Ok ladies, gentlemen, and others what we have here is a classic case of 'It was good, but it was definitely not for me.' This could be for several reasons. One is that I am not the target demographic and thus I'm not necessarily supposed to like it. But that is a flawed argument. A more probable one is that it just didn't connect with me. The main character, in particular, is the type that I tend to clash with while reading, and sometimes you just don't figure that out until you start reading. Back to talking about the books in more specifics, I was quite intrigued by the premises. It sounded really cool and from what I read there is some major potential in here. The art was also really nice. Everyone was identifiable immediately and the demons looked really cool. I think other people will like this more and I encourage them to give this one a read.

I’m a big fan of manga, especially fantasy action manga, and Orient looked right up my alley from an aesthetic perspective. For the most part, it definitely hits what I’d expect from a manga of it’s genre.

Featuring a town that is ruled over by Demons pretending to be Gods, two characters named Musashi & Kojiro have been training since they were children to become Bushi — aka demon slayers — in secret. The two find themselves in a situation where they encounter a fearsome Demon God, and the rest of the manga is just basically one giant action set piece with multiple moments of character development.

Some of the weaker moments of this manga involved pacing and the character work. Regarding pacing, the manga starts off fairly slow and interesting but ramps up immediately into an action set piece for the rest of the duration. Unfortunately, because of this, not much worldbuilding in the people, town, or how things came to be the way they are is accomplished. While flashy and cool, it does leave one constantly wondering why, how and when this world became what it is. Not only that, we’re introduced to another force in this world just a little over halfway through of the manga that could have easily been saved either for the next volume or should have been introduced earlier on, as it causes the story to feel too bloated with barely any development on new elements.

The character work is also woven into the fight scenes, which make up most of this manga, but the development either repeats itself from chapter to chapter OR seems to become just a character hitting a realization and then immediately reverting. It made these moments feel confusing and brought me out of the story a few times.

The art in this manga is pretty great though, and I found myself really digging the style and the way characters looked — be it the main characters or supporting cast, antagonists, or even effects. The weapon choice for the main character was also a welcome change of pace, as I’m so used to characters in stories like this using swords or their fists, and here we have something less frequently used.

While I had a hard time becoming super invested in this world, I liked the potential for the story, the main cast, and the art enough to want to continue the series. I’m eagerly anticipating Volume 2 to see where the story will go from here. As of right now, I’m remaining cautiously optimistic and hopeful the story and writing will only grow from here.

There are few historical figures who’ve had such widespread and varied fictional appearances as Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kōjiro. These famed samurai have inspired everything from period-appropriate fighting game characters to sci-fi RPGs, from an Iron Maiden song to Pokemon‘s Jessie and James. Orient, by Shinobu Ohtaka (Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Sumomomo Momomo), joins this tradition with an energetic action romp that casts Musashi and Kōjiro as two young warriors in a world overrun by demons and where swordsmanship is a long-lost art.

In Hinomoto, a fictionalised version of Japan, the sengoku era came to a very different end: out of nowhere, mysterious “demon gods” appeared and wiped out the nation’s would-be unifiers. The few humans who tried to fight back were dubbed the “Band of Bushi”, but the demons gods’ rule was overwhelming. Fast-forward a couple of hundred years, and people worship the demon gods and dedicate their lives to servitude, while bushi are remembered as nothing but violent monsters. The descendents of bushi families are discriminated against and shunned, chained to their swords at all times so that they might never forget their place.

But the stories that Musashi and Kojiro heard as kids from Kojiro’s bushi father painted a different picture: of bushi as mighty heroes, standing up to the evil demons. They vowed to grow up and form their own Band of Bushi, but years have a way of wearing down such dreams. At 15 years old, Musashi is an ace student in a school for aspiring miners—a divine profession, as the people who dig up the metals that the demon gods eat—while Kojiro mostly hides from a world that hates him, resigned to the belief that his father’s stories were just that: stories, with no basis in reality.

