- Rashomon is one of the greatest movies that Japan has given us. 47 Ronin is one of Japan’s greatest legends. Victor Santos and Dark Horse have given us a book that asks “What if these two stories were connected?”
Rashomon is the story of a murder investigation where each of the witnesses swears that their testimony is the absolute truth, but only one can be right. 47 Ronin is the story of the Samurai who, after their lord was unjustly disgraced, took their bloody revenge on the rival responsible for it.
Victor Santos’ comic is divided into two halves, each one adapting one of those stories. Inspector Kobayashi is the official assigned to investigate the crime each story centers on, and the more he learns the facts of each case, the less certain he becomes that the truth behind either of them will ever come to light.
Santos has done an excellent job of adapting two of Japan’s great classics, and his art is absolutely gorgeous. If you’re familiar with the original stories, you owe it to yourself to see what he’s done with them; if not, you owe it to yourself to change that.
Recommendation: Buy!