After Japan was forced to open trade with the west in 1854 the Tokugawa shogunate saw more political instability due to rebellion against working with "barbarians". This eventually resulted in the formation of the Roshigumi in late 1862, made up of various ronin commissioned by the bakufu, but when it was discovered that the leader actually planned on working with the imperialists instead of the shogunate, the Roshigumi were disbanded in early 1863. The few who remained loyal to the shogunate were initially reformed as the Mibu Roshigumi, before getting renamed on August 18, 1863 to the Shinsengumi. This group of swordsmen would patrol about then-capital Kyoto & protect bakufu representatives during the final years of the Bakumatsu, before getting involved in the Boshin War as part of the anti-Imperial Ezo Republic. In the end, the Shinsengumi would surrender to Emperor Meiji's forces on June 23, 1869, mere days before the Boshin War ended with the Ezo Republic's surrender. Nearly a century later, from May to December of 1962, author Ryotaro Shiba published 15 short stories about the Shinsengumi in the literary magazine Chuo Koron, which were extremely popular & would be collected into a single book in 1964 titled Shinsengumi Keppuroku/The Shinsengumi's Bloody Wind Records. While the Shinsengumi were initially not looked at fondly for decades after their dissolution, it was through authors like Shiba (& Kan Shimozawa before him, in the 1920s) that the Japanese populace started to look more fondly at the Shinsengumi in retrospect, though that was also in part due to some embellishments & purely fictional stories that showed the group in a positive light, including some by Shiba, seemingly being taken as historical fact.
Regardless, today the Shinsengumi are a common subject for all manner of jidaigeki that take place during the Bakumatsu, not to mention various fictional stories that feature groups plainly inspired by the Shinsengumi, more often than not portraying the group more as heroes than villains.
Thirty years after Ryotaro Shiba's short stories, after Silent Knight Sho got cancelled in late 1992, Masami Kurumada decided that he was done with Shonen Jump & wanted nothing more to do with the magazine. Likely in an attempt to prevent him from going to another publisher, Shueisha seemingly managed to convince Kurumada to move over to (the now defunct) seinen magazine Super Jump, a move previously seen with the likes of Buichi Terasawa, Shinji Hiramatsu, Tatsuya Egawa, Izumi Matsumoto, Kurumada's idol Hiroshi Motomiya, & even Kurumada's former assistant Jun Tomizawa. While not exclusively so, especially after some editorial shake-ups that moved a lot of mangaka to Business Jump & Young Jump, Super Jump was generally treated as the magazine Shonen Jump's readers would "grow up" into. The end result was Akane-Iro no Kaze -Shinsengumi Keppu-ki-/Crimson Wind -The Shinsengumi's Bloody Wind Chronicles-, a manga about the early days of the Shinsengumi which debuted in mid-1993 & whose subtitle definitely looks to be a direct reference to Ryotaro Shiba's stories, only replacing the kanji "録/roku" for "記/ki", i.e. a "chronicle" instead of a "record"; in other words, this wasn't a direct adaptation. In fact, many Japanese sources online, including Wikipedia, erroneously state that the subtitle in Japanese ends with "記録/kiroku", or "written record" (as in sports or official events, like a trial), combing the two kanji... despite the literal manga, in all of its printings, only using "記/ki" in its title & logo. Even the copyright section at the end of my physical copy has furigana that read "Keppu-ki"; technically it's "Keppuu-ki", but I'm using only one "u" purely for visual convenience, a la "shonen" or "shojo".
However, despite being given a new home, Kurumada never made Akane-Iro no Kaze on a consistent basis, only appearing in Issues 17 & 24 of 1993, followed by Issues 5, 9, 21, & 22 of 1994, totaling just six chapters. Since Super Jump was biweekly (i.e. only 26 issues/year) that meant that the last chapter was published right as Kurumada was about to debut B't X for Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shonen Ace... or possibly even being published AFTER B't X had already debuted, since exact dates can be tricky with manga magazines; regardless, it was damn close. Yeah, it's easy to see that Kurumada wasn't pleased with simply being shuffled over to Super Jump, at least at this point, so he eventually took Kadokawa's offer & left his Shinsengumi manga unfinished, possibly even taking some of the hiatuses between chapters to plan out his departure from Shueisha. A compiled released of Akane-Iro no Kaze listed as "Volume 1", despite there being no plans to continue it, was released by Shueisha on January 16, 1995, and on December 12, 2001 (after Kurumada had fully returned to Shueisha, & Super Jump, with Ring ni Kakero 2) two bunkoban books were released titled Never End Heroes, indicating works that Kurumada seemingly had no plans of ever returning to. Never End Heroes 1 contained Raimei no Zaji (which Kurumada did eventually return to in 2014, if only for a handful of pages) & Aoi Tori no Shinwa, while Never End Heroes 2 contained Akane-Iro no Kaze & Evil Crusher Maya. I've previously reviewed the other three manga that were re-released via the Never End Heroes books years ago, so as part of this blog's year-long celebration of Masami Kurumada's 50th Anniversary it's time to finally cover Kurumada's first ever seinen manga, & his final manga from his original 20-year run with Shueisha, Akane-Iro no Kaze.
