Summary
- Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru failed to find success in Weekly Shonen Jump, despite being written by Masashi Kishimoto, due to a lack of strong identity and competition from other popular manga series.
- The manga's writing focused on character growth and familial bonds, but suffered from long-winded info dumps and over-designed characters.
- The manga's cancellation after only 43 chapters was surprising, but it struggled to stand out and execute its ideas effectively. Fans should still hold out hope for Kishimoto's future projects.
After fifteen years of publication in the renowned magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, Naruto ended its massively successful run in 2014. While fans of the series continued to enjoy the ongoing anime franchise and accompanying sequel manga Boruto, there was also a lot of anticipation as to what new project series creator Masashi Kishimoto might work on next. Kishimoto himself mentioned that he was already working on new ideas some time after Naruto ended, building anticipation for work he might bring out down the line.
In 2019, Kishimoto finally debuted his second original work, Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru. The series launched in Weekly Shonen Jump and was illustrated by his former assistant, Akira Okubo. Though initial reception to this new manga was good, it failed to find a foothold in the magazine and was canceled less than a year later, ending its run at only 43 chapters. While manga in Weekly Shonen Jump can often be canceled very quickly, it was a surprise to many to see it happen to one written by such a celebrated author. Why did Samurai 8 fail where its predecessor succeeded?
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A Spacefaring Sci-Fi Samurai Story
In a futuristic world where space travel is common and robots are everywhere, samurai are cyborg warriors with bodies that can heal from almost any wound. The young Hachimaru dreams of becoming a samurai himself and protecting space from ruthless villains. However, he was born sickly, and he has been connected to a life support device for as long as he can remember. His father is strict and overbearing, meaning that the only way he can achieve his dreams is through the virtual reality fighting game he plans day in and day out.
One day, however, he is visited by a mysterious blind cat named Daruma, who is secretly a legendary samurai of old. When his home is attacked by a ronin, Hachimaru ends up coming into contact with a locker ball, which grants him the undying cyborg body of a samurai. Having suddenly achieved his dearest dream, Hachimaru begins a new adventure with Daruma to save the world from certain doom.
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A Mixed Bag of Strengths and Weaknesses
With Samurai 8's writing being done by Masashi Kishimoto, there's a strong focus on familial bonds and character growth. Hachimaru starts off as a coddled brat who hates his father's overbearing nature and acts on impulse and impatience, but over the course of the series slowly comes to mature as a samurai and a person. As he does, he slowly begins to appreciate the things his father has done for him, and he does his best to show his gratitude by becoming a great samurai. Hachimaru's character arc in this manga easily matches some of the better character arcs in Naruto.
Unfortunately, the manga still suffers in other areas. While the world of Samurai 8 is unique, featuring elements taken from both sci-fi stories and traditional Japanese aesthetics, this often leads to long-winded info dumps that hinder the story's flow. At the same time, while Akira Okubo does a valiant job of emulating Kishimoto's style, the characters are often incredibly over-designed and the landscapes are both busy and confusing. Samurai 8 ultimately lacks a lot of the strong composition and crisp character designs that made Naruto so renowned and recognized.
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There Was Just too Much Good Competition
Despite Kishimoto's attempts to make a unique and unconventional story, Samurai 8 ends up coming off as a rather generic shonen battle manga. While it had an interesting setting and a power system with potential, it lacked a strong identity that would make it stand out from its peers. Its only real defining strength was being written by Masashi Kishimoto, but even that name recognition would not manage to carry the series for long.
To make things worse, Samurai 8 ran alongside several serious heavy hitters that dominated the readership of Weekly Shonen Jump. My Hero Academia, Black Clover, and Demon Slayer had been running for years at that point, while more recent hits like Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man managed to make a splash much faster than Samurai 8 could. With so many big hits in the same magazine, it's no surprise that the manga failed to make an impression with the readers, what with its confusing worldbuilding and generic storyline.
In the end, Samurai 8 ended with only 43 chapters under its belt. It's not the first time that a renowned mangaka failed to find success with a series, but the magnitude of it happening to a creator of a titan like Naruto was certainly surprising to everyone. Unfortunately, it's hard to disagree with the decision; while Samurai 8 had some good ideas, it ultimately struggled to execute them in a way that would put it above its competitors and peers. Still, with Kishimoto still working in the manga industry, fans should not lose hope that he might return with another original idea.
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