Has anyone ever seen this man do anything other than constantly be angry?
He did absolutely nothing, yet despite being involved in the story for 200 chapters, nobody has the slightest idea about his abilities.
One of the reasons Shin is seen as a unifying element in the later parts is that Shin will be used as the main assault force, just like Moubu in Bayou.
Shin and his army, and even Kyokai, have always been praised for their assault capabilities and have always stood out because of them.
I think Shin will unite all the other armies and launch a joint attack.
This will lead to the emergence of a second assault army for Qin, besides Moubu.
I think Sosui will also command an assault, and this success will earn him the title of general.
In the last spoiler, we saw Ten's plan to use herself as bait, and if she gets caught, the likelihood of Shin implementing this plan increases even more.
Because deep plans are not something Shin is capable of.
Only Shin could conceive of such an attack plan, and only Shin could come up with such a crazy plan.
In Bayou, when Ouki made this plan, all of Zhao were astonished.
What do you think?
I'm very curious what happened to this man.
There's a possibility that he was the opponent Kanmei deemed worthy of wielding his mace against 10 years ago. (He used his sword against Oukotsu, not his glaive.) So he didn't even draw his mace against someone like Oukotsu.
Another possibility is that Gekishin killed him, but that's unlikely.
Gekishin killed these Bushins when they were young, and the Bushin we saw him kill was weak. His weapon was also completely different from the weapon used by Houken's master.
My guess is that this Bushin kidnapped baby Houken to take him as his student.
We learned from Gekishin that Bushins attacked villages, but kidnapping a baby is a completely different matter. The reason for this was probably Houken's parents, because it was clear that both his mother and father possessed mystical powers. He must have felt that their son, Houken, was also special.
And when Bushins like these raid a place, they probably don't stop until they've slaughtered everyone.
However, this man did not kill anyone except Houken's parents and a few villagers..
Another idea I have is that he may have killed Houken's master. Just like the master-student dynamic of the Sith in Star Wars, students might eventually aim to kill their masters.
However, Houken's master is this...
At first, I thought Houken's weapon was identical to the Bushin's, but they actually look different. I also thought that the clothes Houken was wearing belonged to his master, but considering that both the Bushin Gekishin killed and Houken and his master were wearing similar clothing, I guess it's more like the women of the Shiyuu clan wearing the same type of clothes.
The path to becoming a Bushin is one of dedication and cultivation. Considering that Gekishin wasn't a particularly strong warrior, the Bushins he killed were probably young Bushins who were still at the beginning of their journey.
However, since Houken's master took him as his student, it's likely that he was very advanced on the Bushin path. His appearance is also very similar to Houken's.
Therefore, I think there are three possibilities:
Which one do you think it is?
Shin's army has reached a level of brute force that is almost comparable to Seika's army, which is the strongest army in the series. (Of course, Seika also has warriors like Gakushou and Fuuon, but Shin's army also has archer brothers, whom I haven't included in the list.)
Both in terms of design and personality, Goba would have been a perfect assistant general for Ousen.
He was the smartest and strongest of Rozo's three brothers from the Quanrong tribe.
He was a completely cool-headed and self-confident man.
I wish we could have seen more of Goba.
In terms of pure talent, the Akou-Denrimi-Souou trio is more gifted. However, in terms of experience and harmony, the Rokuomi-Ryuukoku-Kanou trio is better.
I would choose the top trio as an investment for the future, especially since Denrimi was very young and had room for improvement.
Make your own ranking and let's discuss.
GHK> rinko> goba> baafuji> futei> fuuon> kochou> riboku> keisha> mangoku> ryuutou> kaine
GHK is a mutant who uses his body as well as his swordsmanship, so he deserves number 1.
I put Baafuji above Futei because Ringyoku fought very closely with Futei, but Baafuji was able to fend off Ringyoku with a single sword strike.
Goba fought equally against an un-angered Bajio, so he deserves 3rd place.
Arrange them from strongest to weakest.
In my opinion--
tou>kyokai>ytw>bajio>shiryou>rei>kanki>shunmen>mouten>shuma>ringyoku>kitari
Tou is the best in terms of weight.