The year is 1863, & Okita Soushi is a member of the Tennen Rishin-ryu's Shieikan dojo in Tama, Bushu (a.k.a. Musashi Province), and while Soushi has no qualms about helping his teacher Kondo Isami & dojomate Hijikata Toshizo in dealing with ruffians that bring trouble to the area he does refuse to use his sword to kill, much to Hijikata's annoyance; after all, if you don't end the threat right then & there it can return later on. After dealing with such ruffians the Shieikan dojo is told by one of its members, Yamanami Keisuke, that they've been invited by the shogunate to head to the capital of Kyoto to act as a new peacekeeping force called the Shinsengumi. Kondo gathers together seven of his best students to join him, including Soushi & Hijikata, establishing the early days of the Shinsengumi as keepers of the peace in Kyoto. Throughout it all Soushi will come across other talented & powerful swordsmen, but no matter the situation he will do his best to resolve things without resorting to killing.
Since Akane-Iro no Kaze is so short I feel it's easiest to first give a basic rundown of each of the six chapters. Chapter 1, Soushi Sets Off, introduces Soushi, Hijikata, & Kondo as our primary focal characters, with Soushi naturally being the lead, and establishes the idea that Soushi will have to eventually kill by having a woman he cares for in Tama, Mizuki, get raped by a man that Soushi had previously refused to kill, with Mizuki dying shortly after he rescues her; Mizuki's death also leaves Soushi with no remaining reason to stay in Tama. Chapter 2, The Flag of Sincerity, moves things over to a point where the Shinsengumi have just started in Kyoto & introduces another faction within the group, this one led by Serizawa Kamo & focusing on Niimi Nishiki as a rival-of-sorts to Soushi & Hijikata. Unlike Kondo's faction, which still tries to at least enforce things somewhat peacefully, Serizawa's faction has no qualms with showcasing sheer power & force to keep the peace. All the while, Hijikata hires a local artisan to make a flag for the Shinsengumi, one that Soushi recommends be crimson in color, and would become the iconic flag that the real-life group would fly, with the kanji "誠/makoto", or sincerity, emblazoned on it to show that the Shinsengumi should be trusted, rather than feared.
Chapter 3, Takasugi Shinsaku, Moving Like Thunder & Lightning!, sees Soushi & Hijikata meet Takasugi Shinsaku of Choshu, who later would become the leader of the Kiheitai, but at this point was still early into his anti-shogunate escapades. Overall, this chapter simply establishes Takasugi as a future enemy of Soushi's, as well as showcasing the pure dedication of his lover O-Uno & the tuberculosis that would eventually take Takasugi's life in 1867 at only age 27. Chapter 4, Izo, Flower of the Earnest Wish, has Soushi meet Okada Izo of Tosa, who would go on to be known as one of the "Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu" due to his lethal skills with a sword, and after an initial clash between the two results in Soushi needing to buy a new sword (again, since Takasugi had also previously broken one of Soushi's swords) Okada actually tries to help Soushi find a proper replacement so that when the two clash again it'll be a more even fight. Finally, Chapters 5 & 6 tell the two-part story Kiku-ichimonji, named after the type of sword that (through Ryotaro Shiba's short stories) most people tend to associate as being Okita Souji's historical sword type, though in reality it never actually was. Soushi gets the chance to test the Kiku-ichimonji's strength, though, when he gets hunted after by Niimi Iori, the little brother of Nishiki from Chapter 2, who wants revenge for the loss his older brother suffered at Soushi's hands. At the same time, Soushi starts experiencing the early signs of tuberculosis himself, with the historical Okita Souji passing away in his mid-20s on July 19, 1868 from the disease; here, though, it's indicated that Kiku-ichimonji may be cursed & could be the cause of Soushi's illness. This finale is likely the most fictional of the stories told here, as there doesn't seem to be any record of Niimi Nishiki having a brother (though, to be fair, Nishiki's pre-Shinsengumi life remains mostly a mystery, to this day), and Iori himself might be Kurumada referencing Tanaka Iori, one of the Mibu Roshigumi that Kondo himself had secretly killed in 1863. Some have speculated that, due to his grave's death date being the same as that of members of the Serizawa faction, October 25, "Tanaka Iori" might have been a pseudonym that Niimi Nishiki had gone under, so Kurumada could have used that to create a younger brother.
