Let’s Read Kagurabachi: Katanas, Gays, and Generational Trauma

[Kermie]

Trust me, that title will make sense in… give or take 5 chapters. Bear with me for a minute.

CHAPTER ELEVEN - AWAKEN

(BEEP… BEEP…)​

We begin in a hospital. It's not too crowded. There's only one person we can see.



It's Chihiro. He was beaten up badly after that fight with Sojo, and now he's alone. But not for long, as someone bursts into the room.



It's Chihiro's two stepdads Shiba and Azami. Azami explains that the reason why they aren't in the better funded Kamunabi hospital is because plenty of Kamunabi disliked Rokuhira, so off the books is the safest option. Remember, not even some Kamunabi higher-ups knew about Rokuhira's location— that's how much of a national secret that man was.

Chihiro asks Shiba about Char and Hinao.



Sojo has a material thought lost, one that's supremely rare at that. Of course, with Sojo being a crime baron, money isn't really a problem for him. Said material?

Datenseki. The material used to create an Enchanted Blade.



Sojo takes over this part of the explanation.




Yup, a burst. Just like what happened to Daruma/Madoka. Interesting.

Anyways, Chihiro says that only his dad could stabilize the Datenseki into something that doesn't kill a person, using his secret blacksmith arts. But Sojo has a different idea of how to make an Enchanted Blade. The Kyonagi family's regenerative cells.



Chihiro realizes what must be happening to Char right now. He's pissed— and for once, sad as well. On the verge of tears, even.



Chihiro asks Shiba what they're going to do now. Azami answers that not to worry, there's backup on the way, an elite squad from the Kamunabi. They all report directly to Azami, and are specifically called in to defeat Cloud Gouger. Here they are, the:

ANTI-CLOUD GOUGER FORCE - ELITE SORCERERS (AND DUMBASSES)​

Anyways, they get straight down to business. Their leader, Glasses (no name given yet) says that the place that Daruma told Shiba about has already been emptied out, so they're looking somewhere else now. Of course, that's when Azami tells the elite squad that Chihiro is Rokuhira's son, and thus the one who knows the most about the EBs.



Yeah, Blonde's kinda a bitch. Meanwhile, Tengu mask asks Chihiro about how he prevented all the casualties.



After this chapter, it took like, one day for them to draw fanart of tengu mask and Glasses kissing. I love this fandom.

Anyways, Chihiro then asks another question that's been on his mind; how long has he been out?



Chihiro has been in a coma for five days and immediately wakes up and wants to throw hands. He hasn't even had any breakfast yet, that's how angry he is now! But it makes sense— he made a promise to Char to protect her, now he's gotta follow through.

Glasses however, still wants Chihiro to live. But…



What is that goofy nodding from Shiba? Ah whatever.

Glasses' counteroffer is simple. His squad will find and kill Sojo, or at least distract him. Meanwhile, Chihiro will use his EB to stealthily sneak in to the next suspected location that Sojo's holed up in. This way, either Sojo dies or is slowed down enough for Char to be saved. Now, what does Chihiro think of that?

 

[Kermie]

Chapter 13 starts right off the back of the last one. With Glasses acting smug af. Remember, this is manga, so read right to left.

CHAPTER TWELVE - PREPARATIONS​

All that's left for the anti-Cloud Gouger squad to do is scout out Sojo's whereabouts. For now, they'll just leave Shiba and Chihiro alone.

When they leave, a day passes, and when we get back it's Shiba who's talking to Chihiro alone. He's worried about what Chihiro's been doing— the whole "my body is a machine that turns yakuza into dead yakuza" shtick.



First of all, goddamn Kunishige! No wonder someone wanted to marry you even through the war crimes! Heck, maybe someone wanted to hook up with you because of the war crimes and your… uh… katana!

Second of all, just like how Chihiro has multiple screens where we can barely see how traumatized he is, Shiba also has his multiple of his own moments, where he regrets what he's done, or compares his past to the current present. Here, he's wondering how different Chihiro at 18 is from how he and the old gang were at 18.

Then, suddenly the conversation is interrupted. It's time.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the city…



Sojo is taking a bath— he's gotta take care of his greasy ass hair after all. Apparently, this public onsen doesn't seem to care about tattoos, or maybe he just paid off the owner. Sojo considers whether Rokuhira really raised Chihiro, and where Enten came from. He at first considers that it might be possible that Rokuhira did those things on off time, since the history books didn't say anything about him post-war, but he dismisses it. Chihiro's much too obsessed with some childish "justice", after all.

As he does, some people come in. They're the guys who lent out Daruma to Sojo. They're a bit mad about the fact that… their guy's a corpse. Sojo, for his part, doesn't care. By his exact words:



No, I didn't skip any panels there. He just killed then all off for fun.

As Sojo gets out of the bath, he considers what's been going on.



He realizes that as he is, he won't be able to stand up to Chihiro, and get what he wants.

Because unlike what someone in this thread thinks, Sojo isn't just a murderer. He's also an example of a driven fan. Everything he's done up until now, was a plan to live up to his delusional fantasy of Rokuhira, the Slaughterer.

The hiring of people? It was to get more money for Datenseki.

Kidnapping Char? It was for him to be able to make his own EBs.

And the attempted massacre? All the better to get everyone to see his vision of what Rokuhira and the EBs really are. Everything Sojo is, everything Sojo does— his entire being is colored by those flowers and those blades.

So now, what he has to do is…



He walks out so confidently— there's no way that he didn't know what was out there. And when he goes out, he finishes this whole summation with a monologue of his own.



Sojo wants a world of war. A world colored by the blades like he is.

