Tensei shitara Ken deshita
Reincarnated as a Sword

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

This will be a short review. As many types of this manga, it is based on a Light Novel.

This manga has great art, serviceable story, lovable main characters and good humor. The story isn't bad but has tons of potential. The art is great and is one of the things I like very much from this manga. I want to emphasize in the humour this manga has. It doesn't have your slapstick humor or funny-haha humour, but more of a funny, warm-hearted humor.

Give it a chance if you're still not tired of the "transported into another world" or "reincarnated into another world" type of manga/story.

So after realizing that i originally accidentally reviewed the Light Novel version. I decided to come and review the Manga. My LN review still fits how i feel about the LN.

But i really love this. Fran is adorable and amazing. The art really works well with facial and comedic expressions.

I like that the MC is OP but he only really starts excelling when someone is wielding him.

Things like Fran's parents being dead i'm not really liking that. I like the idea that one of the missions of the story is to reunite Fran's parents or at least her mother. I'm still ... holding out that they're still alive and Fran has just thought they've been dead all the time. Her parent not knowing where the daughter has gone. Just for the parent to be reunited with their daughter when she's grown up a bit and finds out she's been a slave for 4 years and now she's an adventurer with blood on her hands.

I think that would be awesome. Also when we got Amanda ( If i remember how to spell it ) Seeing Fran for the first time and saying that she's Fran's mother got me excited. Even though they are different species i'd say it's possible that sense the memories Fran of her mother was when she was young so after 4 years she could've forgotten some things.

I'm also a fan that this story doesn't hold back and has the characters actually kill off people. Stories can be kind of annoying when they're too afraid kill someone off.

I can definitely see this is an Anime form and i really hope we get it in anime form.

Overall a awesome story that i hope picks up even more traction soon.

[More info about my review style can be found on my profile]

▶Summary and recommendation: -----------------------------------------------------------------
[Reincarnated as a Sword] is a fantasy story about a paedophile who has his soul reincarnated into a magical sword. He is then picked up by and wielded by a child.

⚠️Contains implications of rape⚠️
⚠️Features heavy sexualization of female characters⚠️
⚠️Features significant sexualization of children.⚠️

It had the potential to be a decent action adventure story, but it is brought down by the author's insistence on stuffing the story full of his disgusting fetishes.
... I heavily warn against reading this manga.

▶Story: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After dying in our world and being reborn as a sword in a fantasy world, he is picked up by a 12 year old "catgirl" named Fran. A catgirl is a human with cat ears and tail. At the time of their meeting, Fran is a slave, and is freed by the protagonist. Due to her past as a slave, she is determined to become strong and kill all slavers she comes across.

It is a fairly run of the mill adventure story, with the sword gimmick being what is meant to put it apart. With the sword being picked up by Fran within the very first chapter of the manga, this gimmick doesn't actually do much to elevate the