While the Miburōshi Gumi gang has just gathered, a killer is already threatening their lives. This volume 4 of Chiruran published by Mangetsu continues to multiply the action scenes and introduces new threats.
All for Chiruran…
It is in the middle of the corpses of the previous attack that the Chiruran suite opens because this is how the Miburôshi Gumi has just gathered. Very famous in Japan, this group of samurai will become the important militia of Shinsen Gumi which was in charge of security in the city of Kyoto. In Chiruran, it is for the moment only a handful of soldiers who try to find meaning in their lives in a Japan in full transformation. The archipelago is experiencing a moment of tipping point by loosening the vice that prohibited foreigners from touching its soil. Not all accept this openness abroad. This mistrust is the cause of the creation of the Miburôshi Gumi clan. Even if the national situation is decisive for understanding these characters, the screenwriter Shinya Umemura succeeds very well in presenting it without making it a leaden history lesson. Chiruran is above all an action story that is also very funny.
Yes, but which one?
In the fourth volume of Chiruran, Hijikata and his comrades have just obtained Aizu's protection, but an assassin prowls the city and targets Miburōshi Gumi's members. We quickly understand that this killer works for those who want to destroy them since the first volume, Chôshû and Tosa. More serious for them, this killer also seeks to accuse them of murder. The honor of the clan is at stake. But, nothing is simple because, at the same time, internal tensions are rising within this very young group. A first question arises: who will be the leader of Miburôshi Gumi? The union is still fragile and the two former groups are in danger of splitting. A solution is found: the one who beats the killer will be the leader. Despite the many characters, the reader identifies them immediately because they have a very different physique but also by such different characters. Toshizo Hijikata, main character of the Chiruran series, dreams of being a leader even if others do not believe it. He goes hunting the killer and will be surprised to discover a European woman. This quest becomes a series of very well staged fights. Eiji Hashimoto's very round drawing contrasts with the severed heads. Arrived at this fourth volume of Chiruran the group is set up but it is still far from becoming this powerful force famous throughout Japan. The series still follows soldiers who have to fight every day to get out of it and are even reluctant to unite. The road will still be long but we will be happy to present you the steps in our website. To find out more about the promising publisher Mangetsu, you can read on these links the articles on Beautiful Beast and The Fire Mandala.
