Arc 10: Completed.
Not much to say here. Calm before the storm and Ten finally joining Shin's ranks as a strategist. Cool.
Arc 11: Completed.
This will be a very rough/chaotic review so if you are lost somewhere just ask me to expand on it.
The Coalition War Arc. I don't know where to start to be honest. First and foremost. It's the best Kingdom arc and reading experience since I've picked up this amazing series.
Even before on-screen confirmation with words I knew it was way too calm for Zhao and Qin to just slowly expand their territories in an attempt to broaden their reach in China. Finally some more spotlight on the "Super State" of Chu. Shunshinkun is lowkey funny. It's like you mix Shouheikun with Riboku with a small addition of built within him rage. At times I was wondering how the hell he operates as Chu's version of Shouheikun with his hot-blooded personality. But I guess this is more about him showing off more emotions. Not everyone is a cold-blooded pretty face mastermind like Riboku. + the fact that Riboku personally put his trust in him must mean this guy is not some random angry strategist.
Mangoku vs Shin fight was amazing with all the emotional background and stuff to improve Shin's POV on the world although I must say that I have a very strong feeling that this fight was nothing more than a cheap version of the Rinko fight ( which was fantastic, one of the best ever for me ). I really didn't care about Mangoku that much xD. I don't mind the author for this choice. Shin needed his spotlight in this arc but he knew that there are more important players in this war and they will be highlighted more often.
Moubu, Moubu, Moubu...
I wasn't sold on his character early on. I thought of him as a cocky douche bull. But in this arc, he became one of my favorite characters so easily and so quickly. Not in my personal top 3 yet but he is knocking on the doors.
His fight against Kanmei was fantastic. The competition for the title of the "Strongest Man in China" might look like some ape shit for a lot of readers but it was way more than that.
There are two types of Generals during the war ( well unless you get Kanmei vs Moubu of course ). The intelligence type and the brute force type. The first lead his people to victory thru schemes, strategy, and fast forward thinking in general. The other is a man who puts the trust of his soldiers on his back and runs thru the enemy forces shining his back brighter and brighter to motivate each and every single one of them to put their lives on the line for the sake of their Kingdom. Moubu did just that. When he was supposed "out" after his first exchange with Kanmei his soldiers started to slowly lose the fire ignited in them only until their General stood back up and shown to the entire state of Chu and Qin who is the Strongest Man in all of China. Mouten interference was a really nice father/son moment. People like Moubu don't strike you as a fatherly type but his words about Mouten not dying like a bitch since he is his son is way more precious than your dad casually hugging and comforting you. This was Moubu's way to show his love for Mouten. Very nice catch. Moubu really grew since the Bayou Campaign. Don't know how many people think about it this way but I would say that Ouki's death was a very heavy hit to him despite them not being related and just being Generals of the same country. Moubu grew a lot both as a person and fighter since his death. He even shows signs of growth in terms of tactics ( thanks to Shouheikun motivational speech ) and etc. I wonder if he feels responsible to win as Qin's General because of Ouki's death. There is one moment I was missing during this war although It couldn't happen since Shin wasn't under him and Ouki's Glaive was left somewhere. I was looking for a moment where Shin tries to use Ouki's glaive but notices it's still too early for him and Moubu approaches him and asks him to lend him Ouki's treasure for the time being.
Ousen. One of the most mysterious characters right after Riboku and Shouheikun in my books. All you know about him is that he wants to be King, he is from Ou clan and he is a strategist but I think there is much more to it. The thing I want the most is to see him without the mask. However bad it sounds. I need to see his facials expressions. This motherfuckers is calm and composes like 100% of the time.
Also, he seems to be one hell of a troll as a tactician. Whenever he screwed Ordo it was like: Lol he fell into my trap, lol again and lol again. I was laughing hard at Ordo getting fucked by Ousen's tactics. It was beyond disrespectful from Ousen and he didn't even know he is disrespectful. The way he got rid of the mountain people was impressive.
Kanki
Kanki hit my top 3 this arc. The dude is just insane. Choutou spends his last days as a general, disrespecting Kanki and the way he behaves only to get proven wrong by Kanki time and time again. The way he got rid of the siege tower is one of the highlights of this arc for me. Then what he did down the tower going thru the enemy forces with their flags to look like their forces since they were busy shooting the Kankou Pass gates with arrows. This man is just insane. Mougu really got two diamonds under him. Kanki the beheader doing some 200iq tactics was fucking insane for me. His personality overall I like it. The beheading part is more so to make him look dangerous which he is despite the fact of beheading his enemies. ( When it comes to this whole beheading it's subjective. I don't think this is necessary but if you look at it from an opposing force standpoint. He is doing what must be done to avoid people going to ask for help or even take revenge in the future ).
