The God of Ninja Manga....Sanpei Shirato
Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:07 amSo recently I managed to pick up the first volume of The Legend of Kamui, the first of the two volumes available in english of the legendary Kamui saga by the master of ninja comics, Sanpei Shirato (with the help of his assistants at Akame Productions). Now, it should be pointed out that the two volumes available in America are NOT from the first, original Kamui series which was done by Sanpei solo, but from the second Kamui series which was done with his Akame Studios.
Now, those who are knowledgeable about the history of Japanese comics have probably heard the word "gekiga" at some point in time. For those of you who haven't, "gekiga" literally translates to "Dramatic Pictures", whereas "manga" translates to "Whimsical Pictues".
In essence, gekiga were meant to be gritty, violent and dark comics that aimed to both make a social statement (atleast in the begining) as well as to reach a more mature audience (The "seinen" demographic of manga we know today more or less grew out of the gekiga movement). Instead of the manga magazines that were largely aimed at children of the time, gekiga flourished in the various lending libraries that dotted Japan. These libraries specialized in various tankobon, usually complete in and of themselves, that contained completely original manga, as well as independent manga magazines that were published outside of the major publilshers (Shueisha, Kodansha, etc).
Now, one of the founders (if not THE founder) of this movement was the master of short story manga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi. But he wasn't the only person who helped bring about the flavor of gekiga. Another pioneer, one who managed to achieve both critical and commercial success, was the subject of this thread.
Although Sanpei began as an artist for kamishibai ("paper plays"), the market for that particular medium bottomed out with the advent of television. So, he turned his attention to manga. His first foray into manga would be the now classic Ninja Bugeichou. This Leftist-inspired ninja drama would span 17 paperback volumes. When they were republished in the mid-sixties, his work became a sensation among intellectuals and students.
His next big project would be his epic manga cycle, The Legend of Kamui, which would span three different titles and over 40 volumes. This story was also a Leftist-inspired ninja drama, but instead of focusing on the collective revolution of peasants (as NB had), it instead revolved around the personal struggle of Kamui, a ninja who goes AWOL from his clan and now walks Japan as a fugitive.
Of course, Sanpei did other great ninja manga. There is the speculative Sasuke, which speculates on whether or not a famous ninja (Sarutobi Sasuke) escaped his untimely fate and went on to found an entire clan. There is also the more fantasy-inspired Watari, which is about an epic ninja war. He even did a rather odd graphic novel called Death Kim, about a japanese swordsman and his adventures in an American town in the Old West. There are others, of course, but I forget their names.
Today, his main projects (other than the continuation of the Kamui saga), is the eight voumes (so far) Myths and Legends series. This cycle of graphic novels revolve around, obviously, various myths and legends of the world, including Japanese, Native American, African, and others. Each novel is self-contained, and each is richly drawn in Sanpei's now realistic art style (with the help of Akame Studios, of course).
Now, it should be pointed out that Sanpei's current art style is not representative of his entire body of work. His current artwork is the culmination of decades of artistic evolution. When Ninja Bugeichou was first published, it was drawn in a minimalistic (though stark) Tezuka-esque art style. This style was evident in a good deal of his work, but he eventually began to draw in a more detailed style, until the finished product we now have.
But throughout his works, he used a technique that would become one of his trademarks.......to portray a splash spurt of blood, he dipped a brush into ink, and blew it onto the paper. The resulting chaotic splotch would create the effect of a recently opened wound, with the blood gushing out.
If we all pray really hard, maybe more of Sanpei's work will hit stateside.......Maybe.....
Now, those who are knowledgeable about the history of Japanese comics have probably heard the word "gekiga" at some point in time. For those of you who haven't, "gekiga" literally translates to "Dramatic Pictures", whereas "manga" translates to "Whimsical Pictues".
In essence, gekiga were meant to be gritty, violent and dark comics that aimed to both make a social statement (atleast in the begining) as well as to reach a more mature audience (The "seinen" demographic of manga we know today more or less grew out of the gekiga movement). Instead of the manga magazines that were largely aimed at children of the time, gekiga flourished in the various lending libraries that dotted Japan. These libraries specialized in various tankobon, usually complete in and of themselves, that contained completely original manga, as well as independent manga magazines that were published outside of the major publilshers (Shueisha, Kodansha, etc).
Now, one of the founders (if not THE founder) of this movement was the master of short story manga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi. But he wasn't the only person who helped bring about the flavor of gekiga. Another pioneer, one who managed to achieve both critical and commercial success, was the subject of this thread.
Although Sanpei began as an artist for kamishibai ("paper plays"), the market for that particular medium bottomed out with the advent of television. So, he turned his attention to manga. His first foray into manga would be the now classic Ninja Bugeichou. This Leftist-inspired ninja drama would span 17 paperback volumes. When they were republished in the mid-sixties, his work became a sensation among intellectuals and students.
His next big project would be his epic manga cycle, The Legend of Kamui, which would span three different titles and over 40 volumes. This story was also a Leftist-inspired ninja drama, but instead of focusing on the collective revolution of peasants (as NB had), it instead revolved around the personal struggle of Kamui, a ninja who goes AWOL from his clan and now walks Japan as a fugitive.
Of course, Sanpei did other great ninja manga. There is the speculative Sasuke, which speculates on whether or not a famous ninja (Sarutobi Sasuke) escaped his untimely fate and went on to found an entire clan. There is also the more fantasy-inspired Watari, which is about an epic ninja war. He even did a rather odd graphic novel called Death Kim, about a japanese swordsman and his adventures in an American town in the Old West. There are others, of course, but I forget their names.
Today, his main projects (other than the continuation of the Kamui saga), is the eight voumes (so far) Myths and Legends series. This cycle of graphic novels revolve around, obviously, various myths and legends of the world, including Japanese, Native American, African, and others. Each novel is self-contained, and each is richly drawn in Sanpei's now realistic art style (with the help of Akame Studios, of course).
Now, it should be pointed out that Sanpei's current art style is not representative of his entire body of work. His current artwork is the culmination of decades of artistic evolution. When Ninja Bugeichou was first published, it was drawn in a minimalistic (though stark) Tezuka-esque art style. This style was evident in a good deal of his work, but he eventually began to draw in a more detailed style, until the finished product we now have.
But throughout his works, he used a technique that would become one of his trademarks.......to portray a splash spurt of blood, he dipped a brush into ink, and blew it onto the paper. The resulting chaotic splotch would create the effect of a recently opened wound, with the blood gushing out.
If we all pray really hard, maybe more of Sanpei's work will hit stateside.......Maybe.....
