Another one of my favorite characters in Kingdom will die. I knew it since this manga is based on actual history which is China's "Warring States" Period and I've already read the gist of it years ago. It's not a perfect adaptation as there are many inconsistencies from the actual history. In my experience the most historically accurate ones are more likely to be boring. Well, that's not something I was surprised since I felt that Yasuhisa Hara wants to cater I wider range of audience so he made tons of adjustments. Also, unless being an expert on Chinese history there are bound to be some misinterpretations when you're a Japanese writing and illustrating a historical context from a country of different origin.
Anyway, let's get back to Kanki. It's just been a few chapters since we've known Kanki's past. The flashbacks could only mean two things. One is that the author will continue to develop his character or he will cease to exist. This time we already knew that it's the latter. He was depicted as one of the craziest characters in the series. There's very little information about his personal strength but what he is known for is his unconventional tactics and brutality. That's not very surprising since beheading 100,000 troops without blinking an eye is a quality of natural born murderers.
Raido's Torture
It started after Raido was captured by the enemy. I still remember one his panels prior to being brought to the enemy camp. It goes something like: "Sorry Boss I've messed up". Raido being Kanki's right hand commander was a big hit for them. Actually, he's not a very likable character for me but that my opinion changed after reading chapters 686-687. He's a very loyal man and that for me is a very redeemable trait for a character that I didn't liked at first. Pardon me if I'm misinformed but I don't remember Raido or any of this torture scenes from the history I've read. There are lots of possibilities but the one I most convinced with is that Raido and other characters that might seem important in the series are actually fictional. Of course, I might be wrong as some of them might be real people but other than the major players like the generals and the battles I felt that most of the details are made up to add spice to the story.
The Saki Clan
Who would have thought that behind that mask is a beauty? And apparently Kanki is the oldest member of the most perverse clan out there, the Saki clan. After conquering Gi'an Kanki's hidden past was known. Prior to Kanki's arrival the Saki clan was a rag tag group of little bandits striving to survive in a harsh mountainous region somewhere in China. Now, this setting was quite on point since it's been depicted in many academic resources that during those times famine is very common and many people, young and old did banditry for a living. The usual targets were peddling merchants and aristocrats that had low level of security. It's very rare for bandits during those times to target the really affluent and powerful people because they would need weapons and it's hard for them to acquire steel unless they were from a huge bandit group that control several counties.
Kanki was described by one Saki clan member as the personification of rage. It's not obvious since the guy is always smiling with his eyes full of trickery and mischief. But his previous actions of punishing the enemy, driving them insane by parading human body parts and that emotionless face while beheading hundreds of thousands of people seemingly fit this description.
The Inevitable
Kanki's intelligence in my opinion is on par with Riboku. It was pity that the disparity of troops was so overwhelming and the net that Riboku set up was very effective to wither them down. The guy knew that there was a good chance the he would fail and that's also the reason why he sent Ogiko and the some of the core members of the Kanki army to Shin. Chapter 752 English version was yet to be released but I browse the Arabic and found out the he was pierced by multiple swords and spears. He held his sword slicing Riboku's head, a pity that his blade was already broken in half so it didn't reach.
Riboku remains the big boss for both Shin and King Ye Zheng. He already killed two great generals which are Ouki and Kanki.
And that is all for today.
Thank you for reading.