“Sasuke Retsuden” Manga Issue 2 Review

Sasuke Retsuden issue 2 continued the exciting pacing of the debut chapter and featured major revelations for the iconic Uchiha. Also, I can’t wait for Sakura to meet her husband!

The second issue picked up from where the last one left off. With Sasuke witnessing Meno ripping into a prisoner at the Tatar Observatory, I liked how the panels showed Sasuke taking an interest in the velociraptor. There’s something clearly odd about that particular dinosaur. And the creative team did an excellent job of building anticipation.

We got introduced to a new character, Sasuke’s cellmate named Jiji. It’s Jiji who let Sasuke know that the prisoners were being worked so hard because they had to prepare the location for some giant telescope that needed to be installed. Also, the management didn’t care how cold it was for the prisoners outside. The prisoners feared freezing to death, but their fear of Meno kept them in line.

The story contained to use Jiji to share more information with Sasuke. He told Sasuke that there was a new doctor stationed in the infirmary. The woman Jiji was picturing in his head was clearly Sakura. As someone who has read the novel this manga’s based on, I hope to see Sakura reunite with Sasuke in the next issue. I need to see those two teaming up to find a cure for Naruto’s ailment. And if the manga continues to stay true to the novel, Sakura’s got a new Jutsu I can’t wait for the rest of the fandom to witness.

Jiji also brought up the concept of wedding rings and how they were used in the Land of Redaku. Even though this is primarily an action/mystery manga, the narrative will also focus on developing Sasuke and Sakura’s relationship (which did get a lot of screentime in the Naruto anime and manga). So, keep an eye out for the concept of wedding rings coming up again down the line.

During Sasuke and Jiji’s conversation, we also got to see that the guards were scared of Sasuke. Jiji thought that it was because Sasuke was able to easily defeat a bunch of people in the previous chapter. However, the guards wanting to stay away from Sasuke could possibly be due to some other reason, too.

With Sasuke going back to his cell, the second chapter introduced two new characters. There’s Penzila, who is into placing bets while playing cee-lo, and there’s an older guy named Ganno who’s into drawing pictures on his toenails. I expect to see those drawings playing some kind of role later on in the story.

Sasuke deciding to roam around the Tatar prison/observatory at night led to another major revelation for him. Due to it being forbidden to leave the cell without wearing a cloth pass on your hand, Meno was able to track Sasuke down. Even though handling a velociraptor shouldn’t be tough for a ninja like Sasuke, I liked how the creative team tried to amp up the stakes. Meno was very fast and vicious. No wonder no other prisoner had been able to escape from him. Not only that, but Sasuke’s OP Genjutsu also didn’t work on Meno.

The scene where Sasuke used Ice-Style Jutsu to fashion himself a kunai was cool. While Sasuke was able to avoid getting injured and managed to slice off the claws on Meno’s right hand, the fact Meno continued to fight him showed how persistent said dino was.

The panels where Sasuke pondered about the mechanics behind a creature like Meno existing during the present added to the story’s mystery. According to Sasuke, Meno was most probably a Summoned Creature. However, that assumption didn’t make a lot of sense to Sasuke because Meno was around 24/7, and Sasuke doubted Zanzul had such massive amounts of Chakra at his disposal. I’m looking forward to seeing the manga reveal the truth behind Meno, who was able to appear the next day all healed up as if nothing had happened.

As far as Zanzul’s concerned, I think he’s enjoying playing with Sasuke. He knows that Sasuke’s capable of performing Ninjutsu and that he’s been snooping around. And yet, Zanzul refused to send Sasuke to solitary confinement. He also revealed why Sasuke’s Genjutsu didn’t work on him. It was because… drumroll…. Zanzul had glass eyes!

Just look at this well-drawn panel!

I get that Sasuke is an OP ninja and he will come out victorious in the end. But still, it’s nice to see the creative team find ways to make him worried about his current situation.

What did you think of Sasuke Retsuden issue 2? What is Zanzul up to?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary