The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan, Vol. 1

Original Story by Futaro Yamada, Adapted by Masaki Segawa
Del Rey, 240 pp.
Rating: Mature Readers (18+)

There’s trouble brewing in the Aizu region of seventeenth-century Japan. Kato Akinari, the local lord, rules the territory with an iron fist, committing all manner of atrocities. When the Hori clan rebels, he squashes them with the help of the freakish Aizu Seven Spears. Not content to simply round up and execute the men, the Seven Spears track the Hori women clan to a sacred, female-only temple and slaughter them in front of the captured male clan members. When the dust settles, only seven women remain. The survivors begin planning their revenge on the Seven Spears and Akinari. But to carry out their plan, they’ll need a little help from a certain one-eyed swordsman by the name of Jyubei.

The first volume is all set up: why the women can’t seek help from the main government, why they have to go this route alone, why Akinari can do what he does, etc. The story gets off to a confusing start and relies heavily upon who is related to (or serving) whom, which feudal lord has the highest rank, and so on. Wealth and political alliances keep Akinari insulated from rebuke, even from the Shogun himself. Thankfully by the end of the volume, however, all the pieces seem to be in place for the plot to move forward.

I’d imagine that spending almost half a book watching women being slaughtered might turn a lot of folks off. But the violence does serve a dramatic purpose: the Seven Spears and Akinari come across as truly vile creatures who are deserving of the women’s wrath. Their treatment of their captives will have readers pulling for the women without knowing anything about them. For his part, Jyubei seems amused and intrigued by the entire prospect of fighting the Seven Spears. He’s up front about the women’s chances of succeeding, saying that even he’d be pushed to his limits against these savage fighters.

Masaki Segawa’s art doesn’t really light me on fire. It’s good, and the characters all look interesting and distinct, but there’s a heavy reliance on toning which is a bit of a turn off at times. Still, the action and emotions are clearly depicted, if at times a bit comically so. The villains all look quite… well… villainous. They’re ugly, with several bordering on animalistic. (Even Jyubei sports a cartoonishly large chin.) Segawa seems fond of round edges as well; instead of square shoulders, all his characters have round, muscular ones and their chins and noses have a smooth curviness to them as well. His character designs have a distinctive look that might take a few minutes getting used to, but they’re quite nice.

This is the second manga from Masaki Segawa that’s based upon a Futaro Yamada novel. (Well, the second to published in the U.S. at any rate.) In the original publication order, it actually pre-dates Basilisk, which Del Rey finished publishing earlier this year. Basilisk was a bit of a surprise seinen hit thanks in no small part to the anime series that ran on IFC. Whether Yagyu Ninja Scrolls will be able to replicate that success remains to be seen.

I think the series is off to a good start and can’t wait to see more of the surviving Hori women. At this early stage of the drama, their determination and drive for revenge verges on suicidal. It will be interesting to see how they take to their training and handle the combat that’s bound to occur.

Volume one of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan is available now.