Samurai Deeper Kyo, Volume 14

Samurai Deeper Kyo #14

by Akimine Kamijyo

Kyoshiro and Kyo--one a peaceful medicine seller, the other a merciless red-eyed samurai--are two spirits fighting for dominance of the same body as they travel with Yuya, a bounty hunter who helps them look for Kyo's true body.

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Shonen, Comics Manga, Historical, Graphic Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Akimine Kamijyo (上条明峰 Kamijō Akimine?, born September 13, 1975, Kanagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese manga artist best known for creating Samurai Deeper Kyo. The name 'Akimine Kamijyo' is merely her pen-name. Her doujinshi work was done under the name 'Meika Hatagashira' (伯明華?).

Her second series was Shirogane no Karasu also known as Silver Crow. It started on May 30, 2007 in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and ended after 3 volumes.

She is currently working on Code: Breaker.

Reviews

[Cecillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first began this reread of this series I thought that the amount of fan service would get better, as in there would be less and less of it. But it just keep going and is too much for me. I really don't enjoy it. The bandages ladies were not it for me. On the other hand I like that the main plot is moving, and things are getting intense. Even if it's a shit move of Saishi and Saisei to tamper with Shinrei's deal with the group.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never understood how blood facepaint makes someone more intimidating.

[MissAnnThrope · Rating 4 out of 5]

13 April 2013

Rating: * * * * 1/2

Aww, yeah, bitches! The demon is back in Samurai Deeper Kyo, Volume 14 with all his fire-eyed fury!




With lightning quickness, Kyo slices off Hotaru's left arm in one fell swoop. It looks like things are about to explode between these two former allies until kooky Chinmei of the Five Stars arrives just in time to break things up. Chinmei gathers Hotaru back to the Five Stars, but first delivers a message from the former Crimson King to Kyo that if he returns to the Mibu, he will tell Kyo the secret of his birth.

Before Kyo and the gang leave for the land of the Mibu, they say their goodbyes to Muramasa. During this time, Muramasa reveals his part in the plot against the Mibu clan and how he involved Kyo. At last the moment has come for the teacher to say goodbye to his student and it was sad, but beautiful. Perfectly fitting for the ethereal Muramasa.

Seeing Muramasa's bird flock to Kyo's sword because it contains Muramasa's spirit nearly gutted me.


Meanwhile, Benitora, Sasuke, and Mahiro make their way to meet up with Kyo and the others. Sasuke runs into his frenemy Kotaro/Makora, who bears a deep-seeded grudge against our favorite shinobi. Sasuke desperately wants to explain something to Kotaro, but he quickly disappears while promising to unleash hell onto Sasuke the next they meet.

As Kyo, Bontenmaru, and Yuya venture off to the lands of the Mibu, they stumble upon Akira who seems oddly too friendly. He offers an olive branch to Kyo by offering to give him back his body. Akira attempts to give Kyo his body back, but a strong curse prevents the ice from breaking. Akira tells Kyo that only the Crimson King could break the curse and offers to take him there. What's Akira's true agenda? Although Akira is a scheming troublemaker, he seems to have a big heart for Yuya.

When the group arrives at the Gates of Hell, they are attacked by bodacious zombies. I have to say, seeing Kyo, Bontenmaru, and Akira in action makes my heart go all-a-flutter. While the boys are distracted in their fight, Saishi and Saisei of the Five Stars capture Yuya. These two are serious wackadoodles! After collecting their needed information, Saishi and Saisei prepare to leave but not before they leave their mark on Yuya. Saisei speeds up the Waterwyrm in Yuya's body so that she now only has twelve hours left to live.

Enraged, Kyo miraculously blows apart the Gates of Hell. In a strangely touching moment, Kyo's calls Yuya "dog-face," telling her there isn't any time to cry. And because this is Kyo's way, it cheers Yuya up and gives her hope that she will survive.

These volumes are getting so intense that they're beginning to fill me with anxiety. There is a moment shared between Yukimura and Chinmei that has me quite intrigued. All events surrounding Yukimura are always so mysterious. I can't wait to see what he's scheming now in the next volume.

Chinmei is turning out to be really freaky deaky, which creeps me out in a fun way. I hope to see this new powerful enemy go to blows with the always awesome Yukimura. That would be an awesome fight to see.

On an aside, Akimine Kamijô's reminiscing on her grandfather at the end of the book really touched my little black heart. It made me do some inner reflection and I hope that one day I can be more like him too.

R.I.P. Muramasa. You will be missed.

[✮Octjillery✮ · Rating 4 out of 5]

[I write my reviews for myself/my memory, so spoilers are generally likely.]

**See vol. 1 for my review of the full series from several years ago, and my 20+ year history with SDK. c:

First read: 2016 -- when I finally finished collecting/reading the series
Second read: March 2026

Kyo and Muramasa have finished their training, after 20 days in the cave.
All I could think about was how bad bro had to be stankin'. It's specifically mentioned they didn't eat, drink, or sleep, so you knowwww they weren't bathing.

Kyo and Hotaru start to fight but are interrupted by Chinmei, a hippie version of Spike from Cowboy Bebop.

Kyo's reaction to seeing Yuya again is groping her, which I thought we left back in volume 3. Ugh.

Muramasa shares how he first met young Kyo, and why he chose to run away and train him. Kyo carries all of the hopes that Muramasa had for destroying the Mibu. He wishes them well on their journey, Bon walks off with Yuya so that Kyo can say goodbye one and one, and Muramasa passes away in a beautiful shower of sparkling dust.

Tora, Sasuke, and Mahiro are making their way back to the group, and Sasuke steps away when he senses Kotaro nearby. Kotaro says they will meet again in the forest...

Akira shows himself to the trio and reveals Kyo's body hidden in a pond, but even he can't melt the ice that it's in. There's apparently a powerful sealing spell, or kinju, on it, which only the caster can dispel. Akira joins the crew, as always with his own goals...

As they approach the gates in the forest, a bunch of pretty girls clothed only in tiny strips of bandages appear and attack. The three take them all on despite them getting up again and again like zombies, and the Five Star duo of Saishi and Saisei reveal themselves. Saisei uses her "spirit surgery" to put her hand right through Yuya's chest and stimulates the waterwyrm. Yuya will now die in 12 hours instead of 15 days, and a circle of 12 stars appears on her chest. One will disappear with each hour that passes.

"We have twelve hours. We run."

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today’s post is on Samurai Deeper Kyo volume 14 by Akimine Kamijyo and is published by Tokyopop. As it is the 14th volume in the series you need to have read the previous ones to understand the story. On the cover is Kyo, Shinrei, and Hotaru looking cool and ready to fight. The intended reader is someone who is a fan samurai manga, complex plots, and surprising romance. There is language, lots of violence and some partial nudity. Older teens and adults only. The story is told in third person God point of view with some inner thoughts of the characters to add character and plot development. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- In the midst of Bontenmaru’s battle with the Mibu assassin, Firefly, Goyousei Chinmei suddenly appears! With his sights set on the Mibu headquarters, the time comes when Kyo and Muramasa must part… As the gang begins its hurried journey, Akira appears, carrying the ultimate prize: Kyo’s true body!

Review- So Kyo has learned everything that Muramasa can teach him so it is time to continue on the journey. Akira is now a main character and the Mibu now have Kyo’s true body. Add the pressure of Yuya’s time limit being put down to 12 hours and you have a very annoyed Kyo. He is at his best when he is annoyed. Not too much in character development in this volume but the plot gets going again. As much as I love Kyo Akira is something special. All three of them get to do lots of fighting and we have some good dialog to go with it. Now the bad guys take the time that Yuya has left with her water dragon and cuts to twelve hours. They have twelve hours to get to Shinrei and defeat him or Yuya will die. Only two more of the Four Emperors to get than they are all together again. More fighting and drama is certain and I love every minute of it.

I give this manga a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this manga with my own money.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh, this series is getting so good.

Kyo enters the scene and kicks serious booty, proving that his training was successful. Unfortunately, we lose Muramasa in a heartbreaking scene. We have an interesting encounter between Chinmei and Yukimura, which hopefully will be explained later. Kotaro and Sasuke begin a battle of their own.

The rest of the volume deals with Kyo, Akira, Yuya and, my favorite, Bontenmaru. Akira offers Kyo his body back, due to a deal he made with Okuni, but they cannot break through the ice. We find out that both Kyo and Kyoshiro were in the running to be the next Crimson King. We come across some sexy girls in the forest, and as Bontenmaru is losing his marbles over it, Yuya's death sentence is shortened to 12 hours by the creepy nurses that can glue themselves back together. Now our group needs to race to the Mibu in order to save Yuya.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kyo puts Mumyojinpu techniques he has learned from Muramasa to use as another Mibu assassin comes a-calling.We also meet Chinmei of the Five Stars, an anachronistic hippie character, who seems to be either mad or unspeakably evil. Should be fun a guy either way. Fourteen volumes and this title is still chugging away.

[Yvensong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kyo has learned what he can from his Sensei, and the group prepare to journey on in search of Kyo's body. As we leave people behind, we gain new people. Who do the travelers trust, and should they?

[keereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read

[Dominique "Eerie" Sobieska · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a bit dull when it starts off with Yuya and Kyoshiro. But as you progress, the plot thickens and newly cast members introduced piece by piece make this manga unique and a bit of a masterpiece. There are two main story lines: 1- Yuya is looking for the man that killed her brother and 2- Kyo is searching for his true body to exact his revenge. Every other plot in between just adds fuel to the story and lets you learn of the diverse background of many characters, friends or foes. The story itself was captivating and it is a shame that many people know of this series.

The art style refined over time, giving the battle scenes flaws execution. The each character had their own torments and demons to deal with but I would have to say that certain individuals needed more evolution or better backstory. The end was well received and left no stone unturned.

I have watched the anime adaptation and I don't recommend it. It doesn't do it justice.

Do I recommend:

Yes! Just not the anime!!