Drifters

ドリフターズ

Manga7.812249 votesPublishing

ActionAdventureComedyFantasyAdult CastHistoricalIsekaiSamuraiSeinen

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About this title

Synopsis

At the start of the Edo period, samurai Toyohisa Shimazu is in the midst of a bloody battle against the legendary Tokugawa clan to ensure the successful retreat of the Shimazu clan forces. After his entire unit is massacred, Toyohisa manages to single-handedly force the enemy to withdraw—at the cost of being mortally wounded. Walking out of the battlefield dejected, he mysteriously finds himself in a white hallway, where he is immediately thrown into a door. He awakens in a different world, and there, he encounters Drifters, other legendary warriors who died and ended up in the same realm. Together, they use the knowledge and experience from their past lives in order to take over an empire and fight against an unknown force of evil that intends to crush all humanity. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Publication notes

Drifters was nominated for the third and fourth Manga Taisho Awards and placed 10th and sixth in the final rankings in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The series has been published in English by Dark Horse Comics since August 24, 2011, and as omnibus volumes since March 11, 2025. It has also been released in Spanish by Norma Editorial since April 14, 2011; in Italian by J-POP since April 21, 2012; in Brazilian Portuguese by Nova Sampa since June 2014; and in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica since June 2, 2016.

Published

Apr 30, 2009 to ?

Authors

Hirano, Kouta

External links

MyAnimeList page Wikipedia Wikipedia

MAL rank: #1430
Members (MAL): 43,338
Favorites (MAL): 710

Related titles

Adaptation

Main characters

Toyohisa Shimazu1402 fan favorites
External profile
The protagonist. Historically he died in 1600. When he first arrived in the world, he was critically injured, only to be brought to the hideout of Nobunaga and Yoichi by some young "elves." Of the three Drifters in the group, Toyohisa is the most willing to help the elves, first by attacking the humans massacring them and then by convincing them to kill the leader of those humans. He uses a long sword and is seen carrying a short sword as well. He's also shown carrying a rifle, which he only uses when his swords are infeasible.
Nobunaga Oda654 fan favorites
External profile
A famous warlord who conquered most of Japan during Sengoku period. Historically he is known for being the daimyo who took the first step of unification of the Japan, and the first Japanese military commander to utilize arquebuses in battles. Perhaps because of this, as a Drifter he uses an arquebus in battle. He died twenty years before Toyohisa (1582). As a Drifter, he has only aged six months since arriving in the new world.
Yoichi Suketaka Nasu250 fan favorites
External profile
Nasu Suketaka Yoichi (also called Nasu no Yoichi) is a very effeminate man of nineteen. Although he died many years before Nobunaga and Toyohisa, Yoichi is the youngest in the group. His historical death date is unclear, yet some records indicate that he either died on August 8 in 1189 or in October of 1190. Historically he is known as a powerful warrior who served Minamoto no Yoshitsune during the Genpei War, and he also appears in the Tale of the Heike. However, Nobunaga notes that Yoichi is very different from historical accounts. Yoichi acts as the group's archer, killing fleeing enemies. (Source: Drifters Wikia)