I think the enjoyment with this manga hinges on whether one views it as discriminatory or not. From my understanding, it seemed that the author was objecting to the discrimination against the Buraku. If you look past whether you view the story as derogatory or not, the story and characters are decent enough for a revenge plot, with fleshed out motives and well drawn art. The only flaw I really found in it was how ridiculous the crippled fighting was. Also, the inspired story Shigurui, shows just how much better this work could have been with the crippled factor majorly toned down, therefore the 7/10. Earlyon in the work you can tell why others may not have found it distasteful; the "racism" which is technically inherited classism. I did not see it as being anti-Buraku but instead it showed how unfairly they were treated (if one who discriminated against the Buraku saw this, I think it would show them how ludicrous their viewpoint can be).

It makes sense that if a man’s entire family was slain due to classist discrimination that the man would have much rage... It also makes sense that by the kindness of 1 man amidst the corruption that he was able to control that hatred, yet even then he was looked down upon by those around him. Rather than it being derogatory towards the Buraku this piece seemed to show the evils of the rest of society and it was very interesting learning about this historical issue.