Kagurabachi

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Title: Kagurabachi - A Searing Tale of Revenge and Redemption

Score: 8/10

Review:

Takeru Hokazono's Kagurabachi storms onto the manga scene with a fiery blend of action, fantasy, and a tale of vengeance that grips you from the first chapter. This series, though still in its early stages, has already shown immense promise, and it's easy to see why it's gaining popularity at such a rapid pace.

Story - 7/10:

The story follows Chihiro Rokuhira, a young swordsman on a relentless quest to avenge his father's death. His father, a master swordsmith, was brutally murdered, leaving Chihiro with not only a thirst for revenge but also the responsibility of wielding ... one of the most powerful swords ever created. The plot, while treading familiar ground in the realm of revenge tales, stands out due to its execution. Each chapter is packed with intensity, and the narrative does a commendable job of balancing action with the emotional weight of Chihiro's journey.

Art - 9/10:

The art in Kagurabachi is nothing short of stunning. Hokazono's detailed and dynamic illustrations bring every sword fight to life, making each clash feel visceral and impactful. The character designs are sharp, and the environments are richly detailed, enhancing the dark and gritty atmosphere that the story thrives on. The attention to detail in the swords, in particular, is impressive, reflecting the importance of these weapons in the world Hokazono has created.

Characters - 7/10:

Chihiro Rokuhira is a compelling protagonist with a clear and relatable motive. His journey is one of growth, not just in strength but in understanding the burden of his mission. The supporting characters, though not fully fleshed out yet, show potential. The series is still in its infancy, so there is plenty of room for these characters to develop and add depth to the story.

Enjoyment - 8/10:

While Kagurabachi might not break new ground in terms of its core premise, it's the execution that makes it stand out. The pacing is tight, the action is exhilarating, and there's a sense of anticipation with each new chapter. It's a series that knows what it wants to deliver: a high-octane, emotionally charged narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Overall - 8/10:

Kagurabachi is a strong contender in the current manga landscape, especially for fans of action and revenge stories. While it has some room to grow, particularly in character development, it's off to a fantastic start. If you're looking for a new series to get hooked on, Kagurabachi is definitely worth a read. With its stunning art and compelling narrative, it’s easy to see why this manga has already captured the attention of so many. Keep an eye on this one—it has the potential to become something special.

As of 9/21/2024

This is truly one of my most favorite pieces of work I have ever read. Waiting for the weekly material the suspense the art the twists and turns its truly something that everysingle sunday I am sitting at work hiding in the bathroom the moment that a chapter is posted. I buy every volume (preorder the moment I can) and plan to support this project any way that I can this is the first time I have ever felt the need to pitch into MAL ratings after seeing how long the rating is. I cant believe people could give this anything under a ... 8.

Most people initially heard about Kagurabachi when it was first released because of the memes calling it the goat, but don't let the memes influence your reading experience. After reading it the best way to describe the manga would be "a work in progress." The author Takeru Hokazono currently doesn't have much experience, having his first oneshot published in 2021. And this can be seen in Kagurabachi.

The art overall isn't very good, with only certain panels looking cool. Most of the characters don't seem very unique and have any distinct writing or design. None of them have anything special with their design besides the ... hair and the main characters scar. A lot of the concepts such as the power system doesn't really stand out. It seems like the author took inspiration from other works and mashed them together without carving out its own identity.

However the biggest praise I would give is to the stories pacing. There's rarely a dull moment and the story is constantly progressing.

I can see Kagurabachi improving over times as the author hones his craft and is able to give this story it's own identity, just give it a few years.

Kagurabachi doesn't care to explain things, but rather gets straight to the action.

Story 6/10
The story is quite generic with nothing to grab your attention, but action. We're introduced to our protagonist and then it's straight to action. No world building,  no further introduction, just action. The action is good but with no world building, it's hard to get a grasp of the whole picture.

Art 7/10
The art is and isn't consistent at the same time. Anything non-action is average at best but at moments can drop slightly below average. The action panels however are usually good, sometimes even great.

Enjoyment 7/10
Packed with action and quite fast paced ... there is no time to get bored, but the story just isn't great.

