Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru
Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru is a Japanese manga written by Masashi Kishimoto and illustrated by. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from May 2019 to March 2020, with its chapters collected in five volumes. In North America, Viz Media published the series on the Shonen Jump platform, and started the print release of the series in March 2020. Shueisha published it on the Manga Plus platform.
Story
Hachimaru, a frail boy who cannot survive without life support, spends his days immersed in online games. His life changes when his robotic pet, Hayataro, brings home a Daruma doll. After Hachimaru draws eyes on it, the doll transforms into a feline-humanoid warrior named Daruma, who claims to be a samurai. Meanwhile, Hachimaru's father is searching for a Locker Ball—a star-shaped device capable of binding and splitting matter—to aid his son. However, during a deal, a rogue samurai betrays him and discovers that Hachimaru carries the soul of a legendary warrior. Forced into a trial by combat with the Locker Ball, Hachimaru undergoes a transformation, unlocking his hidden power as a samurai and ultimately defeating his enemy. However, his newfound abilities draw the attention of Ata, a mysterious enemy who launches a sudden assault. Though Hachimaru barely repels the attack at the cost of his father's life, he uncovers a hidden truth about his origins. Together with Daruma, he embarks on a quest to find Pandora's Box—an artifact once used by the Warrior God, Fudo Myo-o, to save the universe—and its seven keys to open it.Production
In an interview published in the October 2015 issue of Kadokawa's Entermix on August 20, Kishimoto discussed plans for his next work following the conclusion of his long-running series Naruto in November 2014. He revealed that his new project would be a science fiction manga and that he had already finalized the character designs. Kishimoto also indicated that, due to the physical strain of weekly serialization experienced during Naruto, his next work might not be published on a weekly schedule. In an August 2016 interview in Jump Giga, he stated that he had already planned the project and completed research for it. At Jump Festa '18 in December 2017, during a Boruto: Naruto Next Generations panel, Kishimoto displayed several layout sequences for his new work, which was planned to debut in 2018 for Weekly Shōnen Jump's 50th anniversary.At Jump Festa 2019 in December 2018, Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru was officially announced. The new series, a collaboration between Kishimoto and his former assistant, was scheduled to debut in Weekly Shōnen Jump in the second quarter of 2019. During the event, Naruto's voice actress Junko Takeuchi read a statement from Kishimoto explaining that the manga would blend his appreciation for Japanese culture and aesthetics with science fiction settings and technology. At a March 2019 press conference held at Shueisha, Kishimoto stated he expected Samurai 8 to run for at least ten volumes, noting, "I remember saying one time that Naruto would be 15 volumes. It always ends up being longer." Despite this expectation, the series concluded on March 23, 2020, after 43 chapters.
Publication
Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru was created, written, and storyboarded by Masashi Kishimoto, and illustrated by, who had been an assistant of Kishimoto's on Naruto from the early 2000s till the series' end. A four-page preview of the manga was released in Weekly Shōnen Jumps combined issue #22–23 on April 27, 2019, being the final issue published in the Heisei period. Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump's 24th issue on May 13, 2019, being the first series in the magazine published in the Japanese Reiwa period. The series finished on March 23, 2020. The first two volumes were published on October 4, 2019, while the fifth and final volume was published on May 13, 2020.In North America, Viz Media published the preview chapter and published the chapters simultaneously with the releases in Japan on the Shonen Jump platform, while Shueisha published it on the Manga Plus platform. In October 2019, Viz Media announced that the series would be released in early 2020.