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鞍馬天狗 角兵衛獅子の巻
316 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1927
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February 7, 2018
In the continual robust showing books I am reading are having to this start of 2018, "鞍馬天狗 角兵衛獅子の巻" delivers another great adventure, offering interesting settings, good atmosphere and engaging characters to satisfy readers in love of Japanese adventures with samurai and fights.
In the book we follow Sugisaku, a young kid who is living under the iron fist of bad guy Choushichi. At the beginning of the book Sugisaku and his friend had lost the money they have to bring back to their boss. Sugisaku, being the one who has lost the wallet with the money, is going crazy trying to find it, but he is unable to find it. When desperation is setting and no solution seems to be on the horizon a nice samurai helps him and gives him money. We soon discover the samurai to be Kurama Tengu, a famous samurai with some enemies in the Shinsengumi of the bakufu.
What we get from this moment on is something quite close to the other Osaragi book I've read, "ゆうれい船": adventures, fights, the samurai code, a kid at the center of the story even if the hero is another character... And, as with "ゆうれい船", "鞍馬天狗 角兵衛獅子の巻" is fast-paced, with lots of action, interesting characters and set ups and a nice atmosphere. It is a book easy to read and easy on the eye.
However, it also shares the same shortcomings: a penchant for side quests that, luckily for us in this case, at least give us some character development; characters that play an important role but whose destiny becomes a mystery, Osaragi leaving them in some place along the story; a plot that is in general quite shallow, just centered on action; and an ending that can feel abrupt, almost out of the blue.
If you like samurai, and a story set in old Japan (cough, ok, not so old), you will enjoy Tengu's adventures. But don't expect much more than just an action novel.
6/10
(Original Japanese Version)
In the book we follow Sugisaku, a young kid who is living under the iron fist of bad guy Choushichi. At the beginning of the book Sugisaku and his friend had lost the money they have to bring back to their boss. Sugisaku, being the one who has lost the wallet with the money, is going crazy trying to find it, but he is unable to find it. When desperation is setting and no solution seems to be on the horizon a nice samurai helps him and gives him money. We soon discover the samurai to be Kurama Tengu, a famous samurai with some enemies in the Shinsengumi of the bakufu.
What we get from this moment on is something quite close to the other Osaragi book I've read, "ゆうれい船": adventures, fights, the samurai code, a kid at the center of the story even if the hero is another character... And, as with "ゆうれい船", "鞍馬天狗 角兵衛獅子の巻" is fast-paced, with lots of action, interesting characters and set ups and a nice atmosphere. It is a book easy to read and easy on the eye.
However, it also shares the same shortcomings: a penchant for side quests that, luckily for us in this case, at least give us some character development; characters that play an important role but whose destiny becomes a mystery, Osaragi leaving them in some place along the story; a plot that is in general quite shallow, just centered on action; and an ending that can feel abrupt, almost out of the blue.
If you like samurai, and a story set in old Japan (cough, ok, not so old), you will enjoy Tengu's adventures. But don't expect much more than just an action novel.
6/10
(Original Japanese Version)
Displaying 1 of 1 review