Kamunagara
I started going through my collection again so I can clear up some space. I decided to give this a reread before I gave it away or tossed it.
This was Hajime Yamamura's longest manga, at 10 volumes and 1 gaiden volume before his more well-known series, Kami-sama Dolls. Much like the later, Kamunagara is set in the present day and uses a lot of Japanese mythology in its setting.
The story starts off pretty standard. A high school student goes on about his daily life until he meets the girl that just transferred in last month in the music room. She tells him a tempest is coming towards him. On his way back from school, he's attacked by a demonic dog that tries to devour him until a mystical sword materializes out of his hand that instagibs the dog, spewing its guts and flesh all over him. The girl shows up with a mirror that sucks in all the flesh and bone of the dog. She then comes up to him with tears in her eyes and hugs him saying "We finally meet again, Touma."
It sounds mundane but from there is a sort SMT-esque tale of reincarnation, Japanese mysticism, a bit of government conspiracy, and of course, tons of bloody sword fighting. When I say bloody, I mean seriously bloody and pretty gruesome to boot. It's a pretty interesting title, certainly more so than Kami-sama Dolls.
The writing is a little rough though. He packs in a lot of terminology and stuff into the volumes so it can get confusing at times if you're not carefully following. It also draws a bit of focus off the protagonists' journey as well though it's definitely in there. However, their arc and how all of the characters fit within it are really something and left me thinking a little bit about the overarching relationships and ideas.
There is one thing that really stands out for me though and that's the protagonist' teacher, Haruka Narugami. In the series, she's the strongest fighter and has some great fights throughout the manga that really display her amazing sword skills. It's a little uncommon in titles with this kind of tone and setting which makes it really refreshing to see that she's so badass. Her expression at certain points later in the manga remind me of Guts from Berserk.
