Sengoku Youko

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When I began Sengoku Youko, I had no idea it would affect me as much as it did. I thought I was starting a fun shounen action series, enjoyable and good to pass the time. It isn't that the summary isn't accurate, because it is ... for about the first ten chapters. This manga develops into something so deep and moving you never see it coming until you're already in the heart of it.

At its core this is a story about people. Humans, demons; the line between them is blurred as we learn that what defines us can never be categorized as simply as ... that. The characters meet and mesh and become inseparable, even when physical distance keeps them apart. Their lives and very selves are touched and changed with every meeting as we are reminded that who we meet is so much a part of who we are.

Shinsuke, the "scaredy cat swordsman" mentioned in the manga's brief summary, undergoes perhaps the most organic and immense character growth of anyone in any work I have read. The other characters evolve as well, as times passes, and while in some works a change in characterization can feel like a plot device - heavy handed and deliberate - these characters exhibit life of their own. They are not changing at the author's whims. They are reacting to the situations that arise, the people they meet, the passing of time, and becoming more than they were.

I will admit the pacing is a bit difficult in this, especially as it shifts protagonists part way through. It is unconventional, and may throw some readers. Don't look at this as a betrayal by the author; there is a point to this, and if you stick it through to the end you will witness something beautiful. Let the story take you down an alternate path, parallel and deeply bound to the one you thought you were going down. Don't forget the fondness you hold for the original cast, but allow yourself to experience the new characters the author is entrusting to you as the reader.

This is a story of people. Of meetings, separations, reunions, losses and parting and never forgetting the people that led you down the path that made you who you are. Let the characters tell their story, and let it remind you of the people in your own life who led you to where you are. Keep their warmth in you and let it fuel you to keep going.

Sengoku Youko is a manga that I might never really understand the appeal of to most fans.

The plot is actually split up into two different parts, with the first half focusing on the journey of these two demon siblings and this human samurai that has no talent and they fight an evil organization, but one of the siblings ends up getting super overpowered, and the second half focusing on an already overpowered villain turned hero as he fights to gain the power to defeat the one sibling in the first half. It's pretty standard shounen at this point, with the majority of the plot ... coming from different fights. I will say that the change in main character halfway through the story is pretty jarring, as it feels like all the time you spent learning about the first few characters is wasted, since they either show up very rarely in the second half or are completely different, asking you to believe that they made a complete change in the time you don't see.

The characters are pretty standard too, with no one exhibiting too many characteristics that make them stand out from the rest of the characters you might find in a typical shounen. I honestly wish a lot of the female characters did more in the story, as they pretty much only had minor roles in supporting the mains, even though they had potential to do much more. The only character that I found interesting and wanted to see more of were the tiger and dragon villains since their intertwining storyline was actually decently thought out and were both compelling in their own rights. I also find it funny how the author makes this one character that we spend like 10 chapters with (in which we don't really get to know too much about her), really important to the story and a pivotal plot point for the main characters. Any types of feelings that the author wanted the audience to feel near the end of the story concerning this one character honestly just feels really unearned.

The art is alright I guess, though I didn't really like it all that much.

Overall, Sengoku Youko was just average at best when compared to all the other manga out there. It doesn't do anything particularly well, it doesn't explore deep themes any more than anything else, it doesn't have super interesting and memorable characters, etc. The constant thought that I had while reading this was, "So when does this start to get as good as people say it is?" At most I'll give that it didn't do anything particularly poorly, but that's about it.

TL:DR
Very poor start, flat characters, randomly changes main characters 1/3rd of the way through, lots of Deus ex Machina. The end is somewhat better but not by much.

Story: 3/10
It's bad. Lots of things feel like they just happen randomly, characters come out of nowhere and go out of their way to help the protagonists for seemingly no reason or the protagonist gets completely unearned power-ups. Lots of Dues ex Machina, feels out of place and robs the manga of any tension. The story is split into 2 parts, with two different main characters. This is very jarring and changes the focus onto a character that ... previously had maybe 3 chapters of screen time and barely any lines. It feels like the author got bored or something, it's so unexpected of a shift. It also feels like wasted time as you spend a good third of the manga getting to know three characters and then suddenly time skip and now they barely show up again. What was the point? The first part was very weak with all the aforementioned issues while also being written as if we're supposed to be attached to these characters we barely know. The emotional hits simply fall flat.

The second part actually gets better near the end but has many of the same problems. There is a neat twist on the standard shounen training arc plus some fun interactions between side characters but it's really more of the same.

Art: 5/10
Simple art, what you'd expect from a 4koma normally but the fight scenes can be pretty well done.

Characters: 3/10
Most characters (including the protagonists of the first part of the manga) don't have many traits that distinguish them from archetypal shounen battle manga characters. There is also a sort of forced emotional impact we're supposed to feel during certain parts of the manga that simply fall flat because we barely get to know these characters.

It's not all negative however, the interactions between a certain two antagonists are quite good. In the second part of the manga, the growth of the new main character is more compelling than the first half. Still, it's not very much and it certainly doesn't make up for everything else.

Overall: 3/10
Some enjoyable stuff but it's all at the end, and it doesn't justify the slog to get there. I seriously considered dropping this manga quite a few times before I finished it, but I waited because this had such good reviews. Maybe this manga just isn't for me but I really couldn't get into it. Definitely do not recommend this, there's way better out there.

Good
• Interesting take on a training art
• Fights are pretty cool

Bad
• Fights can be hard to follow
• It really does feel like the author got bored a third of the way through and basically soft rebooted the series.
•The female characters don't have a lot of agency and are basically set pieces for most of the manga