First of our two main characters is Tatsumi, the sad-boi who was brought in a ninja clan to be a soulless weapon of his people and kill demons, all the while trying not to be possessed by the very demon sword that he uses to kill said enemies. He's pretty straight forward, competent in what he does, slowly struggles to deal with his growing emotional attachment with his rag tag group of companions that are forced upon him.
The second of our two main characters is Yumeko. A wiley half-kitsune girl who is entrusted in protecting and delivering our plot device, the Dragon Scroll. Over all nothing about her particularly is bad but I had some issues with how she's being used and the inconsistency of her character.
First being that we get a lot of her personality at the beginning and how her powers work, she likes taking the easy way out using her powers, she mischievous and playful. Unfortunately, this doesn't really follow the rest of the story. Shes portrayed later as a kind, save everyone she can, naive girl who gives good advice. Which isn't bad, but again doesn't suit the character that's introduced to us. She plays no jokes and her mischievousness is all but forgotten. The the author tries to use the excuse that she cant use her power because then her companions will know. But it would have been interested to see HOW she would use her powers without them knowing. On the flip side to that though, it IS interesting seeing how she's still a useful part of their group without using her powers.
Another thing I don't think I'm a fan of, which didn't play a part in this book, but might in the future installments, is I guess she's a prophesied chosen one? Which I think is just unnecessary. I would have liked it more as, she's the only one left alive, shes the only one that can successfully deliver the scroll.
Which leads into my next issue with the plot. There wasn't really a reason she HAD to be a Kitsune. Her race and abilities didn't suit the journey. The bad guy knew who she was and where they were all along. It's not like Yumeko was hiding the scroll and deceiving ANYONE except her companions who were I guess tricked into helping her?
Lastly! They had this running gag with one of the companions who kept using sarcasm, but Yumeko was too "naive" to understand so it was always lost on her. This just seemed kind of dumb. I really feel like it would have made more sense for her to KNOW but chose not to reveal it and be playing a joke by pretending she was naive.
I also didn't like that they were creating a romance between the two main characters. I can't remember exactly their age, I know they're both young but I was under the impression that Yumeko was too young to even really be falling in love or anything. It's sort of Tatsumi's issue he's dealing with, this girl he's falling for. But I think it should have just been that the way Yumeko handled others, with kindness that was never given to him, he's starting to want to live another way. So she could influence his change without being the soul reason for it.
I think Chapter 14 was one of my favorites. Really any chapter where you see the drastic difference between Tatsumi and Yumeko. I liked how her first instinct is kindness and logic, like our favorite proverb-boy Iroh from A:TLAB. I love the line where the Ronin says, careful the wild dog will bite you, and Yumeko says It will protect you if you throw it a crumb instead of a stone.
HOWEVER, this brings up a problem with how the author formatted her novel. There is no build up and pay off. Like this scene with the Ronin, and an earlier one with a Wind Witch, she sets something up and it is immediately revealed by the end of the chapter or the very next one.
I know it sounds like I have a lot of complaints but it was still an enjoyable read and I still recommend and rating it fairly high.
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