Ratings28
Average rating3.8
The genius of this duology isn't apparent until the end of the second volume and I think it a shame this wasn't published as a single book.
Heartbreaking, as the companion Boxers also was. Similarly straightforward art and dialogue coupled with some trippy magical-realist bits (here, a misfit village girl in China starts seeing apparitions of Joan of Arc) and really brutal, emotional moments.
The biggest wow moment for me was seeing the Righteous and Harmonious Fists in battle from Vibiana's perspective. They appear as men, and not as gods. It creates the sense that the Fist members are driven by faith in their cause (which I never totally agreed with while reading Boxers).
I was not a fan of the epilogue here... I didn't think that Bao deserved to survive, and especially not due to the prayer that he learned from the girl that he murdered. I didn't feel it was just; Bao was the instigator of violence, and he ends up being victorious, in a way.
I am conflicted by Gene Luen Yang's parallel books.
I grew up Jodo Shinshu Buddhist and do not believe in God. Christianity never had (and still doesn't make sense to me), but what always bothered me about religious people is their belief that you should believe as they do. I have little respect for missionaries who make it their life's work to convert what they consider ‘heathens'. To me it's arrogant and insensitive. It is, in a very true sense, a killer of cultures.
So with Boxers I sympathized with Little Bao and his desire to rid China of these ‘foreign devils' who have not only come to China to convert the people, but take over land as if they've a right to it. I could also see how Little Bao becomes conflicted by all the death surrounding him.
With Saints, I think Yang's choice to write a character who is so completely unlikable was probably not the best way to show a different side to the Boxer Rebellion, but maybe that was his intention. Four Girl is selfish and mean and following a religion only because she got cookies out of it and wanted to become a devil, not because she wanted to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.
The writing is great and I was engrossed from beginning to end with both volumes. I loved the art, it's just that the characters, Four Girl and Little Bao were not the heroes one is looking for. I would have loved to follow Mei-wen's journey instead as I found her to be much more interesting than both main characters. But I wonder, in this rebellion were there really heroes? Another war, senseless killing because of religion. It's a sad state of affairs that continually repeats itself.
I read these back to back as I feel that I would not have noticed the crossovers in the books had I read them apart.