Chapter 75
Naoe thinks the Uesugi leader is still alive, pretty good move by the Black Dogs if that’s the case since they can use him as a bargaining chip if the need arises.
That Kishin in the flashback looks like it might be inspired by the Tsuchigumo Yokai and Date Masamune makes another appearance (his eyepatch is on the right eye this time), I wasn’t expecting him to be the first Demon Metal Sword user, his clan isn’t listed amongst the strongest Bushidan so I wonder what happened to them.
Mixed feelings about this upcoming power up, funnily enough, it goes against one of the precepts that the real Musashi wrote about in his “Dokkodo” (The Way of Walking Alone) in which he wrote “Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help.” this could be set up for character development later down the line, leading to Musashi wanting to rely on his own power. If that does happen, it will be interesting to see how that pans out, it would be kind of hard to make him not look irresponsible considering the stakes at play.
At any rate If he were able to use the Obsidian Goddess’s power to control all Demon Metal Swords then realistically the Black Dogs can’t do anything tohim since they also use Demon Metal Swords, so that’s probably not going to happen right now or he will obtain a much weaker version of that power.
Some pretty nice art here, this location looks cool with all those Buddhist statues and other decorations.
Chapter 76
There seems to be a growing trend of people getting stronger by ingesting substances, first metal, then other living beings and now drinking blood. The whole blood drinking thing also reminds me of the Last Supper, which also had a theme of unity.
So the stakes in this battle, are preventing Orochi from gaining enough sustenance to send back to the Black Kishin, otherwise it will become big enough to split the land mass of Japan in two. Not too different from the Kosameda Bushidan castle being destroyed, it could end up being a similar case since the stakes aren’t so impossibly high that failure is inconceivable, I mean the land mass of Japan has already been distorted by the Black Kishin. That being said I don’t see them losing this battle, the main characters haven’t had a huge win in the story so far, so they’re long overdue for one.
The Black Dogs apparently don’t attack Demons and instead side with them against other Bushi, in the novel Nanso Satomi Hakkenden the Eight Samurai Hounds are born as a result of a demon possessed dog and a woman so I wonder if something similar happened here to explain their allegiance.
Chapter 77
Supposedly poor parenting can be passed down through the generations, like if parents were neglected as a child, they’re likely to do the same with their own kids. While the other members of the Black Dogs are obviously not Yataro’s parents, I think something similar is happening here, where the rejection he receives from his siblings for being weak/useless is something he also does to Michiru possibly subconsciously.
Seiroku seems to fit with the Confucius virtue of brotherhood/brotherly affection, he’s almost always shown with his arms around his siblings. It also seemed like he was genuinely trying to console Yataro and even tried to lighten the situation when Shirou brought up Yataro’s stuttering. Yataro would probably embody filial piety based on his ability to create doting offspring that wait on him hand and foot. Similar to how Lust from FMA is portrayed as an object of lust rather than a lustful individual.
Nice the other spies apart from Michiru are still in play, judging by the display of the battlefield, it seems the old man is close to the Uesugi strategist. This chapter seems to be setting up rematches between these guys Shirou vs Naotora, Seiroku vs Naoe and Musashi vs Yataro. According to the Black Dogs, Naotora was a match for Shirou which explains why they seemingly withdrew instead of finishing off the Uesugi alliance.
Because the powerful members of the Uesugi clan can’t use their unification ability thanks to Seiroku, it makes sense why less experience people like the main characters are being put on the forefront. It also does a good job of heightening the tension.
Chapter 78
Really liking all the different personal stakes people have in this conflict, it’s not just about defeating the Kishin for some of these characters, for instance with Katsumi it’s also about reclaiming his home that has been taken over. I imagine lots of people have been displaced from their homes because of the Kishin, especially since the Black Kishin has overtaken a huge chunk of the country. There’s also Kojiro who wants to obtain information on his father from Uesugi Tatsuomi, Musashi wants to save Michiru, the Uesugi want to save their leader, even Akihiro seems to have some important objective and there’s even the castle that the Uesugi are rewarding to those that manage to take one of Orochi’s horns. Lots of moving parts in this conflict.
Wasn’t expecting Naotora to just leave the Uesugi out to dry, in chapter 61 they were theorizing about potential spies in the army so maybe he’s putting on an act. Interesting seeing these antagonists just chilling out and enjoying a meal, really helps to humanize them, showing they’re more than just an obstacle to the heroes.
