Manga / Basara

Basara: the spirit of freedom which denies old authority, transcending traditions and customs.

— Diamond Sanskrit Vajra

Basara is an award-winning manga created by Yumi Tamura, which ran from 1990 to 1998 in Bessatsu Shoujo Comic. It was later adapted into a thirteen-episode TV series in 1998, which started airing two months before the manga ended. It centers around a sixteen-year-old girl, Sarasa, who uses her wits and the Power of Friendship to lead the people of a Post Apocalyptic future Japan to freedom.

At the end of the 20th century, an undisclosed catastrophe destroyed the civilized world driving society back to a feudal level. Japan is ruled by the Golden King, a tyrant who came to power by assassinating everyone ahead of him in the line of succession. Now his greatest fear is to suffer the same fate. To avoid this he divided the land among his three sons, the Black King, the Blue King and the Red King, so they would expend all their energy fighting each other instead of him. Naturally it's their subjects who suffer most by this.

In the tiny Village of Byakko in the now desertified western region of Japan, a pair of brother-sister twins are born under a prophecy: one of them will become the Child of Destiny and lead the country into a new era of freedom and prosperity. The boy Tatara is taken for the Chosen One, while his sister Sarasa languishes in his shadow. However, when the local ruler, the Red King, learns of the prophecy, he attacks the village, finding Tatara and executing him. Sarasa disguises herself as her brother to keep her people from falling into despair.

Newly promoted to leader, Sarasa initially only seeks revenge against the Red King for murdering her family, but over the course of many adventures her motivation gradually shifts to dethroning all the kings and establishing a country where everybody is equal. And as if leading a rebellion wasn't enough for a sixteen-year-old, Sarasa's relationship with Shuri, a Tall, Dark, and Handsome stranger she meets time and again on her journey complicates her life further.

Now with a character page.

Not to be confused with Sengoku Basara. Or Nekki Basara.

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This manga provides examples of:

