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Path Of The Assassin (Brad Thor Novel)
is a Japanese manga series written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima; it was published in Kodansha's ''Weekly Gendai'' magazine. Unlike their previous collaborations on '' Lone Wolf and Cub'' and ''Samurai Executioner'', this story focuses on two historical figures from 16th-century Japan. ''Path of the Assassin'' is the story of Hattori Hanzō, the master ninja whose duty it was to protect Tokugawa Ieyasu, who would grow up to become and unify Japan. The creators poetically describe the story as "Lifelong Friends, with the Same Dreams, Striving to Grow into a Rising River". The 20-volume series has been reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in a thicker 15 volume edition, translated into English and oriented in the original right-to-left reading format. Path of the Assassin Vol. 1: Serving In The Dark">Dark Horse Comics > Profile > Path of the Assassin Vol. 1: Serving In The Dark/ref> Plot ''Path of the Assassin'' is the story of Hattori Hanzō, the fabled master ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kazuo Koike
was a prolific Japanese manga writer ( gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''seinen'' manga, notably ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' (with Goseki Kojima, 1970–6), '' Lady Snowblood'' (with Kazuo Kamimura, 1972–3) and ''Crying Freeman'' (with Ryoichi Ikegami, 1986–8), which – along with their numerous media adaptations − have been credited for their influence on the international growth of Japanese popular culture. Career Early in Koike's career, he studied under ''Golgo 13'' creator Takao Saito and served as a writer on the series. Koike, along with artist Goseki Kojima, made the manga ''Kozure Okami'' (''Lone Wolf and Cub''), and Koike also contributed to the scripts for the 1970s film adaptations of the series, which starred famous Japanese actor Tomisaburo Wakayama. In 1992 he himself produced a Lone Wolf and Cub's film Lone Wolf and Cub: Final Conflict which starred Masakazu Tamura. Koike and Kojima becam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tokugawa Ieyasu
was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, which ruled Japan from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was one of the three "Great Unifiers" of Japan, along with his former lord Oda Nobunaga and fellow Oda subordinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The son of a minor daimyo, Ieyasu once lived as a hostage under daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto on behalf of his father. He later succeeded as daimyo after his father's death, serving as a vassal and general of the Oda clan, and building up his strength under Oda Nobunaga. After Oda Nobunaga's death, Ieyasu was briefly a rival of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, before declaring his allegiance and fighting on his behalf. Under Toyotomi, Ieyasu was relocated to the Kanto plains in eastern Japan, away from the Toyotomi power base in Osaka. He built his castle in the fishing village of Edo (now Tokyo). He became the most powerful daimyo and the most senior officer under the Toyotomi regime. Ieyasu preserved his strength i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ninja In Anime And Manga
A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of the samurai. Though ''shinobi'' proper, as specially trained spies and mercenaries, appeared in the 15th century during the Sengoku period, antecedents may have existed as early as the 12th century. In the unrest of the Sengoku period, mercenaries and spies for hire became active in Iga Province and the adjacent area around the village of Kōga. It is from these areas that much of the knowledge regarding the ninja is drawn. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century, the ninja faded into obscurity. A number of ''shinobi'' manuals, often based on Chinese military philosophy, were written in the 17t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kodansha Manga
is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' and ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'', as well as the more literary magazines ''Gunzō'', ''Shūkan Gendai'', and the Japanese dictionary ''Nihongo Daijiten''. Kodansha was founded by Seiji Noma in 1910, and members of his family continue as its owners either directly or through the Noma Cultural Foundation. History Seiji Noma founded Kodansha in 1910 as a spin-off of the ''Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai'' (, "Greater Japan Oratorical Society") and produced the literary magazine ''Yūben'' () as its first publication. The name ''Kodansha'' (taken from ''Kōdan Club'' (), a now-defunct magazine published by the company) originated in 1911 when the publisher formally merged with the ''Dai-Nippon Yūbenkai''. The company has used its current legal name since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gekiga
, literally "dramatic pictures", is a style of Japanese comics aimed at adult audiences and marked by a more cinematic art style and more mature themes. ''Gekiga'' was the predominant style of adult comics in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. It is aesthetically defined by sharp angles, dark hatching, and gritty lines, and thematically by realism, social engagement, maturity, and masculinity. History In the 1950s, mainstream Japanese comics (manga) came from Tokyo and was aimed at children, led by the work of Osamu Tezuka. Before Tezuka moved to Tokyo, he lived in Osaka and mentored artists such as Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Masahiko Matsumoto who admired him. Although influenced by Tezuka and his cinematic style, Tatsumi and his colleagues were not interested in making comics for children. They wanted to write comics for adults that were more graphic and showed more violence. Tatsumi explained, "Part of that was influenced by the newspaper stories I would read. I would have an emotiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dark Horse Comics Titles
Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance. This is because the hue sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are inactive when light levels are insufficient, in the range of visual perception referred to as scotopic vision. The emotional response to darkness has generated metaphorical usages of the term in many cultures, often used to describe an unhappy or foreboding feeling. Referring to a time of day, complete darkness occurs when the Sun is more than 18° below the horizon, without the effects of twilight on the night sky. Scientific Perception The perception of darkness differs from the mere absence of light due to the effects of after images on perception. In perceiving, the eye is active, and the part of the retina that is unstimulated produces a complementar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Depictions Of Hattori Hanzō
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tylor, Edward. (1871). Primitive Culture. Vol 1. New York: J.P. Putnam's Son Culture is often originated from or attributed to a specific region or location. Humans acquire culture through the learning processes of enculturation and socialization, which is shown by the diversity of cultures across societies. A cultural norm codifies acceptable conduct in society; it serves as a guideline for behavior, dress, language, and demeanor in a situation, which serves as a template for expectations in a social group. Accepting only a monoculture in a social group can bear risks, just as a single species can wither in the face of environmental change, for lack of functional responses to the change. Thus in military culture, valor is counted a typi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comics Set In The 16th Century
a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate dialogue, narration, sound effects, or other information. There is no consensus amongst theorists and historians on a definition of comics; some emphasize the combination of images and text, some sequentiality or other image relations, and others historical aspects such as mass reproduction or the use of recurring characters. Cartooning and other forms of illustration are the most common image-making means in comics; '' fumetti'' is a form that uses photographic images. Common forms include comic strips, editorial and gag cartoons, and comic books. Since the late 20th century, bound volumes such as graphic novels, comic albums, and ' have become increasingly common, while online webcomics have proliferated in the 21st century. The history ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura period, shoguns were themselves figureheads, with real power in hands of the Shikken of the Hōjō clan. The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, though over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during Heian period in the eighth and ninth centuries. When Minamoto no Yoritomo gained political ascendency over Japan in 1185, the title was revived to regularize his position, making him the first shogun in the usually understood sense. The shogun's officials were collectively referred to as the ; they were the ones who carried out the actual duties of administration, while the Imperial court retained only nominal authority.Beasley, William G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hattori Hanzō
or ''Second Hanzō'', nicknamed , was a famous Ninja of the Sengoku era, who served the Tokugawa clan as a ninja, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. He is often a subject of varied portrayal in modern popular culture. Hanzō was known as an expert tactician and a master of sword fighting. Early life Born the son of (first Hanzō), a minor samurai in the service of the Matsudaira (later Tokugawa) clan. Stephen Turnbull, ''Ninja AD 1460–1650'' (2003), p. 12Joel Levy, ''Ninja: The Shadow Warrior'' (2008), p. 157-158 His birth name is , and he became known as the ''Second Hanzō''. He would later earn the nickname because of the fearless tactics he displayed in his operations; this moniker also distinguished him from Watanabe Hanzo (Watanabe Moritsuna), who is nicknamed . Though Hanzō was born in Mikawa Province (now Iga-chō, Okazaki, Aichi), he often returned to Iga Province, home of the Hattori fami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goseki Kojima
was a Japanese manga artist. He is known for his collaborations with manga writer Kazuo Koike, the most famous of them being ''Lone Wolf and Cub''. Biography Kojima was born in Yokkaichi, Mie, on the same day as Osamu Tezuka. After getting out of junior high school, Kojima painted advertising posters for movie theaters as his source of income. In 1950, he moved to Tokyo. The post-World War II environment led to forms of manga meant for impoverished audiences. Kojima created art for ''kamishibai'' or "paper play" narrators. Kojima then started to create works for the '' kashi-bon'' market but soon started working as an assistant of manga artist Sanpei Shirato. In 1957, he made his manga artist debut with ''Onmitsu Kuroyoden''. In 1967, Kojima created the ninja adventure ''Dojinki'', his first manga for a magazine. In 1970, he and writer Kazuo Koike created ''Kozure Okami'' (''Lone Wolf and Cub''), the first and most famous of their four major collaborations. Koike and Kojima wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samurai Executioner
''Samurai Executioner'', known in Japan as , is a 10-volume manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, the same team that created the popular ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' series. The series was first serialized in Japan, from 1972–1976. ''Samurai Executioner'' is set earlier than ''Lone Wolf and Cub'', with the main character of the former series appearing in a chapter of the latter. The story is set in the Edo period of feudal Japan. It revolves around , nicknamed ''Kubikiri-Asa'' (literally "Neck-chopper Asa", often translated as "Decapitator Asaemon"), a rōnin who is responsible for testing new swords for the shogun. The character is based on a real-life line of sword-testers who served the Tokugawa Shogunate up to the early 19th century. He is also frequently called upon to perform executions. Many of the stories focus not on Asaemon, but on several of the people he meets in the course of his work. More often than not they are the stories of the criminals he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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