This is my attempt to put this hidden gem in the radar of readers.
Takemitsu Zamurai is the story about the daily life of a ronin with a mysterious past named Senou Souichiro trying to settle on his new neighborhood in Edo. Conflicts ensue as it seems that his new life is being threatened with his dark past that he’s trying to forget, trying to drag him once again to the darkness.
The story starts out slow laying the details of Senou’s interactions with his new neighbors. The drama escalates the more we know the circumstances of Senou’s past, keeping the readers on edge as to what will happen next. One thing I like is that the pacing does not feel rushed even if it spans a lot of years. Different characters within the story lend their own viewpoints, subplots all leading to the climax. Even the animals in this story are humanized and given dialogue adding to the quirkiness, which makes a good job in distracting the readers to the dark and heavy plot turns that are happening.
The narrative is really reminiscent of the famous tale of Rurouni Kenshin. Both feature a story of a samurai trying to turn over a new leaf. The similarity ends there though, since Takemitsu feels more light hearted and even whimsical than Rurouni. The difference in atmosphere mainly lies within the main characters. Kenshin Kimura has a brooding, pessimist outlook in life under his cheery exterior. Senou on the other hand, is more playful, happy-go-lucky and even sometimes careless with his attitude towards life. Make no mistake though, since the demon still resides within Senou waiting for a chance to roam free.
Other notable character is Kikuchi, the antagonist of the story who is a very skilled swordsman in par with Senou’s skills. His character is an interesting juxtaposition of Senou since Kikuchi embraced the life of murder, seemingly abandoning all his attachments to the world. We also have Kankichi, the lively neighborhood kid that Senou really adores. He gets in trouble from time to time, which Senou had to do the rescuing.
Art wise, leave it to Taiyou Matsumoto, author of Ping Pong, to take this manga to the next level. The art reminds me of ukiyo-e paintings of Edo Japan, which suits the atmosphere of the story and gives it a Japanese fairytale-like feel.
Conclusion
I highly recommend this manga if you want a seinen, slice of life drama of a man trying to start a new life. Or maybe you just want a good samurai tale. Either way, this work feels like a fresh breeze on its uniqueness, especially the art. I enjoyed reading this, and hopefully, you too as well.