• Action Girl: Sarasa, Chacha, Kikune, and Yuna. In the prequel story, Tara as well.
• A God Am I: The Snake King. He's quickly deposed when Sarasa reveals him for the sham he is.
• Always Second Best: Asagi's grudge against Shuri comes from Asagi's sense of inadequacy compared to him.
• Ambiguous Syntax: The source of the Prophecy Twist. Nagi looks at the twins and predicts the "Child of Destiny" not "Boy of Destiny". Everyone assumes it's Tatara - until he's killed and Sarasa takes up his mantle.
• An Arm and a Leg: Shuri loses his arm when fighting his teacher Hiragi. As it was his dominate arm and he's a master swordsman, it's pretty crippling for him.
• Ancestral Weapon: Tatara's sword Byakko, one of a set of four swords passed down by people who vowed to rebel against the dynasty of their day.
• Animal Motifs:
  • Ageha and (what else) butterflies. His stage name is Madame Butterfly and he wears them everywhere. He's associated with the Butterfly of Doom (being a small but important leader of the rebellion) and general flying and freedom themes.
  • Asagi is associated with snakes as per his treacherous nature. The imagery dies down once he starts Becoming the Mask.
• Arranged Marriage: Shido and Senjuu were engaged by their parents, albeit at Shido's request. Also, Ginko was given away in marriage at a young age to secure the alliance with the island of Awaji. Being the paranoid king that he is, her father still accused Awaji of treason when they grew too powerful, and ordered the death of Ginko's husband, taking Ginko back and kickstarting her fall. Hijiri also has an arranged marriage waiting for him; he eventually meets the young lady and quite likes her, but is a bit grumpy that he's doing what his parents wanted him to all along.
• Avenging the Villain: Averted. Senjyu finally decides not to raise her son to harbor the desire for revenge.
• Awakening the Sleeping Giant: A constant worry. The Europeans have a heavy interest in Japan, either as a trading partner or a colony. Should the political situation become too chaotic or threatening to their interests, it's entirely possible that they will interfere in the civil war. Also as an All-Powerful Bystander, various factions will try to use them, though only Shuri really succeeds and he's very careful when doing so.
• Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: Happens to Sarasa in Episode 13 of the anime and volume 5 of the manga, when the Blue King plans on sacrificing her.
• Because Destiny Says So: Ageha's predicted death. The series tells you from the very beginning that it's going to happen...
• Behind Every Great Man: Despite Japan being a patriarchal feudal society. The Black King is a puppet caught between Murasaki no Ue and one of his concubines. Most of King Ukon's machinations are revealed to have been the White Lady's plots.
• Betty and Veronica: Shima (Betty) and Sarasa (Veronica) to Shuri (Archie). Though Shima never had a chance.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Japanese Royal Family ticks all the marks: filicide, patricide, incest, illegitimate children, affairs and cheating, Abusive Parents.
• Birds of a Feather:
  • Shuri and Sarasa. Both are charismatic, intelligent, stubborn loyal leaders with heavy destinies. Both are idealistic, sharing similar visions and goals of a better Japan.
  • Best shown when they are commanding two armies against each other. Despite being on opposite sides, it's noticed that they are predicting each other's strategies and seem to be reading the other's mind.
• A Birthday, Not a Break:
  • At one point, Sarasa is going off to fight when Kakuji and Nagi realize that it's Sarasa's birthday and she's turned 16. She's been so busy with the rebellion that she forgot.
  • Shuri remembers that it's his birthday halfway through organizing the Okinawa resistance. Shuri being Shuri, he immediately uses it to his strategic advantage
• Boy Meets Girl: Sarasa and Shuri. First they meet at a hot spring, then they meet again and travel together until they find out they are enemies, have emotional breakdowns and get better in the end.
• Break the Cutie: Lots. Ginko got this as her backstory. She was a naive romantic princess who married the king of Awaji. Despite it being arranged, she falls in love with him. Then her paranoid father accuses the king of treason and it's all downhill from there. Awaji burns, her husband is killed, she loses her legs in the destruction, the fire renders her First Love and childhood friend impotent and she's raped by her father and forced to bear his child. It's no wonder she's an Omnicidal Maniac.
• Break the Haughty: Shuri loses his closest friends, sees his city fall, is ursuped, regains his city only to be defeated, finds out his lover is trying to kill him, is sold as a slave and looses his sword arm. He always bounces back and it kickstarts an enormous amount of Character Development.
• Coming of Age Story: For Hayato, who grows from a childish Cowardly Lion into Sarasa's Number Two and a powerful leader of the rebellion. He's implied to end up leading Japan
