Samurai Deeper Kyo, vol. 26 (Akimine Kamijyo)

[chomiji]

Warning! Large amounts of fangirl squeeing below.

Poor, duped Shinrei! The Former Crimson King! And the whole back half of the book is Yukimura, Shindara, and the Sanada Juyushi! So. Much. Love!

Ahem. More soberly:

After Bontenmaru's fight with Haira, the last Mibu berserker, is over, Yukimura faces a highly unpleasant blast from the past - with the aid of several members of the Sanada Ten. Meanwhile, Shinrei learns that Taihaku and Hotaru were all too right, a lost joker reappears, and we get to see who strikes fear into the hearts of the Four Elders of the Mibu. The volume ends very much in media res ... I'm going to be on tenterhooks for 2 months.

Samurai Deeper Kyo, vol. 26 (review)

Man oh man, the chickens are starting to come home to roost in the Mibu city ... although we still have a dozen volumes to go before all is revealed. Poor Shinrei's troubles have only just begun ... I think it's pretty clear who that "scholar" is, and folks, before you laugh too hard at the ditz act, remember what happened to Tokito during the audience. (Although my reaction to that was bwa ha ha ha!!! - Tokito is my least favorite character in the series, once we get past the expendable cannon fodder in Aokigihara.) There's a little tidbit of the dysfunctional Fubuki/Hishigi thing too, with Hishigi saving Shinrei so that Fubuki doesn't have to soil his hands by killing his own most fervent fanboy. (And what does Hishigi make of Shinrei's devotion to Fubuki, anyway? SDK isn't nearly as rife with slashy possibilities as is Saiyuki, but there are still some very fertile situations ... . ) Fubuki is seriously scary - in the translation, Shinrei says "He froze my waterwyrms with one blow?" - but I bet a more accurate translation would be "with one breath." Remember what happened to Kyo and co. when they faced those waterwyrms? And remember both of those things, when you see to whom Fubuki kneels ... . (And as for little RuRu ... every king has his fool. The Sendai Aka no Ou (Former Crimson King) just happens to have a slightly different idea of how that works.)

I have been waiting for that Shindara-Yukimura scene for more than a year now ... . We finally find out what's under that cloak that Shindara always wears, and I know who's responsible. Given what we learned from Kubira last volume about who's experimenting with the bodies of the living, it's not exactly rocket science. It's interesting how Saizo functions in these scenes: he's publicly voicing what we expect Yukimura to be feeling. It's a little creepy how this was, in some sense, foreshadowed by Yukimura's duel with his brother in volume 4. Both Nobuyuki and Shindara betrayed the Sanada clan; in both cases, Yukimura was disguised as something he is not; and in both cases, it was danger to one of the Juyushi that finally made him blow his cool. (He also stops Shindara's sword with his bare hand - I think he did that in "Dragon of the Blue Sky," too.)

And the Juyushi! I love how they seem to have wandered in from some other manga already in progress! I don't think we ever do find out that deal with Jinpachi's arm. Kosuke turning herself into a human utsusemi! The bear stew! Kamanosuke in the apron! The teasing! The cheerfully devout Yukimura worship! The "let's hang around the campfire and sing 'Kum-ba-ya'" atmosphere! The Juyushi are my peeps, guys - this is where I'd slot myself into this manga.

(And I have to let myself have one last shudder about (vague spoiler for last few volumes) what a horrible creep Aka-chan really is ... I think this is where we first start to see it. But because Tokito is the target, it doesn't hit as hard as it might. And he's oh so cute and oh so eccentric and oh so harmless .... uuurgh!)

Comments

[chomiji]

So you're reading 25 now? > bounces enthusiastically < It's not as good as 24 or 26, but it has some nice stuff in it. Akira gets to grow up some more.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'm finishing up the latest Lian Hearn book(which is good, but kinda...anti-climatic) Erm...I'm assuming you've read her books. Kinda surprised if you don't even know of them

But SDK is next.

[chomiji]

(Gosh, never answered this ... ) The Hearn things are one of those series that I keep picking up, looking at, thinking I might like, and then deciding against at the last minute. How are they?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

They're good. They have some historical flaws and occassionally irksome mysticism, but they lack the extreme homophobia a lot of the western goes at historical Japan have, and have good stories. The latest book is a prequel, and should be read before the others...it's very anticlimatic to read it after. The romance in the trilogy is rather annoying(both characters are much better when separated) but the story is good. I have unconditional love for the 4th book, though, which is about the children of the hero of the trilogy.