Samurai: Brothers in Arms #2 continues with Takeo and Akio being pursued by a new, ruthless enemy. It opens up with Akio and the Monk squandering all the money they had by gambling it away. Seeing their predicament, the owner agrees to forward them a small advance to continue their games at the urging of another monk. Meanwhile, Takeo and Sayuri meet up in secret near a beautiful waterfall. Sayuri is at first nervous about them being caught by her mistress but agrees to meet him again the next day at another location. Spurned by Takeo previously, Sayuri’s mistress plots against them since she’s furious about their new relationship. But what none of them know is that a new enemy is on their trail. But who is this masked assailant and how is he connected to Takeo and Akio’s past?

Takeo’s interactions with Sayuri were entertaining and gave a little more depth to his character. The obvious conflict with Sayuri’s mistress being envious of them was intriguing from the standpoint that Sayuri was her slave and subject to her whims. This also allowed Takeo to interact with the locals a bit more so this aspect of the story felt fleshed out. It wasn’t long before events took a drastic turn putting Sayuri in a dangerous predicament and created the question of what would Takeo be able to do next. The tone was what I have come to expect from this series.

The same can’t be so easily said about Akio and the Monk’s situation. The Yakuza not being able to contend with Akio was no surprise last issue but it was surprising at how quickly they fell into the Yakuza’s trap. This part of the story reminded me of when the inhabitants of the Isle With No Name wanted to recruit Takeo. Even though this was due to manipulation behind the scenes it still felt like a distraction from the main story at the time.

SUMMARY

Samurai BrotherS in Arms #2 is a strong follow-up to the first issue with the way the story gets back on track and advances. Takeo remains an interesting character including everything from the situation with Sayuri to the new character guiding them as part of a tentative deal. I didn’t like Akio’s addition last issue but once the story advances and answers are given he becomes much more bearable. So I’m looking forward to more answers and seeing what lies ahead for all of them.

Release Date: 10/19/16
Writer: Jean-Francois Di Giorigio
Artist: Frederic Genet