But Musashi, at least, hasn’t given up on the dream. Star student though he may be, he hates his life as a miner, and spends all his free time practicing the techniques he learned from Kojiro’s father and finding ways to use his pickaxe like a sword. When he finally graduates and discovers that the demon gods are every bit as evil as those old stories said, and that all that awaits him beyond the secluded walls of the town is a life of slave labour, he decides to make his stand, inspiring Kojiro to do the same. And so it is that a new Band of Bushi is born, with the world stacked against them.

This sets up Orient, Volume 1 as a manga that is pretty much all action, all the time. Whether it’s flashbacks to childhood training, Musashi’s particularly boisterous approach to mining, or the full-blown demon god encounters that come in the second half, Orient dials the octane up to 11 right from the outset and only gets more fired up from there. This first volume collects the first four chapters of a book that, in its original serialized format, is coming up on its 100th chapter, and yet it sees Musashi and Kojiro cutting their bushi teeth on a monster that wouldn’t look out of place as the final boss of an epic JRPG.

Ohtaka’s artwork does a worthy job of bringing all that action to life; she brings plenty of energy to every page and a strong sense of motion and impact to every fight scene. Even in the relatively less intense moments, like watching a young Kojiro and Musashi training together with wooden swords feel alive and heated, and when that energy is turned to something like Musashi’s overzealous mining style, what should be a mundane activity becomes exciting. The monster designs are especially noteworthy: massive, hellish beasts that draw heavily on religious motifs—hinting at some of the themes that later volumes might tackle, though in this one that imagery seems purely decorative.

Orient‘s wall-to-wall action is underscored by plenty of humour and colourful characterisation. Musashi draws on the legendary accounts of his namesake—a brash and unorthodox individual who’ll never back down from a fight no matter how stacked against him the odds might seem, and one who’ll never lose sight of his dream. Kojiro is more removed from what historical accounts say about the real Sasaki Kōjiro (though the lines between fact and fiction, for Kōjiro and Musashi both, are extremely blurry)—Orient‘s Kojiro is sombre and full of self-doubt, the consequences of a life of discrimination and being the target of hate. With this, as action-heavy as it is, Orient manages to find some emotional resonance and starts sowing the seeds of some interesting character developments.

Orient is a bold, riveting fantasy action manga that’s off to a strong start in Volume 1. It draws on the heavily-used well of inspiration that is Miyamoto Musashi and his famous rivalry with Sasaki Kōjiro, but still manages to find its own niche within that space. It’s a great introduction to a fascinating world concept, and lays the groundwork for what should be an exciting series to follow.

The art is amazing. The plot is so good too.. This volume was really great start and I hope other volumes will be even better. This manga has a great potential.

4.25/5 stars!

When the demons overrun the planner and made humans subservient to them, a group of warriors called the Bushi stepped up to protect humankind. In one human town that is ran by the demons, the time for two childhood friends who promised each other that they will become Bushi has come. And their journey begins as they learn the truth of the world outside their town brings the battle to their doorstep.

The first volume introduced readers to the main protagonists of the manga series. It has action, friendship, and beautiful artwork by Shinobu Ohtaka. I wanted more of the series since this first volume focused on introducing the protagonists of the series, making it a slow but in-depth start of the overall story. Other than that, I look forward to reading more of the series because I know that Shinobu Ohtaka will provide a great adventure.


**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.**

Orient Vol. 1 is the start of a new shonen manga, created by Shinobu Ohtaka (known for Magi), and published by Kodansha Comics.

In a world where demons are real, what is a person to do? Well, there are a few options. They could lie down, and accept the lies that they are being told (that demons are gods, and worthy of worship). Or they can rise up and fight the demon overlords.

You can probably guess which option Musashi chose. He had always been enchanted by the tales of the Bushi, as told by his best friend, Kojiro's father. So it didn't take much motivation to convince him to take up the battle, and try to create his own Bushi clan.

