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365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice
J. P. Kalonji wields a clean, street-informed style to deliver a tale that glistens with blood and drama, yet is ultimately uplifting. Nearly four-hundred pages long, this graphic novel employs full-page panels to tell the story of an Edo-era swordsman's quest for survival and enlightenment. When Ningen leaves his dojo at the request of his master - to travel the world and grow as a swordsman - he embarks on a journey that becomes a metaphor for the cycle of life and every human's spiritual growth.
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
September 11, 2020
For the most part it's really just one big action scene featuring one guy killing off hundreds of samurai. The action is good and the art carries it well, but the characters are left hollow and I at least had little reason to empathize with them or root for them. The last few pages save a little of it, featuring a twist with something resembling an epiphany, the end of a long quest, with some solid philosophy... but it's not quite enough for a third star.
January 29, 2019
Is this good? Well, probably yes. Is it "Boy that's good!" good? No. This is almost four hundred pages short story, which one page is one panel. Thus short. The art is decent, invoking feudal Japan well as the swordsmanship in its frozen form. Figures are in cartoon-ish style and it is not in a bad or disturbing way.
It's a tale about the last samurai from his dojo travelling in a quest to learn the ultimate truth. In fact, Kalonji is trying to tell some classic short Zen wisdom story in comics, but from my point, he's failing in creating a clear solid narrative and especially the "awakening" finish. The second issue is swordfights - the positions and movement are captured well, and if you're equipped with knowledge of how the swordfights look in "real" form (or slightly dramatized one), you can nicely fill in the space between panels. Otherwise, you're just stuck with hard to enjoy action closeup panels.
In conclusion - even if I should be the best target - I'm familiar with Zen Buddhism, feudal Japan and samurai, it's hard to really appreciate something. And one last thing - in Edo era (from other stylization rather early one), it's surprising to see the pistol. Front loaded flint one. It's not impossible but in hands of some vagrant its surprising. But I somehow accepted that. But then - revolver pistol. Together with confusing "last samurai" thing got me over the line between "I liked it" (3 stars) and "It was OK" (2 stars). You can shield yourself with Wyclef Jean, Amnesty International, Thrasher, and Burton snowboards all you need, but the comparison with Balde of the Immortal and Bone is just wrong. Way wrong. Only common thing here is black and white art.
It's a tale about the last samurai from his dojo travelling in a quest to learn the ultimate truth. In fact, Kalonji is trying to tell some classic short Zen wisdom story in comics, but from my point, he's failing in creating a clear solid narrative and especially the "awakening" finish. The second issue is swordfights - the positions and movement are captured well, and if you're equipped with knowledge of how the swordfights look in "real" form (or slightly dramatized one), you can nicely fill in the space between panels. Otherwise, you're just stuck with hard to enjoy action closeup panels.
In conclusion - even if I should be the best target - I'm familiar with Zen Buddhism, feudal Japan and samurai, it's hard to really appreciate something. And one last thing - in Edo era (from other stylization rather early one), it's surprising to see the pistol. Front loaded flint one. It's not impossible but in hands of some vagrant its surprising. But I somehow accepted that. But then - revolver pistol. Together with confusing "last samurai" thing got me over the line between "I liked it" (3 stars) and "It was OK" (2 stars). You can shield yourself with Wyclef Jean, Amnesty International, Thrasher, and Burton snowboards all you need, but the comparison with Balde of the Immortal and Bone is just wrong. Way wrong. Only common thing here is black and white art.
May 9, 2024
It was okay. Packed with action, which were also the best drawings throughout the book, it lacked substance. Yes, Ningen, the main character finds peace in the end but it was all very predictable, quite monotone, borderline boring.
The photographic composition of the action scenes is what I liked the most.
The photographic composition of the action scenes is what I liked the most.
October 9, 2013
I read this yesterday.
It was on my pile of comics to read - and since i had nothing better to do - decided to grab it and give it a go.
