Prophetically enough, I just picked up the Hong Kong Chinese Edition yesterday and read it all in one sitting. Fugu was right. There's a crapload of kanji characters in this volume that I can't recognise.
My thoughts on this volume: at the risk of attracting the wrath of some forum members, I must still say that I really like the art, and that I enjoy the story tremendously. I don't understand why people always complain that a writer isn't telling the story they want him/her to tell.
Anyway, I really liked this volume, even though the focus was on Souichirou. As always, however, the story is a lot more complex than that. What really spoke to me was the story of the Tsugumis, a tragic tale of the mistakes of the father and the price paid for them by the sons. The younger Tsugumi is a complete psychopath, and what he did to Enmi and to 'other people' (don't wanna spoil it) is in no way forgivable, but by the end of the book, I felt more pity for him than disgust.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
The older Tsugumi also cuts a forlorn figure of someone who cannot let his past rest, with all his feelings of guilt hanging around his neck and dragging him inevitably to the inescapable path that he trudges, hoping to one day make amends to all those who believed in him and whom he let down. That, and also because I've thought the spear to be a really awesome weapon since watching the beautifully shot Korean film "Musa" (starring Jung Woo-Sung, Ahn Sung-Kee, & Zhang Ziyi).
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Other highlights in this volume include a funny cameo by an old buddy of Tawara's, more of Souichirou's mom (& dad, I think) and Enmi (who, by the way, is really, really hot), a brief history of Nagi Souichirou, an interesting take on the 'cannon fodder' servants of the Takayanagi Clan, some fine, fine haunches (both male and female)
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
Agent Wax