I am always skeptical picking up anything set in feudal Japan for fear that I will find the usual anime, over-the-top kill-fests that many writers and artists love to create. This samurai book is not that, and there's much to appreciate here. For one, the tone feels very authentic, particularly when one considers that the author is French. There is great love for Japanese history on the page, but it's mixed well with enough mythical fantasy to not take itself as historical fiction. I also like that the protagonist, the nominal Samurai Taeko himself, is not invincible, which is another problem many similar tales can fall victim to. He is good, but he isn't that good.

There are problems. There's a definite over-sexualization of the women in the book (you see them naked, but never a man), but at the same time the power structures in place allow for equality. Women can beat men in combat fairly easily here. The story is also fairly rote and predictable and is possibly even over-edited. I felt like there were holes between panels at times.

In all, I would read a second volume of this. I'm not sure that it's memorable, but I enjoyed it.