首斬り朝 [Kubikiri Asa]

In this stark 1970s serial from Kōdansha, 首斬り朝 follows a lone executioner navigating the brutal social codes of feudal Japan. Writer and artist Kazuo Koike, known for his unflinching samurai epics, crafts a tense, introspective drama that examines the weight of a life spent taking life. Over ten issues, the story eschews straightforward action for a meditation on duty, violence, and the cost of survival, making it a quietly influential work in the genre of historical manga.