Kagurabachi, Vol. 3

カグラバチ [Kagurabachi] #3

by Takeru Hokazono

Chihiro Rokuhira’s father, Kunishige, is the most famous swordsmith in the land. Thanks to his six enchanted blades, the war that has been gripping the nation ends, and peaceful days follow. After the war, he retrieves all six blades and hides them in the cellar of his workshop—but sorcerers raid his home and leave Kunishige dead in front of Chihiro. Many years later, Chihiro wields Kunishige’s seventh and final enchanted blade on a mission to retrieve the stolen swords!

The strongest enchanted blade, known as the Shinuchi, is up for sale at a black market. Chihiro’s determined to steal the Shinuchi back, but standing in his way are skilled sorcerers devoted to safeguarding the auction. Can Chihiro slash his way through and reclaim the fabled katana?!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Action, Shonen, Comics, Fiction, Thriller

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2024

About the author

Takeru Hokazono (外薗健; Hokazono Takeru) is a Japanese mangaka.

Reviews

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

chihiro collecting and protecting all these little kids like they're pokemon

[Siona Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like a lot of the concepts in this series but I think I’ll wait for the anime instead of continuing with the manga.

[Lėja · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,25 ☆

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to protect Hakuri at all costs

[Adiba(mankind hater) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it sm!!! onto the next 🏃🏼‍♀️
also the cover of this one is SO PRETTY ARGHHHH 😭

[Mistborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

damn what a banger volume, I love the art style so much, every fight look like a painting, it's so beautiful.

[Tay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series is picking up and we’re meeting interesting characters. Some of who I liked but will never see again. Felt as though that was rushed pacing to show how “bad ass” The villain was. A tactic I think could have been executed better.

Hoping we get some more of this big bad. I do want to get some backstory for the Tou. They look cool and I’m never averse to learning the backstories of well designed characters. Regardless of if they’re villains or heroes.

Still riding this train and not getting off yet. The pacing could still use some work, but I explained that in my review of volume 1, so I won’t bemoan the point here.

[Leena · Rating 5 out of 5]

literally losing my mind over this!!! the BEST THING EVERRR LIKE ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Emmer Wilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

OH MY GOD, I JUST DEVOURED KAGURABACHI VOLUME 3 AND THE HYPE IS ACTUALLY REAL! 4 STARS because the Rakuza Ichi auction setup is absolute PEAK, even if some of the middle chapters felt a little heavy on the flashbacks! ⚔️🔥📉 I was literally screaming when Chihiro decided to go through with that drastic plan—he’s risking literally everything to get the Shinuchi back!

The world-building in this volume is IMMACULATE—we finally meet Kyora Sazanami, and his "Storehouse" power is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in manga recently! 👺🏯 The family drama between Hakuri and his brother Soya is so brutal and emotional, it had me clutching my chest! 😭💔 And don't even get me started on Hiyuki—the "Flame Bone of the Starving" is such a badass skill, she’s officially a favorite! The action sequences are giving total John Wick energy with that noir grit! 💥🎥

It’s a solid 4-star because while the art and tension are 10/10, the pacing sometimes slows down just as things get spicy! 💤⚔️ If you’re ready to see if Chihiro can reclaim his father’s fabled katana, go grab it at Crunchyroll or Amazon and join the mission! EVERY DAY I WAKE UP WITH FRESH HATRED. ✨⚔️🔥📉🌑

[Keith Gears · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 🌟

I think this volume was good but after reading 2 back to back volumes of peak this just wasn't quite as good as the other 2 volumes. That being said they did introduce the Sazanami clan and Hiyuki who are both sooo cool and amazing. I did love the ending and think the next volume will be another masterpiece peak volume so I can't wait.

[Jhamankys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dios mío, pero que desturque. Casi me da un infarto cuando Chihiro sede a Enten, pero gracias a dios mi hijo es un genio y ya tenía plan.

Veremos como termina el esperado Rakuzaichi!

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ngl I was like 50% through before I realized bro was still missing his arm

[Claudia Russo · Rating 5 out of 5]

the fact that i have to wait till October for the next book is criminal, it was just about to get into the crazy stuff

[Fny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh I need more…

[CinderScout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best of the series so far, this has been my fave new series I've read this year, good writing, with fantastic action. 4.6

[Silvy Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

love this third vol such a cool plot.
come on can't wait for vol 4 .
chihiro and hakuri...

[Buddy_Aech · Rating 5 out of 5]

RAAAHHHHHH
Love this series, love this book, love the art love the story love this characters, I loved this.
FLAME BONE LADY IS SO COOL.
And CHIHIRO WITH CLOUD GOUGER???
Time for the next book.

[Rin · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of the characters are too similarly drawn sometimes

[A_MOTUS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce nouvel arc a l'air fascinant avec de nouveaux personnages et l'existence de Chihiro qui commence a être connue.