Orient Vol. 1 is the story of two very different friends. One, Musashi, is stubborn to a fault, and determined to become a Bushi. No matter the cost. The other, Kojiro, feels the weight of his ancestors, as well as the perceived pain and guilt they dumped on him. He loved the idea of becoming a Bushi – as a child. But he has since grown past that point.

Or so he thought. His friend is stubborn, and apparently quite good at getting into trouble. That's really the entire premise of this first volume. There's a lot of backstory, hopes, dreams, and fighting to be found in Orient Vol. 1.

The artwork is pretty bold – which is no surprise, given the genre we're talking about. There's a ton of fighting sequences and dramatic poses. Sometimes expressions (and eyes) seemed slightly...off, and that was mildly off-putting. But overall I enjoyed the art style, and everything it had going for it.

All things considered, this was far from a bad introduction to the world or the characters. Though I'll confess that I'm not as fully invested as I had hoped I would be. Then again, some of my favorite manga took a few volumes before I was head over heels, so I'd be willing to read a bit more before I wrote off this series.

3.5 stars

I haven't read "Magi" so this is my first impression of Shinobu Ohtaka's work.

This is definitely targeted towards a shounen audience and has all the makings of one. Musashi and Kojiro are childhood friends and vow to become Bushi (warriors who defeat demons). However, in this world where demons rule and are looked at like gods, Bushi are not liked or welcome.

There are moments where there is surprising depth given to this concept, only to quickly fall into stereotypical shounen territory. I loved the moments of depth because they brought a refreshing amount of nuance to what would simply be just another shounen manga. Musashi also read as exceptionally over-powered which worked against this manga as this is only the first volume of the series.

While I didn't love "Orient" I will probably pick up the next volume, as the world-building was definitely what drew me in with this volume.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for giving me a free e-arc of "Orient 1" by Shinobu Ohtaka in exchange for an honest review. Expected publication date: 5 January 2021

The world has been under demon rule for 150 years. The people have accepted their new role as slaves to the demons except for the bushi, a group of katana-wielding people who fight the demons. Musashi and Kujiro vowed to become bushi when they became old enough to rid the world of demons, and they're about to get their chance.

Review to come late December to my blog/Goodreads.

I received this book from Kodansha/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

While I still have plenty of Magi to read (this is the same mangaka) and I still want to watch the show, I just couldn't resist it when I saw this one on Netgalley. The art looked so vibrant and since I really liked the first volume of Magi, I just had to give it a shot.

Meet Musashi, a boy who wants to be a bushi, someone who defeats demons. He trains hard, but people are seeing bushi as the bad people and he cannot state he wants to be one. So he just tries out for miner. With a scythe.

Yes. A scythe. Why is his pickaxe actually a scythe? I mean I recognise a scythe everywhere (because some of my favourite anime/manga characters have one). I thought it was a translation error because who the hell who mine ores with a freaking scythe? In the mean time the MC calls his pickaxe which is actually a scythe his demon-killing katana, aka sword. UMMMM? UMMM? HELLO? Someone points it out but they call it a pick-axe... are people dumb in this country or what?

I have to say that I was kind of wondering how the story would go on as I got to page 30. So far we have one idiotic but very genki MC with a scythe he calls katana and others call pick-axe. We have one white-heared dude whose father was bushi and who is being ignored by the townfolk. There are some other characters. But thankfully when the whole ceremony happens we find out some delightful shocking things. And haha, no, I won't spoil you, but it reminded me of some other manga and I was just clapping in delight. YAS.

Things get really heated up, and once again I will stick that our MC is the typical shounen boy. Nothing can faze him. Nothing can beat his genkiness out of him. Which on the one side was totally cool for me, on the other hand, dude? You are a total wreck, how can you still smile.
I did love that while Musashi was being a trainee miner he actually trained hard for his dream as bushi. He tried poses, he tried stances. Go dude!

