Sengoku Youko

Sengoku Youko is a manga that I might never really understand the appeal of to most fans.

The plot is actually split up into two different parts, with the first half focusing on the journey of these two demon siblings and this human samurai that has no talent and they fight an evil organization, but one of the siblings ends up getting super overpowered, and the second half focusing on an already overpowered villain turned hero as he fights to gain the power to defeat the one sibling in the first half. It's pretty standard shounen at this point, with the majority of the plot coming from different fights. I will say that the change in main character halfway through the story is pretty jarring, as it feels like all the time you spent learning about the first few characters is wasted, since they either show up very rarely in the second half or are completely different, asking you to believe that they made a complete change in the time you don't see.

The characters are pretty standard too, with no one exhibiting too many characteristics that make them stand out from the rest of the characters you might find in a typical shounen. I honestly wish a lot of the female characters did more in the story, as they pretty much only had minor roles in supporting the mains, even though they had potential to do much more. The only character that I found interesting and wanted to see more of were the tiger and dragon villains since their intertwining storyline was actually decently thought out and were both compelling in their own rights. I also find it funny how the author makes this one character that we spend like 10 chapters with (in which we don't really get to know too much about her), really important to the story and a pivotal plot point for the main characters. Any types of feelings that the author wanted the audience to feel near the end of the story concerning this one character honestly just feels really unearned.

The art is alright I guess, though I didn't really like it all that much.

Overall, Sengoku Youko was just average at best when compared to all the other manga out there. It doesn't do anything particularly well, it doesn't explore deep themes any more than anything else, it doesn't have super interesting and memorable characters, etc. The constant thought that I had while reading this was, "So when does this start to get as good as people say it is?" At most I'll give that it didn't do anything particularly poorly, but that's about it.

This manga is gold in my eyes. This manga has been out for so long but only 1 review? Come on guys! This manga might seem a bit plain for some people but I honestly think it's one of the best "friendship wins over everything" manga. The story actually surprised me with the main character changing all of a sudden. The character development is actually great as it shows them aging from a young brat into a great adult and it's great to see the characters powering up. Better than Dragon Ball Z,to be honest lmao. Honestly,this is one of the better mangas I've read. Would recommend to everyone :)

When I began Sengoku Youko, I had no idea it would affect me as much as it did. I thought I was starting a fun shounen action series, enjoyable and good to pass the time. It isn't that the summary isn't accurate, because it is ... for about the first ten chapters. This manga develops into something so deep and moving you never see it coming until you're already in the heart of it.

At its core this is a story about people. Humans, demons; the line between them is blurred as we learn that what defines us can never be categorized as simply as that. The characters meet and mesh and become inseparable, even when physical distance keeps them apart. Their lives and very selves are touched and changed with every meeting as we are reminded that who we meet is so much a part of who we are.

Shinsuke, the "scaredy cat swordsman" mentioned in the manga's brief summary, undergoes perhaps the most organic and immense character growth of anyone in any work I have read. The other characters evolve as well, as times passes, and while in some works a change in characterization can feel like a plot device - heavy handed and deliberate - these characters exhibit life of their own. They are not changing at the author's whims. They are reacting to the situations that arise, the people they meet, the passing of time, and becoming more than they were.

I will admit the pacing is a bit difficult in this, especially as it shifts protagonists part way through. It is unconventional, and may throw some readers. Don't look at this as a betrayal by the author; there is a point to this, and if you stick it through to the end you will witness something beautiful. Let the story take you down an alternate path, parallel and deeply bound to the one you thought you were going down. Don't forget the fondness you hold for the original cast, but allow yourself to experience the new characters the author is entrusting to you as the reader.

This is a story of people. Of meetings, separations, reunions, losses and parting and never forgetting the people that led you down the path that made you who you are. Let the characters tell their story, and let it remind you of the people in your own life who led you to where you are. Keep their warmth in you and let it fuel you to keep going.

tl;dr: An action-oriented manga that manages to bring together the extended stories of an interesting and decent sized cast into a single cohesive narrative. 

Sengoku Youku is a shounen battle manga, though one that excels more in plot and characterization than the actual action. The plot isn't that complex or convoluted really at all, but it does involve a lot of intermixed stories of a lot of characters. These stories aren't all that complicated, but it still feels somewhat impressive how they all tie together into what feels like a single well told story that is consistent from beginning to end, not just in terms of the plot itself, but also in terms of themes and tone.

