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Red Hot Chili Samurai
Manga Review by Brian Cirulnick
I used to watch US Nippon Communications Network, way back when I was much younger, which I think came on channel 31 UHF (remember UHF?), and it was a Japanese group that bought time on the station to present Japanese language programs (mostly for the large Japanese population living in Fort Lee NJ at that time)...
Aside from a wonderful drama about a police detective and his three daughters (that I can't remember the name of), there was a program called "Lord Mito" (Mito Komon) which was your standard Samurai drama with a twist; Lord Mitsukuni of Mito, uncle of the Shogun, travels incognito, dressed as a commoner, and helps those oppressed by corrupt officials and evil landowners, in the end of each episode, revealing who and what he his, while his entourage hacks and slashes their way to victory. The show has over 1000 episodes and is the longest running Japanese TV drama in history, so it's no surprise that there are many copycat variants of this successful formula.
 Well, this is essentially the plot for Red Hot Chili Samurai, except in this case, we have a hot chili pepper eating ronin traveling the Japanese countryside looking for injustice and doing what he can to set things straight. And instead of Lord Mito revealing his official crest and having his former opponent drop to their knees, groveling for their lives, we have Kokaku sliding his kimono off his shoulder to reveal his crane-shaped tattoo to show that he is the heir of Hanshu and thus to be respected and feared.
 You'll also notice that the story plays much like Samurai Champloo in that his companions that travel with him are a reserved but deadly warrior, and a cute girl. Or maybe all Samurai dramas follow this pattern. I don't know, because if you ever do watch Lord Mito, you'll forget that there are any other samurai dramas.
All in all, Red Hot Chili Samurai has a gimmick, a flashy, memorable title, and makes liberal use of existing formula to make its tale. Good enough for Hollywood, no doubt, but there are better manga out there. Still, if you need a break, it's entertaining and light fare, and not bad for what it is.
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, June 2011
Below: A double page spread from Red Hot Chili Samurai, to view at full size click here.
Below: Panels from Red Hot Chili Samurai.
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