Which reminds me, after completing this manga, I feel like re-reading 7 Seeds, one of Tamura Yumi's most recent ongoing work. :)
I don't know why I didn't read this fantastic manga earlier. I can see why it is regarded so highly and people are constantly recommending it and giving it perfect ratings. As a regular reader of shoujo, the fact that this is also considered in the same category...I am...shocked. The shoujo genre-tag on this manga does not give it justice. Basara literally blows all of the mainstream shoujo manga out of the water by an epic proportion. It is just THAT masterly crafted and well done.
What is Basara about? The manga takes place in an alternate universe of historical-like Japan. The story follows a young girl named Sarasa, as she willingly takes up her brother's position as the "Child of Destiny", one to bring uproar to the system (I guess for the better) as she witnesses his murder and the destruction of her village by the Red King, a ruthless young man whom isn't afraid of lobbing heads off to get what he wants. From that moment, Sarasa swore to defeat the Red King and take revenge for her village. Something strange happens, however. When she goes to a hot spring one day, she meets a boy named Shuri and they fall in love with each other. What she doesn't know is that Shuri is actually the Red King! He also doesn't know that she is now the "Child of Destiny". So the two aim to destroy one another without knowing each others' true identities.
My summaries never cover the full plot but are just a taste of what happens in the beginning. The plot is SO much more than what I just typed above. Sarasa meets so many characters (which there are A LOT of characters) goes to different places, and the action, intense drama, politics, etc. are what REALLY makes Basara so great. So definitely give this manga a shot if you haven't! And if you already have, give it another shot! I originally tried to get into Basara and I just couldn't, however, when I watched a bit of the anime (which is only 13 episodes and insufficient; REMAKE please!) it rekindled my interest in the series.
The
cast of characters have HUUGE range of personalities and a lot of them are really lovable. Characters that you start out hating, you end up loving by the end (trust me). It doesn't excuse them for being asshats but hey, at least they know it and are trying to change that fact and live their life the way they truly want to live.
I thought what was a really interesting was the fact that Sarasa and Shuri are
enemies but lovers at the same time. So when they actually discover the true identities of one another, they both have an enormous inner turmoil.
He's my enemy. He killed my village. But I love him. (not a quote, by the way ahaha but you get my drift). As the reader, you get this really uncomfortable feeling in your gut as you see the two go through this struggle. They both suffered quite huge losses because of each other, but their love for one another had not died. So while it's quite awful to imagine being in the same situation as them, my inner sadist(or not?)comes out and laughs at the irony of the whole situation.
The plot in the beginning is of course, focused on Sarasa and her village survivors' desire for revenge against the Red King but then the conflict becomes larger and larger and eventually involves in some heavy internal royal-palace conflicts (and the villains get backstories, yay! Cool motive, still murder). The battle eventually involves the entirety of Japan and it gets really epic (and sad, so look forward to that).
My
favorite thing about the series has nothing to do with Basara itself, ironically enough, but it's the little free-spaces that Tamura uses to do a section called, "Tam-Tam Time" in which the manga-ka writes little updates on her life and the readers get to see how adorable and awesome she is. I really enjoyed reading those little sections, which is rare, because I typically don't pay attention to author notes and such (which I should more often, sorry!)
Something
weird I noticed while I was reading Basara was that Tamura Yumi would sometimes use these really odd screentones that would make you stop reading the manga for a second to stare at it and go, "wtf?" It was a couple times when I noticed it but maybe she was trying to use a variety of screentones? I don't know, but when is there ever a time where a screentone looking like a puzzle-piece pattern can be used? Or a chicken-pox pattern? I don't have screencaps but there was seriously one page that looked like the characters had chicken pox or some deadly disease because of the screentone and they were not ill at all.
Besides the notable strong heroine in Basara there are also
several themes are present which are important, such as 'Don't commit yourself to revenge, look to the future and move on', 'Hate does not last, instead focus on love', 'Love can be a double-edged sword; it can either strengthen you or swallow you up whole', etc.
I see Basara being compared to
Red River/Anatolia Story often, and I can see why (because of the premise of a girl fighting in an historical setting) but I've read around 3-4 volumes of Red River and I have to say that I think Basara wins over it. Maybe I have to read more to like it, I don't know, but so far the manga isn't my taste and the main character seems like a pushover(in terms of being assaulted by men) despite being called 'The Goddess Ishtar(well she is the goddess of war AND sex)'.
Sorry for that little tangent.
I would highly recommend this series to anybody looking for a long and exciting read. A little escape from reality, I suppose.
