Of the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles trilogy, the China episode is by far the best of all. I could write a great reason, but I’ll make it fast and say it’s because of three things: solid play, a great main character, and beautiful art. The Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun manga brings this brilliant character to life and deepens the story that the game originally presented.
Only the first volume of Viz Media is currently available, covering the first third of the game. The game was released in 2016, and I do not remember the details of Shao Jun’s story in 2021, but it did not take long before things clicked. The manga begins right at the beginning of the game, where Shao Jun flees from China while the emperor and the Templar order hunt down and wipe out the fraternity. Shao Jun ran to Florence to study under the Grand Master of the Brotherhood, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. When she returns to China, she is ready to restore the Brotherhood and avenge her fallen comrades.
So it’s a revenge story, like most of the Assassin’s Creed stories go.
The Blade by Shao Jun use a new side of this story, one that the game did not mention and that no one ever asks for. The manga dives into the contemporary life of the descendant of Shao Jun, the person in the Animus. I’m not sure why Ubisoft wants everyone to take care of Abstergo and today’s Animus topics, but it does. Apparently the manga-ka Minoji Kurata also cares, though I secretly hope Kurata doesn’t care, and that was just a requirement of Ubisoft.
But this is actually the only low point of the manga. Is it a bit interesting that Abstergo is proposing the Animus as an intensive behavioral therapy device? And an assassin is about to break the therapy party? I will admit that it’s a bit, but nothing that’s going on right now is half as interesting (or fun) as what’s going on in the past.
As for the past, it’s one thing to play the game and go through the motions, but it’s another thing to read and watch the story unfold. As much as I love the Assassin’s Creed games, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with all the names of all the people who track down the assassin to kill. It’s really the best way to keep up with a black and white manga, where it’s easy to turn back and forth to see information. Assassin’s Creed story. Sometimes it is also difficult to keep up with everything that is going on if you had to execute the escape sequence at least three times before mastering it. Those who have played the game know exactly what I am talking about.
It is a pity that only the first volume of Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun available because it ends up on such a wreath hanger. Although I’ve played the game and I know what’s going to happen next, I want to see it in the manga! And I admit I’m curious how the contemporary storyline is going to unravel. A little.