Every manga reader has a favorite series by which they measure the rest. The series at the top of my pantheon of greatness are Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond and Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga. My GOAT manga are two historical seinen action manga in which their heroes learn there’s more to life than fighting to be the best or getting their licks back. They are introspective marvels, and I plan to get matching tattoos of them in the near future because I adore them so much.
There are also two series whose high I’ve been chasing to the point of ruin: the former is in a permanent hiatus and may never see its way out, while the latter just ended, meaning I’ve been chasing the high for a series to fill the void they’ve left. And after years of searching, I believe I’ve found that series, and what’s more, it doesn’t let its philosophical predicament over the superego outshine its brilliantly detailed, bloody action. That series is Issak.
In tandem with the headline that brought you here, Issak, written by Shinji Makari and illustrated by Double-S (Ji-Hyung Song), is a manga that’s also giving Shōgun, Blue Eye Samurai, and, oddly enough, Spy vs. Spy. Now that I’ve hit my load-bearing SEO reference quota out of the way, let’s get into what the damn thing is actually about.
Issak follows Issaku (who goes by Issak out of consideration for the White people he encounters, who find his name tricky to pronounce), a skilled Japanese marksman traveling around Europe as a mercenary for whoever will hire him. But his journey isn’t a waywardly altruistic one where he’s fighting to save the day or fighting just because he loves it. He’s on the hunt for Renzo (who goes by Lorenzo for the same reasons), his former comrade who owns a matchlock similar to Issak’s.
Beyond both characters’ keen eyesight and sniping capabilities, the twin matchlock guns they own are special. You see, their master made them with the specific calibrations to basically act like a sniper’s version of the golden gun from Goldeneye. And inscribed on the wood of the twin rifles are two halves of instructions for making more models like it, with the intention of ending the ensuing war in Japan and ushering in an era of peace. Renzo is a freak who, honestly, kinda gets off on being in the heat of war. So much so that he kills their master and goes to Europe to microdose on any war he can get himself into from a sniper’s perch leagues away.
I wish I were exaggerating about that first part.
This, in turn, is why Issak contracts himself as a mercenary in the fog of the most “it’s a wash” skirmishes of all time. It’s all so he can find Lorenzo, and they can have their anime-ass rival-mirror-match battle for possession of both firearms.
Their battle just so happens to place them on opposite shores of the Thirty Years’ War of Anno Domini 1618, where the Catholics and Protestants are fighting for supremacy of Europe. It’s here, dear reader, where Issak indulges both in the political game of thrones that made Vinland Saga so intriguing in its quieter second season as well as the grisly violence that made Musashi Miyamoto’s generational battle against 70 men an all-timer manga series moment… but with guns. Contained within Issak‘s manga are blushes of romance, an endearing party of diverse RPG archetypal pals, witch hunts, philosophical quandaries, and an excess of exciting action and richly detailed art. Feast your eyes.
It’s rare to find a manga that’s answering your prayers as the fusion between your favorite series let alone a manga that’s quietly been doing it in tandem with them like Issak has with Vinland Saga. I almost yelped in my local comic book store when I happened across it, looked up when it was first published, and learned its been cooking since 2017 and has already concluded with its 19th volume in Japan. Thankfully, Issak is still localized by Kodansha, with 13 volumes as of the time of writing, so I can take my time enjoying what a wild ride the onset of Issak has been. Hopefully, it’s enough to comfort others looking for their next seinen obsession that hits the same highs as Vinland Saga and Vagabond.
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