I have tried to like this manga, I have tried to force myself to keep going because I know it's a classic. A part of me is even disappointed in myself for dropping this series but I have to be honest with myself, nothing can please everyone.

I respect this manga. I respect the art, it's fantastic. I respect the themes, not everything is as simple as good and bad. I respect the amount of research that was done to create an authentic feudal japan setting.

My biggest issue with this series is the episodic format. I understand this is a completely subjective thing and from an objective point of view this is a really bad reason to not be a fan of something, but personally I prefer a consistently flowing story. I dropped this series after the 19th chapter and have been told that eventually it reaches a continuous arc, but that is apparently near the end of the series. Some information flows through between chapters but it's very minor and you will basically be dealing with the same two main characters the whole way through. These are also long chapters, eventually some reaching over 50 pages. So to continuously have to slog through these long chapters for some self contained story that doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things is not a good pay off in my opinion.

There was a chapter or two about the MC's past and why he does what he is doing now, they were easily the best chapters I managed to read. You will get bits and pieces of character development flowing through but it's very minor.

If you're like me and don't care much for episodic series, then you might not be a fan of this. It definitely has good qualities, don't get me wrong. If you like episodic series then by all means please give it a try, you will probably enjoy it.