MrTerrorist
Since: Aug, 2009
#2: Jan 13th 2014 at 8:30:28 AM
New chapters of Kiba no Tabishounin - The Arms Peddler are out!
OH MAN OH MAN OH MAN
#3: Jan 25th 2014 at 11:05:19 PM
Really!? Be still, my heart. I need to set up some sort of alert system. Slow releases always get me.
I've been considering lending myself to the main page, but even though I'm a long time reader here, it would be my first time behind the curtain. I'm mildly overwhelmed, to say the least.
Nice to see another reader though! I can't even find someone talking about this manga anywhere.
DASHING!!!
Total posts: 3
Hey everyone! I believe this is my frist post here, though I've been reading and using the Tropes listed on the site for a looooong time now. Today, I decided to share with you all what has become one of my absolute favorite mangas, Kiba no Tabishounin - The Arms Peddler by Kyouchi Nanatsuki.
First, I think I'll start off with the Postface from the first volume (or which there are 6 currently):
"Since my early childhood, a landscape is nestled deep in my heart: the one of a desert moor, an arid and reddish land burn by a huge scarlet sun and dotted with ruins and relics of the lost civilization which the shadows extend on the floor. Despite the little morbid aspect of the scene of desolation, I was irresistibly attracted by this moor, I think the picture has inspired by the western cinema, which I loved very much when I was a kid. In this time, post-apocalyptic fictions were trendy and they finished intruding a certain view of the world.
We were completely in the cold war, and the risk of an atomic war was hovering above our heads like a Damocles sword. Moreover, some prophecies announce the end of the world for 1999. It’s crazy how, when we are a child, the idea of a world’s end can be very exciting! But this moor, still stuck in my mind wasn’t a death landscape. And a lovely day, I went in a dream in search of beings that lived in this desert. To survive there, a sacred will was needed… How the inhabitants look like? Which language could they speak? What would they live? When I was asking myself all the questions, the picture of a woman came to me.
She was pretty but covered in a sinister shadow. She was driving a black hitch more funeral than a hearse. She was travelling constantly at the edge of life and death, and she was asking the same question to anyone she met. She was the only one to change their destiny. I called her “Garami”. It has been few decades that I invented this character, and I tried several times to give life to this beauty of the moor in a work, without success. I ended up forgetting her story, half written in my computer. Now that I think again, my story wasn’t enough mature.
Two years ago, Young Gangan magazine’s editorial introduced me an illustrator named Night Owl. When I saw his drawings, my desolated moor immediately came to my mind, while the shape of Garami became clearer than she ever was. The time had come: the young lady would finally be able to come to life and travel this desert moor which was her universe. I hope you will take pleasure to walk with Garami and Sona in their long trip."
Summary:
The world has become a desolate, lawless land where bandits roam free, innocent people suffer, and demons lurk around every corner. Sona Yuki is traveling with his family when they are attacked by bandits. His entire family is murdered, and he is left with a snake mark on his hand. As he is about to die, a women comes up to him and gives him an option: continue to live in this harsh environment or die peacefully now. Yuki chooses life and Garami, the woman, gives him a second chance at life in exchange for his servitude. Garami is a weapons merchant and a gun for hire that travels from town to town for clients. Yuki sees how brutal and unforgiving this world can truly be.
The author has said numerous times that the idea and setting came from a series of dreams. Dreams that I can only image were the most horrific and depressing ever dreampt.
At any rate, if any of you have read or are interested in this fantastic work, please feel free to share your thoughts!
Personally (though this may just be coming from heavy bias) I think that, given time, this manga could reach the level of Berserk in its scale and impact. It has all the right tools. They just need to be put to use accordingly!
Note: This being my first time, I apologize if I may any mistakes in protocol posting this. If so, let me know and I'll be more than happy to revise!
edited 11th Dec '13 2:29:12 PM by Murderdoch
DASHING!!!