Basara Vol 3-4
Apr. 29th, 2007 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreFar less image heavy than the other volume posts(which you lot probably prefer), because I'm being lazy about uploading.
Only 19 pages here, generally lighter than the others I've posted, part 1 fight, but mostly Zaki and ChaCha(aka, the only OTP in the book to have their act together, even if Zaki doesn't realize it) and bald Shuri. And pirates. And shark riding long before the second Tomb Raider move was ever an idea. And Shuri has a Tamaki(Ouran High Host Club) moment.
Only 19 pages here, generally lighter than the others I've posted, part 1 fight, but mostly Zaki and ChaCha(aka, the only OTP in the book to have their act together, even if Zaki doesn't realize it) and bald Shuri. And pirates. And shark riding long before the second Tomb Raider move was ever an idea. And Shuri has a Tamaki(Ouran High Host Club) moment.
After acquiring her first sidekick in Hayato(and all the subsequent ones are better) Sarasa sets out to make some useful allies(ok, so she thinks Hayato is more useful than I do...) and encounters some pirates led by a woman named ChaCha. In response to Srasa's moral outrage over her tactics(thievery, slave trade, etc) ChaCha gives Sarasa one of her earliest "way of the world" speeches, and realizes that ChaCha would be a great ally if she can win her over. ChaCha's idea of testing out some 15 year old boy(she thinks) wearing rose colored glasses who thinks he's ready to run a revolution? Drinking contest. One drink and she's about passed out. Fortunately, Kaku, a man and surrogate uncle from her village, is there. He'd been separated from the others shortly after the initial attack by the red king's army and he waited there once he heard rumors of Tatara being in the area.
ChaCha doesn't like it when she doesn't win.
*cuddles Zaki for saving poor Kaku's life*
Zaki is ChaCha's lover and they've known each other their entire life. As far as he's concerned, he lives for ChaCha and the only reason he exists is to help her, and often, he's literally the only person she'll listen to.
Anyway, ChaCha has a system, if you challenge her or break the rules, you duel with her over shark infested waters. Sarasa makes a deal with her...they duel...if ChaCha wins, she can sell Sarasa and Hayato off as slaves, but if Sarasa wins, ChaCha gives her a chance. It doesn't go that well for Sarasa.
Poor Sarasa...a little too earnest there.
Anyway, ChaCha decides to give Tatara a chance, and they soon learn the local tyrants, the Shojo clan and Shido's army are right on their tales, after both the pirates and Tatara. With the help of a message from Ageha(sneaky man) Sarasa comes up with the idea of stealing the Shojo's cannon and using it against them, and she and Zaki set off to do so.
Have I mentioned that Zaki's brain is EXTREMELY ChaCha oriented?
It's not that he's a bad sort(in fact, while not overly sociable, he's very nice and has more than a bit of a protective/worry wart side), it's just that his brain works: ChaCha>fellow pirates>random people, and later, ChaCha>Tatara>fellow pirates and the rest of Tatara's core group>random people.
Did I mention that even though he and ChaCha are the only OTP to have their act together, he doesn't quite realize it?
She'd bop him over the head if she heard him talking like that.
See? He has his nice side:
But here's what happens if you call him on it: *translated SX for the second panel is "bonk"*
Now, I unabashedly adore both ChaCha and Zaki, and after Ageha, they're my favorites of Tatara's followers. Yeah, they're pirates and they were slavers, but, like Shuri and Shido, they are what life made them, and when another path was opened to them, they took it and didn't look back.
Anyway, they get the cannon and take out the Shojos, then Hayatro and Sarasa get into a battle with Shido, and Hayato kills Shido protecting Sarasa. Of course, the only reason Sarasa lasted that long was because Shido recognized Tatara as the girl Shuri was falling for, and realized that neither one knew the truth.
One thing I really like about Basara is that it IS about a war, and it's treated that way. There aren't honorable, near deathless activities...they're war acts. People die. A lot of people, and sometimes, you have to kill someone you know, and even someone you like. Shido's death is important because, even though he dies in book 4, he's one of the most important characters in the series. The most noticable aspect is that his death is what turns the war from something to be taken care of to something as personal as, if not more than, it is for Sarasa. Some other "boy of destiny" stirring up trouble and starting a rebellion? Just another thing to take care of in his quest to rule Japan. The death of his cousin, closest(and really only) friend and strongest ally? That's about as personal as it gets. It also deeply affects Ageha, and turns Senju from some princess fretting in her tower to an important character. It's also the first time Sarasa has had to look head on at the consequences of her actions-the death of a man she knows is a good man, and who she liked before learning he was an enemy-and realizes that that's the path she's chosen for herself. It's also the first time Hayato has directly killed, and he has to deal with the but that yes, he killed to save Tatara, but he would have killed Shido given any chance he got for tricking him and indirectly causing his mother's death, and he knows that if he hadn't been able to kill Shido in bettle, he would have resorted to murder. And, he soon learns, by doing so he made Senju a widow, and deprived a child of its father before it was even born, making him something of a hypocrite, as that was his reason for hating Shido.
I posted scene with Shido and Ageha, before and after Shido's death, and Shuri and Sarasa after, here.
Anyway, after that, both Shuri and Sarasa both head to Kanto in disguise to meet the Blue King, Shuri's brother-Sarasa before she's effectively being blackmailed into talking truce, Shuri because taking care of the Blue King is a necessary step towards victory.
Sarasa dons her usual disguise(which is, well, herself, as opposed to her brother) and Shuri...wellllll...