Possibly due in part to its irregular serialization, Akane-Iro no Kaze really does feel more like a series of vignettes than it does an actual serialized storyline, minus the last two chapters. Sure, they happen in chronological order & all star Soushi (whose usage of "shi" instead of "ji" looks to be a reference to actor Junshi Shimada, who played Okita Souji in the 1965 TV drama adaptation of Shinsengumi Keppuroku), but they otherwise have no real direct impact or influence on each other, outside of the whole Kiku-ichimonji two-part finale happening due to Soushi breaking yet another sword when fighting Okada Izo. Individually the stories are fine, but there's a real sense of isolation between each of them, which feels a bit odd. Sure, this is based on real-life events & people, but you really do get the feeling that what got made of this manga was just set up for possible later events, though at least with Okada Izo there really wouldn't be a follow up, as the historical Okada would get banished from Kyoto in June of 1864 on the charge of being tattooed, and would return to Tosa. However, there definitely would havebeen more of Takasugi, as well as potentially more involving the Serizawa faction & its dissolution after Serizawa himself was assassinated. Instead, the final chapter simply acknowledges the assassination at the very end via text, as Okita was generally believed to have been involved in it.
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| For some reason this image of Okada Izo is, in my opinion, the most iconic shot from this manga. |
Similarly, characterization is very light here as well, as despite Soushi being the main character he doesn't seem to really change or learn too much from page to page. Right from the start he's already a talented swordsman with a preference to not kill (though by the end of this manga he has no choice but to do his first kill), has a strong friendship with Hijikata (despite in real life the two might not have cared for each other, i.e. Gintama is technically more accurate!), and does his best to come off as friendly & helpful to the citizens & children as possible. Sure, moments with Niimi, Takasugi, & Okada show his more serious side, but even there he's shown to be talented enough to have potentially killed both Niimi & Okada if he really wanted to, but either simply refused to do so out of his own code of honor or he was literally incapable of doing so due to his sword being damaged beyond further use. At least with Takasugi the tables were turned, with Soushi only surviving due to Takasugi's tuberculosis acting up. Meanwhile, Hijikata is much more impetuous in comparison, showing no hesitation in killing, while Kondo honestly barely appears after Chapter 2, though he's at least shown to be imposing in his own way, due to his size & convictions. Beyond them... there really isn't anyone else beyond the various other historical figures that each get a story to themselves. Interestingly enough, one of the most legendary members of the Shinsengumi, Saito Hajime, is nowhere to be seen in Akane-Iro no Kaze, being the only member of Kondo's faction to not be acknowledged in any way!
Still, there is something to be said for Akane-Iro no Kaze not really feeling like most of Masami Kurumada's other manga. There are no wild & crazy, superpowered attacks to be seen here, and even fights themselves are rather short & to the point, much like how most fights between swordsmen likely were back in the day. This is, first & foremost, a semi-historical character drama, and it's really the kind of manga that Kurumada really wouldn't revisit for over 20 years, when he made the semi-autobiographical character drama Ai no Jidai in 2015. Also, I will fully admit that, due to it being a seinen manga (so no furigana to help with kanji) based heavily on Japanese history, this was a trickier manga for me to read, as my knowledge of written Japanese is by no means anywhere near good enough to fully parse everything being said, especially when Kurumada starts going over certain events that the Shinsengumi were involved in during its early days. The manga was by no means impossible to follow along, due to Kurumada having learned plenty by this point in simply telling a story visually, and what I was able to read did help fill in some gaps, but this is definitely not something I'd recommend for those with spotty knowledge of written Japanese to give a try; there's good reason why I held off on reading this for review for so long.
