This is the Age of Desperados. For millennia, outlaws, bandits, and varmints have had the run of the wild west's vast deserts, with only the U.S. Marshals to stand against them. Ride along with Jimmu Godspeed as he searches for the legendary power of The Marshal King to bring these times of chaos to an end!

When Jimmu Godspeed shows up with his infamous father's body in tow, the whole outlaw world is shaken to its core. But instead of keeping his father's legacy alive, he decides to enroll in the Western U.S. Marshal Training Institute! Nobody can guess his angle as he steps foot in the halls. But when put to the test, what will he choose—the law or glory?

The Marshal King has a story and art by Boichi. English translation is done by David Evelyn and lettering by Michelle Pang. Published by Viz Media (August 4, 2026). Rated T.

Erica Friedman
Rating:

If the words “spaghetti western” and “manga by Boichi” thrill you, you are going to love The Marshal King. It is the Age of Desperados; there is no law in the land. The great Marshal King is long gone, and outlaws run amok.

In volume one, we meet Jimmu Godspeed, the son of the outlaw M. Godspeed. The boy drags his father's corpse right up to the gate of the Marshal Academy in order to enroll. Most of the student body distrusts him, but he is clearly better than everyone else, and so he earns the respect of his classmates, just in time for the academy to be attacked. As the students fight back against 100 outlaws armed with advanced steampunk military-grade gear, Jimmu achieves his true mission: gaining mastery of The Marshal King's gun, Excalibur, for a greater goal.

Boichi's art and story openly, gleefully, and successfully straddle a number of cultures. We get the spaghetti-western violence and posing in the desert heat so stereotypically that you practically hear the plinking of the guitar in the background, then go on to gonzo Shōnen Jump fights, and a magnum with a samurai-sword grip. In another creator's hands, this story could be a brutal mess. But here, Boichi lays down the foundation for a classic boys' manga story. A quest, with multiple parts, a hero who laughs off pain. A legend, which will change the world. And a big-ass honking gun that is a curse and a blessing.

What more do we need, really? This is going to be fun.

Caitlin Moore
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One of my most oft-repeated complaints about battle shonen manga, the genre that defines the mediums of anime and manga for so many people across the globe, is that it's more about a collection of guys having hype moments and aura than anything else. Any other differences become almost cosmetic once you make that the primary goal. Story, character, and setting are little more than gimmicks, frames to hang those moments around. Themes are nonexistent. This is my firm belief, and it's why I don't mess around with the genre anymore.

The Marshal King, the newest series by Boichi, may be the greatest distillation of this philosophy in creating manga. Inspired by spaghetti westerns, it tells the story of Jimmu Godspeed, the son of the greatest outlaw that ever lived. After killing his father, he enrolls in a marshal school. However, his goal is not merely to become a marshal, but to find and assemble the belongings of the first Marshal King to bring order back to the land and end the age of desperadoes.

No element of it is deeply embedded in the battle shonen structure. You have a hypercompetent protagonist who sets out on a journey to achieve a personal goal. You have a bunch of different pieces that he'll have to go on sidequests to obtain, which will give him power-ups. You have a world structured around combat. You have a charismatic protagonist who, undoubtedly, will assemble a support cast full of quirky oddballs with special abilities of their own. You have hypersexualized women who are cool, but not as cool as the protagonist.

If you could read all of that without rolling your eyes, then congratulations, you will probably like The Marshal King! After all, for all that Boichi is working within the cliches of the genre and the writing is completely shallow, he's an incredibly skilled artist. The setting has a bit of Wild Wild West unpredictability, with trains that suddenly transform and guns that choose their wielder. And Jimmu is charismatic, creating some of the best action I've read in a while with his competency. On the other hand, Boichi continues to be just awful at drawing women, giving them fish-like eyes and overplumped lips, then posing them as if he's still making hentai.

I will not be continuing with The Marshal King. It's too conventional and shallow for my taste. However, if you, like many fans, are primarily interested in the kind of experience that Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen offer, then you'll have a good time here.