Kingdom - Chapter 623: To Serve as an Example
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My mind is blown by the Can’t Fear Your Own World forms for Barragan and Tier Halibel. Barragans ceremonial horns and confirmed hollow hole placement is cool as Hell. I love Halibel’s dark grey hair too!
Tokinada, from the same light novel, seems intense. Like Gin whose sinister nature is genuine. I got goose bumps seeing the video!
Tokinada, from the same light novel, seems intense. Like Gin whose sinister nature is genuine. I got goose bumps seeing the video!
Oh man, this Houken. All this time he was following his beliefs, trying to find a way to save humanity from itself....... 
This is possibly why Ouki shook Houken to his core.
Ouki was a man who fought for the sake of achieving dreams, who held so many emotional attachments to both those he lost as well as those who he fought side by side with, who allowed his emotions to enter his duals (e.g. his rage against Houken) and who dedicated as much time (if not more) to grand strategies as he did to his martial prowess.
As far as Houken was originally concerned, someone like Ouki should have been beneath him as they were not “transcendent” as it were. So Ouki soundly defeating him would have completely challenged his perception of himself. Failing to defeat Ouki once more would have only further challenged his beliefs.
I greatly enjoy this take on both Houken’s backstory and the relationship between Riboku and Houken as one of equals. I was originally expecting Houken to be something akin to a morally neutral Goku who just lived to prove his martial superiority over others for the sake of it. Which I actually would not have had a problem with. Lol.
This reveal behind his motivations and goals makes things far more interesting.
This is possibly why Ouki shook Houken to his core.
Ouki was a man who fought for the sake of achieving dreams, who held so many emotional attachments to both those he lost as well as those who he fought side by side with, who allowed his emotions to enter his duals (e.g. his rage against Houken) and who dedicated as much time (if not more) to grand strategies as he did to his martial prowess.
As far as Houken was originally concerned, someone like Ouki should have been beneath him as they were not “transcendent” as it were. So Ouki soundly defeating him would have completely challenged his perception of himself. Failing to defeat Ouki once more would have only further challenged his beliefs.
I greatly enjoy this take on both Houken’s backstory and the relationship between Riboku and Houken as one of equals. I was originally expecting Houken to be something akin to a morally neutral Goku who just lived to prove his martial superiority over others for the sake of it. Which I actually would not have had a problem with. Lol.
This reveal behind his motivations and goals makes things far more interesting.
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Very different feel from the madness we've been getting these past few weeks, but I liked the characterization Houken got this chapter. Always thought Houken was simply just a Savage, nothing more, nothing less, which I didn't particularly dislike but for the first time ever I actually thought Houken's character was interesting, not in the hype sense, but in the sense that he actually has depth/substance to him which is hella dope. The fact that Houken's desire to better humanity was what made him into the martial god that he is and simply not just an empty endless desire for strength, blew me away. He's man worthy of admiration and it's a shame that only a select few Zhao soldiers got to hear his story. With the current revelation, it kinda feels like the bar for Shin defeating Houken just got a helluva lot higher if it wasn't already stupidly high enough before especially considering Shin is not 100%. Maybe Kyoukai also knew that Houken was a path seeker, which was why she fought so desperately to prevent Shin from fighting Houken.
All that said, coming back to Houken, I don't get why it was said that Houken's blade lacked weight IIRC and why he lost to Ouki coz I don't see how his desire to better humanity loses out to Ouki's desire to protect his friends and family or is it simply just coz Ouki fights with his comrades and Houken fights alone? Coz the weight of Houken's blade should be hella heavy.
All that said, coming back to Houken, I don't get why it was said that Houken's blade lacked weight IIRC and why he lost to Ouki coz I don't see how his desire to better humanity loses out to Ouki's desire to protect his friends and family or is it simply just coz Ouki fights with his comrades and Houken fights alone? Coz the weight of Houken's blade should be hella heavy.