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| Regardless, Kurumada's knack for stylistic moments shines through. |
As for Kurumada's artwork, this is definitely still in his most "iconic" visual style in many regards, so this still looks very recognizably a Kurumada manga in the way that most tend to think, i.e. "It looks close enough to Saint Seiya". That being said, though, there is also an early showcase of Kurumada's more modern style in some regards, namely in the larger focus on overhead shots & the like, and since there aren't really any superpowered attacks to worry about that also means that stuff like one or two-page spreads are actually almost non-existent here. Much like the kind of story it is, Akane-Iro no Kaze has a bit of a distinct visual feel to it among Kurumada's catalog, and you can tell that he was experimenting a little bit with this manga; since it's a seinen manga he also tosses in bare-chested women at least once in almost every chapter. Of course, there's also Kurumada's usage of the Tezuka Star System, but that's also rather unique over here. Due to how Okita Souji is generally portrayed nowadays, it makes sense that Kurumada would NOT use Ryuji Takane as the basis for Soushi here, instead going for more of a mix of Andromeda Shun & Takeshi Kawai, making Soushi one of the scant few Kurumada leads to be notably different looking, from an immediate glance, right up there with Rei Kojinyama from Sukeban Arashi. However, I do feel that Kurumada went a little lazy when it came to some others, as while Hijikata, Okada, & both Niimi Brothers have unique faces there are points where it's fair to think that they all look alike, since all of them are in haori, hakama, & have long hair, meaning that they could be confused as being related; I'm sure there's an element of historical accuracy for this aspect, but it's still worth pointing out.
Amusingly enough, though, Takasugi's character design would be reused wholesale by Kyosuke Takasugi in Otoko Zaka's revival in the 2010s, which does make sense considering that Kyosuke's last name was definitely a direct reference, right down to both men coming from Hagi. Also, despite being pronounced slightly different, Soushi's name is written with the same exact kanji as the historical Okita Souji, which in turn means that it's also the same kanji for "Soushi" as Soushi Date from Fuma no Kojirou; I'm just going to have some silly fun & say that Akane-Iro's Soushi simply reincarnated into FnK's Soushi.
While it's perfectly understandable that the majority of conversation regarding Masami Kurumada's catalog will veer almost exclusively into his long-running works, his history of short-run manga is admittedly a good bit fascinating, because they're often moments where Kurumada zagged instead of zigged. Sukeban Arashi features a female lead & is mostly a comedic series, though the latter half goes more into action. Raimei no Zaji stars a character cloaked in mystery, even to himself, giving the entire thing almost a sort of pulp feel at times. Aoi Tori no Shinwa & Silent Knight Sho were both kind of exceptions to this, since both did look to replicate the success of works that preceded them, namely Ring ni Kakero & Saint Seiya, respectively. Evil Crusher Maya made the titular lead a tragic figure who fought against literal "Evils" to avenge the death of his parents, despite him being raised by Evils after his parents were killed. Ai no Jidai was straight up pure character drama based in large part on Kurumada's own path toward becoming a mangaka. More often than not, it's in these short-run manga where Kurumada was able to truly experiment & try out different twists to his formula, if not eschew it entirely & go for something totally different.
In the end, Akane-Iro no Kaze -Shinsengumi Keppu-ki- is the perfect encapsulation of that idea. This is 100% a series of stories involving the legendary Shinsengumi in its early days, but instead of focusing on the notable events that the group itself was involved in (the violent action at Sumiya-de, the Ikedaya incident, the Akebonotei incident, the Zenzai-ya incident, etc.) it focuses primarily on Okita Souji (or, at least, a fictionalized take on him) as a person. Now, to be fair, if Kurumada had decided to continue making this manga he more than likely would have eventually covered the various incidents that Okita was historically involved in, so the end result here is a manga that really does feel more like a "Volume 1" than anything truly substantial. However, at least when it comes to Kurumada's short-run manga, Akane-Iro no Kaze is honestly one of the better ones to check out, and I do wish it had an English translation so that I could better appreciate it. It's nowhere near as good as Evil Crusher Maya & Ai no Jidai, but I'd still heartily put it above Aoi Tori no Shinwa or Silent Knight Sho, and if I had to rank them I'd probably put it just above Raimei no Zaji & Sukeban Arashi. At the very least, it is truly unique among most of his work simply by being a piece of historical fiction that's focused more on storytelling than being purely about the action.
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With this review I've now written about every single original manga series that Masami Kurumada has ever made, i.e. not a one-shot or something related to a prior work, and aside from a single one-shot have covered Masami Kurumada's entire (professional) catalog up until 2004, plus some stuff afterwards. From here on out all that's left are the various Saint Seiya stuff he's since made in the 21st Century (2004's Tenkai-hen introduction, 2006's Next Dimension, 2018's Episode Zero, 2019's Origin, & 2020's Destiny... plus whatever else he may make in the future), 2022's Fuma no Kojirou Gaiden: Asuka Mumyouchou (which is still being made, as of this review), & a couple of remaining one-shots (1976's Mikeneko Rock & 2022's Seiya ni Kane wa Naru). Ideally I'd love to one day have some sort of write-up for literally everything Kurumada's ever made as a mangaka, but if that never comes to pass I'm at least happy to have covered up to this point... because I know no one else would ever bother to do so in English.
Akane-Iro no Kaze -Shinsengumi Keppu-ki- © Masami Kurumada
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