So this is what a Japanese Edo era version of 'Xena: Warrior Princess' would look like.
How funny, yet gobsmackingly tragic, packed with heightened emotion.At first I wasn't into 'The Worst Ronin' because of the artwork. It looked very rough, blotchy, uneven, sketchy, a little lazy, especially with facial detailing and characters going off-model, and overall like a storyboard artist's first draft. But weirdly, I warmed up to it, with the combination of me liking the characters and themes more and more as I read towards the end. Plus I like the colours, and how it presents its humorous aspects.
'The Worst Ronin' is like a better, more compelling 'The Marble Queen'. Only it is much subtler in its LBGTQ content, and in this case it is stronger for it. You have Tatsuo Nakano, the drunk and traumatised "hero" and the first and only (as is allowed) female samurai, and Chihiro, the sprightly, wide-eyed, naïve fangirl who is determined to become a samurai, who believes in justice, and who hires Tatsuo as her partner - well, bodyguard, as Tatsuo prefers, as she is a cynical, crass, wily lone wolf, for understandable reasons.
I grew to adore these two wildly cartoony, yet really human beneath the surface, heroines. They make a dynamic, enchanting, entertaining duo. For one, tragedy has passed, and she thinks she has nothing left to live for, and for the other, tragedy is coming - has already come, in fact - without her knowing...
'The Worst Ronin' is also like 'The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich' in that it isn't historical fiction because it contains modern technology. 'The Worst Ronin' has Wi-Fi, phones, live streaming, television, movies, and movie posters.
Be warned: 'The Worst Ronin' is not for younger audiences, despite its colourful and cartoony artwork, for it contains strong language, bloody violence, and lots of death. It does not water down the reality of being a samurai, of being a warrior, and the main characters do kill people. For samurai mean to fight to kill, with no holding back. It is shocking, and I commend the graphic novel for it. It makes it stand out, and stick in your memory further.
There are themes of grief, loss, PTSD, and family. And feminism, don't forget about that.
'The Worst Ronin' understands one facet of the patriarchy: it simply won't allow women to take part in a male-dominated field, career, or any boys' club, even when it pretends to when it lets one woman in. But no more. If it has to include one exceptional woman, then it will show her off in a reluctant, shallow, disingenuous gesture of "fairness", as pure tokenism, as paying lip service to the illusion of equality - something it can get away with, since the patriarchal system is designed and constructed so that the novelty of seeing one member of a minority means they are already taking up too much space and attention. Therefore boom, sexism solved! The effect is that women remain powerless, small, and invisible. Nothing actually changes. They have to work harder than everybody else, and be the best that ever was, and even then it won't be enough. They won't be treated fairly, they won't be respected, and they won't receive the recognition they deserve. Their presence challenges nothing, and so means nothing, as is the intention of the patriarchy.
Women gamechangers and trailblazers: You are good enough. It's not your fault if you're "not good enough" according to the men who want to remain at the top. It's the world that needs to change, not you.
Also patriarchal, bigoted men hate everyone, especially those they consider beneath them in society. Men who think of themselves as "heroes" barely bother to hide how much they despise their admirers and supporters, the people who got them where they are in the first place; in fact, they often didn't earn their fame and glory; it's all power in connections and nepotism at the very top of the stagnant, archaic hierarchal order. These types of men are only after their own self-interests, their own power to get drunk on, their own toxic, narcissistic ego trip. Don't forget that.
'The Worst Ronin' - one of the better girl power fantasy graphic novels out there. It's like a nineties cult classic anime and manga.
It's not as good as, say, 'The Fox Maidens', also published in 2024, but it is a fun, riveting, surprisingly intense and thrilling book. I love the two girl leads and their banter and chemistry, and the ending is brilliant, bringing the samurai girls' development full circle, and perfectly combating the BS rules set by the patriarchy.
I wish there were more fantasy elements, but the grounded, real threat of "hero" men, men with titles and power, effectively suits and adds to the book's feminist themes.
A sword-swinging, heart-pounding, tear-jerking, fresh plum fruit to be savoured - 'The Worst Ronin' title is meant to be ironic, in many, many ways.
Final Score: 3.5/5
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