series

etc...


If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pros and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 4 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions.

After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticise and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to seeing how this discussion will develop.


RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL

Samurai Executioner was inducted into the club Manga list:
16 Yes - 100.0%
0 No - 0.0%

66 Don't know this manga - 79.5% of the total number polled
1 Abstained - 1.2% of the total number polled

------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL

Samurai Executioner was NOT inducted into the club Manga list but is eligible for nomination once more:
12 Yes - 100.0%
0 No - 0.0%

57 Don't know this manga - 82.6% of the total number polled
0 Abstained - 0.0% of the total number polled

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL

Samurai Executioner is once more eligible for nomination:
7 Yes - 100.0%
0 No - 0.0%

53 Don't know this manga - 88.3% of the total number polled
0 Abstained - 0.0% of the total number polled

*Since this manga has made the cut-off percentage-wise but has failed to gather enough votes, it is now once more available for nomination due to rule changes. (August 2011)


RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL

Samurai Executioner passed but failed to meet minimum voting requirements:
6 Yes - 100.0%
0 No - 0.0%

67 Don't know this manga - 91.7% of the total number polled
0 Abstained - 0.0% of the total number polled

On 06/11/2010 Samurai Executioner will be voted on for a second and final time

The art has a great feel for action and movement, so 10. The characters are easy to believe in as they interact with each other, so 10. The story is a wonderfully rich and interesting history lesson, so 10. As to enjoyment I still like rereading this series.

While Lone Wolf and Cub might be the best-known and most-beloved of the works by Koike and Kajima, almost all of the facets that made that manga into a classic have been outdone by their own Samurai Executioner. More strongly emphasising its status as a commentary on the time in which it plays than Lone Wolf and Cub did, and far less of an entangled mess of acting upon what one perceives to be the motivation of others than what Path of the Assassin turned out to be, Samurai Executioner blends simple description about life in Tokugawa Edo with an ever-present yet properly subdued exploration of characters' motivations.

As the title might suggest, the manga is about a Samurai who is an Executioner, which must be taken to mean the person who performs the beheading of criminals on death row - at the same time testing out the sharpness of the shogun's swords. As there is no greater story to said executioner, Yamada Asaemon, the manga as a whole is structured as a loosely connected series of short stories, which for the most part end up at the executioner's block.
At first, using more or less the same narrative style as much of Lone Wolf and Cub did, the manga mostly shows the individual acts and motivations that brought a particular person to the block, with Asaemon in some way ensuring that the prisoner ceases his (or her) struggles, or the particulars of a crime and the manner in which Asaemon helps solve it or catches the criminal. More or less like Ogami Itto, Asaemon comes off as the archetypical noble, honourable, taciturn and, as becomes the situation, polite or gruff samurai. He is both looked looked up to and feared because of his prowess with the sword, honed by the cutting of heads and limbs, and more or less actively avoided by the Edo townspeople, who are filled with the unease and dislike which throughout history has always been the main manner people have looked upon executioners. What sets him apart, though, is how, after thoroughly investigating the background of both the crime and the criminal, he has a knack of finding out the motivations of the criminals that come before him and knowing just what to do to ensure that the criminal does not leave the world begrudging it (see also below).
Well-versed in courtly and common etiquette and impeccable in behaviour as Asaemon is, though, he becomes a bit predictable. Just as this is starting to happen, though, the manga introduces Sakane Kasajirou, an up-and-coming police officer who is first seen to rely on Asaemon for advice on tougher cases but later on starts taking over the spotlight as a decorated officer in his own right. Kasajirou, less of a perfect man than Asaemon is, thus making mistakes and having to make up for it, is more of an active lead character and is often seen performing his police duties. In doing so, the tone of the manga shifts: the faits accomplis brought before Asaemon being replaced by the active intervention to prevent the fact or the chase of the offender. In doing so, the scenery also shifts, the prisons and courtyards before presiding magistrates being replaced by the city of Edo. Both shifts shake up the manga a bit, preventing it from becoming stale, and, more importantly, both ensure that more can be shown about the workings of justice in the time and place.

