The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls
Like Masaki Segawa's first manga "Basilisk", "The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls" is based on a novel from Futaro Yamada's "Ninpōchō" series and can therefore be considered a sequel to "Basilisk", especially as several of the same historical characters featured in "Basilisk" make a return appearance. Its story centers on seven female survivors of the Hori clan, aided by Yagyū Jūbei, and their quest of vengeance. Plot. In the Nineteenth Year of Kannei (1642), a rebellion by the Hori clan against Katō Akinari, the "daimyō" of Aizu, has been suppressed through the intervention of the Tokugawa  shogunate. Placed into the custody of the Seven Spears, Katō's brutal group of personal enforcers, the Hori men are dragged to the Tōkei-ji "Divorce Temple" at Kamakura where the Hori women had been hiding. Despite a law passed by the former shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu forbidding men to enter the temple, the Seven Spears force their way in and brutally slaughter the Hori women before their husbands and brothers, before proceeding to murder them too. The massacre is stopped only by the intervention of Princess Sen, the Tōkei-ji Temple's guardian and older sister to the reigning shogun  Tokugawa Iemitsu. Unfortunately, though the Seven Spears agreed to depart, only seven of the Hori women survived. In retribution for the violation of Tōkeiji Temple and those who she had taken under her care, Princess Sen sends a message to the famous monk Takuan Sōhō to locate one person who can train the seven Hori women in the arts of ninjutsu to seek their revenge. The one chosen is Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, son of Yagyū Munenori and former instructor to the shogun. With Jubei's instruction and guidance, the Hori women begin their war against the Seven Spears and ultimately  Katō himself. Characters. The Katō Clan and the Ashina. The Ashina. A clan of ninja who once ruled over Aizu, the Ashina rescued Lord Katō seven years prior to the manga's beginning when he was attacked by an unknown assailant while out hawking. In gratitude, Katō selected seven of the strongest Ashina to be his personal bodyguards and enforcers, naming them the Seven Spears of Aizu after the historical Seven Spears of Shizugatake whom his father, Katō Yoshiaki, had led. The Ashina are as perverse as their Lord and whenever Katō grows bored with any of his consorts, the  unlucky women are given to the Seven Spears who rape and torture them to death. Publication. "The Yagyū Ninja Scrolls" was serialised in Kodansha's "Weekly Young Magazine" from 2005 to 2008, and was licensed for English publication by Del Rey Manga, which released seven volumes from 2007 to 2009. It was re-licensed by Kodansha USA and they released the full manga digitally from August 9, 2016 to April 11, 2017. Reception. In Jason Thompson's online appendix to "", he praised the layouts of the manga, and described the character designs as "reminiscent of Go Nagai". Theron Martin, writing  for Anime News Network about the first two volumes, enjoyed the attention to historical detail, but felt the character designs were "overly harsh". A.E. Sparrow, writing for IGN, appreciated the distinct character designs for the women and their enemies.