At the start of the Edo period, samurai Toyohisa Shimazu is in the midst of a bloody battle against the legendary Tokugawa clan to ensure the successful retreat of the Shimazu clan forces.

After his entire unit is massacred, Toyohisa manages to single-handedly force the enemy to withdraw—at the cost of being mortally wounded. Walking out of the battlefield dejected, he mysteriously finds himself in a white hallway, where he is immediately thrown into a door. He awakens in a different world, and there, he encounters Drifters, other legendary warriors who died and ended up in the same realm. Together, they use the knowledge and experience from their past lives in order to take over an empire and fight against an unknown force of evil that intends to crush all humanity.

Drifters was nominated for the third and fourth Manga Taisho Awards and placed 10th and sixth in the final rankings in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The series has been published in English by Dark Horse Comics since August 24, 2011, and as omnibus volumes since March 11, 2025. It has also been released in Spanish by Norma Editorial since April 14, 2011; in Italian by J-POP since April 21, 2012; in Brazilian Portuguese by Nova Sampa since June 2014; and in Polish by Japonica Polonica Fantastica since June 2, 2016.