knowing Japanese geography better than I used to makes me appreciate this manga more

You know what I have done with my day? I have spent it reading thirteen volumes of Basara.

Totally worth it.

I love how there is a whole subplot dedicated to getting across the fact that it's not enough for the privileged oppressors to be kind, that it doesn't matter how nice they are if they can't see you as an equal.

I also love the STAR-CROSSED ROMANCE of ridiculous proportions. He's the Red King, dedicated to taking over Japan by force and remaking it anew! She's the Child of Destiny, dedicated to deposing the ruling monarchy and . . . remaking Japan, and also to killing the Red King who had her family slaughtered! Neither of them know who the other is. Together, HIJINKS!

The best thing about them is, however, all the times Sarasa goes "Sorry, Shuri! I have more important things to do right now than hook up with you. Later!" It happens ALL THE TIME, and it is beautiful.

One of my favorite things about this manga, though, is the way all the characters are growing up. A lot of them are teenagers, and a lot of them are either (or both) naive and horrible people, and there is a definite point being made here about . . . argh, there is a specific word here that I'm not remembering. Let's say upbringing, instead, and privilege. The Red King grew up like Zuko, basically, only without any kooky uncles or kindly mothers. Asagi probably grew up manipulating people to survive, or as the only way to gain the power he felt he should have had. And neither of them, or any of Basara's other privileged children, have really been around normal people who will give them hugs or smack them for doing stupid things. And it shows, not just in the way they interact with people but in the way interacting with people changes them. Even the characters I don't like will probably grow up to be okay people. I'm looking forward to seeing them by the end.

. . . At the point where I am reading, Shuri just said "How am I supposed to know if you just smile like an idiot! Say things straight out! I don't . . . notice these kinds of things, because I'm not that bright!" My point, it has been proven. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

There is also a character in the Red Kingdom, Sakaki, who is basically Japan's Reeve Tuesti. He's pretty awesome. And there is a pacifist artist in Suou, who just wants to paint pretty things and have people not fight. And there is Chacha, the badass pirate queen. Ageha, the former slave who really does have connections everywhere. Yuuna, the hard-hitting doctor-in-training. SO MANY GREAT CHARACTERS.

I also like the way Basara treats nudity. People just happen to not wear clothes sometimes, or they lose their undershirt or something, and nobody freaks out over it. They bathe together, hug bare-chested in cold weather while sensibly wrapping their coats around the outside for warmth, change clothes in front of other people, whatever. It's no big deal. I don't think I realized previously how often it is treated like a big deal, not just in manga but in all media. It's usually eroticized or treated as a terrible thing (someone seeing me without clothes on? oh no!) and clothes frequently show up when it would have seemed more natural to not have any. Starving for weeks at a time = a-okay to portray realistically. A girl taking off her shirt to use it for non-clothing purposes = NEVER. But in Basara, people take their clothes off all the time and nobody cares. It makes me happy.

There are other things that make me super happy, but they are big spoilers so I'll stay quiet for now.