A bright and sunny sky. The stinging heat. The sound of pouring water on a blade. The convicted last words. Then the slash of the sword as it cuts through the victim's neck as the executioner sends him off. Another person in his large list of beheadings: such is the life of Yamada Asaemon, a man who follows the path of the bushido, a man who deals in death. Kubikiri Asa narrates the daily life of an executioner in the Edo period of Japan, an era of violence, vengeance, greed and justice.

While Samurai Executioner does not have an overarching story, it does present a great variety of themes, the prevalent one being justice. It could be said that said theme is the central piece of the manga, the author delving deep into the procedures of judging. Often dialogues are displayed going into detail of the crimes of the convicted as well as their respective punishments - it is in fact a logical and lengthy process.

An interesting aspect of the manga revolves around the fact that a person executes people for a living: the horror's of only taking a person's life must be a hell, yet for Asaemon it is his daily live. It is truly fascinating to see how this person deals with all the various situations, ranging from demented prisoners to the vengeance of the executed relatives. He could be described as a resourceful and very noble man, firm in the path of the bushido; a man who does not sway from his beliefs. He seeks to understand the people he takes their life from, and in doing so, he does much more than his profession obliges him to. He does not harm people willingly: he sincerely hopes one day people won't need to be judged by the sword, were no longer executions are necessary.

The story also focuses on the victims backgrounds and their respective crimes, painting to the reader their psychological state, as well as their ultimate stance on their respective execution. Other times the episodic chapters are dedicated to simply illustrate some facts and thoughts associated with beheading a person. A beheading is a ritual - not a simple murder. It cuts the crime(s) of the victim, not the person. That is at least the purpose of such action, the condemned must die realizing the gravity of their sins. Another interesting aspect to consider are the detailed descriptions on how people should live, how their respective action can influence society and their peers.

The art style is outstanding and very befitting to depict the cruelty and harsh conditions and lives of society in that period. Very detailed drawings of the various backgrounds and the characters within, portraying magnificently the actions of the people: facial expressions and such serve to enhance the seriousness of the situation. It must be mentioned that some of the character designs can be at times distornioned a bit, as well as lacking - yet this was mainly due to the clothing style of that period, which was very similar, and thus difficult to create a very distinguishable cast. The depiction of executed people is very real: it can get quite gory in some occasions, yet is never overdone.

Kubikiri Asa was a great read, from the detailed and lengthy explanations on some of the crimes as well as the various reasonings behind the punishments, to the characters and great art style. Naturally, for those in search of a story with a specific goal in mind won't find it here, yet the description of the daily life of Yamada Asaemon and his hardships are more than enough to compensate for it. I can wholeheartedly recommend Samurai Executioner to anyone with a slight interest in the historical genre.

Thank you for reading.