SENGOKU YOUKO

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionSengoku Youko
ANIME ActionSengoku Youko: Senma Konton-hen

REVIEWS

• 

  RinTohsakaLover

  90/100
  The least popular of Mizukami's big three is still an engrossing story with a unique structure

  To start this review, I will state that I am still EXTREMELY mad about the Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer adaptation. I will also preface that this is not my favorite of Mizukami's works, with Biscuit Hammer and Spirit Circle being superior in my eyes. However, this is still a top 10 manga of mine for very good reason. It is ambitious and has a storytelling prowess not seen in his other works. While Spirit Circle is a layered story, and Biscuit Hammer is a spoof on the Sentai genre, Sengoku Youko is just Mizukami showing he can do a traditional Shonen while still maintaining his trademark untraditional style of fluid plot progression, nuanced character writing, and the beautiful emotional core at the heart of all his works.

  The plot starts rather simply for a Mizukami story, following a pair of brother and sister (at least they call each other that) "Youko", or demons, named Jinka and Tama. They traverse the lands, with the younger sister being a proclaimer of absolute peace to misdoers, pleading with them to reconsider their actions. When this proclamation fails, Jinka goes beast mode and beats the meanies up easily. There is also a random guy that joins along with them named Shinsuke, and they kind of just let him. The start of the story isn't perfect, but it makes sense as it emulates many of its other shonen counterparts, then tears apart these traditional storytelling values in a unique way. I like to see the first 1/3 of Sengoku Youko similar to Hunter X Hunter, with our main characters all rather simple at the beginning, but showing both explicit and implicit growth with every scene that comes, making their growth immensely satisfying. I won't go any further into the plot, as the next 2/3 of the story is spoiler-heavy, but I will say that Sengoku Youko never stays stagnant, always growing as a narrative and making daring choices. Some work, some fail, but none of them are meaningless.

  Now it's time to talk about the cast. A strength that all of Mizukami's manga have is that every plot point grows every member of the cast in some way, and that is no different for Sengoku Youko. My personal favorite character is Shinsuke, a character who starts out as your stereotypical shonen "I'm a normal guy stuck in a crazy world!" MC, but slowly grows into something far grander. He experiences the greatest character writing out of any manga I've ever read, consistently adapting in every scene, so much so that the Shinsuke from the beginning, middle, and end are all completely different characters. If nothing else, read Sengoku Youko for the absolute writing masterclass that is Shinsuke's character. The rest of the class ranges from great to serviceable, with characters like Senya, Jinka, and Douren being the other highlights. Senya has a really unique power and how it relates to his psyche creates polarizing dynamics, Jinka is a great foil to Shinsuke and would be higher if not for a questionable plot decision, and Douren is just so fucking cool. The only flaw with the characters is Tsukiko, who in my opinion does not receive a sufficient amount of development to justify her screentime. I felt that she was honestly quite expendable as a character in most of her scenes, and brings little impact to the overall narrative. She isn't actively bad, just a rather dull point in a non dull series.

  And this final section will be spent on me GUSHING about Mizukami's art style and how much he has grown from his early days. Unfortunately, the site is bugging for me and won't let me post any pictures on this review, but I implore you to look up some of his art. At first glance, the art is almost mediocre, with a simple, shonen-like design lacks a lot of difference comapred to older mid-2000s manga with the same style. But Mizukami has absolutely perfected the art of expression, and his shading is some of the best of any mangaka I've seen. Admittedly, Biscuit Hammer is rather shoddy, with some scenes looking out of place and the art a bit wonky, but Sengoku Youko has not a single part that is flawed in any manner. It is excruciatingly beautiful, an example being Shinsuke's art style during the narrative. His change in design and character is so poignant to the points in the story that he's in, from jubilant, to fulfilled, to despaired, to content, every level of his character is only accentuated by the art. This review might seem like a bit of a Shinsuke dickride, but he's not the only one with outstanding artistic design. In fact, every character has such a fun unique design, and Mizukami uses the fighting techniques these characters have with a great scale yet never seems to falter in terms of quality. Overall, this is the peak of Mizukami's art, and seeing his progression throughout his career makes it an even more satisfying read.

  Overall, I give Sengoku Youko a 9/10. It's gripping, unique, and nuanced in many regards. The only flaws are a few drawn-out plot points and questionable decisions (specifically with Jinka) that hold it back from Mizukami's other manga. I am so hyped for the anime and I pray to the gods in heaven above that they don't massacre another one of Mizukami's creations, otherwise I will riot.

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