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The Valiant Must Fall #4
The Valiant Must Fall 4
After Shino confides in her sister, Enka decides to let Shino go, making it clear she will stop anyone who tries to kill their mother. Shino and Haruyasu go to retrieve the sessho-seki that Shino previously hid, but they discover Shino’s brother, Ikumatsu, has stolen it. When Ikumatsu goes rogue, the government sends a new agent—former Shinsengumi captain Fujita Goro!
- GenresManga
208 pages, Paperback
First published May 29, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 2, 2025
I got into this manga for the fantasy, but it's just as much historical fiction. Leave it to Saitou Hajime to pull me back into the period (I know him, of course, from Rurouni Kenshin). This volume is heavy on both, fantasy and history, and balances them well. It reminds me how much I enjoy this period.
August 7, 2025
Unanticipated allyship. Uncontested aims. Unpredictable outcomes. Things are getting seriously complicated for Haryuasu, Shino, and the sessho-seki. The government is getting serious about tracking down the sacred sword, but not everyone on the case is of the same mind.
THE VALIANT MUST FALL v4 maneuvers the viewfinder: Instead of viewing this scenario from the perspective of the thieves who thrust themselves against the will and whim of the government, readers now view this problem from the perspectives and experiences of those brought into the fold to solve the issue on behalf of the government. Military officials. Sympathetic family members. Police officers. Hungry hands make for a messy endeavor.
This is a good volume. The story expands and complexifies. For example, Ikumatsu, Shino's impetuous little brother, takes it upon himself to wield his blade against the Imperial Archive with the rationale of freeing his family from the perils of the government. Enka, Shino's sister, is likewise in a position to take action, but decides to stay neutral, convinced that Shino should make her own decision (and bear the consequences accordingly).
Further, readers find themselves on the heels of Imperial Archive lesser secretary Yamanouchi Arinori, a clever and steadfast man, as he recruits a local police officer to aid in tracking down Shino's gang. Arinori's involvement isn't the complicated part; the complicated part is that the local policeman, Fujita Goro, is running from a past as a brutal enforcer. Goro longs to live the quiet life with his cute wife, but for a man whose past is soaked with blood, an escape to domesticity is surely impossible.
And so, these differing parties with different expectations collide and crisscross. THE VALIANT MUST FALL v4 queries whether Shino and Haruyasu will survive their encounters with clever government retainers long enough to get what they need, queries whether Arinori will control his charges long enough to get the answers he desires, and queries whether the Shino clan's extended family can get its act together before the government gets its own ideas. Everyone has a sword and everyone has an ambition, but nobody is in a position to succeed.
THE VALIANT MUST FALL v4 has very little action, but the drama is pretty solid and the humor pokes its nose into the story at singularly appropriate times. As for the book's humor, Ikumatsu's boyishness goes without saying. But a more comical example occurs when Haruyasu is chided by Enku for his "sloppy kimono," after which the man attempts to act more refined, only to be rebuked by Shino for acting like a stiff. The man just can't win.
As for the drama, a compelling flashback to the fall of Tsuruga Castle (Aizu domain) connects Haruyasu (ronin) and Arimori (Imperial Archive) in a way that wrenches the heartstrings. To wit, Haruyasu is not a zealot clansman, and likewise, Arimori is not an unfeeling bureaucrat. Separately, the manga takes a fascinating and earnest approach to furnishing a rather notorious historical figure. Indeed, Saito Hajime is frequently rendered in manga/anime media as relentless, infamous, and in many instances, an absolute psychopath. But here, readers find a post-war swordsman exhausted with the facile obligations of public authority and just trying to get by. In such narrative twists, the author usually has an opportunity to do something unique or something tragic...
THE VALIANT MUST FALL v4 maneuvers the viewfinder: Instead of viewing this scenario from the perspective of the thieves who thrust themselves against the will and whim of the government, readers now view this problem from the perspectives and experiences of those brought into the fold to solve the issue on behalf of the government. Military officials. Sympathetic family members. Police officers. Hungry hands make for a messy endeavor.
This is a good volume. The story expands and complexifies. For example, Ikumatsu, Shino's impetuous little brother, takes it upon himself to wield his blade against the Imperial Archive with the rationale of freeing his family from the perils of the government. Enka, Shino's sister, is likewise in a position to take action, but decides to stay neutral, convinced that Shino should make her own decision (and bear the consequences accordingly).
Further, readers find themselves on the heels of Imperial Archive lesser secretary Yamanouchi Arinori, a clever and steadfast man, as he recruits a local police officer to aid in tracking down Shino's gang. Arinori's involvement isn't the complicated part; the complicated part is that the local policeman, Fujita Goro, is running from a past as a brutal enforcer. Goro longs to live the quiet life with his cute wife, but for a man whose past is soaked with blood, an escape to domesticity is surely impossible.
And so, these differing parties with different expectations collide and crisscross. THE VALIANT MUST FALL v4 queries whether Shino and Haruyasu will survive their encounters with clever government retainers long enough to get what they need, queries whether Arinori will control his charges long enough to get the answers he desires, and queries whether the Shino clan's extended family can get its act together before the government gets its own ideas. Everyone has a sword and everyone has an ambition, but nobody is in a position to succeed.
THE VALIANT MUST FALL v4 has very little action, but the drama is pretty solid and the humor pokes its nose into the story at singularly appropriate times. As for the book's humor, Ikumatsu's boyishness goes without saying. But a more comical example occurs when Haruyasu is chided by Enku for his "sloppy kimono," after which the man attempts to act more refined, only to be rebuked by Shino for acting like a stiff. The man just can't win.
As for the drama, a compelling flashback to the fall of Tsuruga Castle (Aizu domain) connects Haruyasu (ronin) and Arimori (Imperial Archive) in a way that wrenches the heartstrings. To wit, Haruyasu is not a zealot clansman, and likewise, Arimori is not an unfeeling bureaucrat. Separately, the manga takes a fascinating and earnest approach to furnishing a rather notorious historical figure. Indeed, Saito Hajime is frequently rendered in manga/anime media as relentless, infamous, and in many instances, an absolute psychopath. But here, readers find a post-war swordsman exhausted with the facile obligations of public authority and just trying to get by. In such narrative twists, the author usually has an opportunity to do something unique or something tragic...
March 9, 2025
A nice consolidation of the storyline. A lot of backstory to get more familiar with everyone.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews