Ikusa no Ko -Oda Saburo Nobunaga Den-

Ikusa no Ko -Oda Saburo Nobunaga Den- (いくさの子 -織田三郎信長伝-) is a historical manga by Tetsuo Hara, serialized in Coamix's Monthly Comic Zenon from 2010 to 2022 and collected in twenty volumes. Hara handled the artwork based on a script by Seibo Kitahara. A sweeping saga devoted to the youth of Oda Nobunaga, the work marks the mangaka's return to historical storytelling after a long absence from the genre.

Synopsis

Before becoming the warlord remembered by history, Oda Nobunaga was a rowdy child who went by the name Kipposhi. Raised in the heart of an era when provinces tore each other apart, the young heir to the Oda clan grew up to the sound of battles, unruly, unpredictable, and already carrying a worldview that clashed with everyone around him.

From his teenage antics to his first forays as a military leader, the story follows the formation of a man determined to unify the country. Decisive encounters, clan rivalries, and early battlefields mark the rise of a man whose destiny took shape long before he became Nobunaga.

Hara's return to historical storytelling

Launched in the inaugural issue of Monthly Comic Zenon in December 2010, Ikusa no Ko also inaugurated the magazine founded by Coamix, the company created by Tetsuo Hara and Nobuhiko Horie. It is the mangaka's first major historical saga since his epic works of the 1990s, and the first time he placed a child at the center of a series. The script was entrusted to Seibo Kitahara, a lyricist and screenwriter already associated with Hara's universe.

Spanning twelve years, the series chronicles Nobunaga's youth up to the eve of the Battle of Okehazama, the founding episode of his legend. Cumulative sales have exceeded two and a half million copies, and the work has spawned spin-offs, notably in the fields of arcade gaming and amusement machines.

Art style

Ikusa no Ko offers a synthesis of Tetsuo Hara's mature style, combining the power of his battle scenes with meticulous documentary attention to the armor, costumes, and settings of the Sengoku period. The artist returns to the scope of grand epics while, for the first time over an extended run, depicting the physical evolution of a character followed from childhood.