is a period

Jidaigeki

is a genre of film, television, and theatre in Japan. The name means "period drama" and is usually the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—Portrait of Hell, for example, is set during the late Heian period—and the early Meiji era is also a popular...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 authored by Tetsuo Hara

Tetsuo Hara

is a Japanese manga artist famous for drawing the series Fist of the North Star , which he co-authored with Buronson...

, which was serialized in the Weekly Shōnen Jump

Weekly Shonen Jump

is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...

from 1990 to 1993. It is an adaptation of the novel by Ryu Keiichiro and serves as a fictionalized account of the life of Keiji Maeda

Maeda Toshimasu

, better known as ' or Keijirō , was a Japanese samurai of the Sengoku Period through early Edo Period. Toshimasu was born to the Takigawa Clan of Owari, originally the son of Takigawa Kazumasu. He was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa, the older brother of Maeda Toshiie. Toshimasu served under Oda...

.

Main characters

A tall military commander who is said to be the best "kabukimono

Kabukimono

or appeared in Japan, between the end of the Muromachi era and the beginnining of the Edo period, . Kabukimono is often translated into English as 'strange things' or 'the crazy ones', believed to be derived from kabuku meaning 'to slant' or 'to deviate'...

" on Earth. Although the son of Takigawa Kazumasu

Takigawa Kazumasu

, also known as Sakonshōgen , was a samurai retainer to Oda Nobunaga, and later Toyotomi Hideyoshi, during Japan's Sengoku period. His biological son, Toshimasu, was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa and later served Nobunaga alongside Kazumasu and Toshimasu's adopted uncle, Maeda Toshiie.Originally from...

, he was adopted by Maeda Toshihisa, Toshiie's older brother. Despite this, Toshiie dislikes him. A free-spirited warrior who lives by his own will. His beloved horse is named .

A pint-sized shinobi

Ninja

A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...

 who formerly served Yotsui Shume. Even though his younger brother was trampled to death by Keiji and his horse Matsukaze, he becomes fascinated with Keiji to the point of infatuation and becomes his follower.

A character original to the manga. A resident from the Village of Seven Faces who has the face of an oni. He fought against Keiji at first in order to rescue his adoptive daughter Ofū, but comes to admire Keiji's character and eventually becomes one of his followers. He possesses enormous strength, as well as the ability to read minds.

Publication

Hana no Keiji was originally published as a one-shot manga published in issue 50 of 1989 of the Weekly Shōnen Jump. The serialized version was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump as well from issue 13 of 1990 to issue 33 of 1993. 18 tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

editions were published under the Jump Comics imprint. The series was republished in a 10-volume bunkokan edition by Shueisha and a 15-volume kanzenban edition by Tokuma Shoten

Tokuma Shoten

is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...

 from 2004 to 2005.

An English version of the manga was serialized in the short-lived anthology Raijin Comics

Raijin Comics

Raijin Comics was a manga anthology published in North America by the now-defunct Gutsoon! Entertainment and largely backed by the Sega Corporation at its inception. The collected volumes of Raijin Comics titles were published under the Raijin Graphic Novels imprint.The comics were aimed at an...

published by the now-defunct Gutsoon! Entertainment

Gutsoon! Entertainment

Gutsoon! Entertainment, Inc. is a now defunct publisher of English translated manga. The company, headquartered in Encino, Los Angeles, served as the US subsidiary of Coamix, which was founded by Nobuhiko Horie and manga artist Tsukasa Hojo. The company published the English manga anthology Raijin...

, where the first 24 chapters were printed, although no collected volumes were published. Solicitations were released for the first two unpublished collected volumes under the Raijin Graphic Novels imprint.

Related media

• Shueisha released an audiobook version of Hana no Keiji on December 1993. The audiobook stars Akio Ōtsuka as the voice of Keiji Maeda.

• A Hana no Keiji video game was released for the Super Famicom
  Super Nintendo Entertainment System
  The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
  
   by Yojigen on November 18, 1994. It is a competitive fighting game
  Fighting game
  Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
  
   which adapts the storyline of the manga from the beginning and up until the Kotaro Fuma arc.

Related works

After the conclusion of Keiji, Tetsuo Hara adapted another of Keiichiro Ryu's novels titled Kagemusha Tokugawa Ieyasu, centering around Tokugawa Ieyasu

Tokugawa Ieyasu

 was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan , which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara  in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but...

s body double. It was followed by a spinoff titled Sakon, centering around Sakon Shima. In 2008, a Keiji spinoff titled Gifū Dōdō!! Naoe Kanetsugu

Naoe Kanetsugu

was a Japanese samurai of the 16th-17th centuries. The eldest son of Higuchi Kanetoyo, Kanetsugu was famed for his service to two generations of the Uesugi daimyo. He was also known by his court title, Yamashiro no Kami or his childhood/adolescent name, Higuchi Kanetsugu .Kanetsugu served first as...

, written by Tetsuo Hara and Nobuhiko Horie and illustrated by Yuji Takemura, began to be serialized in the Weekly Comic Bunch

Weekly Comic Bunch

is a defunct Japanese manga anthology marketed to young adults that was edited by Coamix and published weekly by Shinchosha from 2001 throughout 2010...

.