Gamaran is my first samurai manga. Its quite odd to have read a manga that doesnt have any super powers or sci-fi elements, but still, it was fine and fun.

STORY 7/10

I find the story very good and interesting, but somewhat it lacks creation. The setting is around the Unabara, or The Land of Demons as sometimes reffered, in which a tournament is held. But its not just some typical martial arts tournament because the tournament is held to determine the next Daimyo(landlord) of Unabara. The contestants are Daimyo's sons. 31 sons were given the task to find the strongest dojo they can and participate for a chance to be the next Daimyo. The story follows the 30th son, Naoyoshi Washitsu, who aims to find the legendary Thousand man slayer, Kurogane Jinsuke. He visits the Ogame dojo, but Kurogane is nowhere to be found, and his son, Kurogane Gama is the only available Ogame student(And Gama is really mad at his dad, and looking for revenge). Naoyoshi asks Gama to help him and Gama agrees, and the two of them set on a journey to find which of the 31 fighting styles is the greatest.

I love the story very much, but I think it could be more creative. Roughly looking, the main plot is centered around the tournament with nothing more added to the story, until later on. You will get to see so much different weapons, so much different styles and moves. Every weapon has its own strenghts and weaknesses and its really well explained how it works. The moves are also well explained, as I see it, I believe that most of them are very legit, as we do see some odd footwork and such, but the mangaka explains it very well. Personally I find the end a bit too rushed and odd, so only 7/10 for the story.

ART 9/10

Art is very well done. The only thing why i give it a niner is that it is very much concentrated on people, and there is less attention given to the buildings and backgrounds, but they are also well made when they are around. Gamarans main forte are the fights. Art in the fights is very good, all the moves are drawn neat and clean, and there are plenty. Most of the time the story is centered around the fight and you will see a lot of it. I think that there are only around 20 chapters without any fights. And there are 197 chapters to read so you will see a lot of hack and slash :D As it is a tournament, there are plenty characters in the process, and I find it very well done as the characters are beatifully drawn.

CHARACTER 8/10

There are a hell lot of characters out there. The thing is that every one of them gets a little background inside a chapter, ranging from two pages to almost an entire chapter to show why the character does what he does. As I find it a bit simplistic, and in any other manga I would find it unsatisfying, but in Gamaran its preety neat. I know that the opponent is gonna die eventually so there is no need for a long backstory as there are many opponents that are gonna get defeated. I fthink Gama is a great character, and I cheered for him during my readings as he is preety awesome in his own way. But Sengoku Iori is my favourite, and if you read it, I think you will see why.

Overall, sometimes I think that Gamaran is quite simple but in way it has its own perks. I wouldnt reccomend it to everybody. If you are looking for a deep and awesome story, I dont think you will enjoy it. But if you are looking for good fights or some casual fun, then Gamaran is the real deal, fights are very awesome and really well done, thats Gamarans forte and thats why I love it.