Juushin Enbu

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Alternative Titles

English: Hero Tales

Japanese: 獣神演武

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 5

Chapters: 21

Status: Finished

Published: Oct 21, 2006 to Aug 12, 2010

Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Shounen

Authors: Arakawa, Hiromu (Story & Art), Zhou, Huang Jin (Story)

Serialization: Gangan Powered

Statistics

Score: 6.93¹ (scored by 2,046 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #8423²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #3005

Members: 4,638

Favorites: 29

6.93

Ranked #8423Popularity #3005Members 4,638

MangaGangan PoweredArakawa, Hiromu (Story & Art), Zhou, Huang Jin (Story)

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Volumes: /5

Chapters: /21

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Synopsis

Taitou Shirei is a young fighter who makes a habit of attacking members of the corrupt Imperial Army and stealing their supplies for his village. The time has come for him to have his coming-of-age ceremony, for which his family has called in the monk Ryuukou Mouten. After battling Ryuukou and completing the ceremony, Taitou is given the Kenkaranbu, a supposedly legendary sword.

That night, a mysterious and cruel sorcerer, who introduces himself as Shimei, attacks in order to steal the Kenkaranbu. He tells the legend of the Hokushin-Tenkun, seven warriors who are incarnations of the stars of the Big Dipper. He informs Taitou that he is Hagun, one of the two most powerful of these warriors, who is destined to send the world into chaos. When Shimei threatens Taitou's sister Laila Seiren, Taitou is overcome by anger and the power of his star drives him berserk. Laila manages to calm Tatiou down, but in the pandemonium, Shimei manages to get away along with the sword. Thus starts Taitou's journey with Ryuukou and Laila to retake the Kenkaranbu and discover the meaning of possessing the power of a Hokushin-Tenkun.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Juushin Enbu was published in English by Yen Press as Hero Tales from October 27, 2009 to October 25, 2011.

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Related Manga

Adaptation:

Juushin Enbu: Hero Tales

More characters
Characters

Shirei, Taitou

Main

Mouten, Ryuukou

Main

Meitoku, Housei

Main

Seiren, Laila

Main

Mougai, Koyo

Main

Shokan, Rinmei

Main

Hakuho, Keiro

Supporting

Kuju, Kouei

Supporting

Choyo, Shoukaku

Supporting

Chinjo

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Jul 14, 2012

21 of 21 chapters read

Overall Rating: 7

nevermore999 (All reviews)

15 people found this review helpful

First of all, the manga is 100% better than the anime, which I've been watching. While the anime is basically straight shonen cliche, the manga has good points that rise above that. And where the hero's sister Laila is basically there to stand around and be protected in the anime, she's a dynamic hero in the manga and a great character.

This story is written by Hiromu Arakawa and a couple other folks- unfortunately, that shows. A lot of parts are rushed, and some bits aren't cohesive with others. A lot of it is standard shonen- but there are touches of originality (that I personally think are stylistically Arakawa's and therefore come from her) that make it a bit more worthwhile. The manga has a huge cast of characters that all could be really interesting- but the storyline is SO RUSHED and the cast is so packed we hardly get time with any of them. Taito is very much the standard shonen hero. One character switches sides pretty much offscreen and it's totally unbelievable. Poor Rinmei hardly gets any screentime, and her characterization is pretty much entirely tied to Ryuuko's. Vague Dragonball Z-esque superpowers run wild, character origins are shaky, and the mythology is vague.

But beneath some of the cliche, there's real gems of character relationships, a couple swervy twists, and nice moments of humor that keep it from being completely standard. Taito and Laila's sibling relationship gets really complicated down the line, and I'd say their bond is the shining point of the series. It's also really nice to see manga in a Chinese setting with a wuxia style of storytelling.

Because it;s by Arakawa, the art is gorgeous. Distinct character designs, wonderful comic panels and slapstick, well done fight sequences- her art alone makes it worth reading.

Considering how well the ladies are handled in Fullmetal Alchemist, I was disappointed to see a little more shonen cliche regarding the treatment of women in this manga (Interesting and supposedly talented women get little screentime, or die and then there was one frustrating sequence where the boys order the female characters to stay out of the fight- and despite both being skilled fighters, they do so). I put that down to the non-Arakawa writers.

Laila was consistently my favorite character because she went through the most dramatic emotional upheaval and biggest character arc and was the most entertaining with her sassy pluckiness- but in the first four volumes she was stuck in damsel-in-distress role quite a bit, despite being a good fighter.

But wow, she REALLY SHINES in volume five and you realize that she's gone through a Hero's Journey just as much as Taito. She proves herself to be just as heroic. You could tell this scene was 100% Arakawa since a line from FMA is there basically word for word. The culmination of Laila's journey is basically my favorite sequence in the whole manga and made it worth it to me, and if the anime cuts that out too, I'll spit nails.

So Hero Tales- not the most quality manga (unlike the greatness of FMA), rushed with some cliche, but there's gorgeous art, and some gems of drama, character development and epic battle sequences that make it worth a casual read. And it doesn't hurt that at least one badass lady finally lives up to her potential at the end.

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