Subject: Manga Reviews: The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan, vol. 1 | Author | Messages | Billy Aguiar
Posts: 84
 | Posted: 10/26/2007 6:15:27 AM | The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan, vol. 1
Del Rey Manga
$13.95, B/W, 240 pages, Available Oct 30th!
Original Story by Futaro Yamada with Manga by Masaki Segawa
Rated 18+
Reviewed by Billy Aguiar
2 1/2 stars
The Hori Clan have rebelled against their despotic lord in feudal Japan, and have been struck down for their temerity. While the shogun is not happy with the lord and his henchmen, the Seven Spears, he still cannot permit the rebellion to be unpunished. However, the Seven Spears go too far by slaughtering the female members of the Hori Clan in a shrine in which no man is allowed to set foot in. Only the direct intercession of the shogun's older sister saves seven women from the slaughter. But the shrine's leaders is determined to make sure that the violation does not go unpunished, and asks Jyubei, a friend of a zen master, to teach the seven survivors how to take their revenge on the Seven Spears.
This is an old-school manga, as in it is a lot like the early manga that were translated and imported to America. It is a bloody historical, with blood not merely oozing, but jetting everywhere from the merest pinprick, and needless to say that there are no pinpricks, only decapitations and spears going through at least a half dozen people. So yes, this title does earn its mature rating. There are some interesting character bits that illustrate the inherent righteousness or evil of the characters, but other than that, the characters are blank slates, whose actions are intended to carry out the story. It does draw you in, because Jyubei does remarkably admit that there is no way he could train the women to fight the Seven Spears, so he is going to teach them military strategy instead and help them, but the deaths of the Seven Spears have to be done by the women themselves. So the readers will discover how the women will take their revenge as the Seven Spears do. So this may be violent revenge epic in the best of the traditions, but also it will (hopefully) have a bit of a brain to it. I understand that the Ninja Scrolls are more than just this one story, and the main character Jyubei is one of those archetypal figures from Japanese history of which much has fictionalized about, appearing in many varied media, so fans of the character may be enticed to pick it up, along with fans of theBasilisk, which was done by the same creators.
This is a weekly review here on the CBG site, but don’t forgot to check out my other review site, Prospero’s Manga for more reviews.
www.delreymanga.com
Vol 1. ISBN: 0-34550-118-7
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