Review of Tsuta Suzuki's Barbarities IV

Barbarities is a manga series that takes place in a world based on late Renaissance Europe (Early Modern era).

The main characters are Joel, who doubles as his uncle, Lord Montague, an older, bearded chap--the assumed persona allows Joel to get important work done for the kingdom--and Adam Canning. Adam is a frank libertine (until he falls for Joel) from the same kingdom that supplied Joel's kingdom, Lorraine, with its queen. 

Joel is a kind of Enlightenment figure devoted to rationality and the separation of church and state. He has a tense but friendly relationship with the Cardinal of the "new" religion. Interestingly and correctly, Adam recognizes that Joel and the Cardinal--despite very different perspectives--are both humanists. In some ways, they have quite a lot  in common, rather like Renaissance Popes and their artists.

That new religion worships a goddess, which I found particularly satisfying. Patriarchy is not the issue. No matter what the religion, the same issues will arise. So, at one point when citizens attack the church, both parties accuse each other of paganism.

The story is complicated by an heir to another kingdom (Tance) visiting Joel's kingdom with his young brother, also an heir, ostensibly to protect his position but actually to do some spying with this servant, Gil. The main villain is Simon, the brother of the deceased king of Lorraine, who would like to take over the kingdom from his nephew.

That is, the series easily conveys quite complicated history. 

Book IV wraps up the arc of the nefarious king's brother. (Here's to hoping there's a Volume V!) I was curious to see how the matter would be resolved. One of the positives of complex political plots is the complexity. One of the downsides is that unraveling such complexity is never easy (see the Dune series).

For instance, one of the dumber statements I've heard in the past few years is the wish, coming from both sides of the political aisle, that some particular person would be assassinated. I find myself sighing at the whole human race. Does nobody study history any more aside from Neill Ferguson? Has nobody studied WWI?

In Blue Bloods, Frank Reagan says of suicides, "They are inherently chaotic, an act that throws all the orbits out of whack." 

The same is true of assassination--and politics. Pull on one thread...a million more unravel.

With Barbarities IV, the resolution to the current arc is a little too pat (several side stories, such as Gil's rescue of the younger prince from Tance, deserve their own volumes!) but every set-up related to that particular arc is resolved/addressed. In addition, the end of Volume IV leaves open a number of implied issues. Joel Montague's political life will never stop being a complicated one. 

At least, he now has Adam by his side!

And the ongoing appearance of different groups--insiders/outsiders/politicians/artists/military leaders/religious leaders/merchants/royalty--captures late Renaissance Europe very well!