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Reviewed by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane I like Kaze Hikaru more and more all the time, and I really wish my local library system had a set so I could go back and read the earlier volumes that I haven't had a chance to read; at this point I've read enough of the series that I have a fairly comfortable grasp on what's going on, but I'm still aware that I don't have the whole picture here. This was a particularly good volume. Sei had plenty of great moments--one could even say she was downright badass at moments, and yet she never stopped being endearing. Nicely done, Watanabe-sensei! One thing I admire about this series is that I never forget that Sei is a girl, but it's not hard to see her through the male characters' eyes and understand why most of them believe she's a guy. I really enjoy watching the other characters react to her, and in this volume there are several new Shinsengumi recruits who meet her for the first time and have to start trying to figure her out. Unfortunately for Sei, one of them immediately sees through her disguise and refuses to be swayed from (or be quiet about) his opinion that she's clearly a woman, even when she makes it a matter of honor. Plenty of other things are happening in this volume: for one, Sei's relationship with Okita is changing under the pressure of his belief that she would be happier if she left the Shinsengumi and lived as a woman, although the thought doesn't make him happy. There's also plenty of action for the supporting cast, particularly at the beginning of the volume, as a recruiting party heads off to Edo to find and bring back new members for training. As with the last volume, this book is more about the characters' relationships than the political environment, but the two aspects are entwined deeply enough that the politics are always there in the background, waiting to surface at any time. There was one visual touch that I particularly liked, which is the way volume 14's cover mirrors volume 13's. I'm becoming very fond of Watanabe's art style. Volume 14 of Kaze Hikaru includes a special look at hairstyles from the period and a three-page glossary of historical terms. Review copy provided by VIZ Media. Think you could have written a better review of Kaze Hikaru v14 ? Write us and we'll probably let you give it a shot! --EiC PC |
6 October 2009
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