GENICHI SOJO! HOW FAR… WILL YOUR DELUSIONS GO?!



(Meanwhile, on the other end of the city…)

The building where Char's at has been located. The only people there? Three guys, because everyone expected Chihiro to go after Sojo. That's their last mistake.



Yes, Enten's a remote drone now. Dear god. As Chihiro gets closer, a phone rings. Same kind from before. It's the one guy out of the four guards who was on break. And what does the guy receiving the call say?



I love how the Chihiro head bandage was revealed here. And yes, I still didn't skip any panels. This manga is so cold man. No words can be said.

 

[Kermie]

Alright, no more title jokes. Let's lock in.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - ELITES​

The chapter starts with Sojo facing down the Elite Anti-Cloud Gouger Squad. Y'know, Cloud Gouger. His main weapon.



Classic Sojo. Bro is about to get his ass kicked by the anti-Sojo gang and all he can think about is getting more worthy opponents. Also, those are definitely reused pictures of both Shiba and Azami.



Sojo's blasted away, and we cut back to the past— with Chihiro giving his intel on Cloud Gouger.



Chihiro says that Cloud Gouger is much stronger than any sorcerer on their own. Glasses responds with an agreement. They won't only need strong sorcerers to deal with an enchanted blade, they'll need a foolproof plan.

Back to the present, Sojo realizes the trick— the ACGS is using the girl's ice constructs to force him in an aerial battle above the city, where he can't reach the civilians.



As the elite squad closes in on Sojo, they begin to barrage him with everything they've got. First, Tengu Mask attempts to throw hands…



Then, Glasses comes in with an assist as well! (yes, I know he has a real name now, I like Glasses more!)



We cut back to Chihiro. According to him, what makes Cloud Gouger so deadly is its Charge— when Sojo gets a chance to rest, he'll be able to charge up a full powered Mei lightning bolt, and nobody will be able to survive that. As such, the Elite Squad essentially has to jump Sojo continuously if they want to have any chance of winning.

Of course, Sojo has a countermeasure for this, an attack that needs much less charge. He uses Kou in order to create water, and then…



Zap! Everybody gets hit by a fairly painful electric shock. But none of the elite squad falls down. Why? Because they planned for Sojo to do this.

According to Chihiro once again, Kou into Mei is a pretty standard Cloud Gouger technique, with the electrified water not doing too much to the CG user while damaging everyone around them. Why does Chihiro know so much about the intensely painful electric weaponry? I dunno, blame Rokuhira.

Chihiro says that once Sojo's used Kou-Mei, then it's time to wait, because once he's done the first hit of that he'll have time to charge. Oh, and they also have to:



Yeah, I don't know why they're in the restroom. Hokazono's weird. Mask guy (the other one) asks why they should let him charge (and y'know, electrocute them). Chihiro says that they should let him fire off Mei, taking advantage of his cockiness to let him whiff. That way, the civilians won't be hurt, and he'll be vulnerable and without Cloud Gouger for a period of ten seconds. After that, the squad can get in and win.

So the plan goes like this:

1. Approach Sojo.
2. Jump Sojo, not giving him any time to charge.
3. Launch Sojo into the air, getting him away from civilians.
4. Let Sojo electrocute everyone with Kou into Mei, now giving him an opportunity to charge.
5. Let Sojo launch a full powered Mei.
6. ???
7. Sojo is paralyzed, ???
8. Kill him, take back EB, win.

Not bad strategizing for a 18 year old. As for those question marks? Chihiro trusts the elite squad to cook and figure something out. Yes, really.



Sojo finishes charging, and he's fully ready to kill everybody on the battlefield. But there's something he's missing. He hasn't charged up enough yet to fully hit everyone— his hits are going to be partially absorbed by the water from Kou.

And Glasses knows that.



Sojo's Mei has whiffed, absorbed by the water that Glasses sent up into the air, and he's pissed now. Thanks to more of Chihiro's "cowardly" hit-and-run techniques, he's on the back foot, with no more sorcery to aid him.

He's a cornered animal, as the hunters of the elite squad begin their assault.



Meanwhile, there's something else happening, over on the other side of the city where Chihiro is. A sorcerer is giving him information on where something— or someone— is being held within one of Sojo's bases.



Chihiro flies through the base, doing his best Solid Snake/Spider-Man impression and sneaking by the rooftops and shadows. As he does, something that his father told him comes back to mind.



The Datenseki is essentially, a constantly mutating thing. It's something without any defined limitations, that can change in response to the challenges in front of it. This made it a perfect material for the Enchanted Blades, the perfect ore to make weapons of war from. And now…



Both Enchanted Blades are about to reach a new level.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - END​

 

[Kermie]

Merry Christmas everybody. Here's a cool little extra chapter before my Saturday chapter, because I've got free time. Also I really want to catch up to current KB.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - TRUE REALM​

Our chapter starts out with a cool cover page. Quick, save this as a wallpaper!



Ok, now for the chapter to actually start. We begin with yet another flashback to Chihiro talking to the Anti-Cloud Gouger squad. It's about what Kunishige was talking about last chapter.



Remember, the Enchanted Blades don't follow any thermodynamics or linear scaling. They're like mutants. They can just do shit once they've been bonded to their user for long enough.

With that in mind, let's check back in on the Rescue Char operation.



It's Shiba, who's appeared outside of Sojo's Child Murder Mansion. Looks like he was doing his classic torture interrogation beforehand.

Shiba explains that he and Chihiro also need to find out about the Hishaku and about the Shinuchi underground auction that Sojo's going to. As such, Shiba's out here splitting up and going to this underground shed where there might be info, while Chihiro focuses on getting Char.