Kyokai can almost compete with Houken when she's performing at her best.
However, her strength is very inconsistent, so I wouldn't put her first.
YTW easily killed Goba, who had fought evenly with a not-so-serious Bajio.
Rei was much stronger when she first appeared in the story, but the writer later nerfed her. (I think it was a logical decision.)
Mouten, although the weakest in terms of pure strength, has very cunning swordsmanship and can hold his own against extremely strong opponents like Bananji and Kou Yoku.
In fact, Mouten could even be ranked above Shunmen, but I'm still undecided.
Shiryou could surpass Bajio, but Bajio's Berserker Mode was extremely powerful, so I'm still undecided when both are at their peak.
Shunmen and Ringyoku both managed to establish a clear advantage over Riboku.
On the other hand, Ringyoku fought Futei on equal footing, but it's worth noting that Futei was using only one sword instead of his usual two.
Do you think Ouki really lost because of the arrow?
Because Houken lived with this contradiction for hundreds of chapters, and the narrator always spoke ambiguously about it.
Here, it's clearly visible that Houken manages to evade Ouki's move and plunges his weapon into Ouki's chest.
I'm only talking about this final moment where Ouki dies, forget about the previous battles.
Because Houken used this move in his fight with Shin as well, but Shin saw the move and managed to duck his body, which surprised Houken quite a bit.
Perhaps Shin did this because he had seen it before in the Houken-Ouki fight.
Or maybe his fighting instincts are better than Ouki's.
I don't know.
I really like the parallel the author created between the characters Kanki and Kochou.
Both had become ruthless and emotionless due to the pain and trauma they experienced.
However, the slight difference between them is that Kochou accepted the hopelessness of this pain and became condemned to it.
But Kanki used this pain and the anger it generated as fuel.
Kanki had said to Kochou, "You can't even use your mind when the things on your face don't cause you pain," and then admitted that Kochou was weak like the others.
In other words, he had become a prisoner of pain and addicted to it.
When Kochou's henchman, Kaman, looked into Kanki's eyes, he saw the brightness called "hope."
That's why he thought Kanki wasn't a person made of pain and anger as the rumors suggested.
Because he was sure that the end of a person who endured such intense pain would be to become someone like his master, Kochou.
When Kanki easily understood the purpose of Kochou's piercings, Kochou understood Kanki's personality. And the difference between them.
And he told Kanki that he would pay for everything he had done.
Kanki's end was the same as Kochou's. He watched his men being slaughtered before his eyes and was left alone in the middle of the enemy army.
I wish we could have seen more of the story Hara created between these two almost identical yet so different characters.
This series, and especially its main character, is turning into more of a shounen series.
Look at how Hara portrays Shin as the "Great General of the Heavens," my friend...
We were told from the beginning that Shin would surpass even Ouki or Renpa.
But at this point, we don't see even a trace of him achieving that...
Shin is a typical shounen main character whose only skill is fighting and who is incapable of using his brain.
I'm not even talking about the so-called instincts, because the instinct story is completely nonsense.
But with so many great characters in the series, it would be great if they paid a little more attention to the main character.
If Shin is going to be defeated and rescued by others and become the Great General of the Heavens because of it, this writing is a complete disappointment.
If Shin had taken control like a real general and lost, it would still be fine.
After all, even Renpa said that to become a true great general, you need hundreds of men's worth of experience and hundreds of men's worth of inexperience.
So the issue isn't Shin losing.
Everyone can lose, and as long as you can come back, it doesn't matter.
But it's ridiculous to shower Shin with praise like this when he doesn't even act like a real general.
Do you think Shin came even close to becoming a great general like Ouki-renpa?
Ten completely controls his army.
Has anyone seen Shin control an army of more than a few thousand soldiers, except for his battle with Gyouun?
Almost all of Shin's successes were aimed at killing people.
This was satisfying at first, but hundreds of episodes have passed, my friend.
And with one exception, we haven't seen Shin take the reins like a real general and control his entire army.
And some people are saying Shin is ready to be GG lol.
Imagine Shin being given 100k soldiers, do you think he could control them without Ten by his side?
