Samurai Deeper Kyo

I just finished volumes one and two of Samurai Deeper Kyo the other day. I am not sure how how I feel about this series. On the one hand, all the fanservice makes it awkward. Am not a fan of random boob grabbing, it makes me deeply uncomfortable. I've had it happen to me once and I totally get turned off whenever I see it. That being said though, I adore, absolutely adore Yuya. I mean, I love her. I'm also pretty fond of Kyoshiro because dopey guys make me smile. Not much of a fan of Kyo, though, but I suspect he may grow on me. That being said, I've heard good things about the series from calliopepurple and I trust his judgment. I was told that it's character driven and the characters are all pretty awesome, so I'm going to go with that and get the next few volumes. Red Tiger? The assassin guy?, he seems like he is made of awesome. And I really, really like cantankerous old women, so yanno, I'm willing to keep going despite the overwhelming shonen of the series.

Anybody else read this one? Thoughts? Encouragement?

Speaking of books and fail...

I started The Alchymst by Scott Michael. I actually bought this because I was told that John Dee and Machiavelli are both villains. In premise, this is sweet, in execution the novel is pretty cardboard with empty characterizations and almost nothing cool to recommend it. Although, magic having distinct smells is pretty awesome. I haven't finished this because I found it lackluster, but before I give up on it and donate it to the library, anyone else read it?

Thoughts? Encouragement?

I am lemming, I follow where people I like go, after all.