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On Epicness and the Legend of Basara – A MUST READ EPIC SHOUJO GEM!!!!
These are the times when I’d feel really grateful to the Google Reader Shared Items Secret Society — you made me snap out of my laziness and actually inspired me to actually post about Basara! FINALLY! TT_____TT yes, I know, I owe Sasa a BIG APOLOGY for neglecting this for so long. Oh and HELL YES, I’m neglecting my other planned posts just for this. [oh and a little warning, the pics might be a little spoilerish]
I’ve been meaning to write about Basara, a shoujo manga by Yumi Tamara from the Age of Antiquity (considering it’s been almost 2 decades since this manga came out), for quite some time now. In all the years I’ve spent reading shoujo manga (wooo credentials!), I’ve never seen anything epic like it, in the true literary sense of the word, and that epicness alone would mean that it’s worth reading, worth recommending and worth PIMPING FOR ALL IT’S WORTH!! If it’s so epic why haven’t I written anything about it but pitiful little shout-outs, you ask? Well you see, it’s so epic that I doubt any post I write would give it justice. hurr durr. Ok ok fine, you got me, it’s just pure laziness on my part — lazy to find the words to describe it, to show the whole wide world what I love about it, and wanting to write about it together with my Favorite Mangas of All Time List didn’t really help my cause. In case you’re curious, Houkago Hokenshitsu (After School Nightmare), Mars, Tokyo Crazy Paradise, Cipher, Kanata Kara, Miriam, Please Save My Earth, and Aka-chan to Boku are among those in my list. /segue~
One shared item on the topic of epicness was all it took to awaken my BASARA-LOVING SOUL, more so when you add the IKnight Seal of Approval!
ghostlightning has his [Nekki] Basara, and while I may not share the same love for Basara the Macross 7 star, Legend of Basara (like THE shoujo manga I’m talking about) makes me want to shout “LISTEN TO MY SONG!” Oh and forget Sengoku Basara, this Basara, or heck even the female heroine Sarasa alone, is so much more GAR than that show could ever be, and I mean it! /with conviction!
Sasa and Anna-senpai would certainly attest to this, right?! 
If there’s one reason why Basara captured my heart way back my earlier anime/manga fandom days, it’d that it’s an epic LOVE STORY. And if having retained my love for this manga despite the decade that passed (6 years to be exact) isn’t enough proof — you’d know that this isn’t your ordinary romance tale, it’s an exceptionally timeless one. It’s the kind that would simply grow on you as you and/or your taste matures, because you’d gain even more appreciation for how the entire story was weaved — the whole politics of the world they were in, the entangling of fates, etc.
The post-apocalyptic world of Basara became the backdrop of Sarasa and Shuuri’s love story, undeniably so, but unlike that of Toshokan Sensou, you can’t argue that the “war” here was “simply a backdrop”. Sarasa and Shuuri found love amidst the war in their world, a love that grew in this war, with it, and through it — a war whose fate lies on this very love itself (and no it’s not as simple as it sounds). Think Romeo and Juliet, much more epic version, and no one character takes the easy way out of their fate but FIGHTS THROUGH / AGAINST IT.
Another thing I like most about Basara is that it boasts awesomely dynamic characters, characters whose GARness will be remembered even in their death, not-your-ordinary protagonists and antagonists. One could even say it’s like Darker than Black in how the characters question the very “fate” they were in — characters and their quest for “identity” (most especially true for Sarasa and Shuuri) throughout the chaos, the quest for “peace” (what is “peace” anyway? is there no other way to end a war but through another war? must lives be sacrificed in order to achieve peace? — told in an epic fashion with a bittersweet romance twist). The series itself blurs the line between “shoujo”, “shounen”, “seinen”, and “josei”, making it all the more, yes you guessed it, AWESOME.
Also, I haven’t seen Juuni Kokki (12 Kingdoms) but I am fairly positive that Basara can rival its epicness (not to mention Basara is complete at 27 volumes 
) Would be very happy to see someone attest to this.
So yeah, GO READ BASARAAAAA!!! If you’ve lost all hope in shoujo manga, this might just bring it back!
Need I say more? 
