Random Bleach question

Maybe I just forget(or maybe I just haven't read that far yet)  but do we know the story behind Renji's tattoos?  Or for that matter, how much of his body they cover?

I meant to ask in last night's post but forgot.

In other news, today I shall read the first volume of a relatively new manga called Togari, about a vagrant swordsman who spent 300 years in hell but is sent to the modern world to recapture 108 escaped demons.  It looks to be as insane, violent and unapologetic as Blade of the Immortal.  I have high expectations.

Random Bleach question

Maybe I just forget(or maybe I just haven't read that far yet)  but do we know the story behind Renji's tattoos?  Or for that matter, how much of his body they cover?

I meant to ask in last night's post but forgot.

In other news, today I shall read the first volume of a relatively new manga called Togari, about a vagrant swordsman who spent 300 years in hell but is sent to the modern world to recapture 108 escaped demons.  It looks to be as insane, violent and unapologetic as Blade of the Immortal.  I have high expectations.

manga: Togari Vol 1

Soooo....you rule hell and a couple hundred demons called Toga, or "sins" escape to  the human world.  You have at your disposal various demons, demi gods, heavenly alliances and probably your fair share of samurai you could get if you asked nicely.  Your choice of Toga-recoverer?  A mass murderer who refuses to consider repenting after 300 years in hell.

I love you godly beings of manga and anime, I truly do.

Togari is about Tobei, a young man who killed over 1000 people in Edo 300 years ago before being captured and executed.  While Tobei seems to have started killing as a child out of self defense, it seems unlikely that that was the only reason he ever killed.  Even after 300 years he refuses to feel guilt or repent, and with nothing left to do with him, Ema, the ruler of hell, gives him Togari, a wooden sword that can kill the Toga, escaped demons that feed off and empower evil humans, and return them to hell.  If he can kill 108 of them without getting killed himself, he wins a chance at redemption.

Ema sends Ose, a demon from heaven(read: he's pretty and has a stick up his butt) who's been in charge of Tobei for the last century to watch over him, in the form of a dog(yes, Tobei has fun with that.)  One in the human world, Tobei mostly unitnentionally saves a girl named Itsuki from being raped and killed, bringing him to the attention of both Itsuki and Sawakazi, a police officer who knew Itsuki's father(a police officer whose murderer was never found.)  For an illustration of what this is like, imagine a dog used to being kicked by everyone it meets who suddenly has someone pet it instead of kick it, then has someone else offer it a treat 5 minutes later.  Actually, Tobei largely makes me think of a mix between a serial killer and a dog just like that.

And just for fun, anytime Tobei sins, the scar on his neck where he was decapitated bleeds, and anything he does to a human gets done to him in return.  There's also a nasty(though not necessarily inexpected) twist as to why Ema really chose Tobei to go after the Toga.

For the curious, yes, you coul probably dump Tobei into the middle of a squabble between Blade of the Immortal's Manji and Magatsu and not really notice except for the increase of "punk" and "kid" being used.  I was largely drawn tothis for the similarities(character/general redemption plot/art) to BotI, and while it doesn't measure up to BotI(what does?) I liked it quite a bit.  Like BotI, it is completely unapologetic about its "hero's" past, and manages to make him somewhat sympathetic without making excuses or saying he really isn't that bad(because hey, he is)

manga: Togari Vol 1

Soooo....you rule hell and a couple hundred demons called Toga, or "sins" escape to  the human world.  You have at your disposal various demons, demi gods, heavenly alliances and probably your fair share of samurai you could get if you asked nicely.  Your choice of Toga-recoverer?  A mass murderer who refuses to consider repenting after 300 years in hell.

I love you godly beings of manga and anime, I truly do.

Togari is about Tobei, a young man who killed over 1000 people in Edo 300 years ago before being captured and executed.  While Tobei seems to have started killing as a child out of self defense, it seems unlikely that that was the only reason he ever killed.  Even after 300 years he refuses to feel guilt or repent, and with nothing left to do with him, Ema, the ruler of hell, gives him Togari, a wooden sword that can kill the Toga, escaped demons that feed off and empower evil humans, and return them to hell.  If he can kill 108 of them without getting killed himself, he wins a chance at redemption.

