Basara Vol 1
Kicking off something I've been mening to do for a while(which is reread Basara and post scans from each volume as I go)
For those who haven't heard of/haven't read my posts about Basara, Basara is a romance about two war leaders who fall in love, not realizing that the other is the one they're at war against.
Two children are born, each prophecied to be the "child of destiny" who will overthrow the king and rule in his stead. One is the kings youngest son, Shuri, the Red King, and the other is a boy born to a desert village of blacksmiths, Tatara. Tatara is hailed as a hero from birth and treated like a savior, while his twin sister, Sarasa, though not mistreated, is essentially viewed as the scraps that came with him. Meanwhile(though we don't learn this until later) Shuri is branded as a slave and shipped off to be raised in obscurity by relatives, while the king allows Shuri's kingdom to be overrun by bandits and criminals, so that when Shuri is sent to rule it, it's essentially a hellhole. As a result, Tatara grows up with with a deep sense of responsibility and Sarasa with a longing to be valued for herself, and Shuri is forced to become shrewd, cold and ruthless to survive, and hides his pain behind a playboy facade. Once he's cleaned up his kingdom(as we later learn) Shuri sets out to achieve his destiny and reform the corrupt government by overthrowing his father and putting a better king in his place. But first, he has to obliterate his rival "child of destiny."
When the Red King's troops attack, both Tatara and his father, the village leader, are killed and in the confusion, Sarasa, though just as terrified as everyone else, realizes that someone has to bring them together or they'll all be killed. (Nagi is the village healer and prophet and Tatara and Sarasa's mentor, and Kaku is a former sailor and fighter who essentially served as an honorary uncle to the village children. Both are among the few who ever viewed Sarasa as an individual, as opposed to Tatara's leftovers.)
Anyway, with the help of some explosives they had hidden away, the village is able to fight off the troops. In the fight, though, the real Tatara's head-now believed to be a false Tatara by the Red King, and Sarasa by the village- and the village sword, Byakko, are taken, and they start plotting to get them back.
This is Ageha, a travelling actor who lost his eye defending Sarasa-just a random village girl to him-several years before. He is...less than impressed with the idea of a 15 year old kid leading a rebellion, and curious to see how "he" will pull it off(IMO, he's known the truth from the start)
Sarasa's plan is to cause a stampede in the colliseum where Tatara's head and the village sword are being used as bait, and steal them during the confusion. It actually goes pretty well, or would have if the Red King weren't considerably shrewder and a fast thinker...and pretty much unphasable when it comes to war stunts.
And here's how she got out with a sword, a decapitated head, an arrow in her side and rampaging cattle all around her.
Incidentally, Ageha has plenty of reasons for going out of his way to be so unimpressed that I'll cover as I continue with the series, but here's a bit of a hint.
Some time back, he was given a prophecy of his own...
Note: Ageha saved Nagi in the attack on the village. Because of the long hair and robes, he thought Nagi was a female until her saw his face, then he was disappointed he'd saved a man. Incidentally, while it seems that he's unknowingly referring to Sarasa but Nagi thinks it IS Sarasa, I actually think it's someone we meet a bit later(we'll see...several books left to have come out here)
A quick accounting of the royal family and division of lands:
The villagers have to move after that, and when Sarasa learns of a hot springs nearby, she decides to go check it out, never having been to one before, and finds more than hot water.
Of course, she goes back.
Not that this should really surprise anyone reading the post at this point:
Incidentally, with the exception of Kazan-bearded guy, who is essentially Shuri's father figure, though Shuri's pride Kazan's sense of honor and responsibility would never allow him to even think such a thing-Shuri (pretty correctly) views his underlings as corrupt worms out to screw him over and overthrow him, hence his attitude.
A quick scene where general Kazan(who killed both Tatara and the twins' father) meets Sarasa's mother. They have a good-if hopelessly doomed-story in the early volumes.
(a little too honorable and devoted for his own good, that Kazan)
Back to Ageha a bit, because his determination to NOT have any faith in Tatara early on is very important to his growth as the story progresses.
and now their brains start going "water place=Shuri/Sarasa"
The volume ends with Shuri being stood up...