What sets Samurai Executioner apart from almost all other manga is this emphasis, and splendid commentary, on both the workings of the legal system and the philosophy behind it. Over the entirety of the manga, such topics as the organisation of police forces and the judiciary, the necessity of obtaining evidence and a confession, the role of extenuating circumstances and the position on unsoundness of mind are brought forth and are explained or have differing opinions expressed about them. A strong connection is made between 'crime' and 'sin', also within the context of the government's reaction to crime not itself becoming sinful. Central to this issue is the notion that the soul of the executed should depart in peace, not begrudging the world and the executioners and coming back to plague the living, and one of the more important tenets in this regard is that the criminal must be aware of why he is executed and how the act of execution absolves his soul.
Examples of the subjects that come up within this context are the fact that a pregnant woman may not be executed, so as not to take an innocent life as well - partly because the soul of an innocent life taken would not rest in peace - and the issue of the insane, problematic not so much because they can't be held accountable for their deeds but because they do not know what will happen to them and cannot see how the execution itself is a punishment for their crimes and the manner in which the crime is cut from their souls.
The most important notion that is quite often brought to the fore is that the crime should be punished, not the man. The Edo officials are shown as having full knowledge of how circumstance can affect someone and lead to crime, and it is very nice to see how they react differently to it: some are prone to let things slide because of circumstance, while others, though often reluctantly, show no mercy, as the crime itself must be punished. These differing interpretations go a long way to giving life to many of the minor characters and, more importantly, the mangaka have done a great job at having the reader feel sympathetic towards the merciful as well as the hard-liner, as all are shown to act from a consistent moral code.

Apart from issues of law and crime, there are quite a few lighter tales told over the ten volumes, especially when Kasajirou takes over, worrying about and asking Asaemon's advice on matters of life, love and marital relations (which, considering how Asaemon is shown as a bachelor without a whole lot of social relations, is a bit ironic), and while perhaps too much attention is piled on the issue of sexual relationships, Samurai Executioner never slides into the ridiculous in this regard as Path of the Assassin went on to do.
It is in its depiction of common life that the manga most strongly integrates story and art, with the city of Edo and the totality of its inhabitants themselves becoming main characters. Starting out a few years after Lone Wolf and Cub, the art of Samurai Executioner does not suffer from issues of perspective and consistency as the former did at first, nor does it lose its strong pen and detailed backgrounds like the former did at the end. Edo is meticulously filled with all manner of small details, forming a great setting for the stories set therein, and populated by a cast of highly varying common folk. The only real problem in this regard, as with all the works by Koike and Kajima, is the preponderance of the type of woman clearly considered beautiful by the two, who do really all look strikingly alike, losing much in the way of individuality in the process.

As with Lone Wolf and Cub, the Dark Horse translation must be mentioned. Once again, the translators have opted to leave many Japanese words intact, explaining themselves in the glossary, and providing the characters with just enough in the way of mannerisms of speech and accents to let differences of background and social status come through without it becoming ludicrous.

Samurai Executioner is, all in all, a very rare kind of manga. Set apart by its very strong focus on a description of the philosophy of law and crime and a depiction of everyday life in Edo, it is often more a documentary than a story. Yet, with a large amount of characters who are all detailed to quite an extent and who are shown to act from their beliefs and to have an understanding of the thoughts and feelings of others, there is enough in the way of weaving of tales to prevent the manga from becoming overly abstract.
Original, detailed and very value-neutral, this is one of the best manga I've read to date and is an obvious 'Yes'.

Well!! The first three Chapters were pretty intense! I may not make the vote, but I will surely continue reading. Even at this early point, I can see the value of the art in conveying the action and mood.

Santetjan said it all way better than I could. This is a definite yes for me. It truly is one of the best manga I've ever read.

I actually found Samurai Executioner exceedingly boring, and the characters unenterprising.
However, this is definitely a Yes.
Samurai Executioner is a stand out in the Samurai genre, being a very serious and in-depth analysis of socio-political activities, with a compelling central narrative that does build up major characterisation for Asaemon. As Santetjan said, the manga does not verge towards being explicit for the sake of being explicit, like Path of the Assassin and other comparative works such as Shigurui.
For comparison to Lady Snowblood and Lone Wolf and Cub, I cannot comment as I have not read them; but certainly the level of sophistication and mastery on show from both Koike and Kajima defines this manga as highly commendable.

All I can say, is guys, this has got 100% each time~! It's probably in your interests to read it.