Chronin, Vol. 1: The Knife at Your Back

I appreciate the amount of research that went into this and the interesting subject matter (19th century Japan). However, this really should be shaded or at the very least have better character differentiation. I spent a while thinking: “Now who is this again?” Story definitely picked up steam in the later issues.

Time traveling to Edo Japan...that's all I needed to hear to want to pick this up and I wasn't disappointed. The sci fi is light, but sets the stage for an otherwise historically set story where two women travel through turbulent times in 1864 Japan, both with secrets and a need to get somewhere which brings them together and forms a tenuous friendship. But when does time travel ever go according to plan? Their journey isn't action packed, but the story is well written and the characters realistic and likeable enough to make it worthwhile. Attention to historical detail seemed spot on and the art, though simple, was able to convey a definite sense of the time and place in a way that brings you into the story visually as well. Definitely worth checking out!