Chihiro is supposed to scout the area and not go in (he will) and avoid any combat/sorcerers (he won't).

And then…



Surprise! Chihiro gets jumped. Who could have seen this coming. He just barely manages to dodge this dude— his reaction time's off today.

As the entire prison/human experiment complex begins to chase Chihiro, we cut to Char. She's not doing too well.



As it turns out, having your flesh harvested and being dehumanized for multiple days on end isn't very good for your head. She still recognizes that Chihiro's getting there, so yay!

Right after he gets past like, eight different sorcerers I'm not even gonna bother to introduce.



Chihiro barely manages to dodge this— his left arm's practically out of commission, and his body in general is operating under a speed debuff. All of that, just because he absorbed one Mei from Sojo. Yikes. That's one thing I like about Kagurabachi— all of the injuries usually have some sort of effect.



When the lights turn back on, Chihiro's gone. The sorcerers spread out to look for him, but they won't be finding squat. He's hiding in the rafters, and similar to Char, he's having a very Bad Time.



I love how the panels slowly get smaller here, like Chihiro's trying to compress all his feelings down, like he's been doing for years at this point. But it isn't working. Instead, he closes his eyes—



And we're in a flashback. It's Rokuhira once again, just chilling out in another goofy shirt. For reference, all the shirts that he has are supposed to be like, those goofy novelty shirts that tourists buy. This will be a running gag, that always shows up even during serious flashbacks. He's just a silly guy! (Who probably killed millions with his insane nuke-swords but I digress.)

He asks what Chihiro's sitting outside for. Chihiro says that he's just taking a break, since he's getting a bit tired of being more responsible than his own father. Oh, and some other things but that isn't really important, just the fact that he's wondering about his family legacy.



We still haven't seen Chihiro's mom yet. Place your bets on what happened to her. Deadbeat or Dead? As of the current chapter, Ch. 61 we still don't what happened to her.

But yeah, looks like Chihiro got his personality from her. But Rokuhira butts into that assertion— in his opinion, Chihiro doesn't need to be a blacksmith like him. Or like him at all.



"Be yourself, Chihiro. Don't get obsessed."

Well, 1/2 isn't too bad. But what Rokuhira's giving here is good advice. Chihiro's gotta do his own thing. He can't act so stuck up and stern all the time.

Ok, maybe only the stuck up part, the sternness might be a part of him, but still!

Rokuhira tries to make Chihiro laugh, and it genuinely looks like it's working. He is genuinely goofy ngl.



Chihiro smiles for a second. And then, in a beautifully paneled sequence, he goes from wiping away tears of laughter…



To keeping his eyes open. He's gotta lock in now.

Meanwhile, the sorcerers have returned for their experiment of the day (read: to grab more of Char's flesh). Once again, we get more vague flashbacks to Char's mom, as the surgeons close in.



One Enten is closing in. And with that, comes Chihiro. By this point, the goldfish is sort of associated with him, in the same way you associated a bat with Batman or the "S" with Superman.

As he closes in, we get a monologue from Chihiro, about the Enchanted Blade. Or rather, about how he's going to use the Enchanted Blade.



Each goldfish/attack of Enten ends up falling underneath a certain "category" of thing. Nishiki "cloaks" Chihiro in energy, and represents the "cloak" of his coat. Aka "absorbs" an attack and "absorbs" one use of sorcery.

That's when it hits us, though Chihiro's always known this next tidbit subconsciously. The true power, the "true realm" of the Enchanted Blades isn't some thermodynamics breaking bullshit (though that is a part of it)— it's conceptual. It's an Imagination-Based Superpower, with the limitations being that it slowly grows as long as he fights with it.

As long as he can fit his idea underneath "cloaking", "absorbing", and "long range", his options are theoretically limitless. His father was right all along— to become the best he can be, he really does have to be more flexible.

So far during this story, he's been using Kuro as some sort of "long range slash", but what if he didn't? What if instead…



He used a long range, all out barrage?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - END​

 

[Kermie]

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - FOOD​

Food, huh? Reminds me of an earlier chapter. Strap in, because this chapter is going to be a ride.

Like many chapters before this, we start with a flashback. This time however, it isn't Chihiro. It's Char, enjoying a nice home-cooked meal.



Man, now I'm hungry for a katsu sandwich. Anyways, Ms. Kyonagi asks Char about her injury that she got. Char says that it's already been fixed, thanks to the whole "hyper regeneration" thing they have going on.

Ms. Kyonagi cautions Char to be careful with her power, since she's going to school soon and it might be discovered. Char asks why they should hide the Kyonagi regeneration. Ms. Kyonagi, not wanting to tell Char about the "you might be slaughtered and eaten" thing, just says that:



Which, let's put some respect on her name right now. Single moms and dads deserve recognition. Also, skill issue on Mr. Kyonagi's part, I would never run away from somebody as good-looking and nice as that, never mind the cooking. (I probably would just fend off the yakuza trying to kidnap my family, I'm just built different )

Ok, now let's get back to business. Ms. Kyonagi tells Char that she shouldn't end up like her, alone thanks to her bloodline. Char asks, in that innocent manner that kids do, if that means that her mom isn't happy. Ms. Kyonagi's response?



With that out of the way, we finally resume the story. Chihiro's about to use Enten's untapped potential.



That's one thing that I love about Chihiro's character design. His white scar stands out brightly among the sometimes gray backgrounds and skin of the manga panels. It does so as well in color pages, but it really stands out in the bottom panel.

