Agreed. While I'm thankful for any character development lately, I kinda liked Kanki and his crew when they were utterly ruthless scum. Not sure I need a sob story to justify their deeds present and past.
Kingdom
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Which volume number are they up to now? I've been holding of for a while to create a backlog because reading this chapter by chapter is just the worst
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@wolfwood think there's like 66 volumes, or 67 now?
I don't mind some Kanki humanization. Or even further dehumanization, lol. He could still end up being the son of that torturing noble for all we know.
Oh and would be cool if we'd see some of Kanki's other generals in younger days, but considering how few people know about his past, I doubt that.
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@Razh Sure, depending on what turn the flashback takes this could still prove interesting. I just hope we're not in for "deep down, he was a nice guy all along".
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@Seafarer33 maybe more innocent, but doubt he was that nice. We've seen he cares about his close circle, anyone else is expendable.
I imagine these bandits will be "decorated" to serve as a warning to the rest of their clan. If you think about it, a clan of outnumbered kids doesn't have that many options to avoid retribution. But mutilating the bandits they kill and making corpse statues to instill fear into their clanmates could be a strong deterrent.
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I like this reveal because it pretty much confirms what I've been the entire time: This dude is a villain. That he is on the sights of the protagonists doesn't change that. He has a very problematic outlook on the world. I'm curious to see how many people are still giving him a pass because he's a Qin general. I strongly disagree with his world view but it's nice to watch people defend a guy like that
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Chapter 737:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/94713684-fac9-4ca3-95b1-9cfbd6326e55/1It's not a matter of praise but the opposite. The main takeaway was that the plan was an unethical one that took the homes away from thousands of Zhao's own citizens.
What Futei was saying to Kaine was, "Don't just blame Shunsuiju for this strategy, Riboku was the one that gave it his approval in the end"
Riboku wasn't getting the credit but the accountability of having enacted it. -
@darktravis
Well that makes a lot more sense then. Thanks for clearing that up? -
This is just another case of "we don't need scouts".
"The wells? They're probably fine. Don't check them too thoroughly."
"And don't lock up the old people who were left in the city."
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Yeah. All of this to culminate in another episode of "Oh, Riboku-sama is the awesome, he is so much a genius everyone played into his hand now let me roll on the floor in awe". It's like no-one else in the entire series has a brain... I'm still skimming through chapters just to stay in touch, but honestly I can't wait for this part to be over and the Qin army to take the initiative again.
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To think I was actually confused and trying to think of scenarios that would end in almost everyone dying by morning.
Yet again Hara uses the art of fooling the reader by cutting corners with plot induced stupidity!
I'm still enjoying the show a lot, but repetition of such lazy tropes keeps bringing it down.
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I would at least give them the benefit of the doubt if they conquered Sekirei after a tough and bloody battle. But they got the city handed to them on a silver platter and even made a big deal out of the fact that it went to easy. And nobody had the idea to check if there wasn't anything set up as a trap? Bullshit!
At this point I'm not even mad at the Riboku is clever thing but rather that everyone else is utterly braindead.
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His greatest feats rely on enemy generals being on week long benders.
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I feel that the old saying "among the blind the one-eyed man is king" fits here perfectly.
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Something tells me they didn't went to Hika.
https://mangadex.org/chapter/994a59cd-f1ed-4276-a93d-99a3e010b322/1
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@KageKageKing
That surely would be a good troll moment if that was the case. -
Mangasail has an early translation that's one chapter ahead of Sense, just saying.
Your eyes will bleed when reading as it's almost on par with the One Piece era of Sunkist and Bisoromi Bear, but still it's there.Not much to comment on the actual story: between Kanki's crew hogging all the character development and Riboku's out-of-this-world awesomeness (which I mean in a bad way), I may be curious as to how Qin will overcome this one but deep down I'm really just waiting for the next arc.
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@Seafarer33 I read it for a few chapters and then decided Sense is worth a few days wait. Now I'm used to "late" releases again, lol.
Kanki was a lot more fun as a character when he relied more on meticulous trickery, and less on gory landscaping. So I'm also hoping he's just trolling. Based on Kanki's track record, Riboku will at least be forced to split his forces. Might just buy Qin enough time?
Since we keep getting reminded how nothing Kanki does is without purpose, one can't help but wonder if all the atrocities his army had done were partly for the sake of a future gamble like this one? This corpse tree and the message wouldn't have been nearly as convincing if it weren't for Kokuyou (villager bridge) and Eikyuu (100.000 soldiers) massacres.
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@Razh I can totally get prefering to wait, to call the early release clunky is still an understatement
And yes, Kanki's track record should definitely play a part in the success of his latest trick. Kind of a weird mindset for him to prepare the future by committing atrocities, though. "Oh, Christmas is almost there, let's decorate the city with cut body parts you never know when it may come in handy"... At least I'm not worried anymore about him being a good guy at heart.
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@Seafarer33 that mindset is how the Saki clan in the current form came to be, basically. He devised a basic method to prevent future attacks by instilling fear into other bandit clans, and has just been increasing the scope of it over time.
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Well, that most recent chapter could have cut the ramblings down to half the size and you wouldn't have missed out on anything.
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Well, that most recent chapter could have cut the ramblings down to half the size and you wouldn't have missed out on anything.
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Gotta admit, I'm glad to see Riboku caught off-guard after all the time story spent rubbing in our faces how much a genius he is yadda yadda.
Although on some level, I'm also annoyed that the entire Qin chain of command had to behave like gullible morons (the usual lack of scouting, trusting an enemy well, and so on) to allow for this little moment. Which he will get away from unscathed of course, who are we fooling Ribs has been the one and only notable opposing force for the last...decade ? No way Hara is letting him go so easily.
Unrelated, whatever is Ousen up to in the meantime ? Hopefully something Nasty while Riboku is completely focused on Kanki.
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Well, thank god for plot armor, heh.
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Was to be expected. But if we can get Kaine killed next chapter I will consider this all a huge success.
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@Ivotas As you say. I'm not surprised either that Riboku is getting away alive, but I still find appalling that he does so while having come back in the thick of the melee (that everyone is sacrificing themselves to get him out of , lol).
Zenou is nowhere to be seen after taking the volley of arrows and no-one in the Qin army that is supposedly overwhelming the Zhao HQ so much as tries to backstab Ribs, it's like they were all focused on Kaine's duel. I swear, Riboku's greatest strength is that he somehow makes people around him stupid.
I will give points to the archer at the end for at least trying, but I don't expect much out of it other than minor flesh wound or Kaine/some other support character taking the arrow in his stead.
In the end it's nothing unexpected from a shonen, mostly I guess I'm annoyed by this nagging impression lately, that Kingdom is turning into the story of Kanki and Riboku with Shin & co as cameo side-characters
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Well, if Kaine herself says that such a promise was never made I don't see much reason to keep her around Hara. Kill her please.
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Well, if Kaine herself says that such a promise was never made I don't see much reason to keep her around Hara. Kill her please.
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Chapter 745:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/be829904-9b73-4c0a-9a3d-3cac443d4aeb/1At some point I really will have to figure out the release schedule of this.
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In case anybody even cares at this point, here's chapter 746:
https://mangadex.org/chapter/86a5bd9f-4f36-4065-8ec0-61a61b7eb203/1 -
I'm still following it as well, thanks for linking. Not much I would want to discuss since the story at large is on a downwards spiral, but the last 2 chapters suggest we could be about to lose Kanki for real so I'm hanging to the edge of my seat. (too many of his close lieutenants are biting the dust, no way he can be a credible threat as a general after this).
Although in the event he does croak, I have a hard time imagining how the Qin can believably continue their conquest seeing how they threw everything in that one offensive and we were told ad nauseam how they bought
MarySueRiboku's trap hook, line and sinker.For me, Kingdom at the moment is kind of a long-term story, I guess? You know there's bound to be interesting developments if you wait long enough and read it all in one sitting, but on a weekly basis it's a drag and there are too many elements that don't even remotely make sense anymore on the tactical/strategical aspect, which is what originally drew me in.
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I stopped following this closely a while ago. I mostly skim the chapters to see where it's at but i am no longer invested. The gritty early days are long gone and it's mostly shonen super powers now.
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I still follow it weekly, sometimes even checking the early scans. The last few chapters have definitely slowed things down. It's basically 4 chapters of prolonged Yu-Gi-Oh anime duel chain.
Now we have Kanki in trouble but one can't help but wonder when he'll reveal yet another trap card or a graveyard effect. He doesn't look worried but then again he never does.
On a related note, when was the last time anyone saw Maron?
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On a related note, when was the last time anyone saw Maron?
Good catch, in fact I don't know if we ever saw him on an actual battlefield now that you mention it. I think he was with Kanki when they retreated across that river, but afterwards I lost track. He could be up to something, but he could also have turned tail seeing how he was always the cautious one.
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I just want this conflict to be over with because I got unfortunally spoilered on the outcome of this a couple of years ago and I was just waiting for the conclusion to the spoiler to come so that I can move forward and finally know nothing about what's to come.
Don't worry, I'm not gonna spoiler you as I was spoilered. I don't even know is this right now is the moment in question or not. That's exactly what's so frustrating. Just want to get it over with.
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@Ivotas if you're refering to what I think, I do remember someone mentioning in this very thread how their confrontation ended historically. I would have expected this outcome to be a few more years later in the timeline, but it does look like we're setting up the pieces for a conclusion and the manga only quotes history very occasionally, so...
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@Seafarer33
Yep, that's the thing I'm talking about. I've been waiting for this part to just get over with to finally be black to a blank slate. Because even if this is not the moment where that event takes places it's even more annoying because then you know it won't end here until that certain event. Kind of ruins the entire excitement for me. -
I know what both of you are talking about, but there's always a chance Hara will flip some things over, like he already did in the past.
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@Razh
My thoughts exactly. Like when Qin prime minister Whatshisname was executed and the manga quoted historical records on it, but then took extra steps to show how he had really gone in hiding in the neighbouring country.We have an idea where the confrontation is supposedly heading, but there is enough wiggling room to let it still be entertaining.
