Mutant samurai wielding mystical powers swap bodies and talk trash while duking it out over conflicting ideals.
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Akimine Kamijyo
Translation: Stephen Paul
Adaptation: Stephen Paul
What They Say
The stakes are higher than ever before, as the final two Elders emerge to prevent Kyo from reaching the former Crimson King. Even more dangerous is the return of Kyoshiro;s burning vengeance. Terrible secrets, hidden motivations, driving desires all are brought into the open as the ultimate climax approaches in this white-knuckle, double-stuffed volume!
Includes special extras after the story!
The Review!
Sardonic anti-hero Kyo and his indomitable companions face off against the demented Crimson King's ostentatious Mibu clan, a pompus lot of swollen-headed pricks (afflicted with terminal narcissism) who lord it over the “less gifted“. The characters suffer mismatched bodies and souls, brandish supernatural powers, flaunt bizarre mutated eyes, and even dabble in genetic cloning—all in a days work for these extraordinary samurai. The Mibu clan's elitist high-minded snobbery is not only overbearing and tiresome, but also makes for some of the most verbose, smack-talking fights in recent memory as they gloat and rant over their hereditary superiority. In formulaic fashion, the battles escalate as opponents reveal ever stronger capabilities before continuing to mash away at each other. A considerable amount of expositional text is intercut with the action (via postage stamp sized frames, sporting an eye-straining 6 point font) making it feel ancillary, even inviting us to skim or skip it completely in favor of just sticking with the action.
But this omnibus double feature is not without its poignant moments and themes. There is Fubuki, the conscientious servant of evil who suddenly realizes how wayward he has become—subsequently sacrificing himself for the greater good. The diminutive Sasuke is propelled to victory by the power of friendship. We also encounter Sakuya, the duty-bound, selfless priestess who suffers silently and courageously under oppression. Kyo himself triumphs through sheer force of belief and also provides some candid, human sensibility with his wry remarks and levelheaded replies to the haughty ramblings of his adversaries.
In Summary:
Passable characters with their varying displays of superhuman badassery prove to be a reasonably amusing past time, but self-absorbed antagonists dispensing extensive mid-fight yammering detract big time from the action’s impact. Some high-concept zaniness centering around cloned/mutated/artificial-life-forms sabotages the plot with distracting weirdness, and confuses the overall “samurai epic” theme with something that feels a little more like a sci-fi story.
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