Samurai Executioner: Volume 9
© Dark Horse
Story: Kazuo Koike
Art: Goseki Kojima
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
Rating: Mature (18+)
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"Samurai Executioner: Volume 9"
By: Janet HouckDate: Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima are names that any fan of samurai flicks should know. Koike, the writer behind such classics as Lady Snowblood, The Babycart films (mashed up in the West as the bastardized Shogun Assassin), and Crying Freeman, and artist Kojima are best known for their epic samurai opus, Lone Wolf and Cub. If you feel like making the commitment of 28 volumes, averaging at over 300 pages each, Lone Wolf and Cub is a must-read for katana fans. For those who only want a taste of the Golden Duo, Samurai Executioner is the series for you, along with Path of the Assassin, which follows the adventures of Hattori Hanzo, a name probably known best in the US through its reverent whispers in Kill Bill. (Lady Snowblood the manga has a lot more gore and violence.)
Samurai Executioner is a rare manga in that you don’t really need to read the volumes in order. In fact, the only ongoing plot involves two supporting characters, a policeman and his reformed thief/murderer wife, Shinko the Kappa. The central character, Kubikiri Asa is the weapon tester for the Shogun, as well as the executioner for prisoners sentenced to die. The majority of the chapters tell of the lives and crimes of the criminals, in which Asa helps them to find peace of mind before they meet their demise at his sword’s blade. This simple format gives Koike the freedom to explore the life and times of the ordinary person in Edo-Period Japan, who usually makes one fateful decision that leads to crime.
This volume (there is only one more left in the series!) contains eight chapters. The first chapter shows the peaceful resolution of a squabble between neighboring shopkeepers when Asa throws them into the Edo equivalent of Death Row. The second tells of a condemned carpenter who wants to know how sharp Asa’s blade is. The third involves a woman ashamed of her lover’s failure to complete their murder-suicide pact. The following chapter breaks the pattern with the telling of the coincidental events that lead up to an artisan committing a crime. Then we have a side-story chapter on the married life of Shinko and her policeman, followed by a condemned drummer who stops a potential prison riot with his skills. Then we have a near wordless chapter showing an execution of a woman. The last chapter involves Asa learning to fish, and he learns a lesson about the psychology of fear and how he can ease the death experience for the prisoners.
As you can tell, Samurai Executioner doesn’t have the heroic sword action of Lone Wolf and Cub, but it does contain excellent short stories set within a historical world. The artwork tends towards the sketchy side, with a lot of shading and shadows over precise details. If you’re a Japanophile or a history geek, you’ll love this series, and hopefully, it will lead you into Koike and Kazuo’s other works.
