From the author of Basara, we are brought another epic filled with adventure, survival, and suspense. Like many others, I've read Basara to completion and enjoyed it thoroughly, and expected no less from this one.
Luckily I was not disappointed, but I will admit it took me a while to get into it. Looking at its premise, I couldn't help but imagine some kind of Kaguya Hime scenario (a manga I could not bring myself to finish), and thus put off reading it. When I did finally pick it up, I was hooked.
Like Basara, it has a wide array of characters, who can be anything from "normal" to downright terrifying, though it all depends on whose perspective you're viewing (which is one of my favourite aspects of the author's works: The antagonists and protagonists are always switching roles). It is fascinating to see them all act and coexist in a post-apocalyptic world, with their decisions all being made with precaution, fear, and the instinct to survive.
The setting switches from the present, to the past and to the places in between. As such, it has a lot of "rifts" in the storyline filled with backstory; while it is necessary, the information overload can leave you a little dazed. This isn't unfamiliar to the author's works, but I suggest to those who don't like complicated storylines and characters to look elsewhere.
It is also very, very long. At times it seems somewhat redundant, like the author is only prolonging the story in order to milk money out of it, but I assure you this one is better than Basara at advancing the storyline.
The real hook for me on this manga is the characters. The main characters all have their time to delve into their psyches, and it's such a great character study in that sense. Only once or twice have I thought, "That's a bit unrealistic."
Fantastic art, and even better story. Yumi Tamura, keep 'em comin'.
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