Arata: The Legend Vol. #14 Manga Review

Creative Staff
Story: Yuu Watase
Art: Yuu Watase
Translation/Adaptation: Lance Caselman

What They Say
On the exile island of Muroya, Hinohara learns of a terrible incident that occurred there over half a century ago and now threatens to occur again! His weapon, the god sword Tsukuyo, may be the only way to stop history from repeating itself, but unleashing its power in this case may be a lot more complicated and far riskier than ever before!

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Hiruha has gotten Arata to accompany her alone to Moraya, where she attempts to steal his god sword, Tsukuyo. 52 years ago, the populace of Moraya was imprisoned after a catastrophe, and Hiruha believes that only the Tsukuyo can free them. However, she is being used by one of the Six Sho, and using the Tsukuyo will only free a great demon imprisoned there all those years ago.

If you have been following my last few reviews of Arata, you’ll know that I have only recently joined it. This is my third volume, and I feel like I’m finally starting to get a hang of the storyline now. Honestly, I’m still not really sure of the politics of this world, but the characters and motivations are starting to fall in place. That said, they introduced a lot of new characters in this volume, and I found myself a bit overwhelmed by them. I’m guessing that they actually appeared earlier on in the manga, but they were new to me.

But of the regular reoccurring characters, I feel as if I’m starting to get a handle as to what’s going on. Arata is starting to make sense as a protagonist, and I like Kannagi as his semi-hostile teammate, ala Hiei from Yu Yu Hakusho. Unfortunately, there’s been very little development in the last couple volumes of the Arata/Kotoha/Mikusa love triangle, but as there’s been quite a bit of fighting and whatnot in that time, so it’s only natural.

In Summary
I’m starting to get a handle on Arata: The Legend at this point, but I do have to say that the vast amount of characters is kind of overwhelming. I suppose that’s only natural for a shonen fighter, but it seems like every time this manga turns around, there’s another dozen new characters to get to learn. Still, what’s here has moved along pretty well, and I’ve been enjoying it despite my confusion. Recommended.

Content Grade: B
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 11, 2013
MSRP: $9.99

Mark Thomas

Mark teaches English and Creative Writing in Florida and learned the awesomeness of anime through Akira and Dominion Tank Police while growing up in the UK. Since then, he has spent most of his life watching anime and playing video games–sometimes at the same time if he can arrange it (ADHD-much?). This would be the point in the bio where he would normally share where you could find him on social media (Twitter, mostly), but as a general curmudgeon when it comes to social media since the MySpace days, he has recently given up any pretense of enthusiasm for the form.

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