Samurai Executioner, Volume 9: Facing Life and Death — Kazuo Koike

For a stoic ronin such as Kubikiri Asa, a samurai assigned to test the Shogun's sword and behead prisoners, the moment before death is of great importance. Because of this, Asa will often listen to the stories of those about to be executed and pay respect to the lives of these often unfortunately maligned prisoners. Sometimes scary, often quirky, and occasionally very sweet; it goes to show how people of different walks of life can meet the same brutal, yet graceful end, at the hand of one of the finest masters of bushido and swordsmanship.

Samurai Executioner tells the stories of these people, from the perspective of Asa, an honorable, highly skilled ronin.