‘Kagurabachi’ Graduates From Meme Status, Gains Legitimate Traction

Have you read the manga about a scarred swordsman with a tragic past who fights against evil sorcerers affiliated with the Yakuza? Living in modern-day Tokyo, this swordsman comes from a family with great swordsmithing and sorcery history. Is this Demon Slayer since there are sword arts involved? If not, maybe this is the story of a new character from Jujutsu Kaisen with a special cursed technique and a great affinity for skillfully cutting people down with katanas. Maybe it’s neither of those two titles, and it’s just another character to be introduced as Denji’s friend from Chainsaw Man.

While the similarities exist, this is actually a manga called Kagurabachi by author Hokazono Takeru. The manga has been frequently compared to Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Chainsaw Man because of its similarities with all three titles. The main character, Rokuhiro Chihiro, is a highly skilled swordsman and sorcerer. The plot also follows Chihiro’s vengeance against his father’s killers and the search for six powerful katanas forged by his father that were taken by a bunch of evil sorcerers. There are many other similarities in design, such as Chihiro’s scar and his sword and sorcery techniques, to the three popular manga titles. But Kagurabachi recently outranked both Jujutsu Kaisen and Chainsaw Man respectively, and claimed second place in Shueisha’s Manga Plus “Hottest” section.

Some argued that the only reason Kagurabachi gained this much attention was that Jujutsu Kaisen had a break week, and that resulted in the shelving of Chapter 239 until further notice. There are even those who think that the manga wouldn’t have been popular if it wasn’t the butt of many memes. As of this article, there have only been five chapters released. It may be true that many people came to know about Kagurabachi through memes, but many are also starting to appreciate its beautiful art style. It’s gory because of the subject matter, but the art is beautiful and haunting in some panels. It’s too soon to say that the manga’s just an overhyped trend. It’s best to let it cook its plot before debating whether or not it’s “peak fiction.”

(featured image: Shueisha/Takeru Hokazono)