SAMURAI LEGEND

Furuyama and Taniguchi have produced a fictional work based on actual events that took place in Japan in 1649 and 1650. Yagyu Jubei is a legendary swordsman, still written about in novels and on television. The real Jubei was a martial artist loyal to the ruling Tokugawa house, and during the period covered here, the Tokugawas struggle for power against the retired emperor. The Yagyu family includes Jubei's father, Yagyu Munenori, a master sword fighting instructor and leader of a secret organization that supports the Tokugawa family and provides them with intelligence. Jubei's younger half brother, Lord Rokumaru, will later succeed their father as the organization's head. The story itself is set within a framing sequence, narrated in 1899 by Kaishu Katsu, an aged political leader who is another actual historical figure. While some critics call Katsu a traitor, Furuyama feels his actions helped save Japan from a bloody civil war and bases much of this graphic novel on the discussion and quotations of Katsu, who makes the point that if Japan had gone through this war it might very well have fallen prey to imperialistic European powers (as India and China did). Taniguchi makes Jubei look almost like a superhero, often taking on multiple opponents and defeating them. Many sequences consist of wordless combat scenes, and Taniguchi admits in his notes that his initial motive for working on the book was to draw fighting scenes. Indeed, violence may play too large a role here for mature readers. (Aug.)