And while we're talking about art direction— have you noticed how Hokazono barely ever uses motion lines? That's because of all the western movies he watched, like John Wick. Thanks to his heavy cinema inspiration, panels like that top one look more like screencaps from a movie. You can visualize in your head, or at least get the idea that each Kuro is sort of vacantly floating around. We also see this type of paneling in Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto's works, one of Hokazono's other stated inspirations. He was also inspired by movies, funnily enough.

As Chihiro readies his sword, Daredevil Lite begins to charge at him. That's the biggest mistake of his life.



And hilariously enough, his last mistake. This Kuro didn't just cut through wooden buildings, like the one Chihiro used on Daruma. This one just sliced clean through iron gauntlets.

One of the yakuza men remark that Chihiro just cut through that guy with one slash. That's when the narrator jumps in to explain the misconception.



Kuro: Scatter isn't really a big cut, not in the same way that base Kuro is. While Kuro is a flying slash that can take the form of a goldfish temporarily, K:S is like a school of fish, all swimming together and striking as one slash.

Basically, in exchange for consuming a lot of Chihiro's spirit energy in one blow, the resulting flying slash is extremely quick, efficient, and lethal. It also doesn't tax Chihiro's body much, since the Kuro are doing a lot of the work for him.

If normal Kuro is like an armor piercing round, Kuro: Scatter is like a minigun. Or to use a better analogy, K:S is a chainsaw compared to Kuro's sword. Lot more electricity consumption, way better at cutting flesh (at least in fiction).

The narrator also explains that Chihiro didn't come up with this whole "school" thing out of some sort of logical plan. He found it as a breakthrough, in the same way that the best sports players learn their specific style of play and special tricks out there on the court. As such, he subconsciously understands all of Enten's properties and moves better now.



I didn't notice it on my first read, but look behind the speaking Yakuza's shoulder. There's Chihiro. When we're not going at Sojo speeds and looking from the perspective of a normal non-sorcerer, Nishiku is terrifying. This is the same mode that allowed Chihiro to catch up with a moving Char and dive through the window without getting any injuries.

We flash back to Sojo, talking to Ms. Kyonagi. Thanks to somebody who leaked their location and regenerative powers, she and Char are now captured, both of them kept in a cage. According to Sojo, right after the Seitei War, a (false) rumor spread that eating Kyonagi flesh makes somebody immortal, so the entire clan was massacred. You and I already know this, but…



In case you're wondering, this is the exact point where Sojo went from "cool villain" to "ok, he's gotta die". What the fuck, man.

As the days go on, more and more of their flesh is extracted by Sojo's researchers, constantly regrowing as it's cut away. All so that he can make his own Enchanted Blade with the one substance that's close enough to Datenseki but also regenerating. After one particularly bad day, we get this heartbreaking sequence.



Note the parallels between this panel and the original "happiest person in the world" panel. We've got a similar panel size, but this time it's only Char in frame, and it's Char saying that she's happy to her mom.

We cut back to the guys outside Char's current cell. According to them, Ms. Kyonagi stole the key and killed a lot of guards before getting out with Char.



Char can go through a vent, but Ms. Kyonagi has to stay. This is the last time they'll be together. But Char still wants to stay with her mom. But…



Ms. Kyonagi wants Char to live a happy life. One outside of the cage, where she can live whoever she wants. For that to happen, it doesn't matter if Ms. Kyonagi dies. A good mother would throw down her life for her kids, after all.

So Char goes through the vent, and we cut back to the present day. Even though her mom allowed her to escape, it's only been a few days, maybe a week or two since then. They still caught Char after all that.



This is Char only a few days before now, by the way. She spent a few days running before getting to Hinao's place and going through all that shit again. But at the same time…

If it wasn't for Ms. Kyonagi's sacrifice, Char wouldn't have learned that resistance to adversity that she has now. And Char would have never met Shiba, Hinao, and Chihiro.

The guards outside of Char's cell spot Chihiro, and mock her. What is it with the bad guys in this series and mocking children? No chill. As always, they really can't help but focus on one thing: that Ms. Kyonagi's sacrifice was meaningless.

TWIN ONI MASKS - DEADLY SORCE—​

But it wasn't, because now, after all this time, Chihiro's here. And now, the Oni Mask brothers are dead, not deadly, sorcerers. Shame. Deserved it for shit talking Char though. It does seem like everybody who mocks Char usually gets dammed to a horrible death soon, like they deserve.

Char looks up at Chihiro, and remembers the principles that her mom taught her. "The happiest person on Earth". What did her mom say about that?



"Live, Char."

Get both of these kids therapists, and get Chihiro his Medal of Honor already!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - END​

 

[Kermie]

I dunno, what are they doing? Eh, who cares, we're still looking at Chihiro and Char.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - SILENCE​

And Chihiro's got Char on his shoulders. He's truly not beating the big brother allegations.



Chihiro doesn't let Char carry him, for obvious reasons. Instead, he internally ruminates on what he just did, with that fight earlier. You see, normally when he uses Nishiki, it's like in Chapter 9, it's like a rocket engine, helping one blow and propelling that blow forward. However, when he used it now, it was more like a full-body aura… more of a proper mode. Consumed less spirit energy as well.



Thanks to using Kuro: Shred, Chihiro's usage of Enten's other abilities were also enhanced and more efficient. With that done, he and Char keep walking.

As they make their way out of Genichi Sojo's Child Murder Mansion (not its real name), Char notices Chihiro's injured hand. He tries to play it off as no big deal, but Char sees right through that. That's when she remembers her family's regen powers. And… how they really work.



