Rurouni Kenshin, Vol. 26

Disillusioned by Kenshin's breakdown, Sano retreats from Tokyo and ends up in his home province, Shinshuu. We meet Sano's family and see where Sano gets his good looks and toughness from. Sano helps his father and two younger siblings battle against a crooked politician and his nephew who are bent on taking over Shinshuu. I could have easily disliked this volume because I usually dislike side stories when they take one away from the main plot (especially one as intense as Jinchuu), but this was a rare exception. Sano's family is just so adorable. His dad is a laugh a minute and I really felt for his sister's plight, being left to raise her little brother after the death of their mother. Also, look out for Kenshin's moving dream sequence at the end. Truly breath taking.

Yup,Sanosuke is still around and he's in the middle of a local war for control of a Village in this Volume of Rurouni Kenshin... Sano returns to his Home Village to blow off some steam but instead makes a deal to fight a local who beat 50 of a Yakuza Bosses' Men...And the Man in question is his Father!We have some light moments with Sano's entire Family,including the quiet Little Brother who was born after Sano ran away to join the Sekihotai,and others with and Sano talking about what it means to protect the ones you care about. This was actually a nice change of pace in story versus the grim and serious nature of the last couple of Volumes.Have Sanosuke back is also great.The only problem is...It ends just has the Kenshingumi storm Enshi's Island!Grrrr,I want the next Volume now! On a side note:The image used for the Cover is by far my favorite out of all the ones used.