We also get some background story on the characters and I always love that those are added.

The battles in this story are typical shounen style but I just love them. At least so far it hasn't reached Dragonball levels in which it takes a long long time for them to finally defeat a bad guy. :P Though they were, just like in many shounen books a bit too much at times. I mean these guys are just beginning and voila, look at what they achieve. The power of dreams is very much true in shounen.

Can I say that I am in love with the fact that this feels like old Japan, but in the mean time the bushi guys ride on freaking motorcycles that look like they came out of Yu-Gi-Oh!.

The rest of the manga just continues with plenty of action and I just couldn't tear my eyes away from the manga. Holy wow. Awesome art, great characters (though a bit shounen-typical), and I think I found a new girl to like. *points down to the image* She looks crazy and awesome, my kind of girl! 

I cannot wait for the next volume to come. I need to know more. What will be next for Musashi and Kojiro? What more awesome battles and art can we expect?

3.5/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishing for providing this review copy !!

Quick fast paced read that i thought was good. Again, not the biggest fan of shounen but the art was great

I’ve been a big fan of this mangaka’s previous series Magi, so I desperately wanted to read their newest release. They have a talent for creating new and interesting worlds, following our characters as they explore new places, so this was a departure from usual, as so far the story stays in one location.

The art is beautiful, with cute character designs, and spectacular imagery. This was definitely an introductory volume. Everything was built to set up the foundations for future arcs and getting to know our main characters. I like them enough. I like their friendship and banter, I like their designs (even if they look exactly the same as previous characters from the mangaka’s other works) and the lore is interesting to explore. Because it spent so much time building things up, it did lag in places, especially with the last fight scene, but despite that I did enjoy this. I can’t say for certain if it’s as strong as Magi, but time will tell.

This is an enjoyable first volume, and I can’t wait to delve into more of Ohtaka’s work.

<i>arc provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review </i>

This manga was epic from start to finish!

We follow two boys who dream of becoming Bushi to defeat the evil demons that have taken over the world. But as they grew up, the people around them started to love the demons and tried to brainwash everyone else into loving them too. But our heroes, especially our main hero, Musashi never believed them and kept up his hope and training of becoming a Bushi.

I really enjoyed this manga! The progression of these characters seemed natural and right for each of them. I loved Musashi’s dedication to becoming a Bushi and I loved Kojiro’s strength, especially when it came to wanting to help Musashi when he needed it. I’m super excited to see where these characters go in future volumes!

This manga is packed full of action scenes! I usually am not the biggest fan of that but in this case, I loved it. It was easy to follow along and the demons were so creepy! I really hope we get to see a wider variety of demons in future volumes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this first volume and I would love to continue on with this series!

4/5⭐️

TW: violence, death, blood, gore.

Musashi and Kojiro are childhood friends. They live in a version of our world, but a 150 prior to the warring states period it was envaded by demons. There are bands of heroes called The Bushi who fight and kill demons. The boys grew up in a small village where the elders teach everyone that the demons are good, the village folk even worship them. But Kojiro's father always told the boys a different story. And right at the beginning Musashi and Kojiro find out just how right Kojiro's father was.
I really loved Magi back in the day so I got so excited for a new series from the same creator. And it was alright. I mean it wasn't terrible, not by any means, but it definitely wasn't great as beginnings go. It has that typical Shonen style where a hero has a big dream, all moves have names and the action takes up the majority of the book. Those are all attributes of the genre, they are expected and well loved. But the story still has to have something unique going for it and I didn't see anything like that in here. It was too generic. I remember how Magi captured my attention right away from the first volume and I had to keep reading, but this new series left me feeling just okay. I will keep track of this series just because I love this author's work a lot and because I hope that it gets better and develops its own style.
P. S. The artstyle was great as I new it would be, Shinobu Ohtaka is a great mangaka.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.