[Anime] What I Really Want To See In Zoku Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

It is not a new piece of information anymore that the Doga Kobo animation, Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru is getting a second season slated for the winter season of 2018 which will be entitled Zoku: Tokuen Ranbu - Hanamaru (Zoku meaning continuation).  With all the frustration that Ufotable's Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu has brought to us, some veteran saniwas wanted something more lighthearted and stress-free.

Personally, I loved both the animes, but sometimes while watching Katsugeki, I just can't help but wonder when will stress-free Hanamaru be coming back so that I can see all the swords being happy again and just purely enjoying their human forms.  That being said, I made a list of the things that I wanted to see in the most awaited second season of Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru:

• More swords
  A lot of swords has already been implemented during and after the run of the first season, as well as some swords that unfortunately, did not make it to the anime.  Given that, I hope that we can see more swords in the second season such as the following swords:

• Kogarasumaru.  It would be hilarious to see him refer to himself as the father of all the other swords when Mikazuki - who is centuries younger than he is - has already claimed the spot of grandfather.  It would be interesting to see the reaction of  the sword boys as both out-grandpa's each other.

• The Genji Brothers.  There has already been a ton of fan arts and fics that pokes fun at Higekiri's forgetful nature, especially when it concerns his brother's name.  Katsugeki even did it.  I want to see Hanamaru take it even further like, say a different name for Hizamaru for every episode, and by the end of the season, we all find out that Higekiri was actually doing it on purpose to make fun of his brother or something.

• The Osafune Family.  Did you see the sudden increase in the number of Osafune family members in game?  Of course, you did.  It has been the source of head ache for all of the saniwas who has played the game religiously like me as Osafune members kept getting added almost every month.  It would be fun to see Mitsutada turn from someone who was solely responsible for the citadel's kitchen turn into someone who now has to run a small daycare himself after getting an influx of family members arriving into the citadel.  It would also be fun to see some friendly Dategumi vs Osafune School competition with Mitsutada as the prize.

• More Toushirou Brothers (or Kiwame tantous).  Of course, we do not have a lack of people in the Awataguchi family, but since the first Hanamaru, there has been a ton of new brothers, as well as Kiwame versions of those who has been in the first anime all along.  If Zoku Hanamaru can manage it, they should be able to add in a few more brothers or at least some brothers showing up after their Kiwame Journey.  Plus points if they point out the mistake in the initial design of Shinano's Kiwame and he has to return back in time to get the revised head gear.

• Monoyoshi Sadamune.  He may be in conflict with some of the swords because of his former master, but overall I actually find him to be a very likable sword (yes, the musical did convince me on this matter).  Monoyoshi is prided to bring his masters luck so imagine him being in the citadel.  Playing a game he only knew the mechanics of 30 minutes ago?  He wins every round.  Expedition on an unknown land?  He will bring home lots of resources.  Just imagine everyone's (the saniwa's attendants in particular) reaction when they ask him how he did it and he credits everything to his luck.

• Sengo Muramasa.  This may make the anime borderline pg-13 or even r-18, but I want Sengo Muramasa to join the cast this season because 1) Junichi Suwabe and 2) the sexual innuendos that will come out of that pretty little mouth of his.  I also imagine him going to bed naked, so imagine if anyone would bump into him at night when they have to have a bathroom break: "Nikkari-san! There was a ghost in the bathroom and it told me to strip!"

*PS: I know I did not include some swords here, and that is because I couldn't think of head canons for them in the Hanamaru universe and/or I'm not as eager to see them in the anime as those listed above.  However, that does not mean that I love them any less (except you, Kikkou Sadamune.  I will only love you if you come home to my citadel).

