SATSUMA GISHIDEN TP (2025)

"Controversial, tough, angry, highly skilled, and lost in a time of peace, the characters of Satsuma Gishiden tell a quasi-historical tale of social caste and brutal reprisal. Readers with a taste for Kazuo Koike's gritty Lone Wolf and Cub will go nuts for master gekiga artist Hiroshi Hirata's tome of samurai struggle. Hirata's art and calligraphy leap off the page during scenes of action, only to unfold upon a full bleed that looks like a fine plate print. It's art at its most expressive, accentuating the classic stoic samurai characters you've come to know, only with a little more true society thrown in to help the reader understand what it was really like to be a warrior without a war. • Presented in the authentic right-to-left format to preserve the art, Satsuma Gishiden promises some of the best samurai manga ever. • First time any of Hirata's works have seen publication in English in twenty-five years! • Often compared to Lone Wolf and Cub in storytelling scope and artistic depth, Satsuma Gishiden will appeal to all period-piece fans, as well as Koike/Kojima fans. • Until the release of Lone Wolf and Cub in Europe, Satsuma Gishiden was the highest-selling samurai manga of all time in France."

"Japan's samurai past is riddled with stories of great fighting prowess and deeply ingrained systems of honor and discipline. But behind the stern demeanor was a society coming apart at the seams. Clashes in class systems and the need for a nation to come together threaten to break up the old ways of warring samurai-these are tales of such struggles. This is the story of Japan's history, and the beginning of the end of the samurai era. • Until the release of Lone Wolf & Cub in Europe, Satsuma Gishiden was the highest-selling samurai manga of all time in Europe. • Each volume comes shrink-wrapped and carries an 18+ content advisory."

"Water is a force to be reckoned with. It can break metal in an instant, or over time. And it surely can shatter a society crippled by politics and fear. This is the story of Edo-era Japan, of a nation divided by social strata and infighting. A few bold samurai must force many disparate and poor regions to sacrifice their very lives for the future in order to hold back the nation's raging rivers. In this original tale of blood, guts, brutality, and anger, the history of Japan unfolds in true period drama. • Presented in the authentic left-to-right format to preserve the art, Satsuma Gishiden promises some of the best samurai manga ever."