Ouhon-mouten could.
And that's why they are far more deserving of being GG than Shin.
And even that useless, insignificant character, Kotsuminhaku, can command his own army.
But Shin is still surprised when he sees Garo fighting alongside him, not understanding where he came from...
When it comes to controlling the army like a true general, people like Akou are far more genuine generals than Shin.
Hara's writing style in this episode shattered my last hope for the main character of this wonderful series...
First of all, this is a critique, and to my friends who will respond: please address my arguments directly instead of resorting to insults.
Is there anyone among you who truly sees Shin as a general?
He has practically become one of those six generals, yet he is still incapable of even leading his own army.
All control and power belong to Karyoten.
Shin, on the other hand, is just hunting heads in the Ranbihaku style—that’s all.
He’s only had full control over his army twice.
Once was during the Shukai Battle against Gyouun, and the other was when he rushed to Mouten to break out of Riboku’s cage.
Even now, he’s doing nothing but launching attacks with his own few thousand soldiers.
Hara keeps spouting that “instinct” nonsense, but I no longer believe there’s any real instinct at play here...
So-called “instinctive” generals read the enemy and are very rarely lured into traps.
This was explained a long time ago.
But Shin is definitely not that kind of person.
Even when he advances too far on the battlefield, the officers in his army bring him back.
Can a man who can’t even take something like this into account really be a candidate for a great general?
Almost all of his successes to date have come from headhunting, but does that make him a great general, or just someone like Ranbihaku?
If he were someone capable of commanding his army on his own and leading a campaign, then yes, he could be a great general—but Shin is definitely not someone capable of leading a campaign.
You might say Karyoten is there to do that, but she isn’t skilled enough to lead a campaign in Ten.
Even if Ten were in command, it’s debatable how much of this campaign’s success would be attributed to Shin.
Let’s consider Mouten and Ouhon in the current battle.
These two have been personally commanding their armies from the very beginning.
Now, however, Ouhon has analyzed and managed the northern battlefield just like a true general.
And he did this even though Akakin was the only capable person under his command.
Even though Mouten’s plan was flawed, at least he took action, and we know he’s capable of doing better.
As for Shin, without KK by his side, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish many of the things he has so far.
Of course, he can draw strength from those around him, but if he’s going to win the war thanks to them, does that truly make Shin the Great General of the Heavens?
Or does it just make him a mere Mougou?
In my opinion, the whole “Shin’s instincts” thing is just a load of nonsense the author threw out to convince readers that Shin isn’t someone like Gaimou or Ranbihaku.
We’ve seen instinct-driven generals before—Duke Hyou-gyouun-kanki…
But Shin is definitely not like those guys.
He just keeps saying things like “Fire, fire, fire! Don’t put out the fire!” over and over again, just to make it seem like he’s actually doing something.
He says he wants to be the Great General of the Heavens, but he’s still a man who can’t even control thousands of soldiers.
He’s supposed to be a great general, but aside from his combat power, he has nothing special about him.
He just runs around and says a cool line every now and then—that’s all.
Frankly, this battle is my last hope for Shin.
If he doesn’t lead his army like a real general and perform well in this war, I’ll lose all my respect and affection for this series’ main character.
Because things have reached a point where Hara’s readers won’t be satisfied with Shin just taking a head.
Make that damn kid a real general already, man!!!
Actually, we’ve seen many different elite units, but these are among the best.
So, how do you think they’d rank from strongest to weakest?
For me:
1-The Zenou Clan
2-Raiun (they’re a terrifying force with 10 spears)
3-Karin’s elite army (We haven’t seen much of them yet, but they’ll likely rise higher in the rankings later on)
4-Poison Dog
5-The Jinju, Man’u’s elite
6-The Shuma Clan
7-Rakuakan’s Moonlight Units
8-Garyu’s Dojaku Units
The ranking keeps changing in my head the more I think about it, so I won’t overthink it—this seems like the best version for now.
I don't think we can get out of this situation without making a major sacrifice.
It was quite tragic that Hsu had his own soldiers build a wall—and even used the seriously wounded for that purpose.
And I'm sure there's more to come.