Basara Vol. 7

Summary: The Red King’s forces have been defeated. The twisted Blue King is dead. Just as the rebellion gains momentum, shocking news distracts Sarasa – her mother is alive and General Kazan’s prisoner! Setting their larger goals aside, Tatara’s allies unite in a quest to resue Tatara’s mother.

Review: Wow. This was one hell of an epic volume. The only thing it lacks was some Shuri x Sarasa action. Which I don’t mind because the plot wouldn’t be developed if Shuri got in the way. lol. Asagi, even though he’s evil, got to admit, he’s pretty brilliant. He would sugest a plan, and then he would destroy it in a blink of an eye. He’s an evil guy, but still awesome at the same time.

So this volume consists of Tatara trying to save her mother from the evil cutches of General Kazan. But he isn’t really evil though, in fact, he loves Tatara’s mother. Asagi hinted to Kazan that Tatara put sleeping potion into their soup, and warns him and his army not to eat it. It’s funny because, Asagi is the person that sugested putting sleeping powder in the soup. Tatara and friends ended up being surrounded by the Red King’s Army.

At the same time, Shuri was furious at Kazaan for housing Tatara’s mother behind his back. He gather up his army and attempts to assasinate Kazan. His real motive is to burn down Kumano, because it was a land that was govern by King Ukon. Tatara’s eyes ends up damaged, and Chacha duels Kazaan. Zaki then takes Tatara to safety, and rushes back to try to save Chacha. Tatara has a strong sense of protection for her allies, so regardless of her damaged eyes, she ride her horse back and rescues both Chacha and Zaki. I got to admit, when Zaki threw Chacha to safety, and the floor below him start to fall apart….I thought that he was a goner. Remember in the last volume where the old woman predicted that either Zaki or Chacha will die? My heart leapt when Tatara jumped into the collapsing building in order to saved Zaki.

Basara tends to have a lot of epic deaths, such as Tatara’s family, Shido, and the fake Blue King. But by far Kazan’s death is what got to me the most. Kazan loved Tatara’s mother. She even admitted that Kazan was a good man. He lied to Shuri, in order to protect his love from dying. In the end, he commited seppuku. My heart actually cried a little, because the person that beheaded him was Tatara’s mother herself. What’s more epic then dying for love? Even though Kazaan is technically the enemy, I felt sorry for his death.

On a side note, Sarasa missed out on seeing who the Red King really is. Thank God, if I had a way, I would make sure she would never find out…

Conclusion: I’m on a Basara high right now. I never felt the need to read the next volume as much as I want to read it now. The love between Shuri and Sarasa is fantastic, but what really pulls me into their world is the plot. I never tought that I would enjoy a fantasy based manga this much!

Overall Grade: A+

Basara Vol. 6

Summary: After Sarasa and Shuri are separted in the flood, a shocking battle takes place and important secrets are revealed. In Seiran, Sarasa helps the rebels with the flood recovery effort and is reminded that no matter how hard she pretends otherwise she is still an ordinary girl. Asagi stages his own mock execution and Sarasa saves him, He is taken back to the ship where Nagi nurses his wounds, but Sarasa begins to suspect foul play.

Review: After reading this volume of Basara, I have to admit that this is probably one of the best shoujo manga out there. Every character is well developed, and the main herione is braver than most shoujo heroines.

Shuri (The Red King) learns that his real brother is Asagi (The Blue King) and decides to start back at square one. Asagi stages his own execution in order for Sarasa to save him. He is later brought to the ship, where Nagi treats his wounds. We later learn that Asagi wishes to use Sarasa as a tool to kill his own brothers, and eventually rule japan. A long the way Asagi learns that Tatara is actually Sarasa. He also learns that Sarasa and Shuri are madly in love and that they probably don’t know each other’s real identity. Asagi sends his servants (The Four Virtues) to spy on his brothers. One of his servant (Plum) tipped Asho that Kazan is holding Sarasa’s mother hostage in his home. Shuri laters questioned Kazan about it and he denies the accusation of holding Sarasa’s mother in his house. He is then ordered to go to Kumano to attend the fake Blue King’s funeral. Fearing that Sarasa’s mother would be captured, he takes her to Kumano as well. Sarasa and the gang follows Kazan to Kumano in order to save her mother.

Conclusion: I wished Ageha warns Sarasa about what Asagi is planning to do. I also wished that there were more Shuri x Sarasa’s scenes, just because they are so cute together. All in all, this was another excellent volume towards the series. I can’t wait to pick up the next volume. ^^

Overall Grade: A+