Circular logic wins again
Creative Staff:
Original Story: Ishio Yamagata
Art: Kei Toru
Character Design: Miyagi
Translation: Nicole Wilder
Lettering: Rochelle Gancio
What They Say:
The search for the traitor continues.
Adlet may have won over Hans, but he doesn’t have time to rest on his laurels—now the Saint of Swamps is after his head! Despite how cute she looks, Chamo is said to be the most powerful warrior alive. Even if Adlet manages to survive, though, the Braves of the Six Flowers need to find the traitor quickly… before this turns into a bloodbath.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As the third volume of Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers begins, there were actual signs of the series at the very least being able to pick up the pieces from the last two volumes and make some sort of respectable (albeit still incredibly generic) shonen of itself. We have the hero and supposedly framed Adlet forming a reluctant partnership with the rough-around-the-edges Hans as they team up against Chamo, Saint of the Swamps. The banter and all-around chemistry between Adlet and Hans is akin to something you’d find out of a buddy-cop movie, and Chamo herself proves to be quite the adversary for the two. What results come the fight’s end, however, is a mediocre finishing blow that is unfortunately the volume’s most interesting plot point.
What follows the battle is standard fare from the past volumes—repeated misunderstandings, arguments, and walls upon walls of lore that you’re expected to take at face value even though the entire premise of the series is deep-fried in so much paranoia that you’re forced to question plot points that are so casually mentioned to be the absolute truth. This is only made exponentially more frustrating when you stop and realize just how little has been accomplished in terms of the overall story. Adlet is still seen as the imposter among the other Braves, when author Yamagata clearly is steering towards it being someone else entirely. Arguments between the other Braves never accomplish anything definitive other than continue to draw out tensions between characters we barely know anything about (which I can only assume is again for the sake of tension). And characters themselves seem to come and go as they please, meeting and separating for no other reason outside of being a thinly-veiled attempt at mixing up the interactions even though every new conversation never repeats anything new.
The sole saving grace of this volume is the handful of pages as narrated by the actual impostor-Brave. Finally, we get some kind of confirmation that an imposter exists, making explicit reference of other characters who we can now officially knock off from the list of suspects. It’s a small win, yes, but that in tandem with the manga’s surprisingly quick readability are the sole things preventing me from gauging my eyes out in utter frustration.
In Summary:
Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers is that one lab group you’re stuck with that always spends their meetings arguing over who should do what—continually spinning its wheels ad infinitum and yet treating itself as if it had any kind of self-importance whatsoever. It’s frustrating to read through as you’re continually bogged down with tautology to be accepted as sensical and characters to be accepted as likable and complex.
Content Grade: D
Art Grade: C+
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: August 22, 2017
MSRP: $13.00