Chapter 79
Glad to see the spy plotline didn’t end with Michiru, the others that were with her are still in the Uesugi army, interested to see how they are dealt with by the Uesugi since they had an idea about spies being among them and that was before they discovered Michiru since she wasn’t alone when she infiltrated they should be vigilant.
Nice tactics, sacrificing their ships in order to do damage to the enemy. During their previous encounter these Demons were able to easily destroy their ships so using that to their advantage was pretty nice. It’s also pretty cool that conventional weapons still have their place in some situation despite the Demon Metal Swords being the new normal.
This reminds me of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, where they set fire to the oil in order to remove it, creating a huge fire out on the ocean. It’s also quite similar to the tactic used by the Castilians in the Battle of La Rochelle during the Hundred Years' War, they sprayed oil on the decks of English ships then ignited it by shooting flaming arrows down.
This Spear and Shield ability of the Kishin, I’m guessing the Shield part of the manoeuvre is when it creates that mirror-like thing that reflects Touki blasts back at the attacker which we saw in a flashback (chapter 50). Would be pretty cool if Usami somehow got the Kishin to launch friendly fire on itself.
Chapter 80
Nice use of the terrain and the smoke from the fire to hide their movements. Swimming is also one of the Bugei jūhappan/18 fundamental skills used by the samurai, this one being Suijutsu/Suiren.
This Yura mountain that they have to destroy seems important to Katsumi, he looked pretty shocked when Usami said her plan was to destroy it. Also keeping with the idea that the Kishin are distorting this world, this Kishin has apparently changed the island so much that Katsumi whose clan lived here previously is commenting on how it’s different than before. Might be some commentary on climate change in there.
This chapter brings back the Kishin’s need to eat metal, just like when Engoku Tengu was pretty weak until he ate that offering. Seiroku actually seems to be a competent strategist and tactician, placing a guard on the route to the Kishin’s supply source.
Always liked how Ohtaka framed these large scale battles as a conversation between the leaders of the armies showing their thought process behind their tactics or conflicting ideals as shown with Mogamett and Scheherazade in the Reim vs Magnostadt battle.
Chapter 81
A bunch of centipedes wearing what appear to be top hats and even doing a hat tip, it’s nice that Ohtaka is injecting some personality into the Demons since they don’t appear to be capable of speech, this Demons seems to be based on the Ōmukade Yokai.
http://yokai.com/oomukade/
So Akihiro and his group were sent on a suicide mission, succession disputes often lead to infighting with different factions supporting their preferred candidate, in fact that’s how the Sengoku Jidai began. So sending unwanted heirs off on some nigh impossible mission would be a good way to discretely execute them, to avoid any future disputes within the clan. I believe chapter 52 alluded to this revelation with Katsumi’s remark to towards the Shimazu clan.
Good leadership by Usami sussing out Akihiro’s motivation and using it to judge if he was trustworthy for this mission, since he has a personal investment in defeating the Kishin, choosing his squad seems to have been a good call and if Akihiro ends up becoming the head of the Shimazu clan because of this battle then the Uesugi could gain strong allegiance with them since it was Usami that gave Akihiro the opportunity to obtain one of the Kishin’s horns.
Yeah, didn’t really seem like Naotora to just up and leave the Uesugi to die, it seems they’re manipulating the information that is getting sent to the Black Dogs to deceive them, make sense since they knew they were spies in the army (chapter 61). They’re also planning to invoke a divide and conquer tactic on the Black Dogs as well, which not only is a pretty good plan but fitting given the themes of this series.
“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”
“If his forces are united separate them” - The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
Chapter 82
So the Takeda did fake puling out from the battle, nice tactic a bit of a risky plan though, since such a huge asset withdrawing from the battle could have dampened morale or caused other people to follow suit. But seeing how the Takeda army in this battle is pretty small (characters even comment on this in chapter 77) that probably avoided it from seeming like a big loss at the time.
Ohtaka has done a good job making the objectives clear, so it’s not just a bunch of aimless fighting we know what the heroes’ are striving to achieve, with each objective helping to make the next easier to manage.
