You can, of course, read the full version of this 106-volume novel if you like; however, you might have to learn Japanese because a full translation isn't available. Talk about hefty summer reading!
Bakin's story follows a now accessible pattern, chronicling the reflections and adventures of eight samurai brothers. Directors like Kurosawa and films like The Seven Samurai (1954) and The Hidden Fortress (1958) gave a mid-20th century audience exposure to Japanese history and themes, such as loyalty and brotherhood, two of the themes Bakin addresses in Hakkenden.
While Hakkenden depicts a fictive history, it has been wildly popular at various points, both in and outside Japan. As a serial novel at 106 volumes, it would have had to have been popular to keep going! Perhaps most accessible to Western audiences, the novel received an anime treatment in the 1990s, its 106 volumes condensed into a neat 13 episodes 