Ryuma no Gagou

A manga about different warriors who carry on the mantle of ‘Ryoma’ as they battle against monsters in a post-apocalyptic fantasy that spans multiple generations.

I finally went back and finished this series that I started years ago. I remember really being enamored with the premise of having each chapter of this manga focusing on a different protagonist the goes by the name of Ryoma and how each one explained the legend and history behind the name and their never ending struggle against the Hakuhi monsters and calamities known as ‘Jin’.

Eventually the narrative follows certain characters on a longer arc and those arcs would conclude and lead to a generational change to a new protagonist. While I enjoyed this, by the end of the series they started rushing the plot and time skips. Even the artist Hiroki Miyashita makes a joke in the afterword about how readers thought the plot was too convoluted. Also, I thought both the origins of Jin and Ryoma and the final battle use troupe of the hero becoming the villain for the greater good, and I think that’s so overdone. I’m glad I finished it but I wish this manga ended with a bang and not a whimper.

~dakazu