[riley ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Characters-wise, a new character, Hiyuki, is introduced! She's so badass, and she seems like a type who cares about her pride and discipline. Chihiro is consistently reminded of the conflicted intensions of the sacred blades his dad created by other characters, which is interesting. I'm kinda puzzled by why Chihiro trusted the Sazanami guy (Hakuri) so easily, like I know he's being portrayed as a reliable character even with his individual scenes, but they'd really be troubled if he was just bluffing. Considering how the head of the Sazanami clan is super chilled, I just wonder how he planned ahead for the arrival of Chihiro! (this was for the first half)

I really admire how the fighting panels are done! The artwork is very clean and brings to an active form. But I feel like some drawings need to have a detailed touch. For example, some characters' faces look a bit bland, and this sometimes makes me go uneasy with reading, while the storyline proceeds to tense up.

Now, for the story, the plot has so much retelling of predecessors to make us understand more about the lore, and I love how easy it is to follow these fantasy elements! In this volume, Chihiro gave up his Enten, so WOW WOW I'm looking forward to the next chapters! It's a great story of vengeance. Can't wait to see Hiyuki in action again because she seems such an entertaining character, and so is Char! Also, I need more of Mr. Shiba's own stories (I'm sorry but his name sounds hilarious, so I couldn't take him serious in the last volumes.) Really love how this story is progressing!!

[Ben Canfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still relentless, but I do hope that this series starts to dedicate a little more time to developing the relationships between main characters. As fun as the fight sequences are, it can sometimes feel like the story is rushed from one fight to the next. I feel like Char sort of got left behind in this volume.

[Elizabeth Del Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que tortura esperar nuevos capítulos… Chihiro me encanta y Hakuri es un personaje precioso con una historia muy triste! Pero tengo por seguro que esos dos harán un buen equipo en el futuro, tienen gran potencial!

[Bekah Stegner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love the Rakuzaichi arc. Feels like a fantasy heist and those are the best! 🤌🏻 Also the cover!? Might be my fav so far. Can't wait to own these physically!!!

[Norman Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still being entertained by this series, a sort of mix of John Wick, magic swords, and with this volume, Ocean's 11. I'm getting used to the scene cross-cutting, which I'm sure will work better in the eventual anime. I'm also getting comfortable with the large cast of characters, which is added to in this volume. Nicely detailed drawings with good action and fight layouts.

[Brittany | Magically_Blonde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of setting up this volume with new characters and more information about the auction. Some pretty good action in there, but I know it’s about to GO DOWN—especially with the return of cloud gouger!?!?

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

So begins the Rakuzaichi Arc! Hokazono deserves some credit for being able to find a way to rip off the Yorkshin Arc from Hunter x Hunter. Not many battle manga stories can justify having an auction arc. Are there even any others?

I first read these chapters when they were originally running in Jump about a year and a half ago, so my memory is semi-fuzzy and some things happened sooner than I recall. The battle against Hiyuki makes sense to my memory, but I totally forgot Hakuri was introduced so soon, and that he was involved in the battle a bit, and that him falling unconscious is why Tafuku's Sorcery deactivated. I also forgot that we met Kyora and the Tou so early as well. But on the other hand, I expected the Ice Milf to show up here rather than Volume 4.

With Hiyuki, it's interesting Hokazono introduces Flame Bone as a magical artifact on par with the Enchanted Blades, but we don't really have anything else like it seventy chapters later. Flame Bone does expand the lore such that we can have more interesting things than just seven Enchanted Blades controlling all the power (even though multiple antagonists will use the Shinuchi's strength...). Tafuku kind of has a broken Sorcery, so it's bittersweet he won't be used in future arcs (so far); his "ring" is overpowered, but Hokazono gets around this by just... omitting Tafuku (and Hiyuki, for that matter) from the next arcs.

On a similar note, we are introduced to the Isou magic of the Sazanami clan, establishing clan-based Sorceries as another bit of lore to theoretically set up newer, later antagonists. But it's also unfortunate that all four members of the Tou use the same ability. And, while the thing that will happen next(?) volume will be cool, it's maybe also unfortunate that we'll see yet more Isou for HYPE. This is maybe a consequence of the way Hokazono writes henchman characters. In the near-ish future, we at least get several Hishaku with differing skill-sets.

There's some weird shit here now that we know more about Kasen of the Kamunabi. I guess his methods are consistent, and it's not entirely absurd for him to bid on the Shinuchi, but... the reason the Shinuchi is outside of Kamunabi control already... and the things we know now... Huh.

Chihiro should have cast Yui at the end. Because the full-page panel of him using Cloud Gouger is COLD as ICE. (Okay, I'll leave now.)

Tamaki a cute!

[Virgínia · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Capítulos - 19 - 27]

O terceiro volume de Kagurabachi inicia um novo arco, envolvendo uma espada diferente desta vez: a Shinuchi.

Após a morte de Sojo, Chihiro parte em busca de novas pistas sobre as restantes espadas mágicas e os seus paradeiros. Ele acaba por tomar conhecimento do leilão Rakuzachi, onde o seu item mais valioso é precisamente a espada Shinuchi. Naturalmente que a vida de um protagonista não é fácil (independentemente da sua geografia). Chihiro é um homem procurado pela Kamunabi. Com o início de um novo arco, o autor introduz novas personagens: Hyuki e Tafuku da Kamunabi, e o clã Sazanami do submundo criminoso.

