An outcast, who's been persecuted his whole life, vows to become a ranking samurai and save his people from persecution. Unfortunately, his rage and inability to think lead him to a massive killing spree, culminating in he and his victims (all missing limbs) fighting to the death. In short, nice art. Awful story. Blatantly racist, and more than a bit stupid. At first I really enjoyed the first pages of this manga because the art is gorgeous with the subtle use of colour in the first section really adding an extra pop to all the panels. Then it presented and descended into racist propaganda thatisn't all explained away by it being a period piece. The fact that Gennosuke is portrayed as a mindless beast whenever he picks up a sword - that he can only be tamed by his civilized sword master - that he transforms himself into an armless monster-snake is just such an example of blatant racism, it was hard to bear. I understood the racism the characters portrayed since that was a historical fact, but the racism the author portrayed was not acceptable and completely ruined the rest of the manga for me.

The last half of it also descends into a repetitive killing orgy of handicapped samurai. Hardcore the first time, boring the second, third and fourth times. I've read other manga by this author and I know he has more imaginative plots, but it doesn't show here.