A Quokka Dreeds its Weird

...I see what you all meant by "And now I will show you my real power!" Gosh there's a lot of that. And then there was Random Villain # Whatever, who, upon getting his arm cut off...

RV#W (clenching shoulder muscles): "Stop the bleeding, and I'll do without an arm! Still... that arm won't come cheap!"

Kiddie Ninja Sarutobi Sasuke (as opposed to kiddie ninja Uchiha "More Special Than You" Sasuke): "He... used his muscles to stop the bleeding!

Yes, Not!More-Special Sasuke, we noticed.

Some of the fights with people whom I couldn't keep straight got a bit tiresome, but I continue to be pleased by the well-paced plot revelations and consistently interesting character development. Plus, it's about a rag-tag group of badass oddballs who mostly stick together because they all think Kyo is Just. So. Cool. What's not to love?

Volume 10 concludes the Aokigahara arc.

( Ha ha ha ha ha! Die, die, DIE!!!!! )

Massive spoilers lurk below, beware. Spoil me for anything past volume 5 and Kyo will cut off your head so fast that it won't even fall.

( You want my head? Here it is, on my shoulders! Come and get it!!! )

Note: I am posting this from sartorias's place and don't have the manga with me; please forgive any mix-ups with the names of characters, etc.

This is, so far, an excellent shonen series if you can get past the first few volumes, which suck. In that, it resembles the Lymond Chronicles, whose beginning didn't so much suck as was impenetratble.. It also resembles the Lymond Chronicles in another way too, but that is vaguely spoilery and I'll get to it behind a cut. Eventually, it gets into some excellent character development, good plotting, political intrigue, wacky riffs on real history, and fun with swordplay and magic.

I read the first volume of this ages ago and didn't like it at all, and was baffled by the fondness for it expressed by telophase and chomiji. However, when we were in Japan, the latter explained that it improves greatly after the first few volumes, and also told me some plot and thematic spoilers that made it sound way more interesting.

Because the first volumes are kind of awful, but it does get really good later on, I will present a guide to the first few volumes in case anyone wants to try just skipping them, or is curious why they should persevere. At the end, I will reveal the not-terribly-spoilery information Stephanie told me. However, one of the major pleasures of the earlier books are the startling plot twists and slow reveal of information; I won't reveal anything that I would really hate to have spoiled for me until a spoiler post which I will make later (probably tomorrow.)

Volume 1: It's after the battle of Sekigahara. Tokugawa Ieyasu is in power. And sixteen-year-old gunslinging female bounty hunter Yuya meets mild-mannered travelling medicine seller Kyoshiro. Hijinks ensue. It seems that Kyoshiro is periodically possessed by uber-badass bad guy Demon-Eyes Kyo, notorious killer at Sekigahara and generally nototious killer. Big bounty on his head. Yuya is determined to bring him in. There is much very annoying, sexist fanservice. I swear, it gets better!

Volume 2: All sorts of people have personal grudges against Kyo and show up to try to kill him. Kyoshiro continues to be mild-mannered. It is revealed that Yuya is searching for the man who killed her brother, who has a scar on his back. They are attacked by a gang consisting of White Crow (guy with white hair), Black Scorpion (black guy depicted with every bit of the racial sensitivity one might expect given the sensitivity to gender issues earlier), and Red Tiger, a mysterious genki guy. More obnoxious fanservice. I swear, it gets better!

Volume 3: Black Scorpion and White Crow are dispatched. Red Tiger hangs around. More new characters who know Kyo and want to kill him show up. This volume is not actually very good, but it might be hard to start any later given the amount of backstory and character introductions which occur here. It's better than the first two, anyway.

Volume 4: Can't say much without spoilers, but this is pretty good.

Volume 5: Can't say anything without spoilers, but this was great and hooked me on the series. Some fantastic plot developments here.

Cut for general development of series spoilers; not really specific plot spoilers. This is what made me pick up the series in the first place.

( Don't die, Kyo! I want to be the one who kills you! )