• Event-based episodes
  Touken Ranbu is all about sword boys who are awakened and given human forms in order to protect the flow of history.  However, in the game we have a lot of events that happens all the time that makes us reflect how on earth are these events supposed to help us protect history.  For Zoku Hanamaru, I would like to see some episodes, or at least portions in an episode that alludes to the fact that swords have been going on a grinding-spree on event levels such as:

• Underground Treasure Chest.  This is one of the first events introduced in the game and also one of the most common so I think it deserves its own anime air time.  It could be a whole episode where a team is deployed to Osaka Castle to search for another one of Ichigo's brothers and Hakata tags along only to search every corner of the castle for money as the others try and fend off the Retrograde Army while he counts and records the money found.  They would come back tired, beaten and needing repairs by the end of the episode with a happy Hakata carrying a sack of koban while holding his new brother by the hand.  It could also be snippets in a few episodes where swords would be seen leaving with digging materials and coming back tired and dirty.  The new brother would be introduced later on in an episode where they come back looking fed up and never wanting to do any more digging for the rest of their lives.

• Village of Treasures.  One of the most tiring events would be Village of Treasures.  Now imagine if this is given its own screen time and it doesn't even have to be a whole episode to be relate-able.  Just throw in a bunch of swords who are constantly tired and flinch at the sound of the summons bell, as well the constant talk of beads and you've got yourself a good Village of Treasures reference.  They could also put it in a full episode where swords are traumatized by hanafuda cards from too much grinding.

• Tsurumaru's Failed Pranks
  Tsurumaru is a sword I love and respect because of his love for surprises.  He is known in the fan base as a prankster, so with Hanamaru Season 2, I would love to see his failed attempts at pranking the other swords, especially Mikazuki or the peaceful ones (Kousetsu and Juzumaru?).  We only saw Tsurumaru's failed prank in the opening sequence of the first season, so I wish that they would delve more into it this second season.  Imagine all the fun we can get when the prankster gets pranked himself!

These are just some of the things that I would like to see in the upcoming second season of Hanamaru and I am sure that there are a lot of saniwas out there with their own head canons on what they wanted to happen in the new season.  How about you?  What would you like to see in Zoku Hanamaru?

XO's 

Saltsuki

[Toy Unboxing] Nendoroid: Horikawa Kunihiro + Izuminokami Kanesada

As promised, I am back with an unboxing video for the Nendorids I picked up during Cosplay Mania 2017.  I was not really a collector until the re-issue of the Mikazuki Munechika nendoroid but since then, I have been growing my sword boy family. This time, I will show you an unboxing of the not-so-recently released nendoroids of Horikawa Kunihiro and Izuminokami Kanesada, both from Touken Ranbu.

For those of you who are not familiar, Nendoroids are manufactured by Good Smile Company (hereby referred to as GSC).  They are palm-sized figures with a chibi design that comes with a number of parts including face plates, arms and legs for the owner to be able to make the figures show different poses and expressions. Nendoroids also come with some props for the figures to hold or pose with.

GSC really did a number on me with this double release, though.  I preorder all my nendoroids so that I can save up for them when the time of their release comes, and also for the cheaper pre-order prices.  However, there is just nothing I could do when they do a double-release like this.  It's like paying for a new non-preorder Nendoroid altogether.

Enough of my financial rants, and let's get on to the unboxing itself!

First is Horikawa Kunihiro, since I wanted him waiting patiently for his partner when I get to unboxing Kane-san.  Also, I figured that he will be easier than Kane-san (did you just say palm-sized, GSC?!).

Normally, Touken Ranbu Nendoroids come with three face plates: a normal face for his idle pose in the citadel, the serious face for the battle pose, and a random expression for the-sort of internal affairs pose.

Kunihiro was just adorable with his smiling face plate.

Eagerly awaiting for his Kane-san

Then, his citadel pose.

Overall, I did not experience any difficulties with this Nendoroid.  Some batches come with difficult to remove hair or face plates, stands that just wouldn't stay put, or limbs that may come loose, but with Kunihiro, I did not experience any of that.  It was a bit difficult for me to figure out which hands or arm parts to use for a pose, but that was just an error on my part. 