The Kyonagi regeneration isn't just tied to their cells. Rather, it's tied to their intent. Calling back to her happiest memories (all of which involve food, there's a motif) Char takes Chihiro's hand…

And it's done.



The long night's almost done, but the clouds are closing in. Hm.

Chihiro turns to Shiba, and asks him to take Char away from the Murder Mansion. Shiba's worried about Chihiro, but Chihiro shrugs him off. He's better now.



Man, that's the first time in a while we've seen Chihiro smile. Well, except for the cliffhanger of last chapter. And when he was carrying Char… wait a minute.

Well, guess he's no longer part of the "edgy anime emo" group anymore. To quote a meme I saw:

"Fake ass emo! I saw you give a sandwich to a kid!"

Click to shrink...

And honestly, I'm glad about that. If someone else compares Chihiro to Sasuke from Naruto I'm gonna scream. To start with, Chihiro hasn't even been around for 100+ chapters!

Shiba and Char teleport away, leaving Chihiro alone in the courtyard. He turns to the empty court, his formerly-injured hand on his blade.

"Enten."

(Meanwhile, above Tokyo, a while ago…)

Sojo's getting jumped. And he hasn't felt this pissed in a while.



Sojo can't use any more Mei's during this time— but the rest of his arsenal is still half available to him during his 20-second penalty. Using the water already available on the battlefield…



The Elite Squad dodges the icicles easily thanks to Glasses' warning, and dive into Sojo. One of them comes from behind, with the sorcery of BIG HANDS. Yes really.



The blonde dude from earlier asks to go forward and keep fighting, but the one girl in the elite squad tells him to stand back. He's their secret weapon, after all.

Meanwhile, the sticks that the Mask Guy planted into the ground begin to subdue Sojo, but he's not done yet. Already, even though only ten seconds out of the twenty have passed, he's already re-electrifying. Cloud Gouger is reaching its evolution.

As such, up above, Glasses and his partner begin their final attack. Since Sojo's already electrified the whole area, why not take advantage of that?



Glasses gets Tengu Mask electrified, which then allows Tengu Mask to harden… there's no heterosexual explanation for this, guys. With blinding speed, he rockets towards Sojo, hitting him right in the chest!

(BOOM!)



Sojo loses his grip on Cloud Gouger, and begins to fly towards the ground. For a second, there's silence on the battlefield. Without being able to touch Cloud Gouger, Sojo can't do anything— he's a swordsman without a blade.

Right?



Right?



With blinding speed, Cloud Gouger moves on its own. Tengu Mask immediately gets a hole punched in him, while that black splotch on Big Hands? That was his arm. From above, Glasses barely manages to spot him. He's a dot at first, but he's getting closer.

The elite squad thought that they all knew everything about Cloud Gouger. But really, they and Chihiro didn't know anything, since the swords are always changing. That's what lead to his victory.

Genichi Sojo…



…the walking storm. A perfect weapon of slaughter, all thanks to Rokuhira's Enchanted Blade.

Blonde attempts to use the secret weapon he hinted at, but it's no use. Sojo's too fast. So fast, in fact, that he looks just like Chihiro's Nishiki.



Yup. We're back to Chihiro now. The Anti-Cloud Gouger squad all died a few minutes ago. Now it's just him and Sojo. Sojo explains that he copied what Chihiro did, when Chihiro used Aka to absorb Mei— instead of manipulating the electrical energy around him in preparation for another Mei, he instead had it cloak around him. As such, Sojo became a lightning rod, which Cloud Gouger was attracted to.

Chihiro knows, not verbally but subconsciously, that that entire elite squad he believed in is dead. Their bodies are washing up in the shore right now. It's all up to him.



Both Sojo and Chihiro are, for once, equally matched. They're as different as always, but combat wise? For once, it's an even fight.


A shared time limit, almost instantaneous in the grand scheme of things. A true samurai duel to the death.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - END​

Merry Christmas everybody.

 

[Kermie]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - TEA​

(Recommended music here.)

The food motif continues. But I'll elaborate on that later. For now, we begin the battle. And immediately, it becomes obvious that this battle will be measured in milliseconds.



12 seconds left.

Sojo and Chihiro fly up into the air, ready to clash, blades at the ready.



And then—

We cut to a different scene, from before this final clash. There was one more thing that we didn't see. Before going out to the courtyard, right after Sojo had gotten back from killing the Anti-Cloud Gouger squad.

It's Chihiro and Sojo, sitting down for tea and dango.



Chihiro says that he doesn't want the sweet dango. He doesn't like sweets that much in general, honestly. He's more of a bitter person. (Heh.) Sojo just says that's a shame, since he wanted to get to an agreement with Chihiro. He says that since their first fight:



Note the running gag of the beat/pause panel with just Chihiro's face. You can see his eye twitching.

Sojo says that while he understands why Chihiro wields his Enchanted Blade (those principles, Justice, blahblahblah), he's not going to be like that. He still wants to use Cloud Gouger as a weapon of mass destruction. Chihiro still disagrees on that. He saw his father working on blades every day, and each blade can't possibly have been made for that purpose—



But Sojo's ignoring that still. He's still stuck in his own delusions, that each EB is a weapon of war. And just as he's the only one believing in his ideals, he's the only one eating the food in this meeting.

When food was eaten before in Kagurabachi, with Char and Chihiro, or Char and her mom, it was shared, or given from one party to another. But just like Chihiro cannot accept Sojo's ideas, he doesn't want the food either.

In Sojo's words, "Cloud Gouger harmonized with me… only when I used it for slaughter." Chihiro can't just let someone like that live.

