To start this review I will state that I am still EXTREMELY mad about the Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer adaptation. I will also preface that this is not my favorite of Mizukamis works with Biscuit Hammer and Spirit Circle being superior in my eyes. However this is still a top 10 manga of mine for very good reason. It is ambitious and has a storytelling prowess not seen in his other works. While Spirit Circle is a layered story and Biscuit Hammer is a spoof on the Sentai genre Sengoku Youko is just Mizukami showing he can do a traditional Shonen while still maintaining his trademark untraditional style of fluid plot progression nuanced character writing and the beautiful emotional core at the heart of all his works. The plot starts rather simply for a Mizukami story following a pair of brother and sister at least they call each other that Youko or demons named Jinka and Tama. They traverse the lands with the younger sister being a proclaimer of absolute peace to misdoers pleading with them to reconsider their actions. When this proclamation fails Jinka goes beast mode and beats the meanies up easily. There is also a random guy that joins along with them named Shinsuke and they kind of just let him. The start of the story isnt perfect but it makes sense as it emulates many of its other shonen counterparts then tears apart these traditional storytelling values in a unique way. I like to see the first 1/3 of Sengoku Youko similar to Hunter X Hunter with our main characters all rather simple at the beginning but showing both explicit and implicit growth with every scene that comes making their growth immensely satisfying. I wont go any further into the plot as the next 2/3 of the story is spoilerheavy but I will say that Sengoku Youko never stays stagnant always growing as a narrative and making daring choices. Some work some fail but none of them are meaningless. Now its time to talk about the cast. A strength that all of Mizukamis manga have is that every plot point grows every member of the cast in some way and that is no different for Sengoku Youko. My personal favorite character is Shinsuke a character who starts out as your stereotypical shonen Im a normal guy stuck in a crazy world MC but slowly grows into something far grander. He experiences the greatest character writing out of any manga Ive ever read consistently adapting in every scene so much so that the Shinsuke from the beginning middle and end are all completely different characters. If nothing else read Sengoku Youko for the absolute writing masterclass that is Shinsukes character. The rest of the class ranges from great to serviceable with characters like Senya Jinka and Douren being the other highlights. Senya has a really unique power and how it relates to his psyche creates polarizing dynamics Jinka is a great foil to Shinsuke and would be higher if not for a questionable plot decision and Douren is just so fucking cool. The only flaw with the characters is Tsukiko who in my opinion does not receive a sufficient amount of development to justify her screentime. I felt that she was honestly quite expendable as a character in most of her scenes and brings little impact to the overall narrative. She isnt actively bad just a rather dull point in a non dull series. And this final section will be spent on me GUSHING about Mizukamis art style and how much he has grown from his early days. Unfortunately the site is bugging for me and wont let me post any pictures on this review but I implore you to look up some of his art. At first glance the art is almost mediocre with a simple shonenlike design lacks a lot of difference comapred to older mid2000s manga with the same style. But Mizukami has absolutely perfected the art of expression and his shading is some of the best of any mangaka Ive seen. Admittedly Biscuit Hammer is rather shoddy with some scenes looking out of place and the art a bit wonky but Sengoku Youko has not a single part that is flawed in any manner. It is excruciatingly beautiful an example being Shinsukes art style during the narrative. His change in design and character is so poignant to the points in the story that hes in from jubilant to fulfilled to despaired to content every level of his character is only accentuated by the art. This review might seem like a bit of a Shinsuke dickride but hes not the only one with outstanding artistic design. In fact every character has such a fun unique design and Mizukami uses the fighting techniques these characters have with a great scale yet never seems to falter in terms of quality. Overall this is the peak of Mizukamis art and seeing his progression throughout his career makes it an even more satisfying read. Overall I give Sengoku Youko a 9/10. Its gripping unique and nuanced in many regards. The only flaws are a few drawnout plot points and questionable decisions specifically with Jinka that hold it back from Mizukamis other manga. I am so hyped for the anime and I pray to the gods in heaven above that they dont massacre another one of Mizukamis creations otherwise I will riot.