Hideo Kojima's new favorite manga is a must-read for Metal Gear fans

Hideo Kojima loves a good sniper, especially if they’re female. His Metal Gear Solid franchise features 2, Sniper Wolf and Quiet, plus The End if you want to pad the count. So when the gaming auteur recommended a manga with a young female sniper protagonist, it wasn’t a huge surprise—but that didn’t mean I wasn’t intrigued.

Miharu's Seat of War, written by Hamada Gouten (Shimazaki in the Peaceful Land), is a lot like the popular manga-turned-anime Gunslinger Girl. But instead of a league of young female assassins, it blends typical shonen tropes of a young rogue coming to trust her companions, set against a more mature, seinen backdrop. Beyond its focus on girls carrying big guns, the manga also examines classic Kojima themes, what it means to be a soldier, war, and the geopolitical state of Japan. But despite its heavy subject matter, the story isn’t afraid to be goofy and heartwarming, either.

Miharu's Seat at War is currently available to read for free in Japanese

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