Manga Smoothie

I've been making my way through reading the Kenshin series (I'm at volume 6 now) and they're really fun, beautifully drawn and action packed. They revolve around the character of Kenshin, he of the bright orange hair and mysterious cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Kenshin is a rurouni (wanderer), an enigmatic ex-assasin of amazing gifts who mends his conscience by using a special sakabatô (reverse-edged sword). That way he only injures his enemies, to teach them a lesson, I guess. In his adventures he is joined by Kamiya Kaoru (cute girl/potential love interest), Myojin Yahiko (scrappy kid), and Sagara Sanosuke (teen fighter). Along the way many more characters and plotlines come along — and although it can get confusing (I'm glad each book contains a glossary of ancient Japanese words), the pace never lets up. I like the humorous moments, too. These books can be purchased directly from Viz or at Amazon. I've also seen them stocked at Border's.

Just an observation — it's always fascinating to see how these manga artists portray emotions differently from their Western counterparts. Like, whenever a character is worried, instead of several sweat drops popping out of the head, they draw one giant sweat drop on the forehead. Weird. And of course there's always the upside-down "U" shapes for eyes whenever someone is happy.
Posted by mhinrichs at May 5, 2005 02:44 PM