I was NOT prepared to love this manga as nearly as much as I did. The artwork was very off-putting to me - very dated, distorted pizza-shaped faces, and too shoujo-esque. However, if the art style is the only thing holding you back from reading this, I highly recommend that you give it a try anyways.

Basara has a large cast of characters and an expansive fantasy world to explore, both of which I love as long as they are well done (which is the case in this manga). The relationship between Sarasa/Shuri and their alternative personas Tatara/Red King was fascinating, and really gets you emotionally involved. I loved the way that their relationship and motives evolved over time, especially as they were forced to come to terms with each other's identity.

The only element (aside from the art style, which did grow on me over time) that I disliked in this story was that Sarasa/Tatara was sometimes too wishy-washy in her resolve. To a certain extent I can understand that trait since she is trying to reconcile the role of "Tatara" that she has undertaken with her own self, "Sasara", but there were times when her indecisiveness seemed excessive.