Yes, I am totally telling you to go out of your way, take a step back from the summer season and read this. and hey if you’ve got some more time in your hands, why not right?! And while we’re at it, you can also check out the 13-episode anime of this one if you want, though it covers only the first 5 volumes of the manga, and hence NOT ENOUGH! *sigh*
May Skip Beat forgive me, but in all honesty I’d say this is the Real True Epic Shoujo. Amen.
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13 comments for “On Epicness and the Legend of Basara – A MUST READ EPIC SHOUJO GEM!!!!”
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Ok, I’ll read it. I recognize your Totsugeki Love Heart for it.
Is that Jesus? I’LL READ IT AS WELL!
I’m still only twenty-two chapters in, and rather intimidated by the four-fifths that still remain, but it’s good stuff so far. Everything’s loaded with tremendous emotional and dramatic significance, but I can buy into that and it isn’t coming off as ridiculous. I’m wondering if there’ll be some downtime or a contemplative chapter soon, though, because so far Basara’s raced from action to romance to action again so fast I can barely keep up.
Also, if you say ‘it’s about a cross-dressing swordswoman and a revolution’ it sounds just like Rose of Versailles.
I had the whole series in my manga shelves for about 1-2 years and read it alot of times. I must say that it is really one of the best shoujo out there. Deep and entertaining story ^^.
To be fair, I think compairing Legend of Basara and Skip Beat is like comparing apples and oranges. Two very different kinds of shoujo. Two very different kinds of epic.
And why isn’t Skip Beat on your favorite mangas list?
@ghostlightning: and that just made my heart go zukyuun~!
@Jesus159159159: rofl. Not quite Jesus, but go read it nonetheless!
@IKnight: Hm, the coming of Asagi should slow things down a little, methinks, though there’s barely a ‘break’ in between the drama and the action I can imagine how hard it would be to keep up with it
Basara is not so much about the revolution I think, not as revolutionary as Rose of Versailles, though I’m simply basing this on what I simply ‘know’ about Rose of Versailles.
@L-chan: haha yes, especially considering that one is serious drama and the other one is shounen-like badass. Oh and that list was what I had like a year ago, it grows and changes and if you ask me now, Skip Beat and Cross Game would already be in it hehe
Hahahaha, I think it must be years or something since we planned to write something about Basara – I’m glad you finally did! It does deserve more attention and it’s great to see that it’s been picked up by people now. And by the way, I still have not read the end, how bad of me…
Basara and Skip Beat might be apples and oranges, but they sure are both absolute masterpieces… If it were me, my vote would still go for Basara though, it feels more timeless perhaps?
Hahaha. Now I kinda want to see Ren and Kyoko act in a movie version of Basara as Shuri and Sarasa. Right after they do Jane Eyre as Mr. Rochester and Jane.
@Sasa: I haven’t really read the end too, though I took a peek
Do tell me if you’re still up to doing a joint post on this, I feel much more confident about writing about this now than before (which makes me glad I postponed writing about this, in a way).
I’d like to think both Skip Beat and Basara are timeless, in different ways. But since Basara is the kind of manga that you’d only learn to appreciate after some level of maturity (using the word loosely here), the said appreciation is all the more deep and personal, special and timeless
@L-chan: omg how I wish we could see that!! Man, if only we’re rich enough to pay Nakamura-sensei to do that
I really liked Basara… but I’d say “Red River” is better. Seriously, check it out!
I love how your tastes match mine.
shoujo goodness!
ooh Red River yes! I guess now’s the time to stop being intimidated by the length of that series and get myself to read it
i read it just as i was starting out on mangas and i TOTALLY FELL IN LOVE WITH BASARA.
except, i’m pretty sure that reading it was the worst idea in my life cos i never found anything as good (e.g tokyo crazy paradise – good but only alright and skip beat – good but totally different drags too long with ren and kyoko killing me and red river – ended too abruptly)
BASARA IS <3!! But gah, don’t let that hinder you from appreciating other works! D: No matter what happens, there can only be one Basara, with that kind of awesomeness. But other series have charms of its own (and every series has its own strengths and weaknesses), and it would be sad to see you miss out on that by focusing too much on Basara DX