On a beach, faraway, the bodies of the anti-Cloud Gouger squad are slowly sinking into the ocean. Only one of them remains distantly watching the horizon. As the blonde boy from before helplessly watches the bodies sink, we cut back to the battle.



Chihiro launches himself like a rocket towards Sojo, but it's no use. With a quick strike, Sojo aims at Chihiro's heart— but misses!

9 seconds left.



Chihiro's pushing Nishiki to its absolute limit, and he knows it. When it comes to this battle, whoever exits their hyper speed state (Nishiki, altered Mei) with more injuries first is going to lose.

We cut back to the tea, one more time. Sojo begins to mock Chihiro, saying that it's foolish of Chihiro to think that he'll be the only one representing Rokuhira's convictions. Chihiro can speak for the dead. So can Sojo. Whoever wins will be the most famous Enchanted Blade bearer known to the half-hidden world of sorcerers— and as such, whoever wins decides how Rokuhira's going to be seen in the future.

7.5 seconds left.



Two things to note.

One, Sojo deadass looks like the LowTierGod meme. You know the one.

Second of all, Sojo's knows that if he uses another technique aside from Mei: Cloaking, his hyperspeed's versatility will go down, and he'll be at risk for getting hit. Unfortunately for Chihiro, Sojo doesn't give a damn about what he has to do to win.



Sojo: 3 seconds left.
Chihiro: 6 seconds left.

Sojo puts everything he has into one slice, all his eggs into one basket—



And he misses. And this is like, some Greek tragedy level bullshit. Sojo's whole character was defined by a single-minded obsession— but when he actually put that type of strike into practice against another Enchanted Blade wielder, he missed for all his trouble. Just look at his face. He knows he's cooked.

We cut back to the tea ceremony one last time. Chihiro is eating part of the food, and internalizing part of Sojo's ideas. He's maturing through seeing Sojo's viewpoint. Kinda.



Chihiro accepts that yes, people will see the Enchanted Blades as weapons, first and foremost. As such, Sojo is able to speak for Rokuhira just as he can, since Sojo wields an Enchanted Blade in his own way.

But is he just going to let Sojo keep doing that, and keep speaking for his dad? Wreaking havoc just like the Hishaku?

Hell no!

Sojo: 0 seconds left of hyperspeed.
Chihiro: 1.5 seconds left.



Sojo realizes the trick. Just as he was using his Mei, Chihiro switched to Nishiki's original mode— the one rocket burst of energy, which allowed him to dodge Sojo's one big attack.

Sojo may have understood the destructive potential of the Enchanted Blades, but Chihiro understands how they can change. Run those principles back, one more time!



Sojo can't move. All he can do is watch, as Chihiro closes in…



…and as Cloud Gouger cracks.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - END​

 

[Kermie]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - ROAR​

We start with a close up shot of what happened at the end of the last chapter. Namely, Chihiro's final strike.




The clouds are finally clearing, and Sojo's Enchanted Blade has been broken. As he lies on the floor, Sojo looks at the hilt of Cloud Gouger. One of the Enchanted Blades he craved so much being broken hurts him more than any wound. He looks toward Chihiro, and says that the Enchanted Blades chose him. Chihiro disagrees.



Just as Chihiro's about to collapse, Shiba and Char reappear to catch him. Char offers to heal his injured right arm. Or, erm, the stump of it. While Chihiro doesn't want Char touching something like that, he folds after she asks him one more time.

Meanwhile, Sojo is crawling away, guts spilling out. I mean that literally— his abdomen is slashed, he's barely able to crawl up the stairs and through his own lab. As he crawls through the lab, he's able to look up. With his last bit of strength, he reaches for it…



The Datenseki. His last, desperate hope. With it, he can increase his own spirit energy— maybe even kill Chihiro. He understands the blades, after all, he has to know their material as well!

Right?



Remember, when a body gains too much spirit energy, it begins to explode. All Sojo did here was essentially irradiate himself. Because he forgot the last thing Chihiro said.

Outside of the castle, Char's finished healing Chihiro. While his arm hasn't grown back, the bleeding's fully stopped. Char feels sad that she wasn't able to fully heal him, but Chihiro just says that it's ok.



And just as Chihiro says that, Sojo finally has one last moment of lucidity. Yes, Chihiro said that he understands the blades as well. But that never meant that he saw Sojo as anything remotely close to an equal. After all…



And that's how Sojo dies. Trying to manipulate something only one man can forge with, and cursing out the family name of the one he admired so much. All while the kid he was trying to kill teleports far away (see that "Fwoo" sound effect?) Good riddance.

When we turn the page, we're next met with a meeting of people we haven't seen. It's the Kamunabi— Azami's crew and the sorcerer government.



According to the informant speaking, the Shinuchi Enchanted Blade is still going up for sale at the next Rakuzaichi, that underground auction Azami was talking about like ten chapters ago. Sojo wasn't the true mastermind behind the whole operation.

However, now that Sojo's dead, Cloud Gouger is back up for grabs. As for why they didn't steal it from his hands earlier? Well, it's simple.

Azami mentally recounts that all of the Enchanted Blades have what's called a Lifelong Contract. As long as the bearer of the blade lives, no other sorcerer can use that blade except for them. Take away the Sword Bearer and the Enchanted Blade is essentially just a hunk of metal.



But while all that's fine and dandy, it's only a smokescreen on the real problem. Cloud Gouger is missing. Apparently, according to Kazanemachi (that's the Blonde guy from the Anti Cloud Gouger squad btw, he's was one of the two that lived), somebody else took it.

Apparently, he's Kunishige Rokuhira's son.