Next, is his partner, Izuminokami Kanesada!

KANE-SAN

Kakkoii sword

Unlike Kunihiro, Kanesan was a pain in the ass just like the in-game sword.  First difficulty I experienced was opening his packaging itself.  The parts holding the pieces of the packaging together was so stuck together, that I knocked my camera off while filming the video.  Next is his hair piece and face plate which was also difficult to remove.  I had to wiggle it a couple of times for it to be detached, and then there was the hair piece, which was also attached to his ponytail at the back of his head.  It was also pretty difficult to stick the sheath of his sword to his side as the haori was getting in the way, and the handle keeps falling off.  Lastly, sticking him to his stand was difficult.  What you had to do is to remove his head, stick the holder through the haori and body, fail a couple of times, then stick his head back into place.  Here and there, you'd get a falling scabbard or limb and you'd just have to cuss a couple of times before you can get him to do even just one pose for you.

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not blaming the shop where I purchased this or GSC for the difficulties that I encountered with this Nendo.  The times I spent doing factory work has taught me that even if products are the same, there would be slight differences per batch.  Maybe I just got a bad batch,  but it's still a first release nonetheless so I am not really complaining.  I just wish I'd get more luck with the other Nendos I have lined up for this year.

Before I forget, Kunihiro came with the 二刀開眼 (nitou kaigan, literally meaning two-sword enlightenment) from the game. This is the game mechanism from Touken Ranbu where when a team contains at at least an Uchigatana and a Wakizashi, this could be triggered. Basically, it's a double attack where the Wakizashi wipes out an enemy sword's troops,then the Uchigatana goes in for the kill.  Izuminokami is an Uchigatana, while Kunihiro is a Wakizashi. They are partner swords both previously owned by Hijikata Toshizo of the Shinsengumi, so posing them for Nitou Kaigan is very fitting indeed.

I don't have the patience to have them do the battle poses, so this will do.

Obligatory aibou pic.

See the full unboxing over in my YouTube channel.  I also posted an unboxing of Sayo Samonji and Ookurikara nendoroids.  I also do some playthroughs of otome games when I have the patience to deal with damsels in distress.

Unboxing video:

[Event] Cosplay Mania PH 2017

Weeks after my last event post, I am back with another (albeit late) event post!  This time, me and my bro went to Cosplay Mania PH 2017.

Source: Cosplay Mania Facebook page

Founded in 2008, Cosplay Mania boasts to be the largest cosplay convention in the Philippines.  Managed and organized by Cosplay.PH, the event boasts of a large event premise (this year, they were able to book the entire second floor of SMX Convention Center), several contests including the Hall Cosplay Masquerade, Cosplay Solo Showdown (which I took part in last 2014), Cosplay Mania Cup and Ultimate Cosplay Championship, meet and greets with international guest artists, cosplayers, and anime directors, producers and voice actors and lastly, an anisong concert to cap off the activities of the day.

Due to financial constraints, me and my bro were only able to purchase the cheapest tickets (silver), but that did not stop us from enjoying the event altogether.  We went on the second and last day of the con as Jiroutachi and Taroutachi from Touken Ranbu as if we are not yet that deep into sword boy hell.

Me as Jiroutachi and Reo Ouji as Taroutachi.

 We had the costumes made from Cosplayer Secret Shop instead of going about our usual way of making everything from scratch because of time constraints (me being busy with graduate school and Reo being busy with work).  The swords were commissioned from BALT Creation also for the same reason.  The rest of the props, we made ourselves.  For me, that would be the headdress and the sake jar (maybe I should make a progress log post for those).  I also made an arm guard, but figured at the last minute that it would be too hot to wear under all the layers of clothing and decided to wear the fabric version that came with the costume instead.

