Commercial and cultural impact
Kamui became one of the most successful series serialized in Garo, helping establish the magazine as an important venue for politically and formally experimental manga. Its combination of historical adventure, graphic violence, and adult political themes helped distinguish it from contemporary mainstream manga and contributed to the development of gekiga.
The series became closely associated with the student protest culture of the 1960s and 1970s. Manga critic Natsume Fusanosuke wrote that Shirato's work became a symbol for protesters, who identified with its rejection of established class hierarchies and its emphasis on eliminating distinctions between social classes. The manga's historical materialist perspective, depiction of oppression, and recurring conflicts between social classes have consequently been central to critical discussions of Shirato's work.
The series also achieved substantial commercial success. By October 2021, the Kamui series had exceeded 15 million copies in circulation.
The first Drawn & Quarterly volume was also nominated for Best New Edition of Classic Manga at the 2025 American Manga Awards.
Critical response
In Issue 5 of Gateways, Jeffrey Gomez noted "Visually, The Legend of Kamui is a feast for manga lovers. Its style often hints at the dynamism with which artists like Shirato can evoke with the many other subjects the Japanese enjoy in their comics, such as cooking, hunting and fishing."
Joe McCulloch of The Comics Journal praised the first volume's unusually broad approach to historical storytelling, emphasizing that Shirato Sanpei does not treat Kamui as a conventional ninja adventure centered on a single hero. Instead, the narrative moves among peasants, outcasts, warriors, and members of the ruling class to examine the social mechanisms that produce class conflict. McCulloch particularly highlighted the manga's depiction of the samurai ruling class as exploiting divisions among lower social groups, giving the series a systemic rather than purely character-driven approach to historical fiction.
McCulloch also praised Shirato's extensive historical explanations and the way the manga directly communicates its political perspective. He regarded the work's slower pace as closely connected to its attempt to document the operation of an entire feudal society rather than simply advance an adventure plot. At the same time, he was critical of the limited agency afforded to many of the female characters in the first volume, noting that their roles are frequently associated with suffering and social restriction.
Publishers Weekly praised the first volume as an ambitious mixture of historical fiction, adventure, and political commentary. The review highlighted Shirato's detailed treatment of seventeenth-century life and his attention to labor, agriculture, hunting, and social hierarchy. It argued that these details give the manga a sense of historical breadth while reinforcing its criticism of inequality and injustice.
Nirmala Devi of ArtReview praised the manga's combination of political analysis and melodrama. She noted that Shirato moves between violent episodes of oppression, romance, adventure, and historical exposition, arguing that the mixture allows the political material to remain embedded within an entertaining narrative rather than functioning solely as ideological instruction. Devi characterized the work as simultaneously a historical epic and a melodrama and highlighted its sustained examination of class relations.
Lindsay Pereira of Broken Frontier praised the first volume's ensemble storytelling, arguing that its multiple characters and parallel narratives create a broad portrait of feudal society rather than a conventional hero's journey. He highlighted Shirato's depiction of people whose opportunities are constrained by their social status at birth and argued that the manga's treatment of hierarchy remains relevant despite its historical setting. Pereira also praised the combination of political themes with action, humor, romance, and melodrama, which he considered important to the manga's continuing narrative appeal.
In his review of the second English volume, Pereira described The Legend of Kamui as a powerful treatment of class struggle and praised its increasingly complex exploration of education, social mobility, and hierarchy. He also praised the expansion of the cast and the increasingly elaborate world-building, while noting that the volume's more than 600 pages and numerous storylines make it a demanding read.
Nathan Evans of Popzara praised the manga's political and visual ambition, describing it as both historically significant and effective as popular entertainment. He singled out Shirato's depiction of feudal class relations, his recurring predator-and-prey imagery, and his treatment of samurai as members of a ruling elite rather than idealized heroic figures. Evans also praised the reproduction quality of the Drawn & Quarterly edition and Shirato's detailed artwork. Evans nevertheless criticized the Drawn & Quarterly edition for providing little supplementary material to explain the historical context of the manga. He considered this a drawback given the complexity of Shirato's historical subject matter and the scale of the project, and also noted the considerable commitment required from readers who intend to follow the planned ten-volume edition.
Adam Wescott of Yatta-Tachi praised the manga's depiction of nature, animals, violence, and the interconnected lives of people from different social classes. He argued that the work's refusal to remain centered on one protagonist allows it to portray social conflict from multiple perspectives and to examine the larger structures that shape individual lives.
Wescott also identified the manga's length and density as potential barriers. He noted that the first volume exceeds 600 pages, contains a large cast, and frequently interrupts the narrative with historical and political explanations. He characterized some of Shirato's political presentation as overly didactic, although he considered the same density part of the work's unusually comprehensive depiction of feudal society.
Jeff Provine of Blogcritics praised the work's historical importance and its contribution to the development of gekiga. He emphasized the manga's relationship with Garo and its combination of historical storytelling, social criticism, and graphic action, presenting it as an influential example of politically engaged manga.
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