Ema sends Ose, a demon from heaven(read: he's pretty and has a stick up his butt) who's been in charge of Tobei for the last century to watch over him, in the form of a dog(yes, Tobei has fun with that.)  One in the human world, Tobei mostly unitnentionally saves a girl named Itsuki from being raped and killed, bringing him to the attention of both Itsuki and Sawakazi, a police officer who knew Itsuki's father(a police officer whose murderer was never found.)  For an illustration of what this is like, imagine a dog used to being kicked by everyone it meets who suddenly has someone pet it instead of kick it, then has someone else offer it a treat 5 minutes later.  Actually, Tobei largely makes me think of a mix between a serial killer and a dog just like that.

And just for fun, anytime Tobei sins, the scar on his neck where he was decapitated bleeds, and anything he does to a human gets done to him in return.  There's also a nasty(though not necessarily inexpected) twist as to why Ema really chose Tobei to go after the Toga.

For the curious, yes, you coul probably dump Tobei into the middle of a squabble between Blade of the Immortal's Manji and Magatsu and not really notice except for the increase of "punk" and "kid" being used.  I was largely drawn tothis for the similarities(character/general redemption plot/art) to BotI, and while it doesn't measure up to BotI(what does?) I liked it quite a bit.  Like BotI, it is completely unapologetic about its "hero's" past, and manages to make him somewhat sympathetic without making excuses or saying he really isn't that bad(because hey, he is)

heeeeee

I found a few Sword Stained With Royal Blood production pics that were just cute.  To me at least.  Dunno if anyone else would think so...

( less than 10 pics )

heeeeee

I found a few Sword Stained With Royal Blood production pics that were just cute.  To me at least.  Dunno if anyone else would think so...

( less than 10 pics )

wuxia: Patriotic Knights

 

I have started watching(10 eps in) Patriotic Knights, a wuxia about Chen Long and Wallace Chung with swords.

Err...

About a young man named Jin Zhu Liu who is sent by his father(he and his parents have lived alone on an island for 20 years) to pay his respects to a woman his father used to know, and then meet a man named Li for a duel.  Because of his tattered clothes and socially inept behavior, people think he's a vagrant and an idiot(actually, I'm not sure if he's a genius good at playing the idiot, or an idiot with flashes of genius...could be both.)  Along the way he meets Sho Hong Ying, the younger sister of a villain who likes to sneak out and crossdress and thwart her brother's evil plans.  He also meets Zhong Yan Yan and Qin, disciples of heroes, and through them, starts getting involved in the good guy/bad guy things.  This also means he gets to keep running into Hong Ying, of which he highly approves.

The series is the sequel to Lofty Waters, Verdant Bow, but as I understand it, both this and the recent TVB series changed the ending of that one.  It's also in the same series of Seven Swordsmen.  So far at least, though, you don't have to know squat about either to follow along(I did, however, have a fangirl moment when I realized that Zhu Liu's sword was the 2 ended sword from Seven Swordsmen)

( more with pics )

wuxia: Patriotic Knights

 

I have started watching(10 eps in) Patriotic Knights, a wuxia about Chen Long and Wallace Chung with swords.

Err...

About a young man named Jin Zhu Liu who is sent by his father(he and his parents have lived alone on an island for 20 years) to pay his respects to a woman his father used to know, and then meet a man named Li for a duel.  Because of his tattered clothes and socially inept behavior, people think he's a vagrant and an idiot(actually, I'm not sure if he's a genius good at playing the idiot, or an idiot with flashes of genius...could be both.)  Along the way he meets Sho Hong Ying, the younger sister of a villain who likes to sneak out and crossdress and thwart her brother's evil plans.  He also meets Zhong Yan Yan and Qin, disciples of heroes, and through them, starts getting involved in the good guy/bad guy things.  This also means he gets to keep running into Hong Ying, of which he highly approves.

The series is the sequel to Lofty Waters, Verdant Bow, but as I understand it, both this and the recent TVB series changed the ending of that one.  It's also in the same series of Seven Swordsmen.  So far at least, though, you don't have to know squat about either to follow along(I did, however, have a fangirl moment when I realized that Zhu Liu's sword was the 2 ended sword from Seven Swordsmen)

( more with pics )