Mais uma vez, o volume pauta-se pelo seu enquadramento interessante - e quase cinematográfico - de quadros, para além de cenas de ação fluídas. O mistério central deste volume prende-se exatamente com a Shinuchi. Afinal, quais são exatamente os seus poderes e porque Kunishige afirmou que a espada tinha uma "personalidade terrível"?

Como já o referi na minha primeira resenha sobre o mangá, Kagurabachi é um dos mangás mais falados/populares nos dias de hoje. A cada volume tenho lido resenhas de outras pessoas, sempre elogiando a obra com imenso entusiasmo - ao ponto de classificarem com 5 estrelas. Pessoalmente, o mangá ainda não me cativou completamente. Sim, a sua história é interessante e ficamos curiosos em ir descobrindo este mundo de espadas mágicas aos poucos. Porém, sinto que o ritmo da história está tão acelerado que não deixa quase tempo nenhum para as personagens (e por extensão nós leitores) respirarem. Encontrar um equilíbrio é difícil e, por vezes, mesmo autores estimados pelo público têm problemas em alguns dos seus livros. No entanto, como sou o tipo de pessoa que detesta a chamada «regra dos 3 episódios», certamente continuarei a ler até pelo menos o capítulo 50. Após isso, terei que rever o estatuto de Kagurabachi na minha estante de leituras.

[kthedestroyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

There will be SPOILERS in this review!

Well, this took me a while. I’m not sure how long, mind you, but definitely too long. I mean… according to my data I finished reading the second volume in 2024 so that’s pretty bad I guess.

But the volume itself is not bad I swear. There were things that happened in this time - mainly the fact that I just enjoyed reading novels more than manga, but I was also in a bit of a reading block lately. I’m not sure whether finishing this volume will help me in the long term but I’m here now.

The best part of this volume is probably Hakuri and the dynamic he has with my boy Chihiro. I feel so bad for him because of ho his family treats him - especially his father and I really appreciate the fact that Chihiro is actually trying to help this man even though he is weak and presents a weak point of their entire group. This man gave up his sword to save Hakuri’s life and yes, I know he had a plan, but he didn’t know if it would even work so he still gets props for it. But yeah, Hakuri is chill and I hope he gets out of this toxic environment that is his family.

Also Hakuri’s big brother deserves an honorable mention because he is kinda funny even though it’s in kind of a sadistic way.

But back to Chihiro… I just love this man. He is so kind especially with kids. I have to mention the fact that he saves that little boy at the end and his entire demeanor changes. It’s really cute and wholesome.

Oh and Mr Shiba is so cool here. I mean, the man is jumping back and forth between to fights. It can’t get much cooler than that.

But yeah, it took me a while. I think this volume deserves 4 stars. Maybe it’s because I had a big pause in the middle of reading it but it just didn’t hit the same as the first one. I hope the next few volumes build up on this though.

[Alessandro Parisi]

Chihiro e Togo si mettono sulle tracce di chi ha manipolato Sojo fino a quel momento e scoprono che la spada magica Shinuchi è stata messa all’asta. Decidono quindi di intervenire per fermare l’evento.

Durante le indagini, Chihiro salva un prigioniero di nome Hakuri, dopo aver sconfitto i suoi carcerieri. Hakuri è un membro della rinomata famiglia di stregoni Sazanami, da cui però è stato rinnegato per via della sua apparente debolezza. I Sazanami sono da tempo i custodi del Rakuzaichi, un mercato nero in cui da anni si commercia illegalmente con esseri umani e materiali magici.

Venuto a conoscenza dell’asta, Chihiro decide di fermarla per impedire che la Shinuchi finisca nelle mani sbagliate.

Tuttavia, la situazione si complica con l’arrivo dei Kamunabi, accompagnati da Hiyuki, con l’obiettivo di sottrarre a Chihiro la sua spada. Durante lo scontro, Hakuri rimane ferito nel tentativo di proteggerlo, come gesto di riconoscenza per la salvezza offerta da Chihiro e per la sua determinazione nel salvare la città.

Chihiro riesce a fuggire con Hakuri e si unisce nuovamente a Togo e agli altri per elaborare un piano. I Kamunabi, nel frattempo, tramano anch’essi per impadronirsi della Shinuchi e della leggendaria Settima Lama.

Nel tentativo di fermare l’asta, Chihiro e Togo si mettono in contatto con Kyoto Sazanami, ma non riescono ad accedere al magazzino dove sono custoditi prigionieri umani e il prezioso minerale usato per le spade magiche. L’accesso viene infatti bloccato dalle guardie del corpo di Kyoto, tra cui figura anche Hoya, fratello di Hakuri.

Infine, il Rakuzaichi ha inizio. Chihiro, deciso a sabotare l’asta dall’interno, entra in azione utilizzando il piccolo Inazuma per cercare di eludere il sistema di sicurezza del mercato.