This is why it sucks to be one of Shuri's underlings(though only Kazan deserves sympathy)
He lives to do things like this to people...keeps them on their toes(the hair grows back fast)
Here's what Sarasa has to say about it the new look:
Remember my mentioning Shuri's Tamaki moment?
Ok, so Tamaki isn't worried about Haruhi's bust size, but I love the Tamaki-ish "You have not eaten what I consider to be real food? I must fix! FIXFIXFIX!!!"
Anyway, they get to Kanto(and Sarasa does a lot of squeeing over seeing a forest for the first time, and encounter the region's slace trade, by way of this guy:
*Stabs Asagi. Has a serious love/hate relationship with him.*
Anyway, The slave brand on Shuri's back is discovered, and they're arrested and entered against their will in a sadistic race that's in the next volume.
ChaCha doesn't like it when she doesn't win.
*cuddles Zaki for saving poor Kaku's life*
Zaki is ChaCha's lover and they've known each other their entire life. As far as he's concerned, he lives for ChaCha and the only reason he exists is to help her, and often, he's literally the only person she'll listen to.
Anyway, ChaCha has a system, if you challenge her or break the rules, you duel with her over shark infested waters. Sarasa makes a deal with her...they duel...if ChaCha wins, she can sell Sarasa and Hayato off as slaves, but if Sarasa wins, ChaCha gives her a chance. It doesn't go that well for Sarasa.
Poor Sarasa...a little too earnest there.
Anyway, ChaCha decides to give Tatara a chance, and they soon learn the local tyrants, the Shojo clan and Shido's army are right on their tales, after both the pirates and Tatara. With the help of a message from Ageha(sneaky man) Sarasa comes up with the idea of stealing the Shojo's cannon and using it against them, and she and Zaki set off to do so.
Have I mentioned that Zaki's brain is EXTREMELY ChaCha oriented?
It's not that he's a bad sort(in fact, while not overly sociable, he's very nice and has more than a bit of a protective/worry wart side), it's just that his brain works: ChaCha>fellow pirates>random people, and later, ChaCha>Tatara>fellow pirates and the rest of Tatara's core group>random people.
Did I mention that even though he and ChaCha are the only OTP to have their act together, he doesn't quite realize it?
She'd bop him over the head if she heard him talking like that.
See? He has his nice side:
But here's what happens if you call him on it: *translated SX for the second panel is "bonk"*
Now, I unabashedly adore both ChaCha and Zaki, and after Ageha, they're my favorites of Tatara's followers. Yeah, they're pirates and they were slavers, but, like Shuri and Shido, they are what life made them, and when another path was opened to them, they took it and didn't look back.
Anyway, they get the cannon and take out the Shojos, then Hayatro and Sarasa get into a battle with Shido, and Hayato kills Shido protecting Sarasa. Of course, the only reason Sarasa lasted that long was because Shido recognized Tatara as the girl Shuri was falling for, and realized that neither one knew the truth.
One thing I really like about Basara is that it IS about a war, and it's treated that way. There aren't honorable, near deathless activities...they're war acts. People die. A lot of people, and sometimes, you have to kill someone you know, and even someone you like. Shido's death is important because, even though he dies in book 4, he's one of the most important characters in the series. The most noticable aspect is that his death is what turns the war from something to be taken care of to something as personal as, if not more than, it is for Sarasa. Some other "boy of destiny" stirring up trouble and starting a rebellion? Just another thing to take care of in his quest to rule Japan. The death of his cousin, closest(and really only) friend and strongest ally? That's about as personal as it gets. It also deeply affects Ageha, and turns Senju from some princess fretting in her tower to an important character. It's also the first time Sarasa has had to look head on at the consequences of her actions-the death of a man she knows is a good man, and who she liked before learning he was an enemy-and realizes that that's the path she's chosen for herself. It's also the first time Hayato has directly killed, and he has to deal with the but that yes, he killed to save Tatara, but he would have killed Shido given any chance he got for tricking him and indirectly causing his mother's death, and he knows that if he hadn't been able to kill Shido in bettle, he would have resorted to murder. And, he soon learns, by doing so he made Senju a widow, and deprived a child of its father before it was even born, making him something of a hypocrite, as that was his reason for hating Shido.
I posted scene with Shido and Ageha, before and after Shido's death, and Shuri and Sarasa after, here.
Anyway, after that, both Shuri and Sarasa both head to Kanto in disguise to meet the Blue King, Shuri's brother-Sarasa before she's effectively being blackmailed into talking truce, Shuri because taking care of the Blue King is a necessary step towards victory.
Sarasa dons her usual disguise(which is, well, herself, as opposed to her brother) and Shuri...wellllll...
This is why it sucks to be one of Shuri's underlings(though only Kazan deserves sympathy)
He lives to do things like this to people...keeps them on their toes(the hair grows back fast)
Here's what Sarasa has to say about it the new look:
Remember my mentioning Shuri's Tamaki moment?
Ok, so Tamaki isn't worried about Haruhi's bust size, but I love the Tamaki-ish "You have not eaten what I consider to be real food? I must fix! FIXFIXFIX!!!"
Anyway, they get to Kanto(and Sarasa does a lot of squeeing over seeing a forest for the first time, and encounter the region's slace trade, by way of this guy:
*Stabs Asagi. Has a serious love/hate relationship with him.*
Anyway, The slave brand on Shuri's back is discovered, and they're arrested and entered against their will in a sadistic race that's in the next volume.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 05:05 pm (UTC)just too bad the next ones will spoil me, because I just can't keep myself from reading them ^_^
But still I wonder why exactly Shuri have that mark on his back... maybe I missed something somewhere... and he looks funny without his hair
no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 05:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 05:24 pm (UTC)