It's no exaggeration to say that Kagurabachi was famous before it even started. For some reason, manga fans on social media made it their mission to hype up the series as much as possible, excessively praising the series and even fabricating a fake anime. While none of this actually had any bearing on reality, they may have been on to something, because Kagurabachi's recent Rakuzaichi arc actually proves that this series might be worth getting excited for.
Contains spoilers for Kagurabachi up to chapter 44.
Taking place in chapters 19 through 44, the Rakuzaichi arc is Kagurabachi's second major storyline following Chihiro's initial quest to save Char in the Sojo arc. Within the world of serialized manga and particularly in the cutthroat environment of Weekly Shonen Jump, a series' second major storyline is often crucial not only in terms of setting up characters and potential plot threads for the future, but also convincing readers that this series has a future worth looking forward to. Indeed, it could be argued that many Jump series don't really come into their own until their second arc: Jujutsu Kaisen, for example, doesn't introduce Mahito or Divergent Fist until the Young Fish and Reverse Punishment arc.
In any case, one of the most important things that Kagurabachi's Rakuzaichi arc sets up is the character of Haruki. This wayward son of the Sazanami clan is initially introduced as something of a plot device, but the amount of time that the arc spends on establishing his motivations and power set makes it clear that he will remain as a secondary protagonist going forward. He even asks Chihiro directly at the end of chapter 44 if he can continue to fight by his side, inspired by the number of people that they were able to save together.
This is great news for the future of the series as one of Kagurabachi's biggest flaws has always been its protagonist. While seeing Chihiro take down a room full of goons with a single slash makes for a striking visual, it never really feels like he's in any danger, and his no-nonsense personality doesn’t exactly help things either. Placing someone less experienced and more unsure like Haruki across from Chihiro could really help the series from getting stale in the long term, much like the role that Shin fulfills in Sakamoto Days.
Another aspect that Kagurabachi reinforced in the Rakuzaichi arc is the series' take on sorcery. While there were minor antagonists in the Sojo arc that could use magical abilities, the main villain was the wielder of an Enchanted Blade, meaning that a lot of time was necessarily spent on establishing his sword-based abilities and power set. The main antagonist of the Rakuzaichi arc, however, is a sorcerer named Kyora who is able to bring in and transport items out of a magical storehouse at will.
Taken alongside Tenri and Soya, who use the shockwave ability Isou, the Rakuzaichi arc makes it clear that Kagurabachi has many more tricks up its sleeve than just simply sword fighting. Even Chihiro is forced to use his sword abilities in an unconventional way as he loses Enten in chapter 25 and only has access to the broken hilt of Cloud Gouger for the rest of the arc. Much like establishing Haruki as the series’ secondary protagonist, increasing the different kinds of abilities used in the series should help it from becoming stale, while also offering series author Takeru Hokazono another set of tools to use in building future narratives.
As if an expanding cast of characters and different abilities weren't enough, then the Rakuzaichi arc also offers us our first proper look at Kagurabachi's main villain, Yura. For any long-running action series such as this, the main antagonist forms an absolutely essential part of the plot as the protagonist’s journey is usually focused on taking down said antagonist, with much of the story’s stakes depending on how powerful the villain appears to be. It’s worth noting that Yura already appeared by way of his tattoo at the very beginning of the series, but here we finally learn his identity and get to see him in action.
Yura instantly makes quite a first impression due to his character design: tattoos aren’t something you usually see in Japan, let alone on the face and hands. His presence as a powerful and precautious villain is then cemented as he not only shrugs off a furious assault from Chichiro in chapter 31, but as it is also revealed in chapter 40 that he broke the seal on the Shinuchi years ago and deliberately pushed Kyora into using the fearsome weapon. All of this makes it clear that if our protagonists ever want to stay ahead of him, they have a hell of a lot of growing to do.
Finally, one other element that ought to be highlighted from Kagurabachi’s Rakuzaichi arc is the quality of Takeru Hokazono's art. Given that he produced his first one-shot in 2020, Hokazono isn't exactly a new kid on the block, but Kagurabachi is his first serialization. Coming up with a story as well as drawing the art for a series on a weekly basis is no easy task - one which often pushes lesser talents into compromising on quality or settling into repeated patterns.
The Rakuzaichi arc proves that Hokazono might just have it all. In particular, the increased variety in power sets away from sword fighting allows him to play around with different imagery incorporating sorcery, with the battle between Haruki and his brother being a particular highlight. That being said, the emergence of the Shinuchi at the very end may go down the most memorable, as the body horror and environmental destruction that it causes really goes a long way in selling its reputation as the most powerful Enchanted Blade.
Overall, Kagurabachi looks like it is in a good place. With the sheer amount of false praise heaped on it online at the beginning, many worried that the author would give into the hype and simply coast, but the Rakuzaichi arc proves that Hokazono is serious about maintaining this series for the long term. From all of the new things introduced to the sheer quality of art on display, there are plenty of things to look forward to.
The numbers also look pretty solid on the sales front: the series’ third volume announced that there were now 600,000 copies in circulation, following several rounds of reprints. Kagurabachi also picked up first place in this year’s Next Manga Award, so its popularity seems set to keep rising. I hate to say, but… I think I might be a believer.
You can read Kagurabachi for free via VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump.