Holy Bushin man, this chapter was some shit
I waited until I’d have some time to truly dissect this bad boy before I read it. When I read the spoilers, my first instinct was that the description there didn’t match the themes Hara had been building to with Houken, but after reading the chapter, this shit is damn near perfection imo.
Hara has been establishing Houken as someone who does not understand the “Weight” of the Great Generals he has fought, someone who can’t find the answer to their passion. So with this
We now know that the path seekers as a group were people ideologically opposed to the passion&emotions that define humanity, and that
As a result, the path seekers chose to go foresake their own humanity in an attempt to surpass humanity itself. This explains why Houken won’t allow the “Heavens” to fear anyone but himself,
In the belief that by becoming a martial god, the rest of humanity would transcend itself and wars would end.
Whether you think this ideology is bullshit or not, it is at least internally consistent and adds an actual real motivation and complexity to Houken’s character that simply was not there before.
Houken has always been a top ten character of mine, but man...Kingdom is going to be in a weird place after he dies lol. He and Riboku are both Ryofui Level villains in that their existence has defined major conflicts in this manga for hundreds of chapters.
Speaking of Riboku, I swear. Everything I learn about this guy makes me love him more lol. Riboku has always been an unconventional General, pretty opposite to the ones Hara idolizes like the Duke and Ouki. Riboku’s tactics often involve dishonesty, deception, the manipulation of information, and this has been very successful for him.
So to find out that he used to be what he considers a “fool who only knew how to charge head first into conflict” ties together the idea of why he is a very different commander from people like Ouki and the Duke lol.
On top of this, he lost his family to warfare (possibly due to his own foolishness?) and at one point was ready for death to take him, explaining why he is a General who doesn’t even like warfare.
Houken and Riboku Man. This was a 10/10 chapter for me. These two will go down as two of my all time favorite manga villains, if not my all time favorites.
I waited until I’d have some time to truly dissect this bad boy before I read it. When I read the spoilers, my first instinct was that the description there didn’t match the themes Hara had been building to with Houken, but after reading the chapter, this shit is damn near perfection imo.
Hara has been establishing Houken as someone who does not understand the “Weight” of the Great Generals he has fought, someone who can’t find the answer to their passion. So with this
We now know that the path seekers as a group were people ideologically opposed to the passion&emotions that define humanity, and that
As a result, the path seekers chose to go foresake their own humanity in an attempt to surpass humanity itself. This explains why Houken won’t allow the “Heavens” to fear anyone but himself,
In the belief that by becoming a martial god, the rest of humanity would transcend itself and wars would end.
Whether you think this ideology is bullshit or not, it is at least internally consistent and adds an actual real motivation and complexity to Houken’s character that simply was not there before.
Houken has always been a top ten character of mine, but man...Kingdom is going to be in a weird place after he dies lol. He and Riboku are both Ryofui Level villains in that their existence has defined major conflicts in this manga for hundreds of chapters.
Speaking of Riboku, I swear. Everything I learn about this guy makes me love him more lol. Riboku has always been an unconventional General, pretty opposite to the ones Hara idolizes like the Duke and Ouki. Riboku’s tactics often involve dishonesty, deception, the manipulation of information, and this has been very successful for him.
So to find out that he used to be what he considers a “fool who only knew how to charge head first into conflict” ties together the idea of why he is a very different commander from people like Ouki and the Duke lol.
On top of this, he lost his family to warfare (possibly due to his own foolishness?) and at one point was ready for death to take him, explaining why he is a General who doesn’t even like warfare.
Houken and Riboku Man. This was a 10/10 chapter for me. These two will go down as two of my all time favorite manga villains, if not my all time favorites.
The way I see it is because Houken has no actual attachment towards those who he believes it his duty to assist (i.e. humanity).
