Basara Vol 26-27

[meganbmoore]

The main story of Basara wrapped up in volume 25. These two volumes, the last ones (Which is why they’ve been on the shelf for a few months…I don’t want it to be over. Expect trauma if Blade of the Immortal ever ends.) are collections of various short stories and novellas. The main things here, of course, are the novellas. Two are set post series,

Comments

[swanjun]

Hooray, Basara! My favorite bit of the musical contest is Senju singing while wearing Motomichi as an accessory. :)

Here's what I wrote in my review of Vol. 27, which echoes what you said in your first spoilery paragraph:

What I like about how Tamura envisioned these appendices is that they feel like natural extentions of the main story. She didn’t have to manufacture some conflict for Shuri and Sarasa that was insulting to them, like inserting some new vixen who’s a threat to their relationship. Instead, it’s a story about guilt and atonement, adjusting to the needs of another person, and making amends by doing something with one’s life."

[meganbmoore]

That's always been one of the charms of Basara: no need to manufacture problems like most (and,sadly, more popular) shoujo to keep things "interesting." (In ways that always end up borig or annoying me.) I was sad we didn't get to see Shido reacting to Motomichi.

ETA: *finally finds where HTML was broken and fixes* And now I have to find a new shoujo to be as obsessed over. Night of the Beasts is over, and Kaori Yuki and Higuri You are different kinds of shoujo altogether, ditto for Skip-Beat and Wallflower. Maybe once Kaze Hikaru takes off...

[swanjun]

Yeah, I'm reading lots of other shoujo that I really like, but nothing is like Basara, really. Not even 7SEEDS, which still feels like it's ramping up.

[meganbmoore]

It's sad, really. Basara was (rightly) one of the most popular shoujo in Japan while it was running but the art (which I've never really seen the problem with) and lack of making it easy for the readers to justify everything.

[swanjun]

I've never seen the problem with it, either. You just have to get used to the occasional scribbly eye, is all. :)

[meganbmoore]

I prefer it to a lot of the more popular shoujo art, really. A lot of the popular stuff is too busy or cluttered for me, and often doesn't tell the story at all, just has pretty pictures slapped on the page. And is more focused on pretty pictures than anything else.