Kazane tells Azami that he won't reveal that Azami's been harboring the secret of Chihiro's existence from the other Kamunabi heads. But as long as any destructive Enchanted Blades like the one that killed his friends exists, he can't let that slide. So he has to tell the heads about the seventh blade.

Back in the present, one of the other guys begins to badger Azami for keeping this secret from them. What would Azami have done with this info? Ask for new Enchanted Blades to be made? Something else?

But then, the head of the Kamunabi shuts him up. While yes, it may have been weird that Chihiro's existence was concealed, what matters right now is that Chihiro's on the run and he has Cloud Gouger. With two Enchanted Blades (technically one, but they don't know about Cloud Gouger), he is a walking national security threat.




Welp. Chihiro may have just killed Sojo, but things aren't over yet. The Kamunabi officially knows of him and Enten, and they're sending an Enchanted Blade-level fighter after him. And above everybody lays the threat of the Rakuzaichi. The well-known underground auction, with another one of the Enchanted Blades up for sale.

The pace isn't remotely slowing down any time soon. I'll see you all this Saturday, for the Rakuzaichi Arc.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - END
V.S SOJO/CLOUD GOUGER ARC - END​

 

[Kermie]

CHAPTER NINETEEN - KNIGHT OF DARKNESS​

You get three different guesses as to what that title refers to and the first two don't count. Actually, you don't need to! Here we go.



Damn. Cold. Notice the water droplets in the air— classic signs of Enten.

As for the chapter proper, we start with a monologue. An unidentified speaker starts talking about his pet that he had. About five years ago, he lost his pet mantis called Samurai. And also around five years ago, he also lost his family… but that's not too important.

HAKURI - DUMBASS (AFFECTIONATE)​

As Hakuri's drink/food spills out of his mouth, he looks out the window. And that's when we the reader realize that this is a flashback.



This is back during the first Sojo fight, back when he was aiming for all the civilians in the area. As Sojo begins to charge up, Hakuri covers his eyes from the light, but doesn't seem to run away. In his words, he's "still got a job to do".

Of course, we all know what happened in this first fight. Chihiro drops in, and blocks it with Aka. But as he takes the hit, he drops down for a second. In that second, Hakuri clearly doubts that Chihiro can win against Sojo. Bad wins out over good. According to him, that's just how it works.

But then Chihiro gets up, and activates Nishiki. Which inspires Hakuri.



Dawg, what is that expression you're making? Weird ass expression. He's tweaking out, and clearly he likes that one mantis he got once.

With that, we get back to the present. It's been a while.



We cut back to a pagoda, once more listening to Hakuri's inner monologue. Thanks to seeing Chihiro, he's got a fire lit under his add. He's gotta be a real samurai now!



We cut back to earlier via the gray panels. Earlier, these yakuza thugs were trying to kidnap that girl at the bottom. But Hakuri shoved the girl out of their way, and then did this;



He's such a dumbass. I love him. Unfortunately, this aura farming did not save him from his current predicament. The generic yakuza boss No. 2 is currently monologuing about how his subordinates were being idiots for not grabbing that girl, while beating up Hakuri. Hakuri bemoans his whole situation, lamenting how he's not on Chihiro's league. But Hakuri still can't take that, so he stands up…

And activates his sorcery…



…to no effect.



That's right. Nothing. Hakuri's sorcery isn't nearly as potent as Shiba's. Lame. Anyways then the other guys start closing in on Hakuri to jump him. Hokazono has introduced us to this man for five pages and he's already the wet puppy to Chihiro's rabid guard dog.

Speaking of, who's that outside in the hallway?



That's right. He's here. Hakuri's head slowly rises from the floor, as we see this cinematic, movie like continuous shot of Enten and Chihiro. Instead of seeing Chihiro's perspective, we see the fish's.



As Chihiro cuts through the guys, the boss from before gets knocked to the floor. He asks why Chihiro has been on a rampage for so long. Chihiro doesn't bother to answer the human trafficker, but he thinks back to beforehand. Right after they killed Sojo.



According to Shiba, Sojo was just the guy they chose to test out an Enchanted Blade, that being Cloud Gouger. Meanwhile, the actual good Enchanted Blade (the Shinuchi) is still at the annual underground auction Rakuzaichi.

As for the Shinuchi, Shiba and Sojo's best bet to grab the Shinuchi is to actually get into the Rakuzaichi. And the only way to do that is to gain connections and find info on the family bloodline of sorcerers that have ran it for years now: the Sazanamis. And that's why Chihiro's still been murdering his way through the underworld since he killed Sojo. Got it? Good.

Anyways, back to the present, Chihiro kills the generic yakuza boss when that guy doesn't give out any info. And when he gets out of the room, there's Hakuri, who still remembers him.



Chihiro wonders if the guy lost some blood, which, fair. Also Chihiro "?" panel my beloved. Hakuri keeps on following Chihiro out of the building, telling him some unimportant stuff about how he was trying to grab that girl, his name, yadda yadda. Chihiro is just considering moving to get Hakuri to a hospital.

But then Hakuri says something Chihiro cares about.

CHAPTER NINETEEN - END​

 

[Kermie]

CHAPTER TWENTY - THE KAMUNABI'S WEAPON​

Hm, that's totally not a menacing title at all! Anyways, now back to our two new favorite blorbos. Both Chihiro and Hakuri stand casually inside the hallway filled with corpses, with Hakuri being jazzed that he found Chihiro. Chihiro recognizes that Hakuri is a Sazanami, but he's extremely surprised that:



According to Hakuri, he got kicked out of the family. The Sazanami motto is "honor the Rakuzaichi over all else", and Hakuri… didn't. It also didn't help that while all the Sazanami kids were trained in sorcery so that they'd become someone like Daruma, Hakuri could never quite get the hang of sorcery, being the weakest kid ever born to the family. Thus, he got disowned from the family.

