Basara 7
Posted: February 25, 2009 Filed under: Basara 3 Comments »I read this volume and the last one in shifts, where I’d read one half of it, then the other half days later. I usually read every manga in one sitting, so it was hard for me to remember I actually hadn’t finished these. This one I was actually in the process of writing up for the site before I realized I’d only finished half.
My initial review was going to talk about how this felt like a filler volume. Tatara is enroute to intercept the Red King’s General at a holy shrine where the death of the Blue King is being honored. The situation for both the Red General being there along with King Ukon and what exactly the shrine is I believe is explained at the beginning of the volume, then Tatara and company go there and start a journey through the woods, get to a villiage, recruit some more allies, etc. In the first half, there’s not a lot of fighting or tension, and it’s really just setting things up for the epic battle that is going to take place.
And then, actually, the battle did take place. Of course Asagi comes up with some brilliant plans and then thwarts them. He is quite an aggrivating enigma, and I hate him, but I know the series needs someone who meddles as severely and effectively as he does. The Red King appears, but the General mostly has Tatara and company trapped, with Asagi throwing a wrench in their works as well.
The outcome, as far as Tatara’s injury, the fates of Chacha and Zaki, and what happened between Tatara’s mother and the General, none of these things were expected, and they made for an epic story.
But with this massive battle and the epic end to the story… it just felt like a filler volume. I can’t explain why. I mean, there’s a lot happening with the plot here. Maybe Basara is just so awesome that even filler volumes advance the plot. But something just rang a bit false about this volume. I don’t know. Maybe it was because I thought it was a filler volume and then wasn’t.
Something rings false about this volume for me too, and I never saw it as filler.
The most awesome part of this volume is where Kikune is introduced. I didn’t even notice her the first time I read this volume. But you’ve read a lot more manga than I have, so maybe it was totally obvious to you that Kikune is going to turn into the second or third most important female character in the story.
Kikune is introduced on page 134 of this volume.
[...] Diversions) Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of Akihabara@DEEP (Graphic Novel Reporter) Connie on vols. 7, 8, and 9 of Basara (Slightly Biased Manga) Lissa Pattillo on vol. 5 of Black God (Kuriousity) [...]
Actually, I couldn’t even pick up if Kikune was male or female. Her presence is overridden by the White King, or whoever Asagi was talking to there. Now I have to wonder if there’s a situation like the Blue King’s, but I have a feeling it’s probably not.