Drifters vol. 2
I initially thought that this was only going to be a two-volume fantasy-action romp from “Hellsing” creator Kohta Hirano, but I was wrong. It turns out that this is an “ongoing” series that doesn’t have an endpoint in sight yet. Now this would be bad news if the title simply delivered up more of the mindless, over-the-top fantasy battles that defined it previously. Much to my surprise, Hirano expands the scope of the story and ups the ambition of its characters to give the proceedings some substance to match the style.
After finding out how they came to arrive in this world and getting the lowdown on threat of the Black King, our protagonists are now faced with a choice of what to do next. Being a warlord renowned for having a deviousness only matched by his scheming, Oda Nobunaga decides that there’s only one thing to do: Conquer it for themselves! Oda plans to put hardcore samurai Shimazu as the leader of their forces and manipulate things from behind the scenes (because he had enough of the whole “leadership” thing while he was in Japan). Shimazu’s first order of business: Take out the army approaching the elves’ village and rescue the natives’ women and children from the magistrate.
It’s the “building a movement from the ground up” aspect that turns out to be the most fascinating thing about this volume. While Oda may have been regarded as one of Japan’s most ruthless warlords, making him the backbone of the military strategy here was an inspired choice. From his disparaging choice of words for Shimazu’s “call to arms,” the “unconventional” methods of village warfare he employs, and the disgusting resourcefulness he displays in making gunpowder available in this world, his actions are a thrilling sight to behold. Usually, someone this devious is working against the protagonists in any given story so it’s a refreshing change of pace to see him employing his talents for the forces of “order” rather than “chaos.”
The rest of the cast isn’t quite as compelling, but they’re no weak links. Shimazu is a born leader, the fiercest warrior on the battlefield in the book, and a bit of a headcase when it comes to matters of honor. (If you’ve ever read any of Dark Horse’s never-to-be-completed-in-English “Satsuma Gishiden,” those are the kind of samurai Shimazu was a part of before he died.) So even if he’s meant to play the role of “hero” in the campaign against the Black King, he’s got a vicious and brutal streak a mile wide that doesn’t make him very heroic, but does make for an interesting contradiction to observe in his character. Yoichi the archer mainly helps out with covert actions and training while also looking pretty and drawing comic relief at the expense of others. Then there’s Olminu, the representative of the forces who brought the “Drifters” to this land and while she has some knowledge, she’s got only a few useful spells and no practical knowledge of battle. While Oda loves making (generally pretty funny) jokes at her expense, she also realizes that these people have a lot to offer this land and cause even if they’re all just a little bit crazy.
Seeing these characters work together, forge the elves into a fighting force, win some battles, and spread the air of rebellion through the non-human lands… it’s invigorating! You really do get a feeling that they’re developing something much larger than themselves that might actually tip the balance of power in this world. Though their opponents are clearly villains of the highest sort, the Black King gets one moment early on where we see that he’s not all about destruction for destruction’s sake and actually cares about the forces under command. Then there’s the human kingdom of Orte which defeated the Black King years ago, but has now devolved into a bloated racist empire besieged on nearly all fronts and unwilling to compromise in the face of what may be their inevitable defeat. You also get a “That explains a lot!” moment when the kingdom’s founder is revealed to be one of history’s most infamous leaders… and one whose significance is completely unrecognized by the characters. Though they do think he has a stupid mustache.
The best part of all this is that while Hirano adds all this in the second volume, he doesn’t neglect the crazy action that was key to the appeal of the first. We see this best towards the end of the volume when Joan of Arc and Gilles De Rails show up to ruin our protagonists’ day and start tearing things up with their crazy abilities and powers. Things go completely over the top in action and taunts, best seen when Shimazu asks Joan if she’s a man or a woman. Her response is only seen in her eyes, which are give off an angry raging insanity whose meaning is impossible to miss. Details like that are sprinkled liberally throughout the volume as Hirano gets his exaggerated style to mesh perfectly with the material. So the characters, their looks and actions never hit a false note whether they’re drawn normally or done off-model for purposes of slapstick.
It could still fall apart, but this volume is a real step up in terms of quality and I’ll be sticking around for the long haul to see how it turns out. Make that the veeeeeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyyyy long haul if Hirano’s work ethic is anything to go by. Over two years went by between the release of volumes one and two in Japan and volume three has no release date in its home country yet. Put simply, I’d be surprised if we saw it over here before vol. 37 of “Berserk” arrives next year. A wait like that can really kill the momentum for a series and I hope that doesn’t happen here. Right now, it is certainly one deserving of your attention.