Saiyuki wasn't my style either, and now it's an ongoing obsession, so. As David Welsh is so fond of pointing out, it's usually worth it to step out of your comfort zones.
Basically, if you make it through the first volume, you'll make it through them all. Well, Beasts might be a wee bit tough to take, but by the time you get there you'll be able to judge for yourself. :D
And I like that he's taking the samurai story and turning it upside down and confronting us with the reality that the samurai were basically thugs with good historical PR, much like the medieval knights were.
Nah, the basic story is that Manji is cursed to be immortal - any wound will heal. He has to kill 1000 evil men for the curse to be lifted. In comes Rin, a 16-year-old girl whose family was killed by kenshi (swordsmen) of the Itto-ryu, a sword school led by Anotsu Kagehisa, who is trying to make a name for it and thus challenging other sword schools and killing their masters (there's a bit more about that, too, but that's in a later book). She's out for revenge, but really kind of sucks at swordsmanship and gets pointed Manji's way.
Samura-sensei is really really good at setting up characters to seem one way, and then letting you into their heads and their histories and making you have sympathy for them. There's a few who are JUST FUCKING PSYCHO, but most of the "bad" characters are multifaceted. Rin could be a really annoying sidekick, but he handles her well. She's not a natural kenshi, but it's not played for laughs, and the scenes where she's a helpless victim don't play her as an idiot. And Samura also considers the consequences of Manji being effectively unkillable: Manji is getting sloppy as he fights.
I highly recommend it. It's not deadly serious: there's humor to leaven it. And lots of character interaction, too, of the understated sort that Saiyuki's good at.
PS - You're in the Dark Tourney filter now ... read these posts (http://telophase.livejournal.com/tag/dark+tourney) to see what's been bandied about so far. :D
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sub_divided, it looks like we've hit Anime News Network with the Samurai Zombie thing.
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Uh, grim. Pretty grim.
Saiyuki wasn't my style either, and now it's an ongoing obsession, so. As David Welsh is so fond of pointing out, it's usually worth it to step out of your comfort zones.
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And I like that he's taking the samurai story and turning it upside down and confronting us with the reality that the samurai were basically thugs with good historical PR, much like the medieval knights were.
And Manji is a badass. :D
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Nah, the basic story is that Manji is cursed to be immortal - any wound will heal. He has to kill 1000 evil men for the curse to be lifted. In comes Rin, a 16-year-old girl whose family was killed by kenshi (swordsmen) of the Itto-ryu, a sword school led by Anotsu Kagehisa, who is trying to make a name for it and thus challenging other sword schools and killing their masters (there's a bit more about that, too, but that's in a later book). She's out for revenge, but really kind of sucks at swordsmanship and gets pointed Manji's way.
Samura-sensei is really really good at setting up characters to seem one way, and then letting you into their heads and their histories and making you have sympathy for them. There's a few who are JUST FUCKING PSYCHO, but most of the "bad" characters are multifaceted. Rin could be a really annoying sidekick, but he handles her well. She's not a natural kenshi, but it's not played for laughs, and the scenes where she's a helpless victim don't play her as an idiot. And Samura also considers the consequences of Manji being effectively unkillable: Manji is getting sloppy as he fights.
I highly recommend it. It's not deadly serious: there's humor to leaven it. And lots of character interaction, too, of the understated sort that Saiyuki's good at.
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also check fight club for some shiny toys
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Kawcrow, I know you don't want kids, but can I bear your young anyway?
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Check out this interlude of cuuuuteness.
I will accept kittens, thank you.
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