Defeating/killing Seiroku to undo the effects of his ability on the Uesugi
Drain the Kishin’s food source to weaken it by destroying Yura mountain
Destroying the seven horns of Orochi to weaken the Black Kishin
What I find amusing about Shirou’s ability is how in some series featuring military campaigns like GoT, there’s sometimes an issue of characters “teleporting” whenever the writers need characters to get to a certain place to move the plot along, but in this series there’s a character that literally has that power showing how devastating that power would be in a military setting. It seems to undo the effects of a Demon Metal Sword you just need to disarm the person unless it’s a special case like Seiroku, there also seems to be a time limit so that would explain why Musashi was transported back in chapter 73. Either Naotora disarmed Shirou or time ran out.
Got to love how hyper competent these villains are, wonder how they’re going to destroy that mountain now.
Volume 7 had Musashi, Akihiro and Katsumi together paralleling volume 8 with the three members of the Black Dogs together. So a united front with those three and the other members of their squad might be able to hold their own against Shirou and still destroy that mountain. Hell in the last arc the Obsidian Goddess uniting all those Bushi was able to destroy a mountain.
Chapter 83
Nice fight choreography, Seiroku’s sword chipped from the stress of blocking and parrying Naoe’s huge ass sword, followed up by Naoe letting go of his sword and holding Seiroku’s blade in his left hand and applying pressure on the other side of the blade with his right hand. Always nice when Ohtaka inserts a tiny bit of realism in these fantastical fights.
I remember reading somewhere that stepping over a Samurai’s sword while it was placed on the ground was seen as bad etiquette, so stepping on the clan emblem is probably even worse, hell I imagine even outside of Japan most military not liking people stepping on their symbols. Most countries in the modern day don’t take kindly to disrespecting their flag like America for example.
Up until now these guys have seemed like the ultimate spies, they can shapeshift and telepathically communicate with their allies. But this is one area where a human spy or at least one raised like one would have an advantage over these artificial humans, they would have been privy to the subtle bits of etiquette and culture on how to conduct themselves compare to a homunculus who was created solely for this one role and supposedly has no life experience outside of it. Usami mentions Seiroku’s disrespect for their beliefs, I guessing that’s also a callback to Chapter 77 where Seiroku ruins Naoe’s tattoo because of his attachment to it.
Two of the three spies left have been caught, so there’s still one around. Chapter 78 showed there were three people with Michiru.
Chapter 84
I really appreciate how the battle system in this series allows a situation where one of the military generals of the Uesugi is fighting a main antagonist rather than the leader, in Magi the King Vessels were often the leaders and the strongest combatant in their group. Whereas here, even though their leader is captured, the Uesugi are able to fight without him with Usami leading the army and Naoe being the Uesugi’s strongest field combatant. It’s always nice to divvy up the roles so that everyone has a part to play.
That reinterpretation of the last pages of the previous chapter confused me a bit, I do prefer the fight choreography from the last chapter specifically Naoe holding Seiroku’s blade by the flat rather than grabbing the whole thing causing his hand to bleed. Though I like the addition of Seiroku stepping on Naoe’s sword.
So breaking a Demon Metal Sword is enough to undo its effects, that’s not good news for a certain character. Also Musashi’s Sword Killer technique (chapter 4) is probably going to be his most valued technique going forward. That action has shifted the tide of the battle greatly, such a great moment, like Gandalf returning with reinforcement durning the Battle of Helm’s Deep in the second LoTR movie.
Damn, I was looking forward to a brief Akihiro vs Shirou skirmish, it looks like the battles that chapter 77 set up are happening now, those vs pages are pretty cool. I like how in the Takeda vs Shirou page you can see the Takeda ships in the background in the top right with Bushi flying in to back up Naotora and Musashi’s group down below moving on ahead, conveying multiples things without the need for several panels.
Chapter 85
God, I love these war diagrams, in order for the Uesugi to get to Orochi they have to pass through the area where Naoe and Seiroku are fighting unless they plan to go around like the Takeda did.
Ah, it seems the old man went back to the base, so it does appear all the spies are gone. 3v3 against Musashi, Akihiro and Katsumi then? We saw a glimpse at how strong Black crystal users are united when Michiru linked together with Musashi or the Obsidian Goddess rather.
I like even though there’s no swordsmanship on display this chapter, it’s still using concepts like Maai which refers to the distance between two opponents using weapons. That might be the advantage that guns have over other melee weapons, having a longer range for those Touki blasts. It seems this concept was alluded to in chapter 61 when Katsumi explained Demon Metal Sword usage to Musashi. Getting into some of the technical aspects of Touki control, Seiroku has pretty weak Touki yet it has incredible far reaching range so he’s able to utilize it in this string-like form. While Naoe seems to lack reach, but makes up for it in pure power which fits with what was stated about Red Demons in chapter 50, that along with Usami’s green crystal cage ability in chapter 63 that was able to contain the power of the Black Wings seems to fit with the idea of Green Demon being defensive. So there does seem to be parallels between the colours that Bushi and Demons have.
