From the back cover:
As the feared assassin of the Bakumatsu, Himura Kenshin killed in the name of the new era. As the rurouni of Meiji, he wielded a sakabato to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves, all along holding true to his vow to never take another life. Now Kenshin’s fight with Enishi has entered its final stage, as has his quest for atonement. Will another life be required to complete the circle? The road of redemption has been a long one for the world-weary swordsman, but now that Kenshin has found the will to live, can he muster the strength to survive?

Review:
Well, Jinchu’s ending was not terribly exciting, and I thought the Ryumeisen was pretty silly, but whatever. The end of act 250 is nice, though, and just sets in motion a lot of sad chapters as the members of the group begin to go their separate ways. I like the little details that Watsuki remembers to include. For example, in act 255, one of the students in the dojo is Ota. Remember Ota? I’d also probably give the volume high marks just for Kenji alone. Could he be cuter? I think not.

Ultimately, the best thing about this volume isn’t the climactic finish to the arc, but rather the time Watsuki takes in letting things wind down and allowing the audience to get some closure on what’s happening with each character. I can’t think of anything left unresolved, and some things were even included that I didn’t expect to see—Yahiko’s fifteenth birthday was great and sniff-inducing.

So, even if I wasn’t wowed by recent volumes, I can at least avow that it was worth it to continue to the very end.

From the back cover:
Kenshin and his comrades have finally discovered the location of Enishi’s island compound. Woo Heishin, Enishi’s mysterious second-in-command, meets them on the beach and brings his deadly bodyguards, the Su-shin or the “Four Stars,” to serve as a welcoming committee. Part of the gang dives into combats with Woo’s warriors as Kenshin prepares himself for his fateful, climactic duel with Enishi. Each of them a ferocious fighter, the Su-shin are set on stopping Kenshin’s friends dead in their tracks.

Review:
Well, this volume was better than the previous one. Each of Kenshin’s gang gets a chapter to their own as they fight off one of the thugs commanded by Enishi’s second-in-command. This part was okay, but it felt like quite a delay before Kenshin actually stepped forward and did something. It feels like it’s been an extraordinarily long time since we’ve seen the old sort of Kenshin, and I was happy to see him back, but still, there’s just something about these chapters that is not terribly exciting.

I also am rather annoyed with Watsuki for his excessive self-deprecation in his columns. I know modesty is a cultural thing in Japan, but really—some critiques probably wouldn’t have occurred to me until he pointed them out, at which point I was like, “Yeah, actually, those villains really are lame!”

Artwise, there are some panels of various characters that are very well done, probably moreso than I’ve seen in previous volumes. There were also a few panels with weird angels, sometimes prompting one to turn the book to try to get a proper perspective, which was kind of irksome. I guess Watsuki was trying something new, which was mostly successful.

From the back cover:
If there’s one thing tough-as-nails street brawler—and ex-Sekiho Army cadet—Sagara Sanosuke can’t stand, it’s hypocritical, loudmouthed braggarts who talk the talk but are incapable of walking the walk. Finding himsef in the middle of a provincial squabble between an old man and the local yakuza, Sano returns to his old “fight merchant” ways and agrees to do some ad hoc butt kicking for pay. But the old man he’s hired to tangle with might be his strongest foe to date.

Review:
The majority of this volume involves Sanosuke fighting to help protect a town from some yakuza creeps. It’s pretty durn boring. There are a couple of out-of-character references by the characters to the fact that they’re in a manga, which I didn’t find too amusing, and Sano seemed to be going a little haywire with the “giving people nicknames” deal. It does, however, introduce the character of Ota, who is totally lovable, even though he doesn’t say a single word. I’d like to see what becomes of him someday.

Finally, in the last few chapters, we return to Kenshin and the others in Tokyo, with the conflict with Enishi just about to come to fruition. Except, right at the end, it doesn’t happen! In fact, it doesn’t even not happen! What I mean is, something gets in the way between the gang and Enishi, and then we don’t see that fight because it’s going to happen in volume 27. I’d be more frustrated by this if I didn’t already have 27, courtesy of Waldenbooks getting theirs in crazy early.