Samurai Deeper Kyo Volume 4

Today’s post is on Samurai Deeper Kyo Volume 4 by Akimine Kamijo. It is the fourth in the series and you need to have the previous volumes to get the story. The cover has Kyo, Yuya, Benitora, and Yukimura on it looking cool. There is strong language, sexuality, and lots of violence in this series. The story is told from third person god point of view with the thoughts of the characters sometimes added for character development and history. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Tournament of Scoundrels
Ieyasu Tokugawa recently instated shogun of Japan, is holding a tournament in the capital city of Edo and the fiercest warriors in the country are converging for the fight. The winner walks away with a fortune in gold, the shogun’s blessing, and a pardon for any criminal history. As for the losers… well, the shogun isn’t one to hand out consolation prizes. Demon Eyes Kyo has entered the tournament, but it’s not fame or fortune he’s after- he wants the head of Ieyasu himself!

Review- As the reader we are now starting to get more of Kamijo’s world building and she is filling in the gaps. We learn that Benitora is really the shogun’s heir who has disowned for the moment. Kyo has a time limit on fights because of his borrowed body and Yukimura finally makes his appearance. The only thing we still do not have is much about Yuya or her past. But Kyo’s past takes center stage this time. Kyo’s past is interesting and he is starting to become a good main character. He is playing that being a cold-blooded killer but sometimes the real person gets through. After all that then comes the tournament and its intrigue. With the losers going missing, Yukimura promising to give up the information about where Kyo’s real body is. If Kyo will kill Ieyasu then Yukimura will tell him. More great art and fight scenes interwoven with character and world building volume 4 of SDK continues to give the reader just what I wanted.

I give this volume a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I bought this series with my own money many years ago.