Basara 25
Posted: March 23, 2009 Filed under: Basara 9 Comments »Oh, Ageha. Kagero and Ageha’s scene in this volume was just heartbreaking. It made me tear up a bit, which has been surprisingly infrequent in this volume. But Ageha gets one of the best scenes of all, and if anyone has earned a tear-worthy scene, it’s him. He even got to lead Tatara out to safety in the end, which was a wonderful way to wrap up that castle scene.
Asagi’s final scene in the castle was also wonderful. Just… seeing his friends come for him was great. I actually liked his scene better than the final scene between Tatara and the Red King.
Which… well, ended up more or less like it needed to. I was sort of expecting a final clash between them, but after what happened in the last battle, and after the two of them led each other through the castle, and after all this talk about the people needing a member of the royal family’s head as a sacrifice… well, it went where it needed to. The Red King and Tatara turned back into Shuri and Sarasa. The narrative being interrupted at the end was a nice touch, and it drove me crazy a little since the scene was interrupted and didn’t really wrap up definitively, but the ending was there all the same. It was a nice one.
The rest of the volume is filled with short stories of various lengths that answer some questions that were left open. King Ukon and his advisor get a brief story, but Ageha’s early life gets one lengthy story and Ginko and Asagi get the other longer story. Ginko and Asagi… ugh. Asagi makes a sarcastic comment at the very end of the main story that I disregarded, but… Jesus, he was right. That’s harsh.
Ageha’s story is about a woman he met that he sort of took after, about the fortune he followed throughout the series, how he came to meet back up with Shuri, and how he got Kagero. It’s a good story, and very fitting. It certainly cleansed the palate after the Ginko story.
Kagero and Ageha’s scene in this volume was just heartbreaking.
Yes! I’m so glad you included Kagero in there. This is one of those volumes I enjoyed crying over. :)
“Jesus, he was right. That’s harsh.”
I know exactly what you mean. It’s even creepier because it makes so much sense. Now we know why Ginko wanted to ruin the royal family so bad. And why Asagi is so sensitive to cold and his wounds took five times longer to heal than most people’s.
My theory is that Prince Aira/Indigo is the serpent king we see in Volume 5. Because otherwise Prince Aira/Indigo must have been swapped/murdered pretty early.
My favorite scene in this volume is the one with Shuri’s mother. It’s so short, and yet it haunts me.
Shuri and Sarasa almost had to have this ending. If they had done anything else, it would have ignored everything they’ve learned in the last ten volumes. I do love Shuri’s “I can only offer up my own body” speech.
It’s really amazing that even pet owls turn out to be major players and heroes in this series. Seriously, I can’t remember the last time someone’s pet tipped off two entire armies to a backstabbing plot, then saved the owner’s life in the same day.
Tamura does sort of step carefully around the Ginko-Asagi issue by having the possibility that Hiiragi really did kill Ginko’s son and replaced him with Asagi. But… it’s as you say, it just makes too much sense to be anything else. The added detail of Ginko only seeing Asagi with a little minotaur head was also really creepy.
The Indigo-Serpent King thing makes sense. I do need to re-read the Serpent King bits again to get the swap/murder/”real” Blue King stuff straight in my head, though.
That scene with Shuri’s mother was extremely sad. It sort of struck me as slightly tangential, but it does clear up Shuri’s family situation even more, and then add a bonus layer of tragedy.
Shuri’s speeches are always the best. Almost everything that comes out of his mouth gets me really fired up about reading this series. The dialogue in this series really is fantastic.
[...] Alexandra Duff on vols. 1-3 (collection) of Ai Yori Aoshi (Sequential Tart) Connie on vols. 24 and 25 of Basara (Slightly Biased Manga) Connie on vol. 4 of Battle Royale (Ultimate Edition) (Slightly [...]
Uhhh.. I didn’t expect Basara to end in this volume. I hope the afterstories will be enjoyable.. ;-)
I know! I wasn’t expecting it to end so early, either. The rest of it is still quite good, though, and that’s even with me in the wrong mindset for reading it. I was cranky about the side stories, but I still loved every page.
I’m so glad I’ve found this site!! Since Basara is such an old series now it’s very hard to find some detailed information about it which is a pity.
Volume 25 is out in my country (FINALLY!!) and I must say that it breaks my heart to see the Ageha and Kagero part. Such a loyal owl… saving his owner by risking its own life. T___T I did read the scanlations back then but it seems I forgot like 95% of its content… Can’t wait until Vol. 26 and Vol. 27 get published even though I couldn’t wait and had to refresh my memory by reading the scanlations. ahem. O.o;;
The side-story of Vol. 25 is very interesting, though. At first I didn’t like Asagi because he has such a wicked and cunning personality but as the story develops I kind of started to like this character. I guess it’s all about his past what makes him mysterious and secretive because up until now we do not know if he really is the baby of Ginko or not. I had to re-read the passage so many times and it seems to me that the baby boy died and Hiiragi/Kakihito just got a replacement for her which was Asagi. But then, I’m not too sure if Hiiragi-sensei would really do this to Ginko because he’s such a loyal person and the fact that Asagi has a poor health somehow really supports that idea that he in fact is the son of her and uhm.. the king. But we don’t know for sure and it will always remain a secret to us.
But still, Shuri is my hero!! It won’t change!! Love him!
I agree with you, I had mixed feelings regarding the side-stories because some of them seemed to be so random, even though I enjoyed to read them. ^^;;
Haha, it’s been so long since I read Basara, your comments are making me consider another trip through! I’m with you, I think I’ve forgotten a lot of what happens. I just flipped back through because I could not remember what exactly happened with Kagero.
I was really lucky in that all the English volumes were out here when I decided to read it, so I didn’t really have to wait for anything. I think I read the latter half in a matter of one or two sittings. This really was one of my all-time favorites. It deserves a re-read.