Basara 10
Posted: February 27, 2009 Filed under: Basara 7 Comments »There’s some pretty epic battles in this volume. Sarasa tries to hold off the assassins in the cave with the president, which proves to be a much more difficult task than it should be. Then she randomly hops on Unten’s ship to try and stop him before he takes out Shuri’s ship, who’s been sailing under the pretext of being a ghost ship with the dead Red King on it.
Aside from Unten, both men need to worry about the Japanese Navy, which shows up off the coast of Okinawa after Unten’s assassination attempts fall through. This doesn’t change Unten’s desire to take down Shuri, nor does it worry Shuri in the least, since he decides to take out the head ship and recruit his men back to his side. He is only mildly successful until the European Navy shows up.
Shuri’s a clever boy, actually. Both he and Sarasa. Both feel the need to spill their guts to someone about the secrets they keep from others. In Shuri’s case, he’s worried about telling Sarasa he’s the Red King, and in Sarasa’s case, she’s worried about telling her followers that she’s not really Tatara.
Sarasa’s problem seems less worrisome to me since it’s not actually Tatara the groups are following, but Sarasa. Sarasa did something impressive to win each and every one of them over, and really only worked under false pretexts when she invoked her brother’s name in her home villiage to try and rally the people away from the slaughter with hope. It just seems like she should have more pride in what she’s done. And the person she confides in is right, anyone who gives up on her because she lied about her name is probably not worth having around anyway. She should be worried about telling Shuri what she’s done, I think.
There’s a little more Shuri/Sarasa at the end of the volume, which I was not expecting. The scene of the two of them on the bridge is quite lovely, but the scene that made the entire volume for me was the tantrum Shuri threw after he realized Sarasa had slipped off again. Their devotion to one another amidst all these other things that they’re trying to accomplish is quite touching.
Also, Ageha is awesome, as always. I know he meant to teach Tatara a lesson when he brought Senju to take care of, but the way he points out to him that there is no war where only one side is completely in the wrong is just awesome. Tatara takes it to heart, but Senju doesn’t. Senju is not at all happy with the arrangement. I can’t tell if she’s going to stay or not.
“She should be worried about telling Shuri what she’s done, I think.”
Why? It’s so obvious that a guy like Shuri wouldn’t support someone awful like the Red King.
“Their devotion to one another amidst all these other things that they’re trying to accomplish is quite touching.”
I think it’s because they’re both starved for affection. Shuri’s the first person who has truly loved Sarasa for herself and herself only, not because of her relationship to Tatara.
I think Shuri’s birthday party is simply awesome.
[...] on vol. 1 of Astral Project (Slightly Biased Manga) Connie on vol. 10 of Basara (Slightly Biased Manga) Chris Mautner on Black Jack (Panels and Pixels) Connie on vol. 4 of [...]
Oh, and I love the page where Asagi hears that Shuri was in Okinawa. Those screentone blots express jealousy very well.
Shuri’s birthday party has been one of my favorite battle tactics so far. It will take a lot to pass it, I think. I also like that the European captain was so pleased with what had happened.
I was a little sad that Sarasa and Shuri didn’t get together to realize that they had similar/the same birthdays.
That part confused me a little. I was always under the impression that Asagi was after Sarasa because he wanted to ruin her and/or Shuri, but that made me start to think he likes her period. I just read five volumes in a row, and I’m starting to think that more and more. Though he does have a strange way of showing it. Or he may not realize it, which is even better and sort of unexpected, since he seems to realize absolutely everything else.
“Or he may not realize it, which is even better and sort of unexpected, since he seems to realize absolutely everything else.”
This is what makes Asagi one of the most subtle characters in the entire story. He is very good at reading other people, but he can’t read himself very well at all. Well, not until a lot of character-building stuff happens.
Hmm. It’s sort of hard for me to imagine character-building stuff with Asagi, since in this series that seems to entail hardships, something I can’t imagine Asagi dealing with himself. Of course, he has changed some already just by hanging out with Tatara and roughing it in the jungle, the snow, prison, etc. I’m always surprised he invites himself along on these excursions because he really does seem more the type to manipulate behind the scenes. Of course, he’s had a hand in how almost everything has played out so far, and I can’t imagine him doing it from the ship, so I guess there’s that, too.