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Tamon. Muratake and Hida could also qualify.
• Cute Owl: Sarasa's pet owl Shinbashi that she receives from Ageha (who has a somewhat less cute pet owl himself). Shinbashi is adorably small, round and fluffy and his appearance and penchant for doing funny things are often used to bring some levity into the story.
• Cycle of Revenge: Eventually averted, when Senju finally decides not to raise her son to seek revenge for his father.
• Damned by Faint Praise: Shima asks if the woman Shuri loves is more beautiful than her and Nakijin can only reply "Well, she has more energy."
• Dead Guy Junior: Repeatedly averted. Senju does not name her son after his father, and an omake has Sarasa and Shuri vetoing the idea of naming their children after one another’s dead friends.
• Decadent Court: Most of the royal courts. Shuri's inner circle is the only one that averts this due to him killing off all the corrupt politicians and surrounding himself with (mostly) loyal, honorable and competent subordinates.
• Death by Secret Identity: Any character who finds out that Tatara is Sarasa and can possibly inform Red King is immediately killed (Shido, Unten and councilor Asho).
• Defeat Means Friendship: Sarasa wins her first allies, the pirate crew, this way.
• Did You Get a New Haircut?:
  • Sarasa didn't even recognize Tamon after he trimmed his. Then again, she probably couldn't even see his face beforehand.
  • Ageha lops off his hair mid-series.
• Dies Wide Open: Ageha, and Taro who dies while looking at the future of the land, and never closes them even after death.
• Disc-One Final Boss: The Red King and his advisers. They destroy the Byakko tribe, capture the rest and start Sarasa's journey. However, the prisoners are rescued and Shido and Kazan are killed fairly early. The Red King continues on alone but is deposed halfway through the story and the rebellion turns its attentions towards King Ukon.
• Dramatic Irony: Yumi Tamura milks Sarasa and Shuri's romance for all it's worth. The amount of times Shuri or Sarasa talk about killing each Tatara or the Red King to their face...
• The Dragon: After Shido's death, Shuri gets a new Number Two - Nakijin. Solidified when Shuri gets a vision of Shido telling him that the job of being by his side is no longer his.
• Driven to Suicide: General Kazan, because of the conflict between his loyalty to the Red King and his love for Chigusa.
• Evil Chancellor: It wouldn't be a corrupt government without it. Ashou and Hagiwara are examples.
• Face Death with Dignity: Villains and heroes alike will calmly and willingly lay down their lives for their beliefs, hopes and ambitions. In fact, aversions are more notable and usually a sign of a Dirty Coward (like King Ukon).
• Fallen Prince: Shuri multiple times. He is overthrown by Momonoi and after taking back Suo loses to Tatara. He then accepts rule as Emperor of Japan but willingly gives it up to Tatara.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: Asagi and Ginko. For a long time, it was assumed that they are siblings like all of Emperor Ukon's kids. Then its revealed in a Chinatown-esque plot that Ginko was raped by Ukon. She's his mother and sister.
• Four Lines, All Waiting:
  • At various points in the story due to both the sheer amount of characters and complex, interwoven political situation.
  • Shuri and Sarasa's journeys are often shown side-by-side to emphasize the complicated dynamic surrounding the two
  • The ending weaves together about 4-5 simultaneous events: Shuri and Sarasa's confrontation with Ukon, Kikune's battle against the Virtues, Asagi's fight with Hiragi and confrontation with Ginko and Ageha's attempt to stop the castle from falling apart.
• Gambit Pileup: As expected of a series filled with Manipulative Bastards and Guile Heros. The final battle of Shuri and Sarasa has multiple plots with Shuri plotting his own agenda, Sarasa fighting Shuri, Hagiwara planning to burn them both and Ginko using Hagiwara - plus the many Spanner in the Works running around.
• Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!: Ageha sacrifices himself for Sarasa and the rest of the rebellion.
• Gotta Catch Them All: Tatara is prophesied to assemble the 4 swords of Byakko, Genbu, Suzaku and Seiryu. While she does assemble them, the swords are just well made swords. The point of the quest was to procure symbols for the rebellion and for Tatara to travel all of Japan and gain allies.
• Graceful Loser:
  • A couple of the politicians and rulers that Tatara or Shuri defeat
  • Counselor Unten after losing the Gambit Pileup, concedes gracefully and tries to go into exile.
  • Mogami no Kata, when Shuri engineers the deposition and death of the Black King, simply hands her son over and walks off into the snow.
• Guile Hero: Sarasa is very good at coming up with clever tricks and plans to outwit her enemies.
  • Shuri as well, though he's a darker version