We were able to enter the event premises and get our bracelets at around 12AM, when it was not yet so crowded due to the bulk of event goers still stuck in the queue outside of the convention center.  We immediately went about our business shopping for merch since we figured out that it would be hard for us to do so with our costumes on once more people start coming in.  We also met a lot of our friends and had a lot of pictures taken as we did so.  I haven't seen much of our pics from the photographers that day, but then that may just be me being lazy in browsing Facebook.  So while we are waiting for photos, here are a ton of selfies!

With Miki as Kashuu who was the attendant of our Cheese Saniwa

We dropped by our Cheese Saniwa's booth at the artist alley

I was finally able to pose with Todoroki!

Another Jiroutachi found us and of course, we had to take a pic with them

Channeling the Otokomichi spirit

Speaking of merch, here's my haul plus some gifts I got from that day.  I was not able to buy a lot as the halls quickly got filled up with people and we were not able to check out the other booths because of our costumes and bags got in the way.  I mainly got Haikyuu and Touken Ranbu key chains and JoJo stickers.  I also finally got an ita bag to showcase my weab collection of rubber straps at the next con that I will go to.

Cosmania day 2 haul and gifts!

And see those two big boxes right there?  I also picked up my Izuminokami Kanesada and Horikawa Kunihiro pre-ordered nendoroids from WattaToys! 

breaking character because my ship is sailing!

Needless to say, I was a happy little Touken Ranbu fan girl that day.  Also, expect unboxing videos for Kane-san and Hori-chan!

While our experience with Cosmania this year was nothing short of enjoyable, I would also like to address some of the complaints we have heard first hand from our friends during the con or through posts or chats. 

First, and the bulk of the complaints I saw about the event is the long lines just to get inside the venue.  As I have also noticed upon arriving at SMX, there was already a huge line outside of the convention center way before the opening time.  While this was gradually dissipated and a bit more organized on the second day,  It was apparently not the case during the first day.  People reported waiting in line to be let into SMX for hours, only to wait in line again so that they can get on the escalators that will take them to the second floor where the convention is being held.  Lastly, they would fall in line again to exchange their tickets for event bracelets.  The people complained about the long lines to the extent that some reported missing their meet and greet times as well as the guests themselves feeling upset upon seeing an almost empty queue because most of the people for that schedule were still outside waiting in line.  Cosplay Mania management has already released a statement that addresses this issue, so let's hope that by next year there would be a better way to get inside the con without falling in line for long periods of time.

Another complaint that I heard about straight from a friend of mine was the behavior of the staff.  There were reports of the staff being rude to the event goers, shouting at them and blaming them for the disorganized lines at the event as well as the improper handling of the guests.  I did not experience these myself, but this is the second year that I've heard reports of the staff of this particular event behaving in an unprofessional manner.  What I can just say about this is that the number one in any business etiquette list is for you to treat your clients (in this case the con goers) and guests (guest cosplayers, anisong artists, seiyuus, directors, producers, etc.) with the highest priority and care.  Hopefully, this has been brought into the attention of the Cosplay Mania management and hopefully, better orientation when it comes to handling a large scale event like this could be provided to their volunteers and staff for their future events.

On a lighter note, Cosplay Mania still holds a special place in my heart.  This is the biggest con I've ever went to and where I got to meet some of my cosplay idols.  It is not a lie that they were one of the first conventions that were able to bring international cosplayers and artists on Philippine shores which was until recently, just in the middle of nowhere for most foreign artists in the anime and cosplay world. 

Also, because my first convention never got a second run, I treat Cosplay Mania as my anniversary convention.  That being said, I am happy to say that this year is my 8th year in cosplay!  Hopefully, I can still do this for a few more years. :)

Queue a narcissistic photo of Jiroutachi.

Thanks for reading this far!  See you on my next post whenever I make it :)


XO's
Saltsuki

[Event] Best of Anime PH 2017

Hello everyone!  The CosCon season is in full swing again here in the Philippines.  I managed to free up some time in my schedule to attend one of the biggest cons in the country: The Best of Anime.

