I was thoroughly gripped the whole way through this manga. The plot and premise, the dialogue spacing making way for the art, and the art itself was beautiful. I really appreciated receiving background on each of the characters, having a page set aside for a character profile was a brilliant touch. I felt really connected to this one, and I'm extremely excited for this saga to continue. No notes, just all out praise.

An action heavy manga where swordsmen fight to the death in a battle royale for a giant statue made of gold, this manga has some truly excellent fighting scenes. The main character, Shujiro, signs up to the contest for money — as does everyone else — not knowing how dangerous and how deadly it’s going to be, and ends up saving the life of a young woman, daughter of a samurai, Futaba, whose mother is dying from cholera. The story is full of violence and gore as people are slaughtered one after another and by the time this volume ends, there are only 115 remaining contestants of the 292.

If you’re looking for a samurai story full of mysterious pasts, noble heroes, tentative friendships that are almost certain to end in betrayal, you’ll probably enjoy this manga. It’s well drawn, and I really liked how cholera is depicted as a ravenous tiger. The character designs are solid, the pace is lightning fast, and it’s just a fun read.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!