Now, a little background. Shirato Sanpei began drawing manga in 1957. He would go on to co-found one of the most famous alternative manga magazines in Japan, "Garo". He would also flourish in the gekiga (manga rental) market, producing various violent and dramatic historical mangas, usually revolving around ninja. In 1959, he began publishing volumes of this particular manga, Ninja Bugeichou(literally, Chronicles of a Ninja's Military Accomplishments) until finishing the story in 1962, with a total of 17 volumes. This manga is considered to be his masterpiece, and made him one of the favorite mangaka of the radical student movement in the 1960s (as well as becoming a lifelong enemy of the Japanese right-wing).
The story itself has many intertwined themes and a large cast of characters. It is a traditional ninja/samurai tale as well as presenting Sanpei's attempt to portray the role of revolting peasants in feudal Japan, and would make Sanpei famous for his Leftist ninja/samurai tales.
It is also famous for its rather honest and brutal portrayal of the story's time period. The world of Ninja Bugeichou is in no way an idealist portrayal of feudal Japan. Innocent pesants are cruelly oppressed and murdered by an iron-fisted regime that demands complete loyalty and submission. As such, there is a good deal of blood shed in the story, so much so that Sanpei became one of the first mangaka to become controversial for the graphic violence portrayed in his manga. In fact, he became famous for an often-copied technique he used to replicate bloodspray, by dipping a paintbrush in ink and blowing it on paper.
As for the actual story, it goes as follows.
It tells the tale of the fictional ninja master Kagemura who, while seeing the suffering of the peasants in his world, decides that he cannot stand by and watch these people suffer, so he decides to aid the peasants in a revolt against those who oppress them.
His adversary is none other than Oda Nobunaga, the brutal and bloodthirsty warlord who nearly conquered all of Japan before his death in 1582. Although his portrayal in this manga may be exaggerated, the man himself was very unpleasant, and he's often portrayed as a villain in Japanese literature.
Together with his band of seven ninja, each with their own special magical powers, Kagemura fights against the oppressors of the peasant class, as the turmoil of feudal Japan rages around them. The story itself is quite violent, and many characters die a violent and cruel death.
I won't reveal the ending, but needless to say the story is a tragedy.
The manga is in 17 volumes. Though it has yet to be released Stateside, maybe if we beg Viz Media or Darkhorse real nice-like, they'll consider bringing it over here.
Until then, we can bask in the knowledge that the peasants of Japan had their time in the spotlight as well.
