Samurai warriors, battle scene epics, heroes pacifying evil Yokai, mythical battles between legends, bloody prints, Miyamoto Musashi abrest a massive whale; The Samurai heroes and warriors of ukiyo-e (musha-e) were brought to life by Edo period artist Kuniyoshi in his series 108 Heroes of the Suikoden (ca. 1828). Yoshitoshi and Kunichika pick up where Kuniyoshi left off, however, the genre suffered from a creeping western influence(the introduction of battle scenes with guns and gunpoweder).