Hoshin Engi 13

From the description given in the preview from last volume, I thought the plot backed off from the epic sennin fights a bit to focus on a virus threat in the Sennin and human world.  I was actually kind of disappointed by this, because this actually already happened, and Taikobo figured out how to vaccinate everyone.  It would be a real shame if such an unusual plot device was reused for no real reason.  I thought maybe the preview was somehow a mistake and an older one was used, but it also specifically mentioned Kingo Island being threatened, which wasn’t an issue the last time it happened.

Viruses play absolutely no part in the story in this volume, and instead we get the most epic sennin fight we’ve yet encountered.  Kingo Island and Mount Kongrong are at full war, and the two locations are physically flown through the air to engage in battle.  It’s… kind of weird and unexpected in a series grounded in history and traditional fantasy.  I guess there are the occasional mechanical paope, but still, it’s a little strange.  It’s still awesome though, regardless of whether it belongs.

At Kingo Island, we are introduced to a spokesperson for the twelve elite sennin (the group in charge over there) named Otenkun.  Otenkun’s character design is… er, a little out of place, since he’s pierced up the wazoo, wears black leather, chains, and eye makeup.  Again though, somehow Hoshin Engi pulls off the anachronism, and Otenkun actually has one of the best character designs in the series.  He’s up to something, and while Bunchu is the one that is waging the war without most people’s consent, Otenkun seems prepared to let it go on to a certain point.

Strangely, Taikobo is in charge of the Kingo Island attack instead of Genshi Tenshon.  I suppose he is the master of strategy… but he’s also the one that just drained all the energy off the mountain in order to fight Chokomei, so there’s that, too.

On a side note, I’m not sure why it didn’t hit me until this volume that Kingo Island was composed of youkai sennin (sennin that were originally objects or animals) and that Mount Kongrong was only human sennin.  I’m sure this was explained right away, but maybe I didn’t understand it back then.  Everything made so much more sense after that.

Anyway, a major focus of the volume was Yozen sneaking over and infiltrating Kingo Island in order to disable their shield Obi-Wan Kenobi style.  Yozen gets caught by one of the twelve elite sennin of Kingo Island and is trapped in his alternate dimension.  Since Yozen is a genius, both he and Taikobo are confident that he can escape, however, some interesting plot points come forward after he uses his tremendous amount of power.  I can’t imagine it having the effect that Outenkun describes, but I’m sure the implications will be more complicated than they seem.

Maybe the virus stuff is Otenkun’s plan for next time, or the reason behind why the two worlds are suddenly at war?  All I can say is that I love the crap out of this series, I’m pretty much used to the core cast (though 24 new characters joined up this volume with the elite sennin from each side), and I’m very, very curious to see how the plot plays out.  In all honesty, I like this sennin world stuff a lot more than the human conflict… which, strangely, seems to have resolved itself this volume, though I’m sure a war will still happen.  I can’t see the plot moving back to the war unless there are heavy sennin roles in the battles, which violates all the rules of the Hoshin Project.  I want to see how that is worked around.  I’m sure it will be unexpected and delightful.