Basara Vol. 17 (Japanese Language Edition)

Japanese language edition. Published ca. 2010. "Basara (????) is a shojo manga written by Yumi Tamura. The manga, which consists of 27 tankobon volumes, won the Shogakukan Manga Award for shojo in 1992.[1] It was adapted as an anime that follows only part of the manga story, cutting off after 13 episodes. In North America, the manga is published by Viz Media in English. The story takes place in a future Japan, reduced to a barren desert by a catastrophe at the end of the 21st century. The main character is Sarasa, a girl whose twin brother, Tatara, is prophesied to be the "child of destiny" (????? or ?????) who will bring back the country's independence and stop the tyrannical rule of the Empire, namely the Red King. When Tatara is killed, Sarasa pretends to be him in order to keep the downtrodden from losing hope. Basara has been described (including by its English-translation editor) as a highly Shakespearean story." --Wikipedia