Zanbara

You guys probably know how much I like blood and weaponry especially that of a katana right? I love violence in anime/manga. They promised so much blood and action. They make me drools.

Hence why I love reading Zanbara. I first read it back in February and kinda forget about it until I check my mango list again. Zanbara is created by Katagiri Ikumi. The same mangaka that collaborate with author Ninomiya Ai that created another josei Are You Alice?

Ichiyo and Akehiko

Zanbara is set during the Bakumatsu period so that in itself is interesting because stuff like this always reminded me of Amatsuki, which is one of my favorite manga of all time.

Like most manga that falls under the josei category, this one is full of bishie too. The two protagonists however are still underage. They are both 15. Wait, 15?! Ichigo is 15 but he looks like it was legal to rape him. These two kids definitely looks like shouta. Crap, my inner shoutacon is beaming ^_^

*spoilers up to chapter 5*

These two brothers (by adoption) are always competing with each other. From fighting to the smallest chores. Ichiyo is the serious one while Akehiko is the easy going one. Ichiyo often forget stuff and Akehiko will remind him about it. Ichiyo is a sleepy head and Akehiko is the energetic one that will carry Ichiyo when he's asleep. Oh and they are both ill-tempered. Perfect balance.


One day a thief got into their house. As expected the two of then chased the running thief and split up hoping that they cornered him. That they did but they were only armed with wooden sword while the thief has a katana. That's when they met Okita Soji. Yep, you guessed it. He's from the Shinsengumi. Again, what's with the name? Is it some kind of like a designation? Anyway, Okita might looks like he's a pansy but he's fast and good with the katana *squeals*

Obviously Ichiyo and Akehiko was amazed by Okita's skill and that's why they want to join the Shinsengumi. They want to be the best and the strongest. I have no doubt that they can.

The truth is, the family was hiding Ichiyo so when trouble appeared (someone broke into their house), the family decided to send them both away to the capital as a way to protect them. They took this opportunity to visit the Shinsegumi.


They met with lots of different people and even ended up being a bodyguard at one point as they searched for their destination. Ichiyo also begin to change. He became more solemn and this made Akehiko laden with worries. He made me worried to. Uguuu~

So yeah, I'm not going to spoil anything else. There's a lot of chapters coming up and I look forward to it. Reading Zanbara is fun. It has you on the edge but calms you down with the subtle humor and the ongoing banter by the two protagonists.

I so approved of this josei.

story 8/10
art 10/10
characters 10/10
enjoyment 10/10
overall 9/10

Posted in: josei, manga, review, zanbara