Kubikiri Asa
Samurai Executioner

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Unlike Lone Wolf and Cub or Path of the Assassin, this is much more a loosely connected anthology of short stories which revolve around the executioner and police. I think for many this will take away from the enjoyment of the series as it ultimately does not dive as deeply into character development or complex stories. As is to be expected with many of these time period works, a lot of the focus is on the ethical and moral behavior of samurai, ronin, and Buddhist concepts - in many ways this book is more interesting than the other series in its concentration on these. As ... with most anthologies, the longer stories tend to be stronger than the shorter ones - though some of the shorter stories in this can be quite beautiful.

Overall, I enjoyed the series, it is well told and the art is fantastic. I do think though that going into this one with your expectations cleared that it isn't "another" Lone Wolf or Path of the Assassin is important to its enjoyment.

A bright and sunny sky. The stinging heat. The sound of pouring water on a blade. The convicted last words. Then the slash of the sword as it cuts through the victim's neck as the executioner sends him off. Another person in his large list of beheadings: such is the life of Yamada Asaemon, a man who follows the path of the bushido, a man who deals in death. Kubikiri Asa narrates the daily life of an executioner in the Edo period of Japan, an era of violence, vengeance, greed and justice.

While Samurai Executioner does not have an overarching story, it does present a great ... variety of themes, the prevalent one being justice. It could be said that said theme is the central piece of the manga, the author delving deep into the procedures of judging. Often dialogues are displayed going into detail of the crimes of the convicted as well as their respective punishments - it is in fact a logical and lengthy process.

An interesting aspect of the manga revolves around the fact that a person executes people for a living: the horror's of only taking a person's life must be a hell, yet for Asaemon it is his daily live. It is truly fascinating to see how this person deals with all the various situations, ranging from demented prisoners to the vengeance of the executed relatives. He could be described as a resourceful and very noble man, firm in the path of the bushido; a man who does not sway from his beliefs. He seeks to understand the people he takes their life from, and in doing so, he does much more than his profession obliges him to. He does not harm people willingly: he sincerely hopes one day people won't need to be judged by the sword, were no longer executions are necessary.

The story also focuses on the victims backgrounds and their respective crimes, painting to the reader their psychological state, as well as their ultimate stance on their respective execution. Other times the episodic chapters are dedicated to simply illustrate some facts and thoughts associated with beheading a person. A beheading is a ritual - not a simple murder. It cuts the crime(s) of the victim, not the person. That is at least the purpose of such action, the condemned must die realizing the gravity of their sins. Another interesting aspect to consider are the detailed descriptions on how people should live, how their respective action can influence society and their peers.

The art style is outstanding and very befitting to depict the cruelty and harsh conditions and lives of society in that period. Very detailed drawings of the various backgrounds and the characters within, portraying magnificently the actions of the people: facial expressions and such serve to enhance the seriousness of the situation. It must be mentioned that some of the character designs can be at times distornioned a bit, as well as lacking - yet this was mainly due to the clothing style of that period, which was very similar, and thus difficult to create a very distinguishable cast. The depiction of executed people is very real: it can get quite gory in some occasions, yet is never overdone.

Kubikiri Asa was a great read, from the detailed and lengthy explanations on some of the crimes as well as the various reasonings behind the punishments, to the characters and great art style. Naturally, for those in search of a story with a specific goal in mind won't find it here, yet the description of the daily life of Yamada Asaemon and his hardships are more than enough to compensate for it. I can wholeheartedly recommend Samurai Executioner to anyone with a slight interest in the historical genre.

Thank you for reading.

I was absolutely blown away by Lone Wolf & Cub, so after finishing I quickly tracked down as much of Kazuo's work as possible, desperate to get more. What I learned is that Lone Wolf & Cub is an amazing comic.

Samurai Executioner is basically an attempt to make lightning strike twice. Same creator duo, similar settings, similar leads, same episodic format. The only difference is that Samurai Executioner is awful.

Before I break it down I want to disclaim one thing: The art is absolutely outstanding. It has exactly the kind of spaghetti western-influenced, Eastwood-esque heroes you expect from Goseki.

Back on point: There's not really a ... story to Samurai Executioner, no over-arching narrative like in Lone Wolf & Cub. It turns out you really need that narrative, otherwise each vignette feels disposable and pointless. Yamada begins the story as a flawless model of bushido, but because he has no quest nor equal his stories quickly lose any sense of tension or drama.

I think even Kazuo realized this, as he introduced the rookie cop Kasajiro to the series about halfway through, to give the series a character who might actually grow and develop. The only problem with that is that I'm a normal human in 2016 reading about an Edo-era cop as written by a fairly conservative Japanese man in the 70s. Plucky little Kasajiro quickly loses my sympathy when he does stuff like beat his wife for sleeping on a hot day, or torture someone for a confession.

There's stuff to enjoy in Samurai Executioner, particularly in the beginning when you can still fool yourself into thinking that it's going somewhere. Unfortunately the longer you read the more lackluster, aimless and frustrating an experience it becomes.

Overall poor. Would not recommend.