To Houken, his belief in his cause is one of duty towards that which he holds no personal attachment to. He strives to become an example of the pinnacle that humanity can achieve and overcome but in doing so believes all those he comes across are naturally inferior to him. To put it simply, Houken is committed to humanity but is apathetic towards actual people. His drive and source of power comes solely from himself. He does not believe in the concept of inheritance of wills which is a big theme within Kingdom.
To Ouki, his belief in his cause is one of dreams and desire. Ouki strived to achieve that which as far as history was concerned at the time, was unachievable. In seeking out to achieve the impossible he came across like minded individuals who he formed personal attachments with (e.g. King Sho and the Qin Six), lead those who came to follow his beliefs (e.g. Tou and the Ouki Army Commanders) and inspire the next generation (e.g. Shin). Ouki cares for the people that he knows, whether they be individuals or the citizens of the nation he serves, rather than the broad concept of humanity in general. His drive and source of power comes from both his own desire to achieve the goal of uniting China as well as the accumulation of all those he personally knew who have fallen while contributing to that goal.
To Houken, his belief in his cause is one of duty towards that which he holds no personal attachment to. He strives to become an example of the pinnacle that humanity can achieve and overcome but in doing so believes all those he comes across are naturally inferior to him. To put it simply, Houken is committed to humanity but is apathetic towards actual people. His drive and source of power comes solely from himself. He does not believe in the concept of inheritance of wills which is a big theme within Kingdom.
To Ouki, his belief in his cause is one of dreams and desire. Ouki strived to achieve that which as far as history was concerned at the time, was unachievable. In seeking out to achieve the impossible he came across like minded individuals who he formed personal attachments with (e.g. King Sho and the Qin Six), lead those who came to follow his beliefs (e.g. Tou and the Ouki Army Commanders) and inspire the next generation (e.g. Shin). Ouki cares for the people that he knows, whether they be individuals or the citizens of the nation he serves, rather than the broad concept of humanity in general. His drive and source of power comes from both his own desire to achieve the goal of uniting China as well as the accumulation of all those he personally knew who have fallen while contributing to that goal.
Just read the full chapter.
Gotta be real, the story is somewhat bullshit lol. Plus the (over)reaction. All the fodders go full shocked, with their mouth open and sweating, while listening to this ???? story while in the middle of a war. #priorities
Then they all suddenly crying from their left eye??? Lol
Gotta be real, the story is somewhat bullshit lol. Plus the (over)reaction. All the fodders go full shocked, with their mouth open and sweating, while listening to this ???? story while in the middle of a war. #priorities
Then they all suddenly crying from their left eye??? Lol
It was great chapter!! Glad to know that Houken was not just a generic villian who wants to be strongest.
This story gives him great depth imo..... Path seekers try to transcend the humanity in the way they believe.....Their concept is so interesting...But I don't know why they believe if one of them transcends, the whole world will follow them
Houken wants the world to transcend by giving up on human emotions while generals like Ouki, Shin want to attain peace by using the human emotions...
I think Houken is really surprised by the strength of Ouki when he battled him...I think he was confused how a human with emotion could overpower a being who has transcended humans.... He was really frustrated by it...Shin's answer on why emotions are important will be very interesting!!
Even Kyokai's clan have similar ideologies to path seekers...( I forgot if they are called the same).. The wars Riboku fought before when he was young is the reason behind his Martial powress! Overall a great chapter
This story gives him great depth imo..... Path seekers try to transcend the humanity in the way they believe.....Their concept is so interesting...But I don't know why they believe if one of them transcends, the whole world will follow them
Houken wants the world to transcend by giving up on human emotions while generals like Ouki, Shin want to attain peace by using the human emotions...
I think Houken is really surprised by the strength of Ouki when he battled him...I think he was confused how a human with emotion could overpower a being who has transcended humans.... He was really frustrated by it...Shin's answer on why emotions are important will be very interesting!!
Even Kyokai's clan have similar ideologies to path seekers...( I forgot if they are called the same).. The wars Riboku fought before when he was young is the reason behind his Martial powress! Overall a great chapter
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