The Best of Anime is an annual convention that runs for two days and features exhibitors that caters to toy collectors, Japanese fashion enthusiasts, cosplayers and the like as well as an artist alley that features local anime and manga fan artists.  The event also boasts its wide array of international guests from international cosplayers, to Japanese music acts.  Years ago, they were the first to bring a Japanese Visual Kei band, Uchusentai:Noiz to the Philippines setting a trend in the local convention scene as other conventions stepped up to the plate and brought Japanese bands and AniSong artists to our shores.

This year, BoA 2017 was held from September 9 to 10 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.  Their guests include international cosplayers Liu and Hana from Taiwan, Yuegene Fay from Thailand and Reika from Japan.  Musical acts included Starmarie, who are already BoA regulars and Spyair, a Japanese rock band who popularized songs from animes such as BLEACH, Gintama and Haikyuu!!

Personally, I was looking forward to seeing Yuegene Fay and Reika.  Since I started cosplaying 7 years ago, I have looked up to both of them in Cure World Cosplay and DeviantArt respectively. They have guested in several cons I used to attend, but due to some incidences that are out of my control, I never really got to see them.  Weeks leading up to this convention, I was debating on whether I should buy their fan meeting tickets or just hope that I get to see them on stage even just for a bit (guest performances are usually pushed up to later in the evening at conventions), knowing that I had to leave early for the day.  Eventually, I decided not to buy the tickets and just hope that I could sneak a glimpse of them even just for a while.

Me and my friend went on the second and last day of BoA dressed up in causal cosplay.  My friend was Bakugo Katsuki from Boku no Hero Academia while her sister opted to just go as her normal self.  I decided to go as a very casual Jolyne Cujoh from JoJo's Bizarre Adventures Part 6: Stone Ocean.

I was Jolyne Cujoh for the day

When I arrived at SMX, my friend was already in line outside of the convention center, waiting to be let in.  We decided to ditch the line when I arrived though, as the first agenda of the day was actually to meet up with a prop maker who we commissioned to make our weapons for our upcoming cosplay since we figured that we wouldn't have enough time between work and school (for me) to finish up everything.  So, we left the line and went inside the Mall of Asia which is right beside the convention center for our meet up.  Most of our selfies later on are photobombed by our huge bubble-wrapped props. hahaha!

It turns out that ditching the line was actually a good idea because when we returned, everybody has already been let inside the convention center and we were able to get past the bag checks smoothly.  Upon arrival, we queued up to get the tickets we purchased online verified at their ticket booth which was also unexpectedly quick.  I heard stories from my friends who went on the first day that the line for tickets, online or on-site was horrible and so I prepared myself for the worst.  

Another improvement by BoA that I noticed and kind of liked was the ID check that happens during ticket verification.  You see, as with other events with limited tickets (BoA meet and greet tickets are limited) there is a tendency for people to buy tickets and then re-sell them at a marked up price.  I liked the ID check because it somehow prevents that as there is no way for you to transfer the ticket holder name after you have paid for it.

The stage was showing Kimi no Na Wa when we entered and me and my friend's sister was having way too much fun sitting at the audience area and spoiling the whole movie that my friend decided to drag us to see the booths instead.

There was a big booth by Animax, one of the big anime networks in Asia and we had a bit of fun with their displays.  First was the Boku no Hero Academia standees featuring our favorite guys from Class A: Todoroki, Tsuyu, Bakugo, Ochaco, Tenya, our protag Deku and of course, All Might!  I was only able to take one pic because I was too shy and a lot of people were crowding the area.

It was supposed to look as if Todoroki was touching my shoulder but w/e.

Then, there are the posters of their current shows.  I had way too much fun posing with the JJBA: Stardust Crusaders poster.  Thanks to my friend and her sister for directing the pictures and the Animax staff for 'enhancing' the lighting via their phone lights. xD

When you see your dad's high school picture.

I really did not feel the need to shop for merch at that time because I was  only carrying a small amount of money with me and besides, I pre-order most of my merch.  However, it was really nice to see the artist alley (I hope I see those Gilgamesh and Ozymandias R-18 posters next con because I'd have the money to buy them next time for sure).  After a bit of shopping, we stepped outside to have some lunch.

The real fun for me began when we came back after our meal because that was when more cosplayers began coming to the con and I spent a good time chasing after my friends and some Touken Ranbu cosplayers and being chased by JoJo fans as well.  Here are some pictures I managed to take.  Most of them are selfies, though. you've been warned.

My friend BOMA as Ichigo Hitofuri

Nikkari Aoe and Heshikiri Hasebe cosplayers.  I forgot to get their names, tho :(

My friend Jun Tao as Souza Samonji

Now, queue the JoJo-ness.  There was one funny incident that happened.  Me and my friends were busy fangirling over the performance of the cosplay guests and then when I turned around, I almost bumped into this girl and she said "please don't be scared. I was just fangirling over your Jolyne from behind."

Anyway, here are the JoJo's that I managed to take pictures with:

Ceasar and Kakyoin.  They ran away before I could talk to them. Maybe me and my friend scared them with our Touken Ranbu fangirling ^^;

You know I've got to take a pic with this part 2 DIO after he menacingly said JoJo when he saw me coming.

The highlight of this event for me was when the guest cosplayers went up on stage for their performances.  First up is Reika who was cosplaying Mikazuki Munechika from Touken Ranbu for that day.  She went up on stage and sang anime themes - Hohoemi no Bakudan from Yu Yu Hakusho, Yuzurenai Negai from Magic Knight Rayearth and Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis from Evangelion.  Her performance made me think that she really was jiji-like because she sang all those old-school anime songs.

Reika on stage during her performance

Next up was Liu and Hana.  Liu, cosplaying Prompto Argendum from FFXV opened up their performance with an acapella of Stand by Me.  She was later joined by her partner Hana, who was cosplaying Noctis Lucis Caelum for the fan service and later on as the...accompaniment which was kind of funny.  You'd have to wait for the fan videos to be uploaded to find out. They closed up their performance with their duet of History Maker as they went around the audience to shake our hands.

Liu and Hana during their performance

Last is Yuegene Fay cosplaying Tsurumaru Kuninaga from Touken Ranbu.  She was joined by Reika for her performance, which by the way gave me and my friends a heart attack.  We were all calm and fine when the AVP started with the sakura petals falling and jiji speaking in the background but then the music started and we went wild.  Yuegene chose TouMyu music for her performance, starting off with the titular Touken Ranbu.  She and Reika even did the dance routing that the Touken Danshi in the musical were doing.  After that, they went and did Kimi no Uta and by that time, I was half crying from happiness.  Not only did I get to see two of my favorite cosplayers together, they even did a musical-like performance for the audience.

Kimi no aitakute

Demo ainakute.. (sorry, my hands were shaking so much)

We left right after the guest performances since we still had places to go to, but overall, I feel like I still had the full con experience despite spending such a short time there.  I got to see my friends and finally saw my dream guests on stage (dressed up as my favorite characters, even!) and that was enough already to make me happy and continue going to CosCons no matter how old I get.

Mandatory pic of me and my con buddies: Reo and Raius Ouji

I hope the next con will be just as fun too!

XO's,
Saniwa Saltsuki

[Manga] Recommendation: Adekan

Hey everyone!  I hope you're all doing well.  It has been a pretty busy past week for me at work and it was kind of hard for me to come up with a new post for this blog but with the recent stage play announcements, I got the idea to make a manga recommendation for this week.

Stage plays and manga may not have that much of a connection, but it definitely is a big one if we're talking about Japanese stage plays.  You see, there's this specific genre of Japanese stage plays that is quite unique as compared to whatever stage productions we are used to.  This genre is called 2.5D theater which intends to bring 2D media such as games, manga, or anime into the stage and vice versa in some cases.

