I read the most recent comment by a Dariush and I personally feel violated academically, and I feel that it will violate other potential readers of this manga to look at it with a poor light based only on the guided imagery this Dariush provides. And SO I will bring up some points of my own.
As a reader who is very critical of what they read and is particular about how stories function and progress, I can honestly say that ALL stories act on what this person would call "suspension of disbelief-violating mess". All stories must have happenstance events occur in order for the characters and the stories to progress, and frankly I have read a many MANY worse stories that operate with happenstance/suspension of disbelieve events that don't even make sense. But this story is not one of them.
The whole purpose of this story, as you learn in the first chapter, is that the main character is known as "Sugimoto the Immortal". Now if you go into a story wanting to have a COMPLETELY realistic setting with NO possible story-world occurrences, then after reading that the main character is referred to as Sugimoto the IMMORTAL, then you're probably going to want to stop reading after the first chapter- no, after the first few pages where the character goes through life threatening situations and then turns out looking practically okay.
So now that we've covered the fact that the main character is obviously guided by some whimsical talent of consistently managing to escape death even when all scenarios seem bleak, let's move on to the next point, shall we? Already I've debased that if you don't like mangas with borderline supernatural happenstances, or suspension of disbelief, then you should not read this, correct? But this manga is SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT.
This manga has amazing characters with personalities ranging close to a Fullmetal Alchemist level of storytelling. The world is set towards the end of the Meiji period, which I find many historical mangas do not touch on. Most historical mangas use Edo for some reason, but this manga has taken the Meiji period to next level entertaining.
The first chapter (after the first few pages) captivates you with amazing storytelling and to say that the characters don't make their own decisions to push the story forward is baloney. The story ONLY moves forward BECAUSE of the characters' decisions to travel here and there. You ever hear about "it's a small world" from people that you may not have seen for years but suddenly run into each other? Well yeah, that takes the cake for this story, but the way that the story unravels all the characters meeting doesn't make you the reader feel cheated, on the contrary, there is a comedic sense to it that ALWAYS tickles my enjoyment.
Now for the final piece I wanted to discuss based off of Diarush's accusations towards this manga, the only real plot hole.
[spoiler]Why don't the convicts leave Hokkaido if they know they will be hunted? On many occasions you will find that each of the convicts have their own reasons for this. Some of them have decided to look for the gold themselves, and so they stuck around. Others managed to find jobs around the place, which as a freshly escaped convict I'm sure finding a job isn't easy and you'll stick to it when you get one. But the most important one, this is their home? They were sent to prison IN Hokkaido, so most of them GREW UP and LIVED in Hokkaido. Sure you CAN leave if you want to, but many people will find that a sense of nostalgia and belonging can outweigh wits and being smart about these things (just look at how many people give in to peer pressure on a daily basis, jeez). And we still don't know if there IS another convict not living in Hokkaido. So this plot hole isn't entirely a plot hole, is it?[spoiler]
So to sum it up, this plot hole isn't even really a plot hole, is it?
Overall, the story is amazing, the art is a amazing, the characters have a depth and shallow side as well as backstories that are captivating that you don't think "Ugh, when will this flashback end?". Instead all you want is more of it! Occasionally the perspective will pan away from the main characters for a few pages, but it is only to advance the story by showing you the enemy's perspective and is quickly read through before going back to the main events.
The whole era is explored and you begin to feel a certain way about it that makes you think "Gosh, I actually learned a lot about Ainu culture by reading this!". And it's fun! It's entertaining! It's becoming one of my favorite stories yet (can't call it one of my favs yet because any story can take turns for the worst in the future), and so far things are heating up swimmingly! 😀