Damn, that ending was brutal, nice use of visual story telling giving us a POV from Naoe’s perspective and then in the next page everything is black except for the dialogue and sound effects. That’s the thing about fights that don’t involve the main characters, the threat of death or grievous injuries becomes much more likely. One of the Takeda generals seems to be completely blind (he has a blindfold), so there does seem to be a way to fight without sight in this universe. So Naoe could actually be permanently blind, assuming that he has lost the use of his other eye behind the bandage as well. In the double page spread of Naoe’s attack, there’s a panel showing both his eyes in that naked form characters sometimes have when using Demon Metal Weapons, in chapter 5 one of the Takeda generals is seen in that state when absorbing Engoku Tengu and we get to see his damaged eye under his eye patch.
Chapter 86
So his eye bandage was fake, “Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” - Sun Tzu, The Art of War. It seems the bandages were also there to allow him to use some Hojojutsu on the enemy.
The Uesugi ships are heading in their direction, so they will have to pass through them in order to progress. I like how these one on one fights aren’t in a vacuum, there are still a part of the large scale battle and have a cause and effect that influences other parts of the battle like Naotora taking on Shirou allowed Musashi’s group to progress on ahead and Naoe breaking Seiroku’s sword allowing the rest of the Uesugi to gain their strength back and join the battle.
So the Naoe vs Seiroku fight could be on a time limit since if Seiroku isn’t defeated, he could probably use his ability on the Uesugi again and nullify their hard work or the Uesugi could help back up Naoe. This setup is a great way to build up tension.
Seiroku’s power seems to be Sense Manipulation which fits since he mentioned being a doctor, last chapter it was mentioned how his crystal colour is Yellow like the Uesugi’s leader. So where as Tatsuomi has the power to buff his allies, Seiroku has the ability to debuff his enemies with different ailments.
https://powerlisting.fandom.com/wiki/Sense_Manipulation
Chapter 87
The bandage Hojojutsu didn’t seem to amount to much unless it was just meant to buy time for the vanguard. Nice touch how in the initial panel showing the stabbing you can see Naoe’s hand under the other general’s armpit.
Brutal finish, chapter 85 made it clear that Naoe was the superior of the two when it came to raw power so as soon as Naoe was able to close the distance and land a blow it was over.
Other than people becoming stronger through solidarity via the power of the Demon Metal Swords, there also seems to be some emphasis on the symbiotic relationships people have or what happens when people lack them. The latter is seen with Musashi and Michiru who were both denied human connections for a period of time which had negative effects on them, to the point where they felt invisible to people around them, Musashi was only saved when he was adopted by Jisai. Tsugumi was able to finally gain the confidence to stand up to Hideo when she had Musashi and Kojiro to rely on. Similarly, Tatsuomi relies on Naoe’s strength so he can portray himself as a strong leader in front of his people.
Chapter 88
So they’re using the helicopter to get a status report on the battle, I was wondering how the people back in the castle knew what was going on out on the field.
It seems Kojiro’s group is being sent on a mission to rescue Tatsuomi so they might meet up with Musashi’s group since they’re heading to that same location as well to fight Yataro.
I don’t get the logic that the standard Bushi way of fighting together won’t work against Shirou because he’s not a Demon, he retreated during the fight with the Obsidian Goddess in chapter 39 and 40 and almost got killed by the Uesugi Bushidan in chapter 69. Both times because of the combined power of Bushi working together.
Apparently Naotora doesn’t like the Obsidian Goddess, wonder how that will affect his opinion of Musashi. He has also met Shirou before this, but the latter doesn’t remember him. Naotora seems more familiar with Shirou’s sword aura then Shirou himself since he didn’t mention it until he saw his aura.
Shirou’s Demon Metal Sword is named 無明 which seems to translate to Avidyā (ignorance) one of the three poisons of Buddhism along with attachment and aversion. These are the cause of all suffering in Saṃsāra and thus are depicted in the centre of the Wheel of Life (Bhavacakra). They are also a part of the 108 defilements, I just realized if the Kishins end up only going to 100 then the 8 members of the Black Dogs still make 108 enemies to defeat before attaining Unity Under Heaven.
