A panel from manga recreating Jose Rizal's execution in Bagumbayan. Manga.Club

He's the most famous Philippine hero who has statues honoring him long after his death across the world, including one in Japan. And now, Jose Rizal has been immortalized in manga form.

Out today -- Rizal's birth anniversary -- and available online for free, "Jose Rizal" adapts the life of the legendary Filipino figure and tells of how he inspired a national revolution against the Spanish rule.

Publisher TORICO said this is the first manga written about Rizal. The short first chapter opens with his execution in Bagumbayan, and ends with a young Rizal witnessing the arrest of his mother.

A panel showing a young Rizal witnessing the arrest of his mother. Manga.Club

In an interview with CNN Philippines, TORICO representative Takuro Ando shared that the inspiration behind the original manga stems from his curiosity on why Rizal had a statue in Tokyo.

He described Rizal as a genius "who had changed his country not through violence but through his knowledge and hard work."

Rizal stayed in Japan for 45 days in 1888 and was said to have been charmed by the country's natural beauty and its people, prompting him to study its culture and traditions. During his sojourn, he fell in love with a Japanese woman named Seiko Usui.

Matsui Takahiro, who, according to reports, had worked in the Philippines before, wrote the storyline, while Ryo Konno was in charge of the illustrations.

You can read the first chapter of the manga here.