is a gekiga

Gekiga

is Japanese for "dramatic pictures." The term was coined by Yoshihiro Tatsumi and adopted by other more serious Japanese cartoonists who did not want their trade to be known as manga or "irresponsible pictures." It's akin to Will Eisner who started calling his comics "graphic novels" as opposed...

 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...

 created by the writer Kazuo Koike

Kazuo Koike

is a prolific Japanese manga writer, novelist and entrepreneur.-Biography:Early in Koike's career, he studied under Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito and served as a writer on the series....

 and the artist Goseki Kojima

Goseki Kojima

was a Japanese manga artist.-Biography:Kojima was born on the same day as Osamu Tezuka. After getting out of junior high school, Kojima painted advertising posters for movie theaters as his source of income....

 and published in Weekly Gendai magazine (Kodansha

Kodansha

, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...

). Unlike their previous collaborations on Lone Wolf and Cub

Lone Wolf and Cub

is a manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, and is widely recognized as an important and influential work.Lone Wolf and Cub...

and Samurai Executioner

Samurai Executioner

Samurai Executioner, known in Japan as , is a 10-volume manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, the same team that created the popular Lone Wolf and Cub series. The series was first serialized in Japan, from 1972–1976, arriving two years after Lone Wolf and Cubs start.The...

, this story focuses on two historical figures from 16th-century Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Path of the Assassin is the story of Hattori Hanzō

Hattori Hanzo

, also known as , was a famous samurai and ninja master of the Sengoku era, credited with saving the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu and then helping him to become the ruler of united Japan. Today, he is often a subject of modern popular culture.-Biography:...

, the master ninja whose duty it was to protect 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...

, who would grow up to become shogun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 and unify Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The creators poetically describe the story as "Lifelong Friends, with the Same Dreams, Striving to Grow into a Rising River." The 15-volume series has been reprinted by Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

, translated into English and oriented in the original right-to-left reading format.

Publication history

Dark Horse manga volumes:

• Volume 1. Serving in the Dark (July 2006).
• Volume 2. Sand and Flower (August 2006).
• Volume 3. Comparison of a Man (November 2006).
• Volume 4. The Man Who Altered the River's Flow (December 2006).
• Volume 5. Battle of One Hundred and Eight Days (February 2007).
• Volume 6. Life's Greatest Difficulty (April 2007).
• Volume 7. Center of the World (June 2007).
• Volume 8. Shinobi with Extending Fists (August 2007).
• Volume 9. Battle for Power - Part 1 (October 2007).
• Volume 10. Battle for Power - Part 2 (March 2008).
• Volume 11. Hikuma Castle (April 2008).
• Volume 12. Three Foot Battle (May 2008).
• Volume 13. Hateful Burden (September 2008)
• Volume 14. Bad Blood (January 2009)
• Volume 15. One Who Rules the Dark (May 2009)

See also

• Kozure Okami (Lone Wolf and Cub
  Lone Wolf and Cub
  is a manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Yorozuya Kinnosuke, and is widely recognized as an important and influential work.Lone Wolf and Cub...
  
  )
• Kubikiri Asa (Samurai Executioner
  Samurai Executioner
  Samurai Executioner, known in Japan as , is a 10-volume manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, the same team that created the popular Lone Wolf and Cub series. The series was first serialized in Japan, from 1972–1976, arriving two years after Lone Wolf and Cubs start.The...
  
  )