Manga Review: Orient #1 by Shinobu Ohtaka
150 years ago, the Land of the Setting Sun was run by samurai warlords who oppressed the peasants and ruined the land in constant fighting. Then the gods arrived and defeated the samurai. Now the gods rule the land and have brought peace and prosperity. Or at least that’s the official story.
But village orphan Musashi hears a different story from the father of his best friend Kojiro Kanemaki. The Kanemaki family are the last known samurai descendants in the village. As such, they are oppressed and mocked by the villagers as punishment for the sins of their ancestors. Kojiro’s father claims that the “gods” are actually demons who rule Japan with an iron fist, and the last free samurai bands wander the land fighting their oppression. He secretly trains Kojiro and Musashi in the fighting arts.
While Musashi has no samurai heritage that anyone in the village is aware of, he’s very enthusiastic about the prospect of becoming a samurai alongside his buddy Kojiro and working together to free the Land of the Setting Sun.
Five years later, however, Musashi has been drafted into the village’s miner training program and spends most of his time working with a pickaxe to join the village’s pit miners at graduation in a few days. Secretly, he still plans to become a samurai, and has modified his pickaxe so it can also work as a katana, but publicly he complies to avoid persecution. Kojiro sees only the compliance, and has become cynical and uninterested in a demon-fighting career.
Once outside the village at the mine, Musashi and the other neophyte miners discover that Kojiro’s father was right about the demon thing. The miners are slaves to the demons, with sycophantic human quislings acting as their overseers. Musashi decides now is the time to finally reveal his true colors, and a reluctant Kojiro rejoins him to do battle!
This newish fantasy manga is by the creator of Magi, which I have reviewed here before. It’s getting an anime soon, which is presumably why the manga got a print release.
There’s some interesting monster designs, and the motorcycles the samurai ride look cool.
The setup seems a little off though. Inside the village, adult compliance with the fiction of the gods is 99%, with only Kojiro’s father differing, and then only in secret. But the second you’re past the village gate, the pretense is dropped instantly. That’s a remarkable amount of discipline on the adults’ part. Perhaps there’s some form of magical brainwashing going on? That would explain why no one noticed the obvious signs something odd was up with Musashi.
Oh yes, it turns out the roving bands of samurai freedom fighters thing is also true. One such shows up coincidentally just as Musashi and Kojiro find out the difference between normal demons (can be taken down) and demon lords (not so much.) Presumably our heroes will be joining this squad for advanced training and more supporting characters.
Not sure what’s going on with the title. It may be explained in a future volume.
Content note: Fantasy violence, socially-approved bullying, slavery, underage smoking.
Overall: This first volume is kind of a mess, and uneven in tone. The society depicted seems unworkable, and the setup a bit too pat. I am told later volumes improve in tonal consistency, but this isn’t an encouraging start.
Here’s the trailer for the anime:
