Kamui (1964 manga)

Kamui (カムイ伝) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato. It was serialized in Seirindō's monthly gekiga magazine Garo between December 1964 and July 1971, with its chapters collected in 21 volumes. Set in feudal Japan, it tells the story of Kamui, a low-born ninja who has fled his clan and leaves an organization that pursues him and clearly sees the true nature of the Edo period and the discrimination that existed in the feudal system. The series combines historical adventure with social commentary and themes of oppression and rebellion that reflect Shirato's Marxist convictions.

Shirato's manga includes a sequel titled Kamui Den Da Ni-bu (カムイ伝 第二部), illustrated by Tetsuji Okamoto, ran in Shogakukan's magazine Big Comic from May 1988 to April 2000; as well as a spin-off titled Kamui Gaiden (カムイ外伝, カムイ伝 第一部) which were ran in two parts, the first in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday from May 1965 to January 1967; and the second part, titled Kamui Gaiden Dai-ni-bu (カムイ外伝 第二部) ran in publisher's Big Comic from February 1982 to March 1987.

Kamui Gaiden was licensed for English release in North America under the title The Legend of Kamui by Viz Media and Eclipse Comics; in 1967; Kamui Gaiden received an anime adaptation under the title Ninpu Kamui Gaiden that ran for 26 episodes on Fuji TV; the series also received an anime film in 1971, titled Kamui Gaiden: Tsukihigai no Maki, and a live-action film, titled Kamui Gaiden, in 2009. The series is licensed for English release in North America by Drawn & Quarterly, starting in January 2025. By October 2021, the series had over 15 million copies in circulation.

Plot
Kamui is a ninja from the Edo period who has decided to leave his clan. After doing so he is pursued relentlessly by the members of his former clan, who consider him to be a traitor and therefore wish to kill him. Kamui then wanders around Japan to escape from them by using his intelligence and great abilities to survive. In the course of the series, Kamui begins to suffer from paranoia because of his status as a persecuted man. Kamui then started to believe that everybody wished to murder him and became distrusting of everyone he came across.

Publication
The original series written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato, Kamui Den was serialized in Seirindō's monthly gekiga magazine Garo with a total of 74th installments. Its first installment was published in the magazine's December 1, 1964, issue. The series released its final installment in the July 1, 1971, issue of Garo. Seirindō collected its chapters in 21 volumes, released from May 10, 1967, to October 10, 1971.

In November 2023, Drawn & Quarterly announced that they have licensed the manga for English release under the title The Legend of Kamui in North America, and will publish the series in ten omnibus 600-page volumes. The first volume is scheduled to be published on January 14, 2025.

A continuation of the original series, titled Kamui Den Da Ni-bu, illustrated by Tetsuji Okamoto, serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Big Comic from May 10, 1988,  to April 10, 2000. Shogakukan collected its chapters in 22 volumes, released from October 1989 to August 2000.

Sanpei Shirato wrote and serialized a three-installment short stories in Shogakukan's magazine Big Comic, illustrated by Tetsuji Okamoto, Kamui Gaiden: Reunion (カムイ外伝　再会), ran from September 25, to October 24, 2009.

Spin-off
A spin-off titled Kamui Gaiden was published in two parts by Shogakukan's two different magazines. The first part was serialized in Shogakukan's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from May 1, 1965, to January 4, 1967, with first 16 chapters collected in two volumes in May 1966,  and again republished three Volumes in April 1976. The second part, titled Kamui Gaiden Dai-ni-bu, was serialized in the publisher's manga magazine Big Comic from February 25, 1982,  to March 25, 1987. Shogakukan collected its chapters in 20 volumes, released from August 1983 to July 1987.

The series is licensed for English release in North America under the title The Legend of Kamui, Eclipse Comics in Cooperation with Viz Media, published an issue of Kamui Den on May 12, 1987, and published 36 issues of Kamui Gaiden biweekly from June 2, 1987, to November 15, 1988. and Eclipse Comics published a side-story, titled Island of Sugaru, which Viz Media re-published in two volumes in 1990.

Adaptations
in 1967, Kamui Gaiden received an anime adaptation under the title Ninpu Kamui Gaiden (忍風カムイ外伝), which was produced by TCJ and Zuiyo in 1969. It was broadcast in Japan from April 6 to September 28, 1969, on Fuji TV. It ran for 26 episodes. Also Kamui Gaiden received an anime film in 1971, titled Kamui Gaiden: Tsukihigai no Maki (カムイ外伝 月日貝の巻), and a live-action film, titled Kamui Gaiden, in 2009. In January 2010, Funimation licensed the live-action.

Influence
The manga series is considered to be among the most influential manga ever created, having inspired numerous artists, such as Lone Wolf and Cub artist Goseki Kojima and Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto.

Reception
By October 2021, the series had over 15 million copies in circulation. The series became one of the most successful series when it was published in Garo magazine, and it was one of the first manga to be published in English in North America. The series is a historical masterpiece of ninja manga that incorporates historical materialism, combines historical adventure with social commentary and themes of oppression and rebellion that reflect Shirato's Marxist convictions, the manga energized the sixties and seventies student protest movement, it became a symbol of their work, who saw the manga as a work that flipped the usual script, An ideology whose purpose was to eliminate class distinctions.