Furthermore, while they are simple, they do help to highlight a lot of characters and develop their motivations and such. Ultimately, it felt like only a couple of the characters, Senyu and Shinsuke, got fully fleshed out character arcs where they experience major character growth, wherein while growth does occur in others it's not built up as well. Still, despite that, many of the less fleshed out characters were interesting and likable as well and it was interesting to watch where their stories led.

Relationship development similarly was a mixed bag with some feeling well built up but others, including most of the romantic relationships, feeling underdeveloped. Still, within the context of the plot the development was generally enough for what it was needed for in terms of having the reader have enough investment in certain characters and bonds for moments to have impact. This is especially true in terms of the ending which ends up being heavily built on that investment.

The ending overall was interesting in that over the course of a pretty extensive epilogue it wraps up pretty much everything, and seems to go farther than I expected in terms of this. By that I don't mean that it forced things, the way everything proceeded felt very natural, but rather it decided to provide endings to things I didn't expect to get endings. When it started proceeding in this direction, I was very skeptical, but by the end of the ending I felt that it had managed to do a good job with it.

Continuing on from Samidare into the catalog of Satoshi Mizukami, next I came along Sengoku Youko. Despite being Mizukami’s longest work and a shounen action manga, it was a name I’d heard little about. However what I did hear about was quite interesting, OPT threads posting ambitious spreads, and some classy-taste friends of mine listing it as their favorite battle shounen ever. So I began my delve into the 2007-2016 series, Sengoku Youko. Let’s Rock.

PLOT: Two people roam the land. We have the fox demon, Youko Tama, and her stepbrother, Yamato Jinka. Together they’re on a quest to reform the evils of the land and bring a better peace to the world. Along their way they meet the young samurai Hyoudo Shinsuke, who’s the first to join their party in their quest for peace. If this doesn’t sound interesting to you, don’t worry. This is just the initial set-up. Sengoku Youko is broken up into some clearly defined parts, each building on the events of the last and, in my honest opinion, increasing in intrigue. The first part has a pretty standard set-up and does drag for the first while, but what it ends up doing and being built from there is quite the mastercraft. Sadly this means it’s the type of piece where I have to hold my tongue on why it’s good because the twists and surprises are best left unspoiled. Once part 2 kicks it, it becomes a tightly woven tale that carries a lot of emotional punch. Despite the simple set up, some quite amazing and surprising things do happen down the road, the manga will shift the status quo quite a bit and time will pass, but all of this is done quite meaningfully and with a lot of skill. There’s also a lot of thematic and emotional weight, as the series goes into humans, demons, fate, and what it means to fight. It’s full of exciting fights backed by powerful ideals and heart-wrenching deaths. It manages to fantastically blend an intense action plot with a lot of character moments and development. As with my last Mizukami series, I will say the plot falls under the characters but that’s by no means a bad thing. Ending wise the series ties up nicely, even if the epilogue lacked in some ways.

7/10, the first part is a 6 with the second part beyond being an 8.

CHARACTERS: Mizukami is one hell of a character writer and this doesn’t change. The initial cast are all quite memorable. Tama herself I find to be the weakest character as while she’s likeable and cute I found her development quite lacking in comparison to everyone else. Her initial ideal of peace stays throughout with little questioning, but she does over time come to discover her motivations for what’s more important to her. Jinka on the other hand is quite strong development-wise. When we meet him he’s a human on a quest to become a demon, after being exiled and living with demons he watched humans kill all the demons he lived with and has developed a hatred for them. Through the events of the series (and especially through his relation with Shinsuke) he comes down off of his hatred horse and begins to develop into the main hero we want him to be. Shinsuke himself is quite the case, starting off as a coward and a wannabe we see an AMAZING amount of development with him. His development is rough, but as all human development is, and by the end he’s even rather inspirational. I can’t say his name, but the other character to go through quite as complex and satisfying a development is one who becomes a lead character in the second part. I imagine any fans of the series will know who I’m talking about and there’ll be little dissent on the development of this boy. There’s also a lot of great side characters. The character of Teru was a particular highlight for being both incredibly funny and endearing despite overall playing a rather minor role in the series. Some other characters such as Raidou and Nau were also quite nice. I never found any of the characters to be unpleasant, with the “worst” being fun but static. As far as villains go there’s a good amount to talk about here. Some of the recurring villains are quite nice, especially Douren who falls into the old trope of “Genuinely Great Guy who’s just on the Other Side.” The character of Mudo falls into the villain turned rival role and has some of the best character development in the series. I also want to give a shout out to Jinun but can’t say why for spoiler sakes. Lastly the series villains, who’s reveal itself is a twist, were rather interesting. They were built up in a mysterious and exciting manner over the early parts of the series, and come to pay off towards the end. Despite being villains they fall into the nice category of not only relatable, but arguably more right than the main characters and have a fantastic backstory even if they’re lacking as individual characters. All in all Mizukami outdid himself by creating a loveable cast that grows well and ends up becoming powerful and memorable characters.

