Basara 24

Holy crap, this is an epic wind-down.  I figured there would be some sort of confrontation between Asagi, Tatara, the Red King, and King Ukon, but the epic showdown that takes place in the castle happens on many levels, and there’s even a bonus race-before-it-collapses element thrown in at the end.

Oh, Asagi.  You poor boy.  There’s a brief confrontation between he and Tatara, where both comptemplate dying on each others swords.  Tatara wouldn’t even let the Red King interfere.  But then Hiiragi steps in, and Asagi lays all his cards on the table, and it is wonderful.  He’s just a fantastic character.  There’s a brief showdown, then, between Asagi and Hiiragi, then Asagi winds up facing off against Ginko, who fights with words.  She winds up dealing the most damage to Asagi in the end, but he is able to walk away, and she never will.  I have to say I liked the face-off between Asagi and Tatara the best, because it worked on a couple different levels, but Ginko and Asagi’s confrontation was rewarding in its own way.

The Red King and Tatara seek out King Ukon.  This confrontation isn’t actually all that satisfying.  King Ukon isn’t actually a tyrant, just lazy and sort of cowardly.  When he won’t take the fall for his country, the situation becomes one where… well, SOMEONE will have to fall in his place.  The King of Japan’s head has to be on a platter, and with Ukon running away… well, that leaves only one choice.

Even Kikune gets to fight the evil Virtues.  They make fun of her for being a girl, even though both Ranmaru and Umewaka really, really look like women.  I was under the impression they were some sort of magical beings since they seemed to be able to appear and disappear and travel at will, but Kikune knows their limitations, and exploits them accordingly.

And Ageha is still fighting the good fight.

The end has a ton of bonus stuff, including two bonus stories.  I loved the one that placed all the characters in a high school and threw in the twist about Sarasa subbing for Tatara trying to figure out who pushed him out a window.  It’s an all-boy’s school, so she has to dodge bullets such as pissing contests in the single bathroom and Shuri sneaking up on her while she’s bathing.  Underwear is the clue to the criminal’s identity, and Asagi eliminates himself, saying that the underwear is too ugly for him to wear.

The second short story is about the gaming habits of the cast.  It’s a little scary how well some of the characters fit into the various scenarios.  These were the types of things that I was missing that I enjoyed in the two shorter series I read by Tamura.  She’s really good at drawing these gag chapters.  I’m glad there are at least a few scattered throughout the volumes.