The manga tells the story of Musashi Natsuki, an aspired kendo swordsman. He was born to Eiichiro and Kayo Natsuki, in Iwate Prefecture of the Northeast region. Both his parents were acclaimed kendo swordsmen, especially his father Eiichiro who was nationally famous. After Eiichiro's death accidentally caused by his rival Kunihiko Tōdō's tsuki, Musashi vowed to defeat Kunihiko one day. Unfortunately, Kunihiko retired from kendo out of guilt, and Musashi then aimed to beat his son Shura Tōdō instead. There was no hard feeling between them, however, and they remained good friends. Musashi trained hard as a child under the guidance of his mother Kayo, who had retired from professional kendo and now only did her day job as a full-time grade school teacher at Musashi's school, but he also got more practice from the local dojo with Ranko Todoroki, who later became one of his closest friends. From volume 13, after Musashi finally defeated Shura at the national championship, the story jumped forward to when Musashi was 15 and the "Youth Series" started. Musashi went to Kaiyo High and met new friends and stronger fellow kendo swordsmen. But during the time there, he realized his shortcomings, and wanted to be stronger and learn more from various schools of kendo in Japan. Thanks to Kayo's words of encouragement, he made up his mind, halted his high school education, traveled from dojo to dojo and challenged their best swordsmen, just like his legendary namesake Miyamoto Musashi did, until he was ready to face off very strong opponents at the final national championship. The story takes place in the Northeast region, therefore the characters spoke their local dialect and accent, and furigana is frequently used to gloss obscure dialectal words.
Musashi no Ken is written and illustrated by Motoka Murakami and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday from April 8, 1981 to September 25, 1985. The individual chapters of the manga were collected into 24 tankōbon volumes published by Shogakukan between October 20, 1981 and November 18, 1985. The series was re-released in 11 tankōbon volumes between May 16, 1992 and January 14, 1994, then again in 10 tankōbon volumes between November 16, 2000 and July 17, 2001.
Anime
The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Eiken, directed by Toshitaka Tsunoda. It was broadcast in 72 episodes on TV Tokyo between April 18, 1985 and September 26, 1986. The episodes were released by Geneon Universal Entertainment over 13 DVDs between February 25, 2004 and July 28, 2004. 3 DVD boxes containing all 72 episodes were released by Geneon between February 25, 2004 and July 28, 2004. The opening theme is "Hadashi no Soldier" by Kousuke Shimoyama, and the ending theme "Otoko-tachi no Chizu" by Kousuke Shinoyama.
Reception
's Justin Sevakis commends the unusual realism of the anime, stating "it refuses to sugar-coat the awful, dangerous and sad aspects of life, but attacks them with a smile, a sense of humor, and a resolute strength that's incredibly inspiring." He also commends the setting of the anime in "the idyllic small cities and towns among Iwate Prefecture, the poetry of Kenji Miyazawa is often invoked, giving a strong sense of peace and nature that we seldom think of in anime."