• Half-Identical Twins: when Sarasa decides to impersonate her twin Tatara, she just cuts her hair and almost everybody believe she is Tatara - even Tatara's fiancee. However, it may be because people deeply want to believe it.
  • It helps that most of the people who know Tatara and Sarasa best are removed from the story (Sarasa's mother), killed (Tatara's fiancee, Sarasa's grandfather) or keeping the secret for her (Nagi).
• Harp of Femininity: Princess Senju at one point plays the lyre.
• Heel–Face Turn: Kikune eventually betrays the rest of the Four Virtues for Sarasa. Asagi seems to go through a Heel–Face Revolving Door but in the end his loyalties lie with the Tatara Army.
• Heroic BSoD: Sarasa after she realizes that her lover Shuri is actually the Red King she has sworn to take revenge on for killing her family. Shuri is in about the same condition.
• Hidden Eyes: Tamon's hair always covers his eyes, even when he cuts it short.
• Honor Before Reason: General Kazan crosses this with Love Makes You Crazy. Shuri gives him multiple outs and chances for forgiveness and Kazan rejects every one because he couldn't betray Chigusa and he refused to be anything other than honest about it.
• Hot-Blooded: Ichimatsu of Hida, whenever anyone attempts to insult him or his lady.
  • Shido as befitting the Red King and all the fire imagery associated with him.
  • In the extra stories, Rasho of Genbu. His nickname is "runs with scissors".
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: The Suzuka Murder Race. Groups of soldiers hunt conscripted peasants and ignorant foreigners as they try to reach the end.
• Important Haircut: Sarasa cuts off her braids when she decides to pose as her brother. Later, Ageha get one as well.
• Internal Reveal: For a good part of the story, Sarasa doesn't know her beloved Shuri is also her fatal enemy, the Red King, and he doesn't know that Sarasa is the rebel Tatara. The audience knows from the start, adding suspense to every time Sarasa and Shuri are together.
• Intrepid Reporter : Taro and Akane with their newspapers
• Iron Lady: Murasaki no Ue. She stares down Tatara.
• Japanese Christian: Most of the characters are Buddhist, implied areligious or follow local superstitions (or some combination of the 3). Princess Senju however is a devout Christian.
• La Résistance: A major theme. Sarasa recruits and allies with people from all over the country in her quest to overthrow the monarchy.
• Lima Syndrome: General Kazan actually falls in love with his captive Chigusa- whose child is his king’s sworn enemy- and betrays his king in his efforts to keep her safe.
• Love at First Punch: Sarasa rebuffs Shuri's first advances by bloodying his nose. He's intrigued by the fact that Sarasa does not treat him like other women do.
• Made a Slave: Ageha. Also happens to Shuri. After the disastrous battle where he and Sarasa discover one another's identities, Asagi sells him into slavery.
• Made of Iron: Shuri regularly survives what should be fatal wounds. He attempts seppuku, gets shot at by arrows, burns his back (on purpose) etc. He once looses his arm and is bleeding profusely and still manages to give a Rousing Speech.
• Man Behind the Man: Asagi to the Snake King, since he is the real Blue King. Or is he?
• Manipulative Bastard: Everyone in the royal family. Even Shuri. Especially Shuri. His habit of bluffing, heavy reliance on Loophole Abuse and Plausible Deniability and tendency to have his enemies Hoist by Their Own Petard is very manipulative. A good chunk of his Character Development is growing to respect people as more than pawns and moving past using them.
• Meaningful Name: See the page quote. Also Senju's son. Everybody thinks she'll name him Shido after his father, but she names him Motomochi, basically meaning 'find your own path'.
• Mighty Whitey: Europe seems to handle unspecified cataclysm juch better, than Japan. By the time of series, they already have circa XIX-century level of technology, with ironclads and rifled artillery. And they consider Japanese as merely barbarians, who understood only force. To be fair, they aren't all wrong...
• The Mole: Asagi joins Sarasa's band with the intention of sowing chaos and discord.
• Mr. Fanservice: Take a shot every time Shuri is shirtless. In one scene, Shuri is fighting on the front lines in a swamp and he's just randomly shirtless and soaking wet.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Hachiya and the Yarogumi are loyal to the royal family despite all of the horrible things they are ordered to do and it being clear that the family is self-destructing.
• My Sibling Will Live Through Me: Sarasa takes on her brother's name and role after his death early in the series.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The results of overthrowing Momonoi.
• No Periods, Period: Subverted. Although Sarasa does not have her period for extended periods of time, after spending some time out of her Tatara alter-ego she gets it again and comments on how her body reacted to her wish of living as a woman again.