Ngl. When I saw the Generals that were picked to defend Qin my first thought was: Oh, so Choutou and Mougu are the sacrificial lambs for the sake of this arc. I was right in 50%. The death I didn't expect came later on...
Duke Hyou. Man, this guy is as intense as one old mofo can get. His moments with Shin were so amazing to me and later when I found out that Duke Hyou smiled a lot, thanks to Shin and that he treated this like a father/son relationship really got me. I was wondering why his role was reduced to just advancing his armies forward during this war until I got my answer. I will include another character here because it's important to what I want to say. There is the introduction of Karin, the female giant woman general. Cool. Female General who is strong herself, her tactics aren't too bad and she has the strongest force in the Chu apparently. I couldn't care less about her tbh. Don't know what people think but her tactics with 5k of her men moving around the battlefield unnoticed to strike the Kankou Pass gates from the rear was cool and all but I think that Duke Hyou's feat is way more impressive. He was also in the fighting when he noticed the plan that Riboku had all along and went on in an attempt to stop him and his forces from advancing forward in the direction where King Ei Sei and the majority of the civilians are. This was way more impressive than Karin's rear attack tactic which was funnily enough intercepted by Ousen. She didn't actually think she can outsmart fucking Ousen didn't she?
I knew Houken will be a trump card in case Coalition fails. But I really didn't believe him to show up this late and only with Riboku leading him. My first thought was that Riboku will use him when Qin will gain the advantage and their morale would go up and later when the fight goes on and on Houken would make his move to slay Ei Sei and the people of Qin much to the shock of Qin forces battling at the Kankou pass. Lowkey, it was a plot armor here for Ei Sei xD.
Duke put up a good fight but he was nowhere near defeating Houken. His performance was the worst out of all the big people Houken fought. But I don't blame Duke Hyou for that. You are not running into someone like fucking Houken on daily basis, right?
Shin vs Houken is something I was waiting for since Bayou but I was fucking afraid it was too early. Dude, I couldn't be more wrong with that. Sometimes I'm forgetting that time passes in this manga and Shin is not a kid anymore. The way Shin could oppose Houken was hella impressive. He found openings and managed to cut and stab Houken. The martial arts of Qin going strong
I think they will have their final encounter once Shin grows some more and Qin decided to finally invade Zhao.
Yo Tan Wa
Finally, the best woman in this show has shown up. I was hoping for her arrival to beat the fuck out of Karin but I will wait some more. This will happen. Her arrival was like Gandalf arriving with Rohirims in Two Towers. Fucking GOATED shit.
The shock on Riboku's face when he realizes he didn't calculate every possibility. I know he will grow from this moment but it really got me questioning why he forgets about such reinforcements. Yo Tan Wa army should be around 100k now or something right?
and bro... This fucking moment:
Only Queen Yo Tan Wa can get Kings to do it:
I'm very conflicted about Riboku. Didn't see that at first but doesn't he look like he is not confident in his skills? I swear, his tactics are fucking top tier, outsmarting him is one hell of a fucking feat, only performed by Ouki and Duke ( + maybe Shouheikun but this is up to debate since I think every one of Shouheikun's intelligence would do things that he did ) up to this point yet I get a wrong vibe from him. He sits there observes the battlefield, advances his forces, sends out actions and orders. He is doing well but his facial expressions and his internal thoughts make me wonder if he is not believing in himself as he should. I want to see his backstory. How he came to power, moved up the ranks, and become the man he is.
Bold prediction. He couldn't prove himself as a soldier and move up the ranks using his power and skills that weren't enough ( Shin's words about Riboku being on the battlefield many times ) and his career as a strategist was due to his love for the art of battle but he still doesn't feel like fulfilled person since he always wanted to fight right then and there and not lead the forces as he does now. Very complicated internal struggle because he would love to be someone like Ouki or Moubu but he can't due to his disadvantages.
Sorry for not expanding on the army officers from other countries but they didn't get my attention that much. This poison dude was annoying and he did nothing aside from slaying Choutou. I really blame Ouhon for not taking out that Archer woman.
There was also this guy with one of the two named after their creators swords. I guess him and that archer woman are Chu's answer to the promising youth of Qin in Ouhon, Mouten and Shin. Btw. Ouhon ranking up gets me annoyed each time. Shin does so much shit and Ouhon is always the same rank xD.
Three more
Bold or not. This arc was 10/10 for me. The best arc I've read since I started my Kingdom journey.
TBC...