The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls (～柳生忍法帖～) is a Japanese manga series by Masaki Segawa, an adaptation of a novel Yagyū Ninpōchō by Futaro Yamada. It was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from May 2005 to June 2008, with its chapters collected in eleven volumes. Like the author's previous title Basilisk, The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls is based on a novel from Yamada's Ninpōchō series and can therefore be considered a sequel to Basilisk, especially as several of the same historical characters featured in Basilisk make a return appearance. Its story centers on seven female survivors of the Hori clan, aided by Yagyū Jūbei, and their quest of vengeance. Del Rey Manga licensed the manga for an English-language release in North America; they published seven volumes from October 2007 to November 2009. After Del Rey Manga's license expired, in October 2012, Kodansha USA acquired the license for digital in North America, released the full manga digitally from August 2016 to April 2017.

Plot

In the Nineteenth Year of Kannei (1642), a rebellion by the Hori clan against Katō Akinari, the daimyō of Aizu, has been suppressed through the intervention of the Tokugawa shogunate. Placed into the custody of the Seven Spears, Katō's brutal group of personal enforcers, the Hori men are dragged to the Tōkei-ji "Divorce Temple" at Kamakura where the Hori women had been hiding. Despite a law passed by the former shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu forbidding men to enter the temple, the Seven Spears force their way in and brutally slaughter the Hori women in front of their husbands and brothers, before proceeding to murder them too. The massacre is stopped only by the intervention of Princess Sen, the Tōkei-ji Temple's guardian and older sister to the reigning shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. When the Seven Spears agree to depart, only seven of the Hori women are left alive. In retribution for the violation of Tōkeiji Temple and those who she had taken under her care, Princess Sen sends a message to the famous monk Takuan Sōhō. She asks him to locate a person who can train the seven Hori women in the arts of ninjutsu to seek their revenge. The one chosen is Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, son of Yagyū Munenori and former instructor to the shogun. With Jubei's instruction and guidance, the Hori women begin their war against the Seven Spears and ultimately Katō himself.

Characters

The Hori Clan

The Katō Clan and the Ashina

The Ashina

A clan of ninja who once ruled over Aizu, the Ashina rescued Lord Katō seven years prior to the manga's beginning when he was attacked by an unknown assailant while out hawking. In gratitude, Katō selected seven of the strongest Ashina to be his personal bodyguards and enforcers, naming them the Seven Spears of Aizu after the historical Seven Spears of Shizugatake whom his father, Katō Yoshiaki, had led. The Ashina are as perverse as their Lord and whenever Katō grows bored with any of his consorts, the unlucky women are given to the Seven Spears who rape and torture them to death.

The Seven Spears

Others

Publication

The Yagyū Ninja Scrolls was serialised in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine from May 2, 2005, to June 16, 2008. Kodansha, collected the individual chapters into eleven volumes between November 2, 2005 and August 6, 2008. In May 2007, the series was licensed for an English-language release in North America by Del Rey Manga, which released seven volumes from October 2007 to November 2009. In October 2010, the series was re-licensed by Kodansha USA, and they released the full manga digitally from August 2016 to April 2017. In October 2012, the digital manga platform JManga added the series under the title The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan to its service.

Volumes

Reception

In Jason Thompson's online appendix to Manga: The Complete Guide, he praised the layouts of the manga, and described the character designs as "reminiscent of Go Nagai". Theron Martin, writing for Anime News Network about the first two volumes, enjoyed the attention to historical detail, but felt the character designs were "overly harsh". A.E. Sparrow, writing for IGN, appreciated the distinct character designs for the women and their enemies. In a 2007 reader poll of manga by About.com, The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls won sixth place.