A properly old-school sports shonen is getting a surprise comeback. Musashi no Ken, the kendo manga by Motoka Murakami, is returning this year with a new short story split into two parts.
The revival is happening through Wednesday Masters, a Sunday Webry project focused on one-shots and short stories from veteran mangaka linked to Shogakukan’s classic shonen history. The first part of the new Musashi no Ken story is set for May 20, followed by part two on June 3.
Small catch, though: this release is currently only planned for the Japanese version of Shogakukan’s Sunday Webry app. No English release date has been announced yet, so for Malaysia and SEA fans who don’t read Japanese, this is more of a “keep an eye on it” moment than an instant must-read.
Still, this is the kind of comeback manga history nerds should care about.
Why Musashi no Ken matters
Musashi no Ken originally ran from 1981 to 1985, with its chapters collected into 24 volumes. It later got re-released in smaller collected editions: 11 volumes in the 1990s and 10 volumes in the early 2000s.
The series also received a 1985 anime adaptation with 72 episodes, covering a major portion of Musashi’s journey from childhood into his high school years. But the anime never completed the full story, and over time, the series became one of those classic shonen titles that older fans might remember, while newer international anime fans barely hear about it.
That’s the real issue, bro. A lot of SEA anime fans grow up on whatever was accessible: TV broadcasts, fansubs, Animax, later Netflix and Crunchyroll. If a classic title never got a proper international push, it basically vanished from the conversation outside Japan. Musashi no Ken falls into that zone.
What the story is about
The manga follows Musashi Natsuki, a young boy chasing his dream of becoming a strong kendo swordsman. Kendo runs deep in his family. Both his parents are respected in the sport, and his father, Eiichiro, is especially well-known across Japan.
Musashi learns kendo from his father and grows into the kind of stubborn shonen lead who refuses to back down, even when he gets wrecked. Very classic sports manga energy: pride, training, rivalry, pain, repeat.
The emotional core comes after Eiichiro’s death, which happens because of a rival. Although the death was accidental, the guilt causes Kunihiko to retire. Musashi, meanwhile, becomes fixated on surpassing Shura, Kunihiko’s son. The twist is that Musashi and Shura are friends, but Musashi’s competitive fire never really disappears.
That setup feels familiar now because modern sports anime has trained us to love this formula. Rival who is also a friend? Family pressure? Childhood trauma becoming motivation? You can see the DNA in plenty of later shonen and sports series.
Should Malaysian fans care?
If you’re into newer sports anime like Haikyuu!!, Blue Lock, or even combat-focused shonen with training arcs, this comeback is worth noting. Kendo may not be as mainstream in Malaysia as football, badminton, or futsal, but the appeal is the same: discipline, rivalry, and that one opponent you just need to beat.
For now, the frustrating part is access. With the one-shot locked to the Japanese Sunday Webry app and no English release confirmed, SEA readers may have to wait and see whether Shogakukan gives it a wider release.
But as a preservation move, this is cool. Not every classic needs a massive reboot or flashy remake. Sometimes, giving an old-school manga legend a new chapter is enough to remind fans that shonen history is much bigger than the titles currently trending on TikTok.
Source: ComicBook Anime