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brambresseleers's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
thisotherbookaccount's review
3.0
I took a long break between the last volume and this one. To be honest, the hiatus is because the story was just not engaging me enough to make me want to continue. However, it is a comic book, and it is fairly easy to read, so I decided to pick it up again.
Thankfully, despite the break, it was quite easy for me to fall back into the rhythm of things. Rin continues to be on the tail of Anotsu, the man responsible for the death of her parents. However, she was not in a good place the last time we saw her. She was wandering about in the woods alone when her food and money were stolen. So when she runs into Anotsu along the way, the circumstances could not have been worse.
This is the part about Rin's character that is really perplexing to me. On one hand, I really love her as a character — even more so than Manji. In the past few volumes, she has really shown how determined she was to avenge her parents, as well as using her brain to make up for her lack of sword skills. On the other hand, she has this dumb, bull-headed way of confronting Anotsu that I just do not understand. I mean, the whole point of hiring Manji as her bodyguard/protector of sorts is because she recognises that she isn't good enough a swordsman to kill Anotsu, right? So how come she's always putting herself in situations whereby she has to confront Anotsu alone?
Anyway, this book feels once again like it is trying to deal with the aftermath of the previous volumes and setting the pieces for further confrontations between our characters. The pacing slows down for a bit in this book, but hopefully there's more to come in the volumes ahead.
Thankfully, despite the break, it was quite easy for me to fall back into the rhythm of things. Rin continues to be on the tail of Anotsu, the man responsible for the death of her parents. However, she was not in a good place the last time we saw her. She was wandering about in the woods alone when her food and money were stolen. So when she runs into Anotsu along the way, the circumstances could not have been worse.
This is the part about Rin's character that is really perplexing to me. On one hand, I really love her as a character — even more so than Manji. In the past few volumes, she has really shown how determined she was to avenge her parents, as well as using her brain to make up for her lack of sword skills. On the other hand, she has this dumb, bull-headed way of confronting Anotsu that I just do not understand. I mean, the whole point of hiring Manji as her bodyguard/protector of sorts is because she recognises that she isn't good enough a swordsman to kill Anotsu, right? So how come she's always putting herself in situations whereby she has to confront Anotsu alone?
Anyway, this book feels once again like it is trying to deal with the aftermath of the previous volumes and setting the pieces for further confrontations between our characters. The pacing slows down for a bit in this book, but hopefully there's more to come in the volumes ahead.
crookedtreehouse's review
5.0
The best volume yet sees Anotsu framed as the protagonist, and Rin, who's barely grown as a character despite lots of plot development around her, seems on the precipice of becoming interesting.
Arranged marriages, honor, vengeance, and struggling to keep one's humanity are some of the reasons people read samurai focused manga, and this volume hits all the right notes in all the right order.
While I don't think this volume could stand completely on its own, I think it would be just as satisfying if you'd only read, say, volumes one and two and skipped directly here. It's truly excellent.
Arranged marriages, honor, vengeance, and struggling to keep one's humanity are some of the reasons people read samurai focused manga, and this volume hits all the right notes in all the right order.
While I don't think this volume could stand completely on its own, I think it would be just as satisfying if you'd only read, say, volumes one and two and skipped directly here. It's truly excellent.
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