Print Review: Samurai Deeper Kyo volumes 1-6

Review Samurai Deeper Kyo volumes 1-6Written by WarpshadowRating good/ very good

With the fact that thousands upon thousands of manga series exist the truth of the matter is that some shows will look like each other. This does not mean that plagiarism is involved or that either series is entirely derivative.

Of all the wanted criminals of the early Edo era none is more dangerous than Demon Eyes Kyo who is rumored to have killed over a thousand men. Since he has a million Ryo bounty on his head he is an irresistible target for bounty hunter Yuya Shina. What she actually finds is Kyoshiro Mibu, a rather harmless looking medicine seller. Even he doesn’t have a million ryo on his head he does have a small bounty on his head so Yuya decides to take him in. When the two run into trouble Demon Eyes Kyo appears as a separate personality within Kyoshiro.

The first thing that I suspect many people think when they see Samurai Deeper Kyo is that it is a rip off of Ruroni Kenshin. In truth the two series are radically different despite their similar premises. Kyo has an air of mystery about the main character that starts to reveal itself in the third volume. I won’t give out details but Kyo is more than a simple dark side. That that Kyo is a pretty neat action series with plenty of nifty sword fights and a cast of fun characters who have their dark sides. I wouldn’t recommend Samurai Deeper Kyo as a classic among those of it’s genre but would not dissuade anybody from buying it especially if they have a space for another manga series in their time and budget and have a bit of patience for the story to get off the ground.