Mibu Gishiden

Mibu Gishiden (壬生義士伝) is a Japanese manga series adapted from the novel of the same name written by Jiro Asada and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu.

The manga has been published over a long period of time and went through several publishers. it was first serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Comic Charge in November 2007, it finished in the magazine in January 2009 when the magazine was discontinued and was then transferred to Kodansha's  manga magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, ran from January 2010, to February 2012; and it was moved to the publisher's Homesha's Garaku.mag web manga site in April 2014. In August 2015, the magazine has ceased publication and the manga resumed on its own official website in August 2016. It finished serialization in July 2023, with its chapters have been collected in 13 volumes as of July 2023.

Production
Takumi Nagayasu licensed the original work from Jiro Asada in 2003, and spent about three years researching and creating the setting. He had various physical crises, but by the end of 2023, he finished his manga with about 2,650 pages. Mibu Gishiden is his first historical drama work that he has achieved. Yoshimura and Saito are modeled after the two actors Gō Katō and Yoshio Harada. Nagayasu called the story of the manga as a work faithful to the novel, but created a unique visual expression in the manga so that younger readers unfamiliar with period dramas could easily understand it. He said that Sōrōbun letters, which were translated into modern language under the supervision of Asada, played an important role in the finalization of the original work.

Publication
Adapted from the novel of the same name written by Jiro Asada and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu. The publication was particularly complex and having passed through several publishers. Mibu Gishiden started in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Comic Charge on November 20, 2007, it ran until the magazine was discontinued on January 20, 2009. The series transferred to Kodansha's manga magazine Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on January 9, 2010; and it ceased publication in the magazine on February 9, 2012, and moved to the publisher's Homesha's Garaku.mag web manga site and resumed on April 17, 2014. On August 17, 2015, the magazine has ceased publication, and the series resumed on its own official website on August 5, 2016. In 2020, the health concerns of Takumi Nagayasu, victim of a stroke, also impacted the publication, the manga finished serialization on July 7, 2023.

Kadokawa Shoten published the first and second volumes in May and September 2008, respectively, and Kodansha published the first four volumes from July 2010 to April 2012. Shueisha collected its chapters in thirteen tankōbon volumes, with the first four volumes published on April 17, 2014, and the last volume on July 19, 2023. In France, the manga is licensed by Mangetsu; and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing.

Reception
Mibu Gishiden has been widely acclaimed by critics. Manga Sanctuary gave the manga's first volume a score of 9 out of 10, called its style "realistic" that shows a good flow of emotion, the narrative "engaging" and found the discovery of different aspects of the main character to be a very interesting bias. fellow Manga Sanctuary reviewer also praised the manga, calling its story "full of traditional values" and praising its graphics, calling it like "a little gem" and wrote: "There is particular care taken in the representation of the sets, locations and costumes to make them very realistic and neat, giving it a beautiful immersion." Planete BD reviewer Faustine Lillaz rated the first volume 2 out of 4 "Good" and called it "Surprising", but criticized its screenplay and considered its purpose unclear, which does not highlight its likable characters. It is difficult to immerse the reader in the story and she praised the drawings and gave them a grade of "very good" and called them neat and mature. called the second volume a fairly decent and very encouraging sequel, describing the story as improved and the characters "better developed." Manga News described the manga as a rich historical context, comprehensive, and depicted in great detail, with a story that is "exemplary with precision and richness and with a very realistic design.