Or that I don't care really. I am going to post what I like and when I have time to post. Fushigi Yuugi was one of my very first mangas so it has a special place in my heart. Yuu Watase FOREVER!
Although I curse her for making me cry so much!
So now that I have rambled on for a bit...it is time for the actual post! Complete with way too many screenies!
:( No more good times...
To start off the volume...one must turn to the back of the manga and read the little summary.
"As the war for Genbu begins, the Celestial Warriors leap into
the fray....but the first battle will exact a terrible price!"
So someone is going to die. And unlike the first Fushigi Yuugi, I doubt there is a plan set in place to allow Takiko to gather some special objects and make her wish that way. So I am guessing 7 of the 8 will live (Namame might be a ground up little pebble...but he can still do his job). So...let's turn to the front of the manga to get some magical hint on who it might be who bites the dust.
Cuteness is a sign of impending doom... :(
Soren. ....Just damn it. :( One of my favorite characters. And only 25 percent of my love for him has to do with yaoi...which is saying a lot.
I love yaoi! I can't help it!
So even before I opened up the book I knew I was going to be sad. :( Soren is the little voice of reason for this group, the ADULT if you would. But...he is expendable. He isn't a warrior. Should have known better.
He left us all!
After working up enough courage to open the volume, Takiko is still talking to Hagus about how he is warrior, he should join them, she can save his brother blah blah. Personally I like Hagus. I tend to love most twins (Amiboshi and Suboshi FOREVER) so Hagus was pretty much a must like to begin with.
Although...it is odd they are like....17 year apart?
But I like how he is still very cynical about this whole warrior thing (well, most of them are...). The original Fushigi Yuugi had a clear cut enemy and these were the bad guys. Hagus...is on the fence. He is fighting to protect his brother, but he is fighting the "good guys". Can't really blame him, but strangling him for being stubborn crosses my mind.
He's getting screwed over too!
Ziyu and Feiyan aren't in this volume very much, but the chick at the end of the volume looks VERY similar...so maybe they will appear more in the second one. Again, it is hard to hate those two as basically they have been forced into this way of life. Plus this pairing is fun in my head.
Someone looks familiar...
Takiko gets captured like 3 times in this one volume alone, but she is still a much stronger person than Miaka. She still does the annoying crying out for a guy, missing the guy too much, and depending on the guy way too much...but she is different. Miaka would just sit by or try to help and be in the way. Takiko can actually fight and defend herself. She feels more compelled to aid people. So when she is off being the HELP ME GIRL..it is more tolerated since she can help at times.
This is how a priestess protects her people!
Tomite, Hatsui, Hikitsu, and Inami don't really have much to do in this volume. Hikitsu is always cool with his ability so he is allowed to be mysterious and out of the way. I am still not feeling Inami as a warrior yet. Not because she is a woman...just the way she presents herself. Or the fact that two out two "main" warrior woman have been sluts? Can't we get a "main" one that isn't a slut or a massive whore?
Her power is special too...
Tomite needs to step up more and reaffirm his standing as a main character. Uruki just stomps all over him. More and more Uruki is being seen as a comic relief character. I guess I would have liked it more had there been more of a love triangle and not a MOG I love you and only you moment so early in the manga.
Can you has some serious please?
I think the Genbu series has done a much better job portraying how hard life is for these characters. In the original there bad events and neighboring nation taking over. It is slightly different when your own King doesn't care about you and EVERY single village is being burned and smashed to the ground.
Time to be rescuing your people!
At times there seems to be too many enemies. We got Uruki's dad being all evil with his metal body. We got Uruki's Uncle...destroying a nation just to kill Uruki. We got Seiryū still (or starting...) to be asshats by throwing their hands into the mix. We got Hagus fighting to protect his warrior disabling brother. We got random bandits all over the place rapping and stabbing people. It can get a little confusing at times.
But...the hats never fail to amuse me...
I feel as if some of this is just too much for one series. If they focused more on certain enemies perhaps the pace wouldn't be so hectic. But perhaps in the end it will all make sense. Or maybe it was meant to be chaotic to match the times.
The only decent ruler is wanted by like...every single person in the story!
On to the main point of this post: My poor dead Soren.
Do not taunt my tears with your cute chibi images!
You can pretty much tell when a side character starts revealing their past to the main character, they are a goner. So...when Soren talks to Takiko about his father's death and how tough his life was...the end was near.
Foreshadowing...too...overwhelming...
I love how they showed Soren having doubts about protecting Uruki. I don't like it when someone blindly protects another or mindlessly serves someone. Soren was very young when he was thrust into this mess. And even if his hesitation and doubt lasted all of 2 minutes...it made me happy to see such a development.
Who WOULDN'T pick that cutie pie!?
To me it represents that Soren CHOOSE this life. He didn't just carry on his father's will or do it out of honor. He had a chance to end it all and he choose not to. Protecting Uruki is what he wanted to do. Even if it meant a life on the run and death.
Even Uruki is surprised...almost too cute for words!
Soren does decide that he will allow himself to be killed rather than lead Uruki into a trap. I am quite sure Hagus smelt bull**** the entire time...so I am not sure why he allowed this act to take place. Perhaps he knows if Uruki is dead the chances of getting his brother back are almost NIL from Takiko's side. And if Uruki does appear...well he gets his brother back anyway. A win win situation for him.
You are causing a lot of problems little man..
But back to Soren. He is a pretty fast thinker and is able to reunite Uruki and Takiko while protecting them both. Only he has to die.
But totally outnumbered...
And pretty much his death is one of the worst ones in Yuu Watase history. I mean...I thought watching your twin turn into blob monster of flesh was bad. But no...Soren is stabbed, shot with like 15 arrows, sets himself on fire, and blows up. That is a whole lot of dead.
Could it GET any worse?!
But the entire time he is not resentful at the fact he has to die. He almost seems happy. As long as his master can be protected and with his loved one...he is happy to die. And take out quite of few of their enemies in the process.
Because all that matters is Uruki...
Sadder than Soren's death is Uruki's reaction. Or that fact he experiences the shock TWICE! He is only momentarily consumed by sorrow before the rage took over and he nearly killed himself to get revenge. After recovering and reuniting with the others does he really face the reality of the situation...and Soren is never going to return to his side again.
Not even a chance to say goodbye...
The fact that Uruki thought he was ready for this day...but ended up sobbing so sadly pulled at my heart strings. :( Clearly HE was ready to die, but not go on living without Soren. That he still thinks that Soren should have dropped him off that cliff that day. And I really love how Uruki could cry so openly in front of all his companions and not feel "shame". That is how real men cry.
All that is left of Soren. :(
Anything else that happened in this volume is secondary to Soren's death. I had to reread the volume just to make sure I got everything straight in my head as I was just so focused on Soren. :( Yuu Watase knows how to make people feel so upset when any of her characters die.
Pretty much all I could think about the entire volume.
So there is my incoherent rambly post. Basically I love Yuu Watase, Soren, and Fushigi Yuugi Genbu. Despite it's VERY SLOW RELEASE DATES I love this series and look forward to the next volume coming out in America. XD
Why must I wait so long to see how things progress!!!
If you have NOT read any Fushigi Yuugi, I recommend getting this series first, then the original. Makes you focus more on the characters at hand and not tings you THINK are going to happen.
Again thanks for reading and sorry for my ramblings. I tend to do that with things I love. XD
No comments:
Post a Comment