By the Sword Volume 1

by Sanami Matoh

Book Overview

It takes a special man to wield a special sword. Long ago, a half-breed swordsmith forged the Moegi, a magical sword now sought by the demon hunter Asagi. Asagi has searched the land high and low in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1413902138
• ISBN13: 9781413902136
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: ADV Manga
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

By the Sword

The story is a picaresque adventure set in ancient Japan, involving a demon-hunting youth who hooks up with half-demon girl Kaede to go on a Quest. Accompanying the girl is her father, a once mighty and evil demon who reformed because his wife nagged him. Now he is stuck in the form of a foot-high human, who can sometimes be found perched on his daughter's head. As these three travel on their Quest-the-nature-of-which-I-forget-exactly, they encounter other demon hunters, enemy demons with funky Chinese accents, and weird critters from Japanese folklore. The feudal/action/comedy/horror/quest setup gives this a resemblance of sorts to INUYASHA. But BY THE SWORD is more goofy, amiable, and low-key. The characters seem universally prone to childish petulance and (occasionally) criminal irresponsibility, but endearingly so. I like the way Matoh's female characters are just as immature as the males. The art probably looked a lot better in the original magazine format. Matoh tends to use many small panels per page, and to fill them in completely with detailed background. This contributes to a boxed in, cluttered and claustrophobic look. It looks great when she opens it up, but here she does this rarely. Also, Matoh doesn't quite take advantage of the visual opportunities. Many of the scenes involving the hunter talking to the tiny demon look exactly as though the demon was a normal sized man standing back a bit, for example. And the "mug shot" (my favorite bit) should definitely have been a full-page spread. Despite all this, it successfully conveys both supernatural eerie-ness and a sense of fun. BY THE SWORD is rated 13 plus, for the swordplay and monsters . There is no sexual banter, lechery, or fan-service. There is some nudity of an adult woman, shown in a non-sleazy, nonviolent, and non-sexual context. And yes, the publishers edited it so that part of the breast is obscured. It doesn't affect the story or even ruin the picture, so for me that was not a problem.

Hoping for Improvement

I was dissappointe by this first book; it lacks the flow that FAKE had. The action is choppy at best, leaving you to wonder "what just happened?" I did give this book four stars because I think it has potential. Though it has a general sort of plot, (many elements suspitiously like those of "Inuyasha"), I chose to hope that it will evolve into something interesting and intricate. At least it isn't BAD, just a little flat. Give it a try, it's only the first book.