Rurouni Kenshin
41,526
Ten years have passed since the end of Bakumatsu, an era of war that saw the uprising of citizens against the Tokugawa shogunate. The revolutionaries wanted to create a time of peace, and a thriving country free from oppression. The new age of Meiji has come, but peace has not yet been achieved. Swords are banned but people are still murdered in the streets. Orphans of war veterans are left with nowhere to go, while the government seems content to just line their pockets with money. One wandering samurai, Kenshin Himura, still works to make sure the values he fought for are worth the lives spent to bring about the new era. Once known as Hitokiri Battousai, he was feared as the most ruthless killer of all the revolutionaries. Now haunted by guilt, Kenshin has sworn never to kill again in atonement for the lives he took, and he may never know peace until killing is a thing of the past. Now in the 11th year of Meiji, Kenshin stumbles upon Kaoru Kamiya, owner and head instructor of a small dojo being threatened to close its doors. The police force is powerless to stop the string of murders done in the name of her dojo by a man claiming to be the famous Battousai. Kenshin's wanderings pause for now as he joins Kaoru to clear both their names. But how long can he stay before his past catches up to him? [Written by MAL Rewrite] Volume 28:
Lone Wolf & Cub
13,216
Ittou Ogami has very little left to live for. Though once the Shogunate's chief executioner, his name is left in ruins after being framed for treason by the treacherous Yagyuu Clan, seeking to steal his position of power. His misfortune does not end here, however; they culminate in the brutal murder of his entire family, including his wife Azami, with only his child Daigorou still left alive. With dishonor upon his head and his beloved wife in the grave, Ittou takes up a new mantle as an assassin for hire. Alongside his young son, Ittou wanders the country in search of revenge, with only the complete destruction of the Yagyuu Clan on his mind. As he travels the land, the number of his successful assassinations quickly grows, and soon the moniker of "Lone Wolf and Cub" becomes infamous across the land as the choice assassin to get the job done right. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Vagabond
1,923,056
In 16th century Japan, Shinmen Takezou is a wild, rough young man, in both his appearance and his actions. His aggressive nature has won him the collective reproach and fear of his village, leading him and his best friend, Matahachi Honiden, to run away in search of something grander than provincial life. The pair enlist in the Toyotomi army, yearning for glory—but when the Toyotomi suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of the Tokugawa Clan at the Battle of Sekigahara, the friends barely make it out alive. After the two are separated, Shinmen returns home on a self-appointed mission to notify the Hon'iden family of Matahachi's survival. He instead finds himself a wanted criminal, framed for his friend's supposed murder based on his history of violence. Upon being captured, he is strung up on a tree and left to die. An itinerant monk, the distinguished Takuan Soho, takes pity on the "devil child," secretly freeing Shinmen and christening him with a new name to avoid pursuit by the authorities: Musashi Miyamoto. is the fictitious retelling of the life of one of Japan's most renowned swordsmen, the "Sword Saint" Musashi Miyamoto—his rise from a swordsman with no desire other than to become "Invincible Under the Heavens" to an enlightened warrior who slowly learns of the importance of close friends, self-reflection, and life itself. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
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