Instantly encasing enemies in a body of water at the bottom of the sea, letting water pressure crush them, another showing of how powerful this ability is. Surprised Shirou went for the kill immediately, I know Naotora insulted the Obsidian Goddess, but previous chapters made it seem like he enjoyed fighting Naotora. Nice art depicting Shirou’s murderous intent.
Chapter 89
Love that page where you see Shirou and Naotora square off and as soon as the water droplet falls from the latter’s hand they clash, very chambara-esque. The panel depicting Shirou as a God because of his OP spatial manipulation ability was also pretty cool and there was a nice detail of Shirou cutting off a bit of Naotora’s hair with that upward swing.
So it seems the leaders of the two strongest Bushidan aren’t even Red or White crystal users, which are considered the rarest, I’ve seen some people that didn’t like the fact that Muasahi had Red crystals, probably thinking that because it’s rare that makes him too special, looks like too much stock was put into that mindset even more so because the series advocates collective power rather than individual power in the fights, speaking of which if the rest of the Takeda aren’t going to fight with Naotora shouldn’t they help the people going after Orochi or something?
Shirou having white crystals and Seiroku having Yellow despite being apart of the Obsidian Brotherhood and clearly having Black crystals like the ones in their chest, I theorized before that them all being Black crystals users may have been done artificially, it might be a similar situation to Musashi where he is a Red Bushi but because of the Obsidian Goddess inside him he’s also technically a Black Bushi. That would explain why Shirou and Seiroku’s abilities don’t line up with what the Obsidian Goddess said about Black Bushi, how they control gravity and Touki where as these two have spatial manipulation and sense manipulation powers respectively. The only gravity powers we’ve seen from Shirou is when he force pulled his sword back to him in chapter 39.
Chapter 90
Kojiro watching Naotora fighting Shirou and seeing he is also a Blue Bushi is quite similar to Musashi watching Naoe’s fight in chapter 58 who is a Red Bushi same as Musashi. Both Naoe and Naotora seem to be displayed as a goal for the two main characters to strive for.
Similarly, this explains why Aoshi respects Naotora so much, he got really annoyed when Musashi started mouthing off to Naotora in chapter 6. Since Naotora was able to become one of the strongest Bushi in Japan while being a supposedly ordinary Blue Bushi just like him. It’s interesting how both the leaders of the top 2 Bushidan were both dealt seemingly bad hands in their Sword trials and have different ways of dealing with it, Tatsuomi surrounds himself with powerful subordinates so he can appear strong in front of his people and Naotora chose to master his ability until he became a Demon God in human form and inspired the Blue Bushi in his group to do the same.
So Naotora and potentially all Blue Bushi can control calamities, there are like four tigers in that final page. I think I see Fire, Ice and Water/Wind? That explains how Naotora got out of Shirou’s water pocket in the last chapter, I wonder if it’s meant to invoke the Fūrinkazan "as swift as wind, as gentle as forest, as fierce as fire, as unshakable as mountain." which Takeda Shingen took from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
Chapter 91
The narration seems to imply Naotora used something akin to nuclear fusion, there is even a panel depicting atoms and Naotora also states he didn’t want to use it in front of his clan, possibly alluding to nuclear fallout.
Blue Bushi despite the immense potential they have, it seems their Kishin-like abilities are still ineffectively against Demons apparently but against other humans they seem fair game. Kind of cruel irony that the strongest Bushi in the setting that isn’t a villain, can’t use the full extent of his powers against their main enemy. I guess there are indirect ways of using it, like the fire used against Orochi. Speaking of which, in the second page it shows the fire tiger coming from the lava that Shirou summoned, so Shirou ended up accidentally helping Naotora in defeating him.
Ohtaka is really good at depicting these feats of power, that whole mass of fire and water shrinking into Naotora’s hand instantly, his face being shadowed out and the focus on his hand, that rough drawing of Naotora that looks like he’s surging with power, good stuff.
Chapter 92
That black substance on Naotora seems reminiscent to the curse placed on Alibaba and Sinbad by Ithnan, also that time in chapter 32 where Musashi’s legs were turned black after almost becoming a black crystal. Maybe Shirou is trying to turn Naotora into material for his Demon Metal Sword. Like he tried to do with Musashi in the previous arc, after the power Naotora just displayed it would make sense. Or it could just be backlash from his nuke dagger though it appears to be on the opposite arm.