• Offing the Offspring: The Golden King seems prone to this. He already had one of his sons killed and what he did to his youngest wasn't very nice either.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Ginko is implied to be a somewhat more restrained, but still scary, version.
• Only the Chosen May Ride: The horse Yato is said to have only allowed Tatara and no one else to mount him. Yato is initially hostile to Sarasa's attempts to ride him, but eventually after some adventures he develops great loyalty for her.
• Out of Focus: Sarasa's early allies (Hayato, Chacha, Nachi) start getting less focus as the story settles on developing other characters (Shuri, Ageha and Asagi in particular). It's a bit inevitable due to the large cast.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Come on, "Tatara" is just Sarasa with her hair down and wearing a headband and pants. Justified by the fact that nobody outside her village even knew Sarasa existed, nor what the original Tatara looked like, so they have no reference to realize what's up.
• Parental Abandonment: Lots of characters. Somewhat understandable in such an unstable country where there's always fighting going on.
• Parental Substitute: Nagi and Kakuji act like surrogate parents to Sarasa after her father dies and her mother leaves to let Sarasa pursue her own path.
• Pet the Dog: Deconstructed with Ageha and Shido. Shido tried to befriend Ageha as a kid but it only made him dislike Shido more as Shido treated him like a pet and not an equal. It's nevertheless implied that Ageha was in love with him after all.
• Platonic Life-Partners:
  • Tara, Shuri's great-grandmother and Genshou, Sarasa's great-grandfather from the side-stories qualify for the most part, given that Genshou is already seeing someone and Tara thinks very little of romance.
  • Nachi and Hijiri. The latter even mentions they would've been married if one of them was a woman. Similarly, Shuri with Shido and, later, Nakijin.
  • Nakijin and Yuna (Yuna's engaged to the President of Okinawa) who also serve as Those Two Guys to Shuri.
• Plausible Deniability:
  • Shuri pre-Character Development loved this trope. He's not burning down a shrine, he's retrieving an ally and if the shrine burns as collateral damage that's incidental.
  • The Europeans aren't supporting Shuri and the Okinawans, they just "set off fireworks for a birthday celebration".
• Playing Both Sides: Asagi joins Tatara's group with the intention of doing this. By extension, the White Lady also.
• The Power of Friendship: The formation of Tatara's Army relies on this trope.
• Puppet King: The Snake King lives his life in decadence while Asagi (the actual Blue King) does most of the day to day ruling.
  • The Black King is a powerful warrior and military leader but most of the ruling is done by either his wife or concubine.
• The Quisling: Ashou, pretty unashamedly, butters up to whoever is in charge of Suo.
• Quivering Eyes: Sarasa almost constantly at the beginning.
• Racial Remnant: Ageha once belong to a nomadic desert people. They were hunted down and killed and the survivors were enslaved. In the extra stories, a few other survivors appear.
• Real Women Don't Wear Dresses: Averted. While the story is filled with Action Girls, it also puts as much attention on more feminine characters who are able to help the revolution in their own way. Shima uses guile, wit and charm to help Shuri and Sarasa's mother leads a cadre of healers. Senju becomes The Heart of Tatara's group and represents the mothers who will birth, raise and shape the new generation.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Murasaki no Ue, the Black King's wife.
• Reincarnation Romance: Shuri and Sarasa are reincarnations of a 20th century couple who lived before the End of the World as We Know It
• Revenge:
  • Sets the plot rolling. Sarasa wants revenge on the Red King for destroying her village and killing her family. Later, Princess Senju seeks revenge on "Tatara" for Shidou's death.
  • Averted both times. Sarasa gives up her vengeance, instead pursuing the dream of creating a better Japan. Senju also gives up revenge after meeting and getting to know Tatara. The moral both times being vengeance isn't worth dedicating and risking your life and goals.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense:
  • Shuri to a degree. He is definitely a Royals Who Actually Do Something, being a brilliant Warrior Prince but the manga gets a lot of comedy and mileage out of Shuri taking his wealth and status for granted. He considers basic chores beneath him and has no concept of money.
  • Asagi who also considers chores beneath him, also has no concept of money and is even more helpless than Shuri (who can at least beat people up or convince them to help him).
• Royally Screwed Up: The royal family's dysfunction is also entirely responsible for the miserable state of the country.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:
  • Shuri's prophecy is a pretty clear example. King Ukon disowns, neglects and effectively abandons Shuri in a desert province as a result of the prophecy. This makes Shuri much more open to overthrowing Ukon and ruling Japan. (Though King Ukon is a terrible parent and Shuri might have tried to overthrow him anyway - most his children are actively plotting against him)
