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.
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