Samurai Deeper Kyo
Apr. 16th, 2007 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieBecause of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meganbmoore being an awesome pusher, I started the manga Samurai Deeper Kyo. It's probably the most shounen manga I've read so far. You can't really get further away from schoolgirls in love than a story about a samurai trapped inside someone else's body who seeks revenge on his enemy.
My verdict? I LOVE IT. I am already four volumes in and it's AWESOME.
The 'Kyo' in the title of the story (which is set at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate) refers to 'Demon Eyes Kyo,' a legendary samurai who supposedly killed 1000 men and has an enormous bounty on him. Our heroine, Yuya, is a bounty hunter who would love nothing better than to catch Kyo (if he is still alive). Unfortunately for her, the guy she mistakes for Kyo turns out to be Kyoshiro, a dopey medicine peddler. Kyoshiro might be annoying and a bit of a perv, but he is cheerful and peaceful, and doesn't fit Kyo'd description perfectly. They end up travelling together. But why does Kyoshiro carry the super long sword like the one used by Kyo? Yuya finds out the hard way when at one point, Kyoshiro is pushed to the brink, his life is threatened and Demon Eyes Kyo emerges. No, they are not different facets of the same person. They are two people trapped in the same body and up to four or so years ago were two individual people. Eventually, Kyo takes over the body but what he really wants is his own body back and revenge on his enemies (who they are we are yet to find out). He does not kill Yuya though he harbors no liking for her, but impressed (or amused) by her defiance (when she refuses to beg for her life) makes a deal with her. He will help her to look for the man with the scar on his back, the goal of Yuya's life. This man killed her brother. So they travel together, gathering various characters around them, including Sanada (my favorite other than Kyo), a deceptively laid-back leader of a defeated clan who wants nothing more than the Shogun's head to avenge his family, and a former bandit who becomes Kyo's follower.
One of the things I love about the manga is that the heroine is not a pushover. True, she is outclassed by Kyo and his allies/enemies but that's because they are borderline supernatural. Against ordinary fighters she is good. And she is rarely afraid and does not back down. In personality she is some sort of mix between Rurouni Kenshin's Kaoru and Full Metal Panic's Kaname (which is awesome as they are two of my favorite anime/manga heroines). But if you think that means Kyo is a pacifist like Vash or Kenshin, you are quite mistaken. Kyo is quite good and clear about being a good killer. In fact, when he spares Yuya's life he says she is only the second person whose life he's spared. And yet, I totally like him as a character. He is fun. I much prefer him to Kyoshiro. I guess that means I like violent hotties with poor impulse control to good natured goofballs which I think says something worrisome about me but whatever.
Of course, another thing I like is that not everything is as it appears. When Kyo first appears, he acts exactly like a 'demon' who is a merciless slayer of 1000 men (and a cranky one at that). But as we go on, there seems to be something more complex going on. At one point he states that he kills those who fight him etc etc which seems a regular samurai thing to do, not a 'I will go and murder women and children for the jollies of it' (and so far, he has only killed those who fought him). And then there is the bit where he is capable of liking people (as he does the bandit follower he defeats), and the fact that the mere mention of the name 'Sakuya' (I think it's a woman's name, right?) gets him all verklempt. Most interestingly what struck me and convinced me that things must be much more complicated than they appear is the scenes with the ninja girl. A ninja girl appears, wanting to kill him. She used to love Kyo and now blames him for the death of her sister. During the confrontations with her, now only does Kyo not kill her but, interestingly, Sanada asks him whether Kyo won't tell her the truth. Basically, Kyo is innocent of the woman's death but doesn't bother to deny it.
And Kyoshiro, there is something more to him too, than the useless dopey peddler. Not only does he seem to be able to avoid attacks with great ease, but we find out he is the one who defeated Kyo and hid his body and 'imprisoned' him. Hmmmm.
I have not developed any ships yet (which makes sense, as this is not a ship driven manga) but I really really love it. And yeah, I can sort of see the very gradual possibility of Kyo/Yuya in the future,meganbmoore, though not yet.
This being a shonen manga, the fanservice is quite amusing. I must say, Kyo's disparaging remarks about Yuya's bust size are LOL-worthy because unless he likes women who have trouble walking because of chest size, I think she is quite well endowed :D
meganbmoore being an awesome pusher, I started the manga Samurai Deeper Kyo. It's probably the most shounen manga I've read so far. You can't really get further away from schoolgirls in love than a story about a samurai trapped inside someone else's body who seeks revenge on his enemy. My verdict? I LOVE IT. I am already four volumes in and it's AWESOME.
The 'Kyo' in the title of the story (which is set at the beginning of the Tokugawa Shogunate) refers to 'Demon Eyes Kyo,' a legendary samurai who supposedly killed 1000 men and has an enormous bounty on him. Our heroine, Yuya, is a bounty hunter who would love nothing better than to catch Kyo (if he is still alive). Unfortunately for her, the guy she mistakes for Kyo turns out to be Kyoshiro, a dopey medicine peddler. Kyoshiro might be annoying and a bit of a perv, but he is cheerful and peaceful, and doesn't fit Kyo'd description perfectly. They end up travelling together. But why does Kyoshiro carry the super long sword like the one used by Kyo? Yuya finds out the hard way when at one point, Kyoshiro is pushed to the brink, his life is threatened and Demon Eyes Kyo emerges. No, they are not different facets of the same person. They are two people trapped in the same body and up to four or so years ago were two individual people. Eventually, Kyo takes over the body but what he really wants is his own body back and revenge on his enemies (who they are we are yet to find out). He does not kill Yuya though he harbors no liking for her, but impressed (or amused) by her defiance (when she refuses to beg for her life) makes a deal with her. He will help her to look for the man with the scar on his back, the goal of Yuya's life. This man killed her brother. So they travel together, gathering various characters around them, including Sanada (my favorite other than Kyo), a deceptively laid-back leader of a defeated clan who wants nothing more than the Shogun's head to avenge his family, and a former bandit who becomes Kyo's follower.
One of the things I love about the manga is that the heroine is not a pushover. True, she is outclassed by Kyo and his allies/enemies but that's because they are borderline supernatural. Against ordinary fighters she is good. And she is rarely afraid and does not back down. In personality she is some sort of mix between Rurouni Kenshin's Kaoru and Full Metal Panic's Kaname (which is awesome as they are two of my favorite anime/manga heroines). But if you think that means Kyo is a pacifist like Vash or Kenshin, you are quite mistaken. Kyo is quite good and clear about being a good killer. In fact, when he spares Yuya's life he says she is only the second person whose life he's spared. And yet, I totally like him as a character. He is fun. I much prefer him to Kyoshiro. I guess that means I like violent hotties with poor impulse control to good natured goofballs which I think says something worrisome about me but whatever.
Of course, another thing I like is that not everything is as it appears. When Kyo first appears, he acts exactly like a 'demon' who is a merciless slayer of 1000 men (and a cranky one at that). But as we go on, there seems to be something more complex going on. At one point he states that he kills those who fight him etc etc which seems a regular samurai thing to do, not a 'I will go and murder women and children for the jollies of it' (and so far, he has only killed those who fought him). And then there is the bit where he is capable of liking people (as he does the bandit follower he defeats), and the fact that the mere mention of the name 'Sakuya' (I think it's a woman's name, right?) gets him all verklempt. Most interestingly what struck me and convinced me that things must be much more complicated than they appear is the scenes with the ninja girl. A ninja girl appears, wanting to kill him. She used to love Kyo and now blames him for the death of her sister. During the confrontations with her, now only does Kyo not kill her but, interestingly, Sanada asks him whether Kyo won't tell her the truth. Basically, Kyo is innocent of the woman's death but doesn't bother to deny it.
And Kyoshiro, there is something more to him too, than the useless dopey peddler. Not only does he seem to be able to avoid attacks with great ease, but we find out he is the one who defeated Kyo and hid his body and 'imprisoned' him. Hmmmm.
I have not developed any ships yet (which makes sense, as this is not a ship driven manga) but I really really love it. And yeah, I can sort of see the very gradual possibility of Kyo/Yuya in the future,
meganbmoore, though not yet. This being a shonen manga, the fanservice is quite amusing. I must say, Kyo's disparaging remarks about Yuya's bust size are LOL-worthy because unless he likes women who have trouble walking because of chest size, I think she is quite well endowed :D
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-16 11:50 pm (UTC)Don't worry, if anyone had told me at this point my first time through that I'd ever be psycho over Kyo/Yuya, I would have told them they were nuts. I don't think I realized I MIGHT be shipping them until around vol 10-12(see today's posts)
Yukimura Sanada rocks. A friend of mine did a great post on him recently...I should link it for you.
Kyoshiro is really little like he seems, though you don't know that until later. Sakuya is a woman, and the woman Kyoshiro loves. Kyo loves her too, but it seems to be platonic...if it ever was romantic, he was over it before the start of the series. When it comes to her, mostly he just gets annoyed at people bringing her up because a) harping on the subject and b) warm fuzzies in Kyoshiro.
Yuya is flatout one of my favorite manga heroines because of all the things you listed(have I mentioned I'm absrdly protective of her?) and this is one of the few series where it doesn't bother me at all that every guy in it loves her in some context because it just makessense, because yeah, she's brave and cocky and all that, but she's just so comparatively nice and normal and all their lives are so hopelessly screwed up that it just makes sense that they'd migrate to her.
Kyo blames himself for the death of Mahiro's sister. But don't worry, Mahiro gets to kick the real villain's butt eventually.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-16 11:57 pm (UTC)I am saving your posts for later because I don't want to be spoiled :)
Yuya is totally awesome. I really like her because she is strong and a bit greedy but also fun and so full of common-sense. It's awesome.
Kyo blames himself for the death of Mahiro's sister.
I figured it was something like that.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:23 am (UTC)The fact that Kyo blames himself for Big Sis's death is really the only reason Mahiro lived through that(and the fact that Yuya was ok, though you can't really tell that's how his brain works at this point)so she can one day go off and make babies with Benitora.
Yuya, to me, remains awesome(and the heart of the book) throughout.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:28 am (UTC)What is Blade of the Immortal about?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:49 am (UTC)I'm not sure if it's your thing, but it's my favorite after Basara. It's about Rin, a girl whose parents were murdered by the Itto Ryu, a group of rogue samurai and swordsmen who want to take japan's warriors away from the swords being an excuse for politics and looking good and back to being the way of life. Rin has little training in fighting(though she initially thinks she's much better than she is...she's fine one-on-one with your average thug, but that's about it) and isn't content to wait until she has a son to get her vengeance for her, so she hires Manji, a rude, crass slayer of 100(see a connection?) who cannot die. Manji doesn't think she's cut out for the vengeance path, but agrees to help her because she reminds him of his sister, was was driven mad when he killed her husband(her husband was a police officer who was hunting him and they didn't know who the other was until it was too late) and then murdered to get revenge against him. Manji/Rin is a kind of OTP I like but rarely handled well...it doesn't matter if he has romantic feelings for her or not, he's going to take care of her for the rest of her life unless someone he approves of comes along, and that'll never happen(think Ban/Himiko)
Magatsu Taito, a member of the Itto Ryu who tried to stop the rape of Rin's mother and who spent a fair bit ofthe series seeking vengeance against the killer of the girl he loved(their relationship was rather like Manji/Rin-leaving him secretly jealous-except she was a prostitute at a brothel he occassionally worked as a bouncer at) is flat out my favorite manga character EVER.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:08 am (UTC)I really do like that while he is not heartless or what not, he is not a misunderstood peaceful woobie. Nah, he will kill someone opposing him without thinking about it twice.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:29 am (UTC)The only people who need to get Kyo(Yuya-eventually-and his friends) get him, and really, he doesn't care if they do because he gets them...he values loyalty and he values friendship, he keeps his word, and he likes his sake and a good fight, so unless you mess with him or his or get in his way, he really doesn't care.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 12:32 am (UTC)I do really really like the fact that yeah, he is no monster but he is not a sweet guy either. I mean, Vash is my favorite manga/anime character ever, but I don't need more than one misunderstood and deadly yet completely non-violent and messed-up woobie.
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Date: 2007-04-17 12:55 am (UTC)Almost and SDK cast member makes Vash and Kenshin look normal and well balanced and completely at peace.
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Date: 2007-04-17 01:17 am (UTC)Oh Onime No Kyo, you least-insane example of a psychopath you. ;)
*throws a drunken shitfit cause she deleted her Yukimura icon*
no subject
Date: 2007-04-17 02:49 am (UTC)And so is Kyo :)