For those who haven't heard of/haven't read my posts about Basara, Basara is a romance about two war leaders who fall in love, not realizing that the other is the one they're at war against.
Two children are born, each prophecied to be the "child of destiny" who will overthrow the king and rule in his stead. One is the kings youngest son, Shuri, the Red King, and the other is a boy born to a desert village of blacksmiths, Tatara. Tatara is hailed as a hero from birth and treated like a savior, while his twin sister, Sarasa, though not mistreated, is essentially viewed as the scraps that came with him. Meanwhile(though we don't learn this until later) Shuri is branded as a slave and shipped off to be raised in obscurity by relatives, while the king allows Shuri's kingdom to be overrun by bandits and criminals, so that when Shuri is sent to rule it, it's essentially a hellhole. As a result, Tatara grows up with with a deep sense of responsibility and Sarasa with a longing to be valued for herself, and Shuri is forced to become shrewd, cold and ruthless to survive, and hides his pain behind a playboy facade. Once he's cleaned up his kingdom(as we later learn) Shuri sets out to achieve his destiny and reform the corrupt government by overthrowing his father and putting a better king in his place. But first, he has to obliterate his rival "child of destiny."
When the Red King's troops attack, both Tatara and his father, the village leader, are killed and in the confusion, Sarasa, though just as terrified as everyone else, realizes that someone has to bring them together or they'll all be killed. (Nagi is the village healer and prophet and Tatara and Sarasa's mentor, and Kaku is a former sailor and fighter who essentially served as an honorary uncle to the village children. Both are among the few who ever viewed Sarasa as an individual, as opposed to Tatara's leftovers.)
Anyway, with the help of some explosives they had hidden away, the village is able to fight off the troops. In the fight, though, the real Tatara's head-now believed to be a false Tatara by the Red King, and Sarasa by the village- and the village sword, Byakko, are taken, and they start plotting to get them back.
This is Ageha, a travelling actor who lost his eye defending Sarasa-just a random village girl to him-several years before. He is...less than impressed with the idea of a 15 year old kid leading a rebellion, and curious to see how "he" will pull it off(IMO, he's known the truth from the start)
Sarasa's plan is to cause a stampede in the colliseum where Tatara's head and the village sword are being used as bait, and steal them during the confusion. It actually goes pretty well, or would have if the Red King weren't considerably shrewder and a fast thinker...and pretty much unphasable when it comes to war stunts.
And here's how she got out with a sword, a decapitated head, an arrow in her side and rampaging cattle all around her.
Incidentally, Ageha has plenty of reasons for going out of his way to be so unimpressed that I'll cover as I continue with the series, but here's a bit of a hint.
Some time back, he was given a prophecy of his own...
Note: Ageha saved Nagi in the attack on the village. Because of the long hair and robes, he thought Nagi was a female until her saw his face, then he was disappointed he'd saved a man. Incidentally, while it seems that he's unknowingly referring to Sarasa but Nagi thinks it IS Sarasa, I actually think it's someone we meet a bit later(we'll see...several books left to have come out here)
A quick accounting of the royal family and division of lands:
The villagers have to move after that, and when Sarasa learns of a hot springs nearby, she decides to go check it out, never having been to one before, and finds more than hot water.
Of course, she goes back.
Not that this should really surprise anyone reading the post at this point:
Incidentally, with the exception of Kazan-bearded guy, who is essentially Shuri's father figure, though Shuri's pride Kazan's sense of honor and responsibility would never allow him to even think such a thing-Shuri (pretty correctly) views his underlings as corrupt worms out to screw him over and overthrow him, hence his attitude.
A quick scene where general Kazan(who killed both Tatara and the twins' father) meets Sarasa's mother. They have a good-if hopelessly doomed-story in the early volumes.
(a little too honorable and devoted for his own good, that Kazan)
Back to Ageha a bit, because his determination to NOT have any faith in Tatara early on is very important to his growth as the story progresses.
and now their brains start going "water place=Shuri/Sarasa"
The volume ends with Shuri being stood up...