Akaboshi-Ibun Suikoden is the latest work by Amano Yoichi, whose previous works have also been published in Weekly Shonen Jump. What is interesting to Note is that Amano has only worked on Baseball based works in Jump thus far, so it's interesting to see what he can do to spark new life into the classic Chinese Shuihuzhuan (suikoden is japanese for this).
Story: Taitengyodo (hereon called Taiten) is rumoured band of "chivalrous thieves" who are fighting to overturn the rotting Song Dynasty of China. And this tale happens to center around one member of Taiten: 'Falling Star' Taisou. Thus far, the series is short, the story is interesting and keeps me looking forward to it every week. It also has a lot of quirky humor that is hilarious. The story has some symbolism, and also sets up a lot of foreshadowing that hasn't quite been answered. The premise is fairly Generic. When you boil it down it ends up being: "evil empire. Heroes. Heroes try to stop evil empire" But the approach is not so direct. Taisou's journey is filled with an unlikely ally and a lot of failure. As a side note the story bears a passable resemblance to the original Shuihuzhuan. But ends up being interesting enough to dismiss this.
Art: I don't know where Amano Yoichi's been hiding but, his art is fantastic. If you take one look at the opening pages of the first chapter, you'll see it. Amano doesn't have an incredibly stereotypical art type at all. He also seems to be able to draw many types of characters. The typical Shonen Hero, The cute female, The huge guy, the stalwart monk, and even a sexy mistress. It's also very hard to describe his art, so the best way to...show it is to...erm.... show it. So I'd advise you take a gander at chapter 1's first 3 pages... here I'll even help:
http://www.onemanga.com/Akaboshi_-_Ibun_Suikoden/1/02-03/
Characters: Here is where Amano could use a bit of work. His three leads fall pretty deep into established Archetypes. We've got guy with big sword, Elegent guy who is a foible to guy with big sword and girl who is concerned about guy wit big sword. But despite these issues involving stereotypes, Amano does manage to make his characters pretty darn quirky. As the lead, Taisou is a source of endless humor. The Taiten themselves are also pretty... Archetypical, until you get to their leader, who is just an enigma. All in all, Akaboshi's characters do nothing to detract from the experience, but fall into many archetypes. Although given time it is quite likely they will develop.
Enjoyment: If you like historical accuracy... then this will turn you off. But if you like historical stories and Chinese History, then you'll enjoy this. The Art really adds to the experience, and the story meshes well, but the characters are a weak point for now... I'd advise you try Akaboshi. I mean, you've got nothing to lose... right?
