No surprise from Yukimura, but this is a really solid piece of work. It's got a really fantastic depiction of the Bakumatsu and the tensions at work within the war. On one hand, it doesn't demonize Shisengumi like Okita Soji, but it thankfully doesn't valorize them like the endless romance stories that star them. The real highlight of the piece is a flashback from Soji to his fighting days when he has to confront the question of violence that Yukimura makes one of the main issues in his VINLAND SAGA. The art is more in the style and quality of PLANETES than it is VINLAND. Whileit probably could have benefited from Yukimura's more lavish modern style, he obviously hasn't developed it yet. What would have been.

When taken together with PLANETES and VINLAND, SAYONARA proves that Yukimura just doesn't miss. With VINLAND wrapping up, SAYONARA makes me wonder what kind of work he'll try next.