  • Sarasa's prophecy as well. Tatara was only hailed as a hero due to the prophecy which led him and his tribe to start plotting rebellion, which attracted Shuri's attention which lead to his death and Sarasa dedicating herself to overthrowing the Red King. Considering that Shuri is a fair if ruthless leader, had the Byakko tribe not been so restive, they would have no reason to rebel.
  • Ageha's prophecy is this as well as it's stated that Ageha is actively searching for the woman he would give his life for. Once he finds Sarasa and her cause, he dedicates everything to the rebellion and his death was merely a single decision in the line of things he does and sacrifices for Sarasa.
• Shoot the Builder: King Ukon's uses slaves and captives to build a giant gold Buddha and then buries the slaves alive.
• So Happy Together:
  • Shuri and Sarasa consummate their love - the night before Tatara leads his final attack on the Red Army and the Internal Reveal of each other's identity.
  • Shido and Senju also consumate their love before Shido leaves for Sakurajima where he's killed.
• Someone to Remember Him By: Princess Senju conceives only days before Shidou dies in battle against the heroine. In the prequel story Katana, both Tenmaya and Gensho leave pregnant girlfriends behind when they die.
• Strong Family Resemblance: A side panel shows King Ukon as a young man. He looks almost exactly like Shuri.
• Subordinate Excuse: Zaki, Chacha’s second in command, is deeply in love with her and wants only to support her.
• Sweet Polly Oliver: Sarasa in order to have people believe brother the Son of Destiny is still alive.
• Team Chef: Asagi joins Tatara’s group and almost immediately begins to cook. (Sarasa refuses to eat his cooking at first out of distrust.) Asahiko, the wielder of the original Genbu sword, was also the cook for the failed first rebellion.
• That Man Is Dead: Spoken word for word by Kakuji at the end of the rebellion. Tatara and The Red King are dead and all that's left is Sarasa and Shuri.
• There Are No Coincidences: Shuri realizes this too late. Every time he met Sarasa randomly in a hot spring was because he was off to fight Tatara.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Sarasa is the Tomboy next to the resident Yamato Nadeshikos Senju and Shima.
• True Companions: Sarasa gathers up close friends everywhere she goes. Her army is practically one big bunch of Companions.
• The Unchosen One: Even towards the end, no one really knows who the chosen one really was.
• Undying Loyalty: Everywhere though Sakaki takes the cake.
• Unrequited Love: General Kazan loves his captive Chigusa, who thinks he’s being very nice to her under the circumstances but still wants him dead because he killed her husband and son. She admits she can’t hate him several volumes after his death. There’s also Erik the Red, whose crush on Chacha never goes anywhere (not least because she has a thing for her first mate, Zaki).
• Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: Tatara and Sarasa. A side story set later on also reveals that Sarasa and Shuri's children are also girl and boy twins.
• Walking the Earth: After the revolution, Sarasa and Shuri found a merchant company and are traveling the world like the dream that Shuri mentioned to Shido once.
• Weaker Twin Saves the Day: Sarasa certainly thinks about it this way, but it's implied that the prophecy was about her all along.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The last few chapters detail the fates of the main characters. Ageha's in an Ironic Hell, Sarasa and Shuri have kids, Asagi is Wandering the Earth etc etc
• White-and-Grey Morality: To an extent. There are very few truly evil, depraved people on the empire's side—instead, most are genuine idealists and honorable Noble Demons (that is, everyone on the Red King's side, and the Red King himself), or else more incompetent and conservative than malicious. Or else they have Freudian Excuses. This is demonstrated marvelously during the underground prison arc, when pretty much all of the prison wardens turn out to be sympathetic characters who make Heel Face Turns. There are exceptions, such as Councillor Hagiwara.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: Ageha, who's praised as being the best dancer in Japan. Umewaka also posed as a woman while spying on Shuri and Kazan.
• Won the War, Lost the Peace: The revolution nearly fell into this trope when forming a new goverment as a charismatic demagogue assumed control. Japan falls into limbo until Hayato is convinced to lead the government.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: How Asagi got into the heroes' group.
• Zero-Approval Gambit: Asagi makes sure that the royal family is absolutely hated before the regime ends. That way a new government can be formed without people romanticizing the past.

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