Bin- Sonshi Iden is the story of Bin, a wheelchair-bound criminal whose cunning tactics yet friendly demeanor slowly win over the hearts of his army, as he assumes higher rank in the Chinese military. Following an introductory arc where Bin makes some friends and appeals to the capitol, the remainder of the series involves long, drawn out ground battles and the drama that ensues in-between conflict.

A few things set this series apart from most historical manga. Despite the serious tone throughout, especially during battles, some scenes can be just downright goofy. The contrasts in Bin’s character are frequently illustrated through his player, juvenile behavior off of the battlefield. Part of this silliness could be attributed to the art style, as most of the characters have fat heads, big eyes and other exaggerated features. The story gets pretty serious when it needs to however, with heavy shading characterizing some of the more recent, prominent battles.

This brings me to my next point. For such a serious historical manga, there can be quite a bit of fan service at times. A number of female fighters are scantily clad with enormously oversized breasts, and their placement in dead-serious battles feels a bit absurd at times. Luckily I have found this to be a unique charm of the series, rather than a plot deterrent.

That being said, the mangaka makes a good attempt at giving each character a unique purpose and backstory, even seemingly unimportant or minor ones. Unfortunately, many of the characters appear rather similar, making it difficult to distinguish between certain ones. Very often I found myself confused because of similarly-designed characters simultaneously doing similar things.

The longer conflicts are often drawn out just a bit, with entire chapters being dedicated to heartfelt speeches by Bin, desperate soldiers’ thoughts and reactions, and so forth. But overall this is a solid read with a certain unique charm courtesy of the cartoony art style.