9/10, epitomic of good battle shounen character writing.

VISUALS: I’d honestly say this is a mixed bag. Mizukami’s art isn’t the strongest but he pulled out all of the stops here. While the individual panel to panel can be alright, the action scenes (especially later in the series) are top notch. While it may not be the most anatomic or realistic, the art is really expressive and can flow well. Character faces convey a lot of emotion and the designs are unique and memorable. Most memorable of all are the spreads, which on their own might be 10/10. Whether it be epic attacks conveyed in gripping detail with powerful emotion, back to back spreads conveying a mix of scale and flow, or (most surprisingly) spreads of larger than 4 pages to convey the size and scale of a scene in intriguing ways, Sengoku Youko I feel is one of the best examples of how to utilize and make multi-page spreads in an action series. I can still picture some of them with their intense action and raw emotions. It’s ambitious for the medium with having even a 6-page spread at one point. The average page isn’t as good as these spreads, but the series looks fine on average. I also think some of the demon design is particularly fantastic, a personal favorite of mine is Banshou’ou’s combat form.

8/10, some amazing spreads put in what’s otherwise a pretty decent piece.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

While not perfect (with a slow first act) Sengoku Youko does some amazing stuff and in my opinion is well worth the read, while not becoming my favorite battle shounen I think it’s a pretty good contender for one of the best ever. I’d recommend it for most manga fans and is a must-read for any battle shounen manga fan.

Mizukami Satoshi seems to specialize in taking the exact opposite approach compared to a lot of other action story writers. A person focusing on the action would have a betrayal occur to create a reason for one character to fight. Satoshi writes an entire action setting to give a reason for a few characters to have a warm reunion.

Although I believe that Spirit Circle is a work that can be considered one of the most perfect works out there, Sengoku Youko manages to position itself as one of the most satisfying adventure stories out there. In terms of theme and characterization, Sengoku Youko is rawer and more loose around the edges, and, if you break it down to its core, it’s action scenes are less about strategy and more about winning through Shounen spirit – but all that is overturned by its sense of scale and adventurous scope.

Sengoku Youko’s story is a story that is split between two protagonists, and involves Gods and beings vaster than anything on the Earth, but it’s mainly about how fun it is to travel with friends that you care about. Separations are only prefaces to future reunions, no matter how heart-breaking they may be. And even if those separations are permanent – memories exist. It has a lot less of the philosophical focus that Spirit Circle can pull off in a mere 40 chapters, but I think writing such a work is important since it allows a writer to stake out a different repertoire. Given that he was writing both works at the same time, it could be that channelling his spirit into this one allowed him to take a more focused approach with the other – but that’s just speculation.

With a laudatory discussion like this though, there has to be a talk about ‘limits’. With Biscuit Hammer, Sengoku Youko, and Spirit Circle, Satoshi has already expended many of the pathways that he’s familiar with. He can no longer tread on familiar ground anymore – that ground being the raw youthfulness and sense of growth that exists in those works. These are the points that will either make or break writers – and I’m really interested to see the continuation.

Upon a recommendation from a friend whom I admire for her impeccable taste in character-driven manga, I started reading Sengoku Youko. And wow, it is quite amazing. I was hooked into this manga via a spoiler, which makes Naruto look so small in comparison and I cannot mention. You will see if you keep reading; all I can say is that Sengoku Youko utilizes a very rarely used narrative technique to move the plot along.

Initially, I thought that the manga depicted several shounen elements, even though the human protagonist, Jinka, wasn't necessarily the most hotheaded hero. Heck, he even hates humans! And yet, he is partnered with a female youko or demon named Tama who loves humans, so he is coerced (and sometimes out of his free will) into saving them as part of the "savior siblings." Sometime on their journey, a couple of other people join them, which reminds me of Avatar: the Last Airbender in some ways.

My absolute favorite part of this manga is the strong variety of both humans and demons alike. In most of the manga involving demons that I've read, demons are portrayed as either monstrous or innocent -- there are no in-betweens. And yet, Sengoku Youko manages to provide us with CUTE, adorable demons (think of the villagers from Animal Crossing), and at the same time describe very intimidating demons who are both good and bad. I also appreciated how this manga toyed with the question of duality: Are we humans? Or are we demons? It is not necessarily dark or dramatic, but it can be at times when the story necessitates it.

As mentioned above, Sengoku Youko is wonderfully driven by characters, whose choices they make impact the outcomes that continue to resonate with the remaining characters and what ultimately happens in the end. Because of their choices, the story makes use of a rare narrative technique to further surprise the readers and push the manga to new dimensions. Just because the Final Goal of one character may have been accomplished does not mean that the manga is completely over; in fact, it is this completion of the goal that creates a new Final Goal.

Much like Mushishi, Sengoku Youko is primarily a journey with no conclusive arcs -- no battling, training, or battling. Technically, there is at least one training session, but they are not tedious to read about at all! I enjoy the creatures that the group meets and their little stories, and I also enjoy the seemingly flawless integration of the plot with the episodic adventures at the beginning. All of the characters have a personality that later grows, recedes, and develops as the series continues, which is truly phenomenal.

Ah, the art? I have not mentioned that, but suffice it to say that the art of all characters evolves to reflect their growth and the passing of time, which allows them to escape the Same Face Syndrome that occasionally plagues manga and anime. Overall, I must highly recommend Sengoku Youko based on current chapters, the overarching storyline, and variety of characters with their unique motivations. After all, there is an eight-year-old boy with a thousand demons.

Dont get me wrong. This manga is by no means bad, it is in fact very well-made. But I need to admit that I was greatly disappointed by, in my opinion, how much the author fucked up what could be a much better story.

Alert: This is may be a bit spoiler-y, but I needed to vent my opinion on this manga.
The first part was my favourite. It rounded up well and the characters were developing. I specially loved her who was supposed to be one of the four protagonists, if not the main one: Tama. I thought she, a cunning fox demon in the body of a little girl, was the most interesting out of the four protags. Apparently the author was interested in developing her and Jinka as the main characters, judging by how the first part ended. But I think somewhere in the middle of the story, after the part one, the author started worrying about what would his readers think of his work. As this manga is Shounen, in Japan its majority of readers are supposed to be guys. In my vision, the author began searching for a boy character to turn into a (relatable?) main character; he maybe thought Tama wasn't a good enough protagonist for a story facing the male audience, as there wasn't even fanservice from her part (for fuck's sake, she looked like a freaking child).

The story could have turned up very similarly if the author chose any other random male character to turn into the protagonist. Seriously, in the first part, Senya was an extremely minor character. I liked to see him grow in the second part; but I thought his arc would last until like, the part where he and Tsukiko showed all grown up in front of Tama. From there on, the author could have focused again in her, and seriously, could have given her some fighting abilities at last. She didn't have a single real battle scene. Tama and Shinsuke turned into minor characters and I hadn't even noticed, as I was anxiously waiting for the author to focus on them again. Jinka and Shaku had vanished (though I understand the author needed to do that *for the plot*).

The ending was so incredibly frustrating that, though I cried at Shaku's return and the reunion of Tama and Jinka, I skipped through all the tiring and unnecessarily long battle scenes that only served, in my opinion obviously, to emphazise overpowered, minor characters before and now main characters. I was specially frustrated since I had been postponing this reading for a long time, and really looked foward to Tama and Jinka's development.

The artwork was extremely good and clearly evolved through the series, and the battle scenes, though a bit tiring for me to read, were well-drawn. The character designs were unique and recognizable, and the world was quite well-developed. For these reasons, it was extremely frustrating to see what could have been one of my favorite manga, be turned into a simply "good shounen" like many other good shounen out there.

TL;DR, without spoilers: If you're reading for Tama, Jinka, Shinsuke, Shaku, don't expect much. If you're just looking for a good shounen manga, maybe to pass the time, try this one out, I guess.