The fix is in and blood will boil before it is spilled.
Creative Team:
Writer: Mike Richardson
Artist: Stan Sakai
What They Say:
Lord Asano is goaded into an assault by a corrupt court official in the Shogun’s palace, and then forced to commit seppuku! Learning that Asano was sentenced without a proper investigation, his retainers set in motion a plan to enact revenge on the official whose insults proved too much for Asano to bear.
The Review: (please note that content portions of review may contain spoilers)
Lord Asano has given into Kira Yoshinnaka’s taunts and drawn his sword on the man which carries a steep price inside the Shogun’s palace. Worse for him however is that while few people have any respect for Yosinnaka, his son’s marriage into the Uyesugi clan makes him a member of the clan which makes this problem now their problem as well. Making matters worse for Asano, one of the members of the Uyesugi clan has the power to assign an investigator to the case and he does so by calling in one of his other clan members to take the job. After spelling out to the man being assigned the case that Lord Asano surviving even the day could bring doom to the Uyesugi clan, the biased investigator then leaves to carry out his predetermined “investigation”…which ends with a now inevitable and predictable result.
With the story from the investigative team set, the planted man presents his correct- if incomplete and more than a little slanted- findings past his partner in the assignment in a bullying fashion to make sure that the Shogun reaches the desired conclusion. Given the only third party witness saw just the act of drawing the sword and not the incitement before that lead to Asano drawing his blade the Shogun has no reason not to follow the law and he orders Asano to die that day, though given his status the man will be allowed to commit seppuku as an act of honor. Asano’s death won’t be the only result though from the case though as with it his land becomes seized by the Shogunate, his samurai become ronin and his family is thrown out as well.
News of the event of Asano striking Yoshinnaka reaches Asano’s principle counselor Oishi at Ako castle not long after, but long enough as just after the messenger arrives to tell the castle of the trouble their lord is in and before anyone can leave to help with his defense another messenger arrives saying that Asano has already committed Seppuku which sets Oishi off as the quickness of events is one reserved for traitors and enemies. With their lord dead now all the samurai have no master and should be going their own way both by proclamation and simple reality that they will no longer be paid, though of course history tells of another choice and how one man who probably has some fear right now for his actions doesn’t have nearly enough.
While the general story of the 47 Ronin is one that often gets referenced because of its power in Japanese culture, the particulars aren’t always mentioned at the same time which allows for those who may not have heard the whole story to perhaps experience a version of the full thing here for the first time. While the first issue was a bit dry as it tried very hard to set up the time period and chief characters that create the events it came across as somewhat bland in many respects compared to other comics and manga and less a story of characters than a speeding through of events and actions without making an emotional connection with the reader.
That all changes in the second issue though as the need to try to set up the different culture has passed and the story can focus on the miscarriage of justice that takes place in the story and helps to really sell just how it is that 47 men would chose to be so committed that they would carry out an act that was specifically forbidden by the Shogun, knowing they were moving toward an inevitable death in the process. While some aspects like the honor culture may not always translate well in the West at times, it is pretty impossible to read the tale presented and not feel a bit of burning at the injustice done to Lord Asano.
The story further adds a complication in empathizing with Lord Asano though with the realization that he knew what price his actions would exact in advance and yet he professes that he would have still done the same thing if given a second chance when confronted by the investigators, thus putting his sense of honor into direct conflict with the law of the land and making one wonder about his priorities given the cost that all the people under him would pay when he was punished. In some ways the comic makes it feel like Lord Asano was a man out of time- or perhaps one who just believed in the ideas that Japan claimed to cling to at a time- when some of the people in power (and no small number who surround them) live in a far more realistic and dirty world where money and privilege are the true coin that many try to possess and the ideals of the day are nothing more than a tool to use against those around them.
It feels like a bit of a shame actually that this story is being told initially through the single comic format as so much happens in this issue that pulls the title up to a more relatable level that a modern audience can empathize with which really packs the punch that the introduction largely lacked. Likely this story will play even stronger in the eventual trade when one can go from the slow start right into the torrent rush created in the events listed here and this title definitely looks to be shaping up to be a feather in the cap of all involved on the production side as they have created a rather powerful second part that looks like it has given the title an incredible amount of momentum to carry forward into the next part of the dramatic retelling.
In Summary:
The second issue of 47 Ronin picks up the baton passed from the first and proceeds to burst out of the blocks and not stop until the end as it takes advantage of most of the character and setting work having been done by the initial outing which frees it to really bring the emotional punch to the reader as it presents a tale of treachery and miscarriage of justice, though oddly the sentence was one that was legal and, according to the law, correct at the same time. With this second issue it’s pretty easy to see how the story has captivated so many over the years and various cultures as the themes carry over to humanities nature as a whole and so bridge any gap that an individual culture might have otherwise enacted.
Grade: A