The Legend of Kamui, 3

By Shirato Sanpei. Published by Drawn & Quarterly.

Softcover, 624 pages, B&W, 1964-1971 (2026 printing)

The greatest sword-and-samurai epic of all time continues!

The body count continues to rise in this engrossing, swashbuckling third volume of The Legend of Kamui, set in feudal Japan.

Our hero Kamui is fresh off his training and begins to infiltrate the delicate hierarchy oppressing the countryside in order to begin tearing it down, piece by piece. Shōsuke faces off with a new assassin because of what he may—or may not have—witnessed. Ryūnoshin’s vendetta befuddles the chief headman as well as his lord. Meanwhile, Kamui’s fellow outcast Saesa takes on a more prominent role.

Revolution is in the air, and the sound of clashing swords rages on in Shirato Sanpei’s landmark manga epic—the first of its kind. The Legend of Kamui was originally serialized between 1964 and 1971 in the legendary alt-manga magazine GARO. Its literary and historical merit was recognized long before a complete translation was even available. Now available in full for the very first time, Shirato Sanpei’s The Legend of Kamui is translated from the Japanese by Richard Rubinger with Noriko Rubinger. 

“Part adventure epic, part historical fiction, part political call to arms, this manga defies easy categorization... Readers will want to dive in.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Kamui opens on a confident, popular artist in full control of his work. [Shirato Sanpei] positions very primal, nearly mythic vignettes amidst a panoramic view of feudal society in 17th-century Japan.” —Joe McCulloch, The Comics Journal