Scan barcode
A review by cyanide_latte
Shaman King, Vol. 2 by Hiroyuki Takei
4.0
I'm surprised that the chapters in this particular volume are the ones I somehow remember best from my days of reading serial chapter publications in the English editions of Shonen Jump. I certainly didn't recall the events occurring so soon, but perhaps that's just rusty memory; it has been half my lifetime ago that I read them, after all.
That being said, I definitely enjoyed revisiting these chapters in this volume. Meeting Anna is a peculiar thing as an adult; I think as a teenager, yes, she came across as a badass and many of my friends and I wanted to be just like her: cool and tough, and able to keep a guy like Yoh in line. As an adult, I feel like there's a lot more packed into Anna's introduction than we realize, because she strikes me as a character who has more riding on her shoulders than she lets on, and that reveals itself in the things she says, the way in which she acts regarding this need—not want, need—to help shape Yoh into the Shaman King. (I agree with some other reviewers that it's a little strange and perhaps disheartening to see the newly introduced female characters aim for goals to push the males in their lives towards the goal of becoming the Shaman King rather than want that for themselves, but I suppose that I can understand why this is the case.)
Additionally, I'm still a sucker for the story (and budding dynamic) between Tao Jun and Lee Bailong. I feel the volume ends in a way that promises a lot of growth for both of them as individuals and as a team, and I want to see that come to fruition as the story progresses.
That being said, I definitely enjoyed revisiting these chapters in this volume. Meeting Anna is a peculiar thing as an adult; I think as a teenager, yes, she came across as a badass and many of my friends and I wanted to be just like her: cool and tough, and able to keep a guy like Yoh in line. As an adult, I feel like there's a lot more packed into Anna's introduction than we realize, because she strikes me as a character who has more riding on her shoulders than she lets on, and that reveals itself in the things she says, the way in which she acts regarding this need—not want, need—to help shape Yoh into the Shaman King. (I agree with some other reviewers that it's a little strange and perhaps disheartening to see the newly introduced female characters aim for goals to push the males in their lives towards the goal of becoming the Shaman King rather than want that for themselves, but I suppose that I can understand why this is the case.)
Additionally, I'm still a sucker for the story (and budding dynamic) between Tao Jun and Lee Bailong. I feel the volume ends in a way that promises a lot of growth for both of them as individuals and as a team, and I want to see that come to fruition as the story progresses.