Enter an era.
Understand the motivations, the courage, the deceptions.

It is full of horror, but in many places it is also full of hopes, of beauty and of compassion.

Takahashi Tsutomu’s work is splendid.
His capacity to enter and represent the human soul, the deep complexity, the smartness and maturity makes all of his books thoroughly enjoyable and inspiring.

... Last updated on January 27th, 2022, 8:57pm

I don't get why the rating of this manga is so low, because I can't seem to find any flaw in it at all and this has been one of my favourite manga since a long time ago. It even inspires me to make the Meiji revolution in Japan a theme for my presentation in history. Once I read the first chapter, I was immediately absorbed in the story, not to mention Takahashi Tsutomu is a genius in his way of portraying characters and the sceneries. Have you seen the way he inked the backgrounds or the landscapes? That's ingenious I tell you! I have been a devoted of him since Jiraishin and Sky High, this only proves that I have every righteous and logical reason to be so.

The historical references are appropriate to reality, yet another unfamiliar new world is built within it. It's a manga with actual quality and depth, as expected coming from this mangaka, I might say. Perhaps you may think I'm being subjective since I like the mangaka so much, but that has never been a basis for me to judge a work without reading it before. I can placed myself in the positions of the protagonists, how they struggle through their way to become true bushi, how they still remain and stand firm to their believes despite knowing it leads to their own end.

You have to read the manga properly to see how each person in the manga develops and walks the path which they choose to be the right one. A few chapters in the beginning are just tiny little spots of ink from the whole written book. I've read all 25 volumes and I dare say this is also one of the best work that has ever been created.

... Last updated on January 1st, 2013, 6:28pm

It first was sad and cruel but later it becomes even more badass and, i gotta say it's brutal and gruesome but it's so interesting the story is unique and original, the artwork is is very simple, it's more about the action than the quality. At one point everything just changes it's all about power, samurai, revenge, and changing Japan!

I also realized the manga is kinda rushed before you know it the two little boys are all grown up and gen's personality changed like flipping a coin, since it's 25 volumes long, I wonder how the manga is going to end up?

... Last updated on December 1st, 2011, 7:06pm

For all those people that are saying it is all dark and bleh and too culty. They clearly haven't read that much of the manga. The story progresses past, yes, the (no better way to describe it) fucking insane cult. Overtime the main bunch of characters form a tight bond and, well, you just have to read it.

If you don't like blood, decapitations, or well, an amazing manga, then this manga isn't for you.

Also, it is highly graphic (blood, severed limbs, boobs, vagina, penis).

I suppose the theme of this manga is about the power of a cult religion and the brain washings that goes around in there. Even though it's depicting children having the goal of becoming samurai's, it shows the bleak consequence of using power to do things that are not processed by self conscience but rather by outside force. I stopped reading once I hit volume 4 simply because the killings that are going to happen aren't going to be justified in anyway.

[edit by mod, Warning: Possible spoilers]
"its just 2 dudes doing wtf and a wtf religion". Wrong. Anyways, it starts out pretty dark/depressing, and turns into a typical "badass samurai manga" by volume 4. So...Entertaining past volume 4 I guess, since it's hella bloody, and Gen is starting to turn into a heartless bastard, which I definitely didn't expect ^^

the manga so far is too freakin slow with no real plot..... its just 2 dudes doin wtf and a wtf religion.... wtf?!.... but... the action is good... and so is the art...

Something about this manga is very strange. I feel oddly and strongly compelled to it, yet repelled at the same time. Doesn't make any sense, but its true.

Overall though, its decent.

It's rare to see artists who're prepared to face the cruelties of the world without flinching -- especially while using children as protagonists. Of course, the truth is that the world IS that dark, that terrible, and that heartless -- children DO get to witness (and, often, participate in) the kinds of horrors that are depicted in "Sidooh".

Perhaps because of the idealism and trivialization (often simultaneous) that the concept of childhood is treated with in modern society, we find it remarkably easy to overlook situations where children are forcibly stripped of innocence, and are made to survive only by passing the most cruel of tests. Takahashi Tsutomu, the mangaka of "Sidooh", refuses to look away from what his child protagonists are going through, and refuses to let us look away, too.

That said, one of the notable things about "Sidooh" is that the children aren't held up as infallible heroes or perfect angels against an indiscriminately evil world. While both brothers face terrible trials, they also do occasionally meet decent human beings -- and how the forces of destruction shape these young boys is just as important a part of the manga as is their love for each other, and for their deceased mother. Violence is neither glamorized nor condemned -- instead, it is simply accepted as a necessary part of life, and a prerequisite tool for survival.

Excellent and thought-provoking work. I can't wait for more scanslations!

... Last updated on April 1st, 2007, 12:28pm

very dark, considering this is happening to children. you can even tell from the artwork that its a bleak manga. but keeps you going.