Die Wergelder isnt Samuras magnum opus however its an excellent manga. This is a tough series to recommend due to its graphic nature. I genuinely believe its best to be comfortable with Samuras style before reading it as the first chapter can be a lot. Even with the context of the manga that chapter is a bit of an oddity. However it establishes some very important elements: The drug trade the exploitation of children government secrecy a revenge tale and the inherent tragedy of it all. In general I think Blade of the Immortal BOTI eases you into some of the more sexual elements on display and the horrific violence that can be afflicted on the characters. Its somewhat of a blend of his more obscure works Brute Love Bradherley no Basha Harukaze no Snegurochka Ohikkoshi with BOTI characterisation and scope being interwoven. Art This section will be similar to my Wave Listen to Me review as a lot of the core strengths from there is applied here. Samura is one of the best working artists in the industry. His ability to depict subtle features of people and human expressions is extraordinary. Just from the composition of the frame the lightning informs so much about the characters perspective. As this is a more veteran Samura hes not struggling to find his specific style its just as polished as the latter half of BOTI but from the beginning. The mans depiction of the human anatomy is wonderful you can just immediately tell hes done sketches of people with his unique and indistinguishable art style. Its less experimental than BOTI however its more creative than Wave Listen to Me which is appropriate for the kind of narrative he is exploring here. Panelling This is easily his best panel work by far. This is due to the focus of the manga being more actionoriented. He coined a term called FAPMA which stands for Flash and Pretentious Martial Arts. This is most readily apparent with Jie Mao who is an excellent asskicking character. Theres this wonderful flow throughout even the nonaction sequences but those actionoriented sequences are where he flexes his ability as an artist. Hes not just an excellent artist but an excellent comicbook artist akin to old Disney Tezuka or Toriyama. DialogueWriting: Samuras dialogue is some of the best in the industry. Ive stated this numerous times but he has written some of the best female characters depicted in this medium largely due to his dialogue. The character interaction is never clunky but rather natural. The writing is excellent the plotting so far has an excellent pace to it and its rather intricate. As the series progresses the scope widens and has some interesting ramifications. As a whole Im interested in all the plot lines from Nami Jie to Shinobu. Samura has given these characters a good amount of depth especially with the limitedonscreen presence utilising his time very efficiently. I love all the main characters here and I want to see them succeed. I would like to note the atmosphere is also brilliant which is a combination of excellent writing and being a great artist. Conclusion To cut this short this is a fantastic series from one of the best in the industry. There are some overthetop elements but its executed with sincerity and heart. Its a shame there is not much discussion for the series due to its lack of accessibility being bimonthly and being released in omnibuses so each release takes up to 35 years. Ive recently reread volumes 14 to read volumes 56 and the quality progressively gets better. In volumes 56 theres a ton of lore being dropped the plot progressed in very meaningful ways recontextualising some past events and interesting character explorations. The artwork and panelling are fantastic the writing is intricate and its a highquality series which is what you expect from Samura. I can see this series getting better and better as it progresses. I would recommend it but the caveat is the slow release as hes releasing Wave Listen to Me Monthly.