Ningen is on a quest - in order to become a master samurai (and boy - it is a lot of work!).
It is a unsual book - due to the fact that each page only has a panel. And i was suprised to see that it worked (to some level). It works on the level that you can absorb the story in a different way (my advice - stick a little bit in each of the panels without words - or else you read in 30 minutes). It will become a bit repetitive at the end of the book, since there is so much you can do with swords and blood.
The story is ok - so great flourishs and big inuendos. A simple story of revenge - that translates into a life changing journey (with some lessons learned on the way).
All this with a lot of swords and blood.
Nice work and effort from the writer. It appears as a first work (if not - sorry for the mistake) - and i appreciate it for that. Will check new works in the future.
It was on my pile of comics to read - and since i had nothing better to do - decided to grab it and give it a go.
Ningen is on a quest - in order to become a master samurai (and boy - it is a lot of work!).
It is a unsual book - due to the fact that each page only has a panel. And i was suprised to see that it worked (to some level). It works on the level that you can absorb the story in a different way (my advice - stick a little bit in each of the panels without words - or else you read in 30 minutes). It will become a bit repetitive at the end of the book, since there is so much you can do with swords and blood.
The story is ok - so great flourishs and big inuendos. A simple story of revenge - that translates into a life changing journey (with some lessons learned on the way).
All this with a lot of swords and blood.
Nice work and effort from the writer. It appears as a first work (if not - sorry for the mistake) - and i appreciate it for that. Will check new works in the future.
November 1, 2016
It was good, or maybe it just wasn’t bad. The art is really expressive and told the story well. And it would need to since it’s nearly 400 pages of a panel-per-page comic with very few words.
The story is of Ningen who was sent on his way by his Master. While he searches for the meaning of life, he happens upon a man that tells him that he will only find the answer to the question once he’s killed 365 samurai. His journey progresses through the seasons and the art pulls you along where the dialogue fails to. And when he reaches the end he does find an answer.
That sounds great, but the epiphany didn’t live up to the quest; it was rather anticlimactic. It’s the kind of story I would say to read for yourself, enjoy the art, but don’t expect too much in the end.
The story is of Ningen who was sent on his way by his Master. While he searches for the meaning of life, he happens upon a man that tells him that he will only find the answer to the question once he’s killed 365 samurai. His journey progresses through the seasons and the art pulls you along where the dialogue fails to. And when he reaches the end he does find an answer.
That sounds great, but the epiphany didn’t live up to the quest; it was rather anticlimactic. It’s the kind of story I would say to read for yourself, enjoy the art, but don’t expect too much in the end.
August 17, 2012
Chistoso porque lo leí digital justo por un error. Me pasaron el archivo con el nombre de Like a Velvet Globe cast in Iron, si el de Daniel Clowes, me dio la curiosidad por el nombre 365 samurais.
Empezó bien los dibujos son bonitos, blanco y negro no hay pierde en eso. Y la historia empieza a sentirse completamente vacía como a la mitad del libro. Y ya para cuando terminas quisieras no haberla leído. Se clava demasiado en ser filosófico que termina con un argumento super barato.
Definitivamente no lo lean. Si quieren ver las ilustraciones esta bien, pero en general el libro es pobre.
Empezó bien los dibujos son bonitos, blanco y negro no hay pierde en eso. Y la historia empieza a sentirse completamente vacía como a la mitad del libro. Y ya para cuando terminas quisieras no haberla leído. Se clava demasiado en ser filosófico que termina con un argumento super barato.
Definitivamente no lo lean. Si quieren ver las ilustraciones esta bien, pero en general el libro es pobre.
May 28, 2010
Sigh. I had hope for this volume as the title sounded cool and funny and the art was interesting. While action-packed, there just didn't seem like there was any point to everything the protagonist was doing. It's pretty nihilistic and and page 73 features a samurai getting a BJ. Perhaps I'm just reading into it but I'm pretty sure the village girl doing it doesn't have any choice about it. I didn't feel any emotional connection to the protagonist, so his journey was a bust to me.