As Hakuri and Chihiro walk down the hall, Hakuri explains a bit more about the specifics of the Rakuzaichi. (And wow, Rakuzaichi is already showing up in my autocorrect.) according to him, aside from being a meet up spot for some of the worst rich criminals in Japan, it's also:



Basically a slave auction. So yeah, it's gotta go.

Chihiro's goal is to get back the Shinuchi, the most dangerous Enchanted Blade. Hakuri's goal is to take down the Rakuzaichi. The Shinuchi is this year's Rakuzaichi headliner, so someone's likely going to pay the biggest amount of money ever for a weapon like that. As such, taking away the Shinuchi is likely to take down the whole Rakuzaichi— so their goals are aligned.

While Hakuri's excited about that, Chihiro's calm as always. Hakuri assumes that Chihiro wants to steal it to use its power for something, but Chihiro reasserts that he isn't that kind of guy. It's still important to him because it's his father's/family's, but now that he's been through the experiences of the last month, he also thinks (knows) that the Enchanted Blades are going to take more innocent lives if left unchecked. And…



That beach there? It's the same one the bodies of the Anti-Cloud Gouger Squad fell into after they got cut up. And yes, Sojo's gonna be haunting the narrative for a bit longer. He's just got that much aura.

Before Chihiro can say anything more, his phone rings. It's a flip phone, remember, we're still in the 80s or 90s of Japan. Shiba's calling from a bloodstained parlor of his own, also standing casually besides some yakuza corpses. Apparently, Azami just told him some classified info from the Kamunabi. Namely, that someone's after Chihiro.

While Chihiro wants to get to base immediately along with his most valuable lead, that being Hakuri, the elevator reaches the bottom floor. And lo and behold, that someone's right there…



Remember that rule about sorcery? That people can harness their body's spirit energy, but not have too much of it or they'll explode? And how Enchanted Blades circumvent that by keeping the spirit energy outside of that body and in a guardian entity?

Well, that's not a trick exclusive to just Enchanted Blade users. Presenting the Kamunabi's best suspect pursuer, and a damn stylish one at that.

HIYUKI KAGARI - WIELDER OF "FLAME BONE"​

Remember when Hokazono said that it was hard for him to draw women? Well, that clearly only applied to generic busty anime waifus, because goddamn is this an entrance.

Hiyuki immediately gives Chihiro an ultimatum. Drop the Blade, and nobody gets hurt. As she's doing this, Hakuri notices what Hiyuki just said, and silently infers that Chihiro's A. An Enchanted Blade wielder, and B. Related to the guy who made the Enchanted Blades. There's only so many Rokuhira's in Japan, after all.

He also notices that all the civilians that were at the entrance of this yakuza front are gone. As he does, Hiyuki's work partner, Tafuku explains his sorcery as well.

TAFUKU - HIYUKI'S PARTNER​

Fun fact: Tafuku's character design, similar to how I put some of my characters from my big Quests into other stories of mine, is reused from one of Hokazono's other stories. He shares multiple similarities design-wise with the protagonist of the one shot, "Chain".

Hiyuki and Tafuku together are the perfect pair. One girl with an Enchanted Blade-level weapon, who can create absurd amounts of damage (think about it, right now she's more experienced with her weapon than Sojo) along with a guy who can trap one dude in a place where collateral doesn't matter. Absurd synergy, now Hiyuki can go all out without making the government look bad.

Chihiro says that since Hiyuki's with the Kamunabi/the government, he doesn't want to have any fight with her. But immediately after he says that—



Just like with Sojo, Aka couldn't fully absorb that attack, though it's now stored just in case. Hiyuki is powerful, and what you just saw was basically her basic attack. Not good. She asks Chihiro about Cloud Gouger, and he replies truthfully.

The thing's broken. Not an ounce of power left in it. Hiyuki… doesn't take that well. She activates her second ability, Rikuo's "Ribs", causing spikes to shoot up from the ground.

As she does that, she says to Chihiro that no matter what he's using the Enchanted Blade for, it'll lead to destruction in the end. As long as a weapon as powerful as an Enchanted Blade is in the hands of one individual instead of in the responsible hands of the government, it'll just kill more innocents. And Chihiro knows, on some level, that she's somewhat right.

Hiyuki looks him in the eyes, and reminds him of Kazane. The blonde boy from the Anti-Cloud Gouger squad. Cloud Gouger was out for two weeks and as a direct consequence of trying to stop it that guy lost an arm and all his friends/mentors.



And yes, we're fucking bringing back the exact same Sojo Jumpscare panel. And yes, the Sojo Jumpscare became a popular meme somewhere down the line.

Chihiro hesitates. Hiyuki's got a point. But as he hesitates, and Hiyuki jumps in for the kill, someone else jumps in.



Hakuri couldn't bear to see his samurai on the defensive, so he had to do something. As he takes the hit, he gets sent flying. But as he lands on the floor, he turns towards Chihiro. Even broken and bloodied, Hakuri still finds the strength to speak.

Hakuri doesn't care about if what Hiyuki said was right. According to him, it doesn't matter if Chihiro's wielding Enten selfishly. He doesn't care about Chihiro's circumstances, or whether him being a Rokuhira makes him "worthy" to wield the blade.

Chihiro's already proven himself to him a couple times over already, after all.

CHAPTER TWENTY - END​