Hoshin Engi 17

Ryu Fujisaki – Viz – 2010 – 23 volumes

And here’s the other adaptation of a Chinese novel. This is… an extremely loose adaptation, moreso than the Romance of the Three Kingdoms retelling in One Thousand and One Nights.

Hm. This series has slowed down significantly in the recent volumes. I can’t figure out why I’m enjoying it less. The problem I have with there being too many characters seems to solve itself with each passing volume (this one included… we lost a few people that I was quite fond of), and the epic war that brings about the downfall of the entire supernatural world is, to say the least, very interesting. But I think it’s all the vague paope fights, the power versus power, that’s wearing on me these last several volumes. Rather than Taikobo outsmarting people, we’re just seeing who’s made-up weapon is the best, and it’s far less interesting. Not even Genshi Tenson’s battle with Bunchu was that great, and I was really looking forward to seeing the great Genshi Tenson fight. The Bunchu versus Hiko Ko fight was marginally more interesting, but again, it was a bunch of speedlines followed by some sadness on both sides. It could have been so much more.

The end of the Sennin war is pretty epic. Lots of dramatic and sad trips to the Hoshindai, and seeing both sides come out at a loss was also pretty fantastic. Best of all, we can move on to something else now.

Taikobo puts Yozen in charge of King Bu’s march to the city and goes off in search of one of the greatest Sennin alive, one who sides with neither Mount Kongrong or Kingo Island and is on the same level as the leaders of both, or even Shinkohyo or Dakki. Taikobo’s already run into the strange Shinkohyo once on his search, and has arrived at a bizarre town, and already it’s far better than the war we just finished.

This series is always better in chunks, and I’ve got two more volumes to read before I’m caught up to the current release. I’m pretty excited to move forward in this new storyline, honestly. I haven’t liked it as much since the defeat of Chokomei in volume 12. I like it, I like it a lot, and I’m still impressed by how good the art is and how tightly plotted it’s been all along. But it’s never been quite as good since then. I have high hopes that some of the silliness I like will come back and brighten things up again.