Samurai 8 has a strong set up, but kinda leaves a little left to be desired by the end. The ending is alright, and the story itself is nothing terrible, it just could have been better if it had more time.
The story in my opinion is pretty good, and can be a little confusing and tropey at times. But the worldbuilding is cool, but there is a little too much info dumping at the wrong time. And it causes the story and characters to take a back seat. Alot of revealed at the last volume, that should have been done earlier. It has a few little cheesey life lessons but they feel earned. And the premise and setting makes up for it's confusing story.
The art is super unique, it's nothing too detailed, but the backgrounds, props, etc fit the setting well. The character expressions seem kinda limited however. Def the biggest strength.
Character- the characters are pretty unique, and some have arcs they go through, and don't remain flat. Sanda and Nanashi are probably my favorites even though they didn't get enough time to shine as they should have. They mostly have good backstories imo.
I found myself a little bored halfway through, it seemed to drag at times and I felt kinda stuck.
All in all amazing concept, but kinda limped to the finish line.