Overall 7/10
Kagurabachi is overall a solid read.

The First 5 Chapters really pull you in the story but after that it just feels lacking, and it loses its pull to the point you no longer care what really happens in the first chapter plus its slow pace it just feels like a waste to me the way its handled, the story is good but the execution of it is terrible, I really want this to be good, but it might just be a matter of time until its gone.

The Characters except the Main Characters are very bland and forgettable to the point I don't remember the names of the characters, this is ... how I usually how I know a story is good and engaging I remember the characters name easily but here they are bland, uninteresting and forgettable.

The Art is what makes me keep reading it its very good which is why I don't understand why except the mc and one other most characters look so bland, perhaps it's intentional, or the author is not experienced enough yet.

Overall Enjoyment every chapter just feels lacking and disappointing, and it's slowly making lose interest, yet I keep hoping it will get better, so far it's just more of the same.

It's just average. Not amazing but definitely has elements that are below average. Functionally it's one of those manga's where the fights end up with people staring at each other monologuing (internal and external) about whatever until someone does something and someone gets one-shot. The pacing is both extremely fast and slow at the same time which is a feat in itself. Getting you as fast as possible to the next fight but then dragging it out by having flashbacks to just a little bit of what happened inbetween fights... but not enough to explain much of what's happening beyond how they got into said ... situation or provide a deus ex machina that was totally planned the whole time trust me bro.

I'll still read it for some of the action scenes because it doesn't shy away from the actual violence, but reading this for any other purpose is a exercise in wasting time.

At this point in time, 14 chapters of Kagurabachi are officially out, providing enough material to form a solid first impression of the manga. Looking back at the community's initial reactions to Kagurabachi, most people made memes about it due to its generic and edgy premise. However, as the weeks went by and more chapters were released, the memes died down, leaving the original readers either dropping the manga entirely or sticking with it to see if it would turn out to be the biggest fighting Shonen of the new decade, as some were saying.

In the early stages of a manga's storyline, there needs to ... be a certain element for the manga to stand out. Bleach had its amazing art, One Piece had its mysterious treasure, and more recently, Chainsaw Man and Dandadan stand out for their wild premises. However, Kagurabachi lacks such distinctive elements. The art is mediocre at best, with most characters having the same dull expression on their faces and being drawn in very stiff positions from a flat angle. The premise is an edgy revenge story that we've seen many times in many different anime and we've already seen it perfected in Vinland Saga. The fights use magical swords with powers, similar to what we've already seen done better in Bleach as well as generic sorcery, which consists of uninteresting abilities like teleportation and magnetic control. There are also certain plot elements, such as a person who is the last remaining survivor of their clan being hunted for their special abilities and a large underworld auction where something related to the protagonist is being sold, of which both have been seen before in Hunter X Hunter.

The characters are easily the weakest point of the series, with all of them given only a simple personality and lacking any distinctive traits, charisma, or chemistry together. The same goes for the villains, who have all been forgettable evil bad guys up until this point. This is mostly a result of the plot of Kagurabachi moving way too fast. Recent anime like Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen gave their characters some backstory, motivations we could get behind, and distinctive character traits before the main plot started moving, while Kagurabachi has already jumped straight into it with characters nobody cares about.

Current Scorings:

Art: 5/10

Artstyle + 1 (Bland)
Consistency + 2 (Consistent)
Character Designs + 1 (Generic)
Backgrounds + 1 (Standard)
Storyboarding + 0 (Uninteresting)

Story: 4/10

Premise/Setting + 0 (Generic)
Pacing + 2 (Consistent)
Plausibility + 1 (Somewhat)
Complexity + 1 (Not much)
Conclusion + 0 (Not concluded)

Characters: 1/10

Personality/Presence + 0 (Close to none)
Motivations + 1 (Revenge)
Interpersonal Dynamics + 0 (Lacking)
Development + 0 (None)
Appeal + 0 (None)

Enjoyment: 1/10 (Only read this to write a review on it. Didn't enjoy a single thing.)

Current Score: 2.75/10 ~ 3/10 (Very Bad)