August 16, 2025
Ningen has only just left his dojo when he learns of its massacre at the hands of a nameless samurai, who tells him killing 365 fellow swordsmen will provide the answers of his quest for purpose - but how will this bloodshed reveal what he seeks...and who waits the end of this violet pilgrimage? Kalonji offers an interesting monochrome style and decent pace, sadly hampered by an unengaging story, a hollow cast, and inconsistent tone of dialogue. Every drop of blood spilled draws him closer to the end of his search...surely?
August 19, 2018
A story of a man whose sole purpose is to grow his skill as a swordsman and kill 365 samurai. The story is told as a one panel of art to a single page. At over 400 pages this book was a quick read but felt there was no point to the story. The art work can go from good to just okay at times. It was one of the those books in which the title and cover sold me but after reading it I felt disappointed.
February 2, 2019
Estaba buscando alguna novela gráfica para leer y encontré entre mis archivos de Dark Horse este título, al parecer lo había descargado hace tiempo pero no lo había leído. Así que antes de borrarlo decidí leerlo. Si se lee en digital se corre super rápido pues la mayoría de imágenes carecen de diálogo y la historia es super simple. Realmente leerlo no te aporta nada como lectura, ni será algo que recordarás. Si no tienes nada que leer y buscas pasar el tiempo por 10 minutos es ideal para eso.
June 1, 2021
Admito que la construcción de las escenas de acción es muy dinámica y fluida, pero la verdad es que el cómic se reduce a eso. Una muerte tras otra sin que te llegue a importar demasiado lo que le pase al protagonista.
Lo peor es saber que dentro de estas 300 páginas se supone que hay algún tipo de lección de vida o de filosofía trascendental... Pero aún sigo intentando pillar el qué (y sospecho que si no lo encuentro es porque no hay más).
Lo peor es saber que dentro de estas 300 páginas se supone que hay algún tipo de lección de vida o de filosofía trascendental... Pero aún sigo intentando pillar el qué (y sospecho que si no lo encuentro es porque no hay más).
October 4, 2020
One panel per page makes this a very quick read. Too quick for my liking, especially when the art is so simple.
The story has couple of surprises, but mostly it is just a fight after a fight with a minimum of conversation. This leaves all of the characters - including the main character - empty shells. In the end one doesn’t really care who wins, dies or whatever...
The story has couple of surprises, but mostly it is just a fight after a fight with a minimum of conversation. This leaves all of the characters - including the main character - empty shells. In the end one doesn’t really care who wins, dies or whatever...
March 3, 2020
A lot of work went into this, and the commitment to full-page panels is an interesting one. But ultimately, there just isn't nearly enough of what works here to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. A good idea, but a largely hollow result.
December 22, 2021
Artwork reminded me of Gorillaz so much that I was hearing their voices in my head while reading the dialogues in the comic. Can't say I liked it though, the art style or the story. An attempt at simple way to present deep meaningfulness but resulting in shallowness.
July 24, 2024
my rating is more of a 2 1/2 but i can’t do halves , rip.
Honestly really cool art :) and a pretty okay concept. The character didn’t feel super rounded but considering how fast and how short the book is that made sense.
Honestly really cool art :) and a pretty okay concept. The character didn’t feel super rounded but considering how fast and how short the book is that made sense.
September 28, 2017
3.5 stars
March 1, 2018
I liked the cover image, but frankly, this just wasn't for me.
November 26, 2018
Los dibujos son fantásticos, muchos de ellos obras independientes, pero la historia se queda un poco corta.
June 14, 2020
DPL hoopla
December 2, 2020
Loved it. Reminded me of Musashi :)
November 24, 2022
Almost all action, all one page panels. They try to add a little story here and there but its weak at best.
February 28, 2013
Für eine Handvoll Reis
Eine einfache Geschichte über spirituelles Erwachen legt Autor und Zeichner J.P. Kalonji mit diesem Schwarzweißcomic vor. Vier Jahreszeiten lang begleiten wir den Samurai Ningen auf seiner Suche, deren Ziel er selbst nicht kennt, auf der er aber eine dunkle Spur vergossenen Bluts hinterlässt.
Die Zeichnungen sind eine Stilmischung aus den holzschnittartigen Zeichnungen Mike Mignolas und den Gorillaz-Gesichtern Jamie Hewletts. Dabei wirkt der Stil etwas unheinheitlich, manchmal nimmt das Mangaelement die Überhand, manchmal der Holzschnitt. Dadurch holpert das Werk etwas und ist ästhetisch nicht wirklich zufriedenstellend. Die Idee, pro Seite nur eine Zeichnung darzustellen, klappt aufgrund des Kleinformats ganz gut - der Band ist dafür aber auch schnell durchgeblättert.
Richtig mitreißend fand ich dieses Werk nicht; die Stilelemente des Schwertkampfs hat man schon oft besser dargestellt gesehen, die Uneinheitlichkeit der Zeichnungen und das mäßig interessante Skript lässt mich auch eher kalt. Einzelne Bilder sind gut gelungen, gehen aber im Rest der Mittelmäßigkeit etwas unter.
An Samuraigeschichten interessierte Comicleser sollten sich eher an Lone Wolf and Cub oder Vagabond halten, die sowohl brilliante Optik als auch herausragende Charakterisierung bieten. In "365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice" findet man leider beides nicht.
Eine einfache Geschichte über spirituelles Erwachen legt Autor und Zeichner J.P. Kalonji mit diesem Schwarzweißcomic vor. Vier Jahreszeiten lang begleiten wir den Samurai Ningen auf seiner Suche, deren Ziel er selbst nicht kennt, auf der er aber eine dunkle Spur vergossenen Bluts hinterlässt.
Die Zeichnungen sind eine Stilmischung aus den holzschnittartigen Zeichnungen Mike Mignolas und den Gorillaz-Gesichtern Jamie Hewletts. Dabei wirkt der Stil etwas unheinheitlich, manchmal nimmt das Mangaelement die Überhand, manchmal der Holzschnitt. Dadurch holpert das Werk etwas und ist ästhetisch nicht wirklich zufriedenstellend. Die Idee, pro Seite nur eine Zeichnung darzustellen, klappt aufgrund des Kleinformats ganz gut - der Band ist dafür aber auch schnell durchgeblättert.
Richtig mitreißend fand ich dieses Werk nicht; die Stilelemente des Schwertkampfs hat man schon oft besser dargestellt gesehen, die Uneinheitlichkeit der Zeichnungen und das mäßig interessante Skript lässt mich auch eher kalt. Einzelne Bilder sind gut gelungen, gehen aber im Rest der Mittelmäßigkeit etwas unter.
An Samuraigeschichten interessierte Comicleser sollten sich eher an Lone Wolf and Cub oder Vagabond halten, die sowohl brilliante Optik als auch herausragende Charakterisierung bieten. In "365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice" findet man leider beides nicht.
November 15, 2011
This work of graphic fiction breaks a major convention: instead of dividing the images into panels, writer/artist J.P. Kalonji makes full use of the available space, telling his story of violence, vengeance, love, and self-discovery in 392 full-page drawings. The format allows Kalonji to convey a lot of information through subtle visual cues. Several pages situate protagonist Ningen low in the image, a field of white stretching far above him, suggesting the immensity of the burden he carries. Even more impressive is how the images interact to suggest deeper meaning. The book’s emphasis on action helps emphasize the quiet moments between the duels, melees, and frays. In each of the four chapters (each representing a season), Ningen encounters a woman who challenges some aspect of his character. These brief interactions suggest significance beneath the genre masquerade, but leave it to the reader to determine the exact meaning. If pictures are the graphic storyteller’s words, then 365 Samurai and a Few Bowls of Rice is visual poetry, a series of simple, striking images that add up to something more, something felt rather than “understood.” By stripping the well-worn samurai genre to its barest elements, Kalonji discovers something more beautiful, more universal, not unlike what Jim Jarmusch did with the Western in the film Dead Man. I write many deconstructions, and I think 365 Samurai provides a decent model of how to follow that particular form.
July 25, 2013
Reading this is a waste of time. It's formatted with one panel per page, which does nothing for the story. It breaks up all of the scenes and makes everything feel very disjointed. The action scenes (which make up basically the whole book) are especially susceptible to this. It also prevents the story from expressing much of anything. When it takes almost 40 pages for 3 sword strokes to happen, you know the story won't have time to do much. That includes doing anything with the characters (all of the, like, four named ones with any dialog). We're given no reason to care about any of them, no time is spent on developing them, and none of them have any personality. The art doesn't to it any favors either. The art style is very stylized. Being stylized isn't a bad thing in and of itself, but it's simply not that appealing. The backgrounds are also plain and boring.
So all in all, 365 Samurai doesn't have anything going for it other than the unconventional panel layout. Well, that and the fact that it only takes like 20 minutes to read. But you should still skip this book as it simply isn't worth 20 minutes of your life.
So all in all, 365 Samurai doesn't have anything going for it other than the unconventional panel layout. Well, that and the fact that it only takes like 20 minutes to read. But you should still skip this book as it simply isn't worth 20 minutes of your life.
January 5, 2012
When I first looked at the cover of this book thought it was going to suck honestly speaking but then I opened it and the artwork was absolutely beautiful. I thought it was going to be the usual manga style but it blew me away how simple and how interesting it was. Thus the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover."
i recommend this one panel comic book for those who are into japanese culture or action comic books. The story is good.
i recommend this one panel comic book for those who are into japanese culture or action comic books. The story is good.
November 3, 2016
Una misión que termina por desarrollarse a través de un genocidio que no ha hecho daño a nadie.
Aquí se narra una experiencia de meditación que se saltan el «paso a paso». El autor pone al protagonista en grado tan profundo de meditación que lo deja llevar por la persona que realmente viene a ser, sin importar si mata a sangre fría, por egoísmo, o por desdichado, si está bien o mal, es que, así es nuestro protagonista y necesita saberlo.
Aquí se narra una experiencia de meditación que se saltan el «paso a paso». El autor pone al protagonista en grado tan profundo de meditación que lo deja llevar por la persona que realmente viene a ser, sin importar si mata a sangre fría, por egoísmo, o por desdichado, si está bien o mal, es que, así es nuestro protagonista y necesita saberlo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2016
This reads almost like a series of story boards. Very cinematic, but very stylized, too. Beautiful black and white art-work, reminiscent of Jeff Smith, particularly RASL (which is also Black and White), although still quite distinctive. You can read it very quickly and then come back to it to absorb the art work... it would make a fantastic piece of animation. Highly recommended.
April 16, 2010
Not your usual comic book (or "graphic novel", whatever). The story is told in 370 full-page panels about Ningen, an Edo-era samurai who has vowed to kill 365 samurai so he can understand the meaning of life. Yeah.
Unable to give a 2.5 star rating so I'll be generous and give it 3 stars.
Unable to give a 2.5 star rating so I'll be generous and give it 3 stars.
January 24, 2013
its pretty crazy how every panel's a pg; love the inking in this novel; love the rain drops & the shadows & the scene w/ all the white horde army in the snow was crazy; definitely a nice cinematic style.
July 2, 2013
The samurai stories must be filled with blood, gore, bowels and females...no exception! Ningen, samurai, was sent by the fate on journey to self exploration with one catch, that he should kill 356 samurai. Hell broke loose and the koan like story started and ended with little surprise.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews