The truth behind Sakura’s brother’s demise!
Creative Staff
Story: Arina Tanemura
Art: Arina Tanemura
Translation/Adaptation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
What They Say
Sakura is the granddaughter of a mysterious moon princess who slew demons with her Blood Cherry Blossom sword. All her life Sakura has been forbidden to look at the full moon without knowing why. Then one night, unhappy over her impending marriage, Sakura gazes up at the moon, only to see a demon attacking her…
Sakura, still grieving Oumi’s death, must fight the powerful youko of Uji. But she finds herself no match for the demon’s poisonous vapor. It’s time for Kohaku and Hayate—with a little help from the full moon—to step in.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Have you ever read such a bad scene that it jolted you out of the story? That was my experience with the conclusion of the Snake Youko fight. The monster attacks with poisonous vapor, Sakura hurries to protect Aoba, and then… nothing. During the span of time it takes ninjas Hayate and Kohaku to run to the nearest stream, have an attempt at romance, and bust the side of the riverbank, the fight between Sakura and the Youko remains at a complete standstill. No attempt to escape by the humans, no attempt to finish them off by the monster (seriously, he’s just staring at the helpless couple when he could be taking a big bite). I suppose this is a shojo manga, and perhaps the main purpose of the scene is to convey Sakura’s feelings for Aoba. However, Tanemura has also set Sakura up as a princess warrior, and from a battle standpoint, it makes no sense.
Another puzzling development is the introduction of human-form Hayate. Considering he’s been in the story since Chapter 3, his once-a-month change feels like a belated add-on. I don’t have any problems with his character; considering the cast is heavy on the females, it’s good to have a male buddy for Aoba. I just get the impression that the story details are handled poorly.
At any rate, we end the Snake arc with the demise of a couple human characters, the addition of one human character (sort of), and resolution of where Aoba and Sakura stand with one another. That done, we move on to the mysterious Enju, and as mentioned in Tanemura’s closing notes, this is where the story actually begins.
Though Sakura’s brother was mentioned at the very start of the story, we have almost no information about him other than Sakura loved him dearly. As such, it is little surprise when the focus of the story returns to him. There is an initial element of *eww!* as the details arise in a girl conversation about romantic love (Tanemura-sensei does mention that sibling marriages were okay back then). However, once we learn the true fate of Sakura’s brother, Enju not only becomes more compelling a character but the lines of good and evil become blurred. With members of the court actively manipulating Sakura for their own purposes, conflicts are no longer solely about humans versus Youko. While this makes the story more interesting, the court’s hot/cold attitude toward Sakura is still confusing, and whether or Tanemura-sensei can get all these elements to jibe remains to be seen.
In Summary
We finally get resolution on Sakura’s and Aoba’s true feelings for one another. Having settled that, we move onto something infinitely more interesting: the mysterious Enju. Tanemura-sensei does a good job of blurring the line between friend and foe, but the exact relationship between humans, Moon people, and Youko and Sakura’s place in all of that remains to be clarified.
Content Grade: C+
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: August 2nd, 2011
MSRP: $9.99
