What does the title “national hero” mean to most people and does that title mean that person is also a patriot? Here in America was bestowed on our Founding Fathers who started the American Revolution. In time, we have given it Americans throughout history who have shown bravery protecting our ideals. History often teaches us what makes one a radical and one a revolutionary is most often time.

The Founding Fathers could have been viewed quite differently by history and their actions could be looked at as treason. The faith these men and women had in their sense of patriotism, is what formed our national identity. Revolutions usually take faith and courage and for some the ultimate sacrifice. In one of the first ever English told stories about one of the Philippines national heroes Takahiro Matsui and Ryo Konno’s Jose Rizal, we get a glimpse of who the man was before he became the martyr the country has come to know.

We meet Jose Rizal, on the day of his execution, as a physician is examining him, he demands that he face, his accusers and the people he loves and represents. We are taken back to when he was a young man, growing as the youngest boy with 11 other siblings, where his family lived under a cruel Spanish monarchy which often took advantage of its dominion in the Philippines and arrested her mother for defiance.  We witness her walk of shame as her equal treatment between the natives, who they refer to as “Indios” and the Spaniards, becomes a sticking point for why she becomes vilified. The Governor of his “province, General Izquierdo, ruled with an iron fist, but with the influence by Jose’s sister, Soledad, had convinced him to set free their mother, Teodora, after two years of imprisonment. By issue’s end, these events sparked a fire in Jose’s mind state, one that would make him a revolutionary and national hero.

Overall, the manga is a beautifully rendered and skillfully told story about one of the world’s best representations of fighting injustice. The story by Matsui is emotional, melancholy, and inspiring. The art by Konno is gorgeous. Altogether, a book that feels like an epic saga more than a history lesson, which makes it so compelling.

Story: Takahiro Matsui Art: Ryo Konno
Story: 9.6 Art: 9.5 Overall: 9.7 Recommendation: Buy