Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Yamato Gensouki Volume 1


VOL. 1 – The Yamato Fantasy Tale
The Boy Who Destroys and the Girl Who Establishes

Nice beginning chapter, the story is not that captivating, but it has potential to get better.  The male protagonist is a typical hero, strong powers, good looks, cool attitude, but that doesn’t make him any less likeable.  The story itself feels like history, with the aim of the Empress trying to unify Japan, I don’t know, just doesn't feel too compelling to me.


There are users of magic here, and I do like how Shion called up his soul blade, Shingu.  The art is okay and not too bad considering from the era it had came from, and being the first work of Kentaro Yabuki.  It’s interesting enough for me to keep reading the rest of the chapters, I just feel it’s lacking something special in it’s story that captivates the readers.

As the Empress

Not a bad chapter, but still feels like it is lacking something, some special that will set this manga apart from the countless others.  It still feels really typical that Shion is some super powerful guy, and so it’s a bit boring as you know everything will go well with him around.  Some of his exchanges with the commander were funny, and it is a fairly exciting chapter.  I’m hoping for some really exciting to happen soon, or a sort of challenge, because if Shion continues to overcome these ‘problems’ and ‘assassination’ attempts so easily, it’s going to get boring real quick.

The Thing That Links Them

Mediocre chapter, it is okay, still feels a bit dull and you keep waiting for something awesome to happen, but there isn’t one.  We get Shion who is confused about being a companion, and lo and behold, in this chapter, he learns how to accept it, and understands what it is about, no surprises there.

“One More”

Not bad, Shion is starting to adapt with his ‘company’, so I guess that’s one problem down.  Now onto the process of trying to find the city of Takama and that’s where the interesting tidbits come.  Chapter ends with another nation on the verge of being destroyed, by one spellcaster, looks like a fight may be coming up.

The Meaning of “Nation Destroying”

Ah, a much better chapter, and the enemy is a really formidable warrior that even Shion is no match against.  Although the story still isn’t that great, I think it’s gotten better, and I like the weapon designs though, especially the shingu’s.

The One Who Pushes

Shion gets some extra power from his dream, typical really, but what can you expect, this series was never going to be a breakthrough with the tried and tested plot.  However, it was still a decent read, and you do get a sense of satisfaction when Shion wins.

Smile

A fairly uneventful chapter, but one in which the characters decide to do something.  Title refers to how Shion smiles for the first time (since he had never done it before), and the ending when Renza showed up was a bit amusing.

The Man Who Lives for Love

An interesting chapter, Renza had a special power (who doesn't in manga…) and that he can talk to the trees.  This was a better chapter than any previously just coz how much more exciting it was, there was enough humour to keep it from getting too boring, and the content wasn't bad.

Overall
It’s easy to notice that the quality of the story and art isn’t as good due to this being the author’s first work.  However, it’s passable, but not really something I would get hooked onto.
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