Totally agree. Takauji breaking the fourth wall (I think I'm using that term correctly? ) to tell the reader about he's the good guy was a fun element. I remain unconvinced by his arguments! I still look forward to Elusive Samurai every week with lots of excitement, and I will be a bit sad when it ends, but I guess we will be arriving at the end fairly soon. I don't want to jinx it, but I don't see how Matsui could possibly botch the ending at this point. This manga has been consistently very good for a long time now and he seems to have the whole story planned out very nicely. I suppose it helps that it's based on historical events, but obviously he's taking some artistic liberties to make it more compelling in manga format. He just has to stick the landing now.