Taeko Watanabe

Kaze Hikaru volume 6 really shined for me. The book starts out strong with Watanabe's representation of the 'Ikedaya Incedent' and Okita's collapse. Then, that's followed by the tensions of the Okita/Kamiya/Saito triangle and Kamiya's dilemma when Kondo asks her to be his successor. There was a lot of action and story packed into a single volume and while it's not a portion of the story a reader could come into cold, I think it's one of the best single volumes to date.

This is not something I would usually pick up except it combined two of my favourite things - crossdressing and the Shinsengumi. It's about a 15 year old girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to get revenge for her family and joins the (proto) Shinsengumi.

I have to say the book is really weird. It's obvious the author has done her historical research and she knows how... nasty things could get in the Shinsengumi, but the entire thing is drawn in this cutesy style that completely show more undermines that, even when violent things are happening. I can't decide if I like it or not. The one thing that does (mostly) amuse me is that the main char. keeps getting hit on. The attitude is basically, "well, women are better, but cute young men are great too." on the part of half the Shinsengumi. It's both amusing and disturbing (considering one of them tries to rape her...).

The thing to keep in mind is that despite the setting at the beginning of the revolution with the usually hardcore Shinsengumi, this is essentially a shoujo manga. show less

I may be one of the last people in America still reading this series, which is a damn pity, BECAUSE IT IS SO GOOD

Sei is a young woman in Japan in the mid-nineteenth century. Her family is killed in this tumultuous time and Sei is frustrated that she can do nothing to avenge her family's death. She does the only thing she can do - she cuts her hair, disguises herself as a boy, and signs up with a group of samurai to search for her family's killer.

I know very little about this time period in Japanese history - called the bakumatstu - and in some ways that's good and in some ways it is not. I do learn show more some about the history from the series but more often I get confused by the very specific information that is referenced. The notes in the back clear things up a little, but I for one could use about two times the notes than they provide. You can enjoy the series if you can just get over the specifics, which I do, or you could be very frustrated. Or you can pick up some non-fiction about the samurai of the bakumatsu and it wouldn't be an issue either way.

The romance trumps the violence in this series, making it more appropriate for teen or older readers and girls more than boys. show less