This specific manga that I am going to recommend has only been adapted on 2.5D form with a stage play and a musical with the same casts, respectively with no news of an anime adaptation in the near future.

This manga I'm talking about is, of course, Adekan.

L-R: Adekan's main characters Anri Yoshiwara, Kojiro Yamada and Shiro Yoshiwara

Adekan is a shoujo manga by Nao Tsukiji set in the Meiji Era.  The story centers around the mysterious umbrella maker Shiro Yoshiwara who seems to have an aversion towards fundoshis or loincloths ad refuses to wear them, preferring to go commando instead (this was mentioned right off the bat).  His friend Kojiro Yamada is a police officer who met Shiro through the events of the first chapter and has since then been determined to shape the umbrella maker into a better person by teaching him how to cook, clean and properly put on a loincloth.  Through a string of events, we also meet Shiro's older sworn brother Anri who is set on bringing him back to 'The Group' from which Shiro ran away years ago, despite being regarded as an important person.

I first found out about this manga through all the cosplays I've seen in WorldCosplay.  All of them were so beautiful and elaborate and I thought that I needed to see whatever material they are basing their cosplays from.  I then saw that it was actually male characters that were being portrayed and that made me decide right then and there to read that manga.  I mean, I am not one to say no to some good androgyny!  I have since lined it up on my 'to read' list and has only gotten around to reading it last month when work was not as busy as it usually is.  I was so absorbed into the story that I caught up to the latest chapter in about 3 days.

What first caught my attention upon opening the manga was the art.  Each page was drawn beautifully, it reminds me sometimes of CLAMP works such as RG Veda or xxxHolic where every page was a work of art.  Its like I can take that page and put it in a frame and it could be sold for thousands of bucks.  Its a beautiful explosion of details that you wouldn't know where to look first in a good way.  Even if whatever is being portrayed is somehow grotesque or creepy, you could not look away because there's still beauty underneath all the blood, death and madness.  Here's an example from Chapter 8.

All the creepy details were carefully drawn in

Now that you've seen how eerily creepy the art is, let's get into the next thing that got me into this manga which is the story.  The manga starts off as episodic with Shiro, Kojiro and their friends solving a different mystery in every chapter.  That in itself was enough to get me hooked as I am a sucker for mystery.  And it was not just your normal detective work where someone was murdered and the main characters work to find out who the perpetrator is.  Yes, we also have that but the manga also shows us just how ugly the human mind can be.  Our main characters encounters several characters that are totally bizarre for the shoujo category.  For example, a man kills a string of young men in order to keep spoiling his vain and aging mistresses, a woman willingly flings herself off a cliff in order for her husband to leave his lover and take care of her forever and a man who pretends to be his wife who unbeknownst to the people was already murdered by the husband himself in order for him to turn her into the perfect taxidermy subject are just some of the interesting cases that this bunch of friends encounter in the earlier parts of this manga.

Later on, we are introduced to the main story which involves Shiro, Anri and The Group which has been mentioned here and there all over the manga.  Apparently, The Group is a bunch of super humans with out of this world talents and strength, but with short life spans and to keep themselves living, they have to consume a certain type of drug called Red Veil which was sold only at a limited supply.  The only one who could help the group out to maintain their life energy is Shiro, who was somebody special born once every hundred or so years (what is so special about his appearance and how it was determined that he was 'the one' was not yet discussed in detail in the manga) but he ran away from The Group and now everyone is on the hunt for him.  Anri, with his brotherly instincts quickly tracked down Shiro and is keeping the secret of his location from the rest of the group for his own reasons.  

Scene from the stage play where Anri finally tracks down Shiro's location and yes, he always spreads his legs like that.

