Inoue, Takehiko

Yoshikawa, Eiji

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.

Vagabond 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]

Vagabond

バガボンド

Samura, Hiroaki

Manji is an infamous swordsman in feudal Japan who is known as the "Hundred Man Killer," as he has killed one hundred innocent men. However, there is something far more frightening than his ominous reputation: the fact that he is immortal. This is the handiwork of eight-hundred-year-old nun Yaobikuni, who placed bloodworms capable of healing almost any wound in Manji's body. 

To atone for his crimes, Manji resolves to kill one thousand evil men. Yaobikuni agrees to this proposal, saying that if he succeeds, she will undo his curse of immortality. Soon after this promise, Manji meets Rin Asano, a 16-year-old girl who requests Manji's assistance in killing those who slaughtered her parents.

Initially reluctant, Manji refuses Rin's desperate plea. However, owing to her evident lack of strength, Manji changes his mind and agrees to protect Rin for four years. With this partnership set in stone, the two embark on a perilous journey of bloodshed, vengeance, and redemption, each to fulfill their own life's cause.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Mugen no Juunin

Blade of the Immortal

無限の住人

Yamaguchi, Takayuki

Nanjou, Norio

The sadistic daimyo Tadanaga Tokugawa has decreed Japan's first martial arts competition with real swords, appalling even the most loyal of his retainers. However, when the spectators realize that the first match pits the one-armed Gennosuke Fujiki against the blind and lame Seigen Irako, even those with the most forceful objections declare the match to be a farce and the combatants' deformities an affront to their station.

Most of the attendees are unaware of the deep-seated hatred Gennosuke and Seigen hold for each other, which stems from their struggle to become the heir to the insane samurai Kogan Iwamoto, leader of the notorious Kogan-ryuu dojo. Their once-cordial rivalry for Kogan-ryuu and the hand of Kogan's daughter Mie quickly turns violent when one of the young warriors angers the master, causing a chain of events that eventually leads to their severe injuries.

Shigurui chronicles the decisions that led Gennosuke and Seigen to this desperate point, as well as the many lives ruined by the brutality of samurai culture.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Shigurui

シグルイ

Hirano, Kouta

At the start of the Edo period, samurai Toyohisa Shimazu is in the midst of a bloody battle against the legendary Tokugawa clan to ensure the successful retreat of the Shimazu clan forces.

After his entire unit is massacred, Toyohisa manages to single-handedly force the enemy to withdraw—at the cost of being mortally wounded. Walking out of the battlefield dejected, he mysteriously finds himself in a white hallway, where he is immediately thrown into a door. He awakens in a different world, and there, he encounters Drifters, other legendary warriors who died and ended up in the same realm. Together, they use the knowledge and experience from their past lives in order to take over an empire and fight against an unknown force of evil that intends to crush all humanity.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Drifters

ドリフターズ

Koyama, Yuu

Azumi focuses upon the life of the female assassin Azumi. The manga begins an indeterminate number of years after the Battle of Sekigahara, but as the Azumi begins her assassination missions, the manga introduces the characters into mainstream history. Many of the early assassination missions that Azumi undertakes are the assassinations of the prominent supporters and generals of the Toyotomi Clan, against whom the Toyotomi Clan expected to again go to war.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Azumi

あずみ

Tezuka, Osamu

The story of friendship between a samurai and a doctor in the final days of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Hidamari no Ki

陽だまりの樹

Sorachi, Hideaki

During the Edo period, Japan is suddenly invaded by alien creatures known as the Amanto. Despite the samurai's attempts to combat the extraterrestrial menace, the Shogun soon realizes that their efforts are futile and decides to surrender. This marks the beginning of an uneasy agreement between the Shogunate and Amanto, one that results in a countrywide sword ban and the disappearance of the samurai spirit.

However, there exists one eccentric individual who wields a wooden sword and refuses to let his samurai status die. Now that his kind is no longer needed, Gintoki Sakata performs various odd jobs around town in order to make ends meet. Joined by his self-proclaimed disciple Shinpachi Shimura, the fearsome alien Kagura, and a giant dog named Sadaharu, they run the business known as Yorozuya, often getting caught up in all sorts of crazy and hilarious shenanigans.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Included one-shots:
Volume 1: Dandelion
Volume 2: Shirokuro (Black and White)
Volume 24: 13
Volume 38: Bankara-san ga Tooru

Gintama

Gin Tama

銀魂

Watsuki, Nobuhiro

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]

Included one-shot:
Volume 28: Meteor Strike

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan

Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story

るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-

Oosaki, Tomohito

Novel of the second Gintama movie, written by Oosaki Tomohito, the same author of Ginpachi-sensei.

What would have happened if the Shiroyasha never existed?

Edo is thrown to chaos by a mysterious cause. Sakata Gintoki, now lives in a world where the future has changed, without him. What has happened to the Yorozuya?

Gintoki, who is now a ghost of the past, must once again carry the burden in order to save his friends. He must finish the biggest job ever, which may be the final job of Yorozuya.

Gekijouban Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien Nare

劇場版 銀魂 完結篇 万事屋よ永遠なれ

Koike, Kazuo

Kojima, Goseki

In a prison world, there are few good stories, and this is the world of Kubikiri Asa, the beheader and master samurai under the Shogun. It's a world full of vengeance, greed, and violence. A world of depravity and sin. One man can set things straight if he can keep his wits. This is a story of extreme proportions, of sword study thick in tradition and with grim purpose, of blood rivers, agonizing screams, bondage, torture, and the evil prevalent in human failure. Drafted by the confirmed masters of the international medium of manga, Samurai Executioner is a shocking combination of darkness and fire, fine lines, and a fine man in the face of human decline.

(Source: Dark Horse)

Kubikiri Asa

Samurai Executioner

首斬り朝

Watanabe, Taeko

In the year 1863, a time fraught with violent social upheaval, samurai of all walks of life flock to Kyoto in the hope of joining the Mibu-Roshi—a band of warriors united around their undying loyalty to the Shogunate system. In time, this group would become one of the greatest (and most famous) movements in Japanese history... the Shinsengumi!

Into this fierce milieu steps Seizaburou Kamiya, a young would-be warrior who, though lacking in combat experience, possesses a fiery enthusiasm to both aid the Mibu-Roshi in their mission and to avenge his wrongfully murdered family. One of the Mibu-Roshi's most gifted (and immature) swordsmen, the legendary Souji Okita, agrees to take Seizaburou under his wing. What no one suspects, least of all Souji, is that Seizaburou is actually a girl named Sei Tominaga in disguise!

(Source: Viz Media)

Included one-shot:
Volume 45: Ooedo Shinsengumi!

Kaze Hikaru

風光る

Hirata, Hiroshi

Japan feudal period. He came in battle, they began to share his life against an economic commitment. The battlefield where the samurai could fully experience the Way of Bushido, was coming off a less pure than the blood stain.

(Source: Manga Sanctuary)

12 Manga Like Kudan no Pistol