He destroyed Shirou’s Demon Metal Sword? Kinda doubt that, Shirou’s reaction would have been much more dejected or something since he’s basically a Demon Metal Sword Otaku and he seemed to favour that one.
So Musashi doesn’t want to rely on the Obsidian Goddess, that goes in line with what’s said in “Dokkodo” (The Way of Walking Alone) but when they were walking out of the crypt there was a reaction from the Demon Metal Swords there, so there might be some conflict between the OG and Musashi if she does appear again. The Obsidian Goddess has been called a compass so maybe the swords were just pointing to one of the Sacred Treasures.
The way Katsumi wears his sword has always seemed kind of weird to me considering his Iai based fighting style, the draw cut in Iai is possible thanks to the ease of drawing a sword from the hip. Where as drawing the sword from the back is widely considered impossible or at least very cumbersome. Until recently someone made a video showing a way of drawing from the back.
>SOLVED? Draw a SWORD from your BACK (with a normal sheath/scabbard)!
4:24-4:40
Curiously Katsumi draws his sword the same way (in this chapter at least), with the sword sheath on his left shoulder and drawing it with his opposite hand. There are old illustrations showing Samurai wearing swords on their back so maybe they did something akin to this.
That page of Katsumi killing that Demon was pretty cool, love the way Ohtaka uses silhouettes.
Chapter 93
The Amago and Shimazu are fighting separately in two groups instead of working together and Musashi is asked which group he wants to work with but we cut away before he can answer. He’ll probably answer saying he wants to work with all of them in a later chapter, it does seem to be building up to Musashi linking up with them, with him seeing how Bushi fight by working together in chapters 59 and 68 and his thoughts in the last chapter.
Yataro appears to be a dark parallel to Musashi, the same way Musashi is indebted to Jisai for “saving” his life and giving him a purpose, Yataro feels a similar gratitude to the Kishin for healing his disability and giving him a place in this world. They both also seem to have low self esteem and a drive to prove their worth, probably as a result of their past.
Yataro mentions being born into a warrior family, I didn’t notice it in the manga itself, but volume 8 shows that he has a topknot so that fits.
Naotora said in chapter 5 that they are people more interested in preserving the status quo than getting rid of all the Demons, so there may be quite a few people who have a place in this new world order that didn’t have one in the old world.
Chapter 94
This moment that showed Musashi researched the names of the Shimazu clan members, is similar to the scene where he asked to learn the names of the Amago clan members in chapter 78. He seems to be trying to widen his inner circle, it’s pretty easy to work together with people you’re close with like friends and family, but working with strangers especially difficult people (like the Shimazu) is more challenging, this arc seems to have been constructed to make Musashi come out of his comfort zone and work with different people. Since in order to defeat all the Demons it will require the cooperation of a great deal of people, it’s not something that can be done with just your close friends or by yourself. That’s why Naoe called Musashi weak when he got into an argument and was separated from his squadron in chapter 56.
After seeing Yataro’s children fused with those lesser demons I was wondering if we would see a fusion with a Kishin and that appears to be the case here, judging by all those halo things which Kishin all seem to have, as shown in the picture scroll in chapter 6, speaking of which the second to last page in that same chapter shows a silhouette of Agyou Ungyou which we see again in chapter 24. Now we know the Black Dogs don’t kill Demons and work along side them, I wonder if Agyou Ungyou will be reused later.
Chapter 95
Holy shit the art in this chapter was top tier, that page of the incinerated bodies and Katsumi’s horrified expression, the dark figure of Kishin Yataro surrounded by several of those floating swords towering over the Bushi, the panel before the final page building up to Musashi’s slash, good stuff.
Those giant floating swords are reminiscent of Nanao’s Demon Metal Weapon ability and also the Obsidian Goddess’ power with how he’s able to control all those sword remotely, which is probably because of the black crystals used in the fusion.
The first instance of someone interrupting the Demon Metal Sword linking amidst people trying to connect to each other and probably won’t be the last either. That is definitely the most glaring weakness the sword link ability has, so I’m interested to see how they deal with it. Wonder if they could use that reflective mirror to their advantage in that regard.
Now we only need an anime adaptation to popularize it more globally.
mutsurini-subs.com
kodanshacomics.com