The manga is full of dialogues and narratives, but it was presented to us in a way that would not bore its readers.  Some info would be presented to you without you knowing that it was essential until a few chapters down the line.  There was one chapter where people were talking about a book which tells a story of a boy who ran from his tribe that needs him to keep on living, saying that the book was unrealistic and boring.  A few chapters down the line, Shiro finally tells Kojiro about his connection with the group and BAM, we were foreshadowed by that book mention all along.

The author was also careful in pacing the story and knows just when to stop to keep his audience from having an information overload, while making the key revelations just as shocking as they should be.  One moment, we could be reading about the chapter's main criminal confessing about their motives in doing the crime and next moment, we are treated to some light comedy courtesy most of the time by Shiro simply refusing to let a loincloth near his nether regions.  One moment, I was reading Shiro telling Kojiro about the group and the next moment I was like "wait a minute wasn't the story of that book... OH MY GOD".  I guess the shock factor will come to you if you're paying close attention to the story?

I also liked how complex the characters are.  

Shiro was first introduced to be this flirty young man who simply refused to wear underwear, has superior seductive skills and is a master in the art of weapon concealment or anki, but as we go through every chapter, we learn more about him and his internal struggle to resolve his problem with his clan while trying his best to keep his first and only friend Kojiro out of the whole mess.

Yoshiwara Shiro, surprisingly wearing a fundoshi

Kojiro Yamada is the perfect police officer with superior athletic skills, good looks, a decent personality and whose heart is in the right place.  His sense of justice gets him into trouble sometimes as seen in one chapter where he tried to question the system of another country.  He is a very loyal friend to his sworn brother Saburota and later on, to Shiro.  I haven't seen a lot of character development for him yet, but I am guessing that there will eventually be things about his past that will be brought out and will help the readers understand him more.

Yamada Kojiro

Anri Yoshiwara is my favorite character mainly because of his cunning and devil-may-care attitude that sometimes shows to be quite destructive as well as his apparent intelligence most especially in technology (o-of course it w-was not the booty shorts! b-baka!!).  He was originally introduced as this sadistic and ambitious person who seeks to take over his troupe and bring Shiro back to The Group for his own personal gain, but as I go about reading, I discovered different sides to his personality.  I saw that he actually cares for his brother, even going as far as going all the way to where Shiro is the first thing after he built a 'plane' because he promised Shiro when they were kids that he will ride it with him once he has managed to build one.  Also, could he really be in love with Mutsukichi? (I'll be spoiling some major plot elements if I divulge more about Mutsukichi, so you've got to read the manga to find out who this person is!)

mmmmm.....Yoshiwara Anri

And as an added bonus...

'scuse me,sir. I would like to report these three for stealing my heart.

And now that we have all sufficiently questioned our sexuality, I guess it's not that necessary now for me to point out that YES, this manga has a ton of BL tones and a lot of fanservice here and there (what do you expect from a manga whose protagonist refuses to wear underwear??). Fanservice aside, I think it is also important to point out that this manga also shows some of the ugly sides of society such as prostitution of young under-aged boys to older people, for example as well as discrimination based on your racial mix, a twisted ranking within the society and lastly, making the females believe at a very young age that they only exist to give birth and take care of their children.

I would really recommend for any manga enthusiast to read it for the rich story and beautiful art, but I would have to warn you that BL especially the kind where men are very touchy with each other could not go unnoticed in this manga.  In fact, it is one of the key elements in the story.  Please take note of that in case stuff like that makes you uncomfortable and proceed reading at your own risk.

That being said, I would also want to recommend for you to see the stage play and musical if possible.  The mangaka, Tsukiji-sensei was all praises for these productions and after watching these for myself, I can see why.  The actors were all so good in portraying their roles and made it seem like the characters jumped out of the pages of the manga an on to the stage.  The first stage play was so well received, that a musical was made soon after and a new stage play has recently been announced for next year.

In case you would like to see how I reacted to the first stage play, please check out this thead --> https://twitter.com/twinklejourney/status/891152553924190209

Tell me what you think of this manga in the comment section below!

XOs,

Saniwa Saltsuki