Mini Review: 47 Ronin

Title: 47 Ronin
Author: Stan Sakai, Mike Richardson
Format: egalley
Pub. Date: February 19th 2014
Source: Netgalley & Dark Horse Comics

★★★

Three stars.

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47 Ronin is a true national story from Japan of a group of samurai that avenge the death of their leader, using extreme examples of bravery, courage, and loyalty.

I'm not going to lie to you, I was unfamiliar with this story until I saw the movie version in theaters. When I found out, during the course of the film, that it is in fact a well known legend, I did a bit of research to learn a bit more information. And then I logged onto Netgalley, saw this graphic novel interpretation, and knew that I had to give it a read.

The artwork is very simplistic, but in a good sense. It looks very traditional to me (someone who has absolutely no knowledge of Japanese art history). The writing was also simple and easy to understand, but I felt that it was lacking. I think it was the character depth/connection. It's very hard to get that across in the confines of a comic, and unfortunately I feel that's the case for this story as well. However, I did really enjoy the additional information provided at the end of the book, as well as the footnotes throughout.

This is a solid read for those with an interest in revenge, samurai, or Japanese culture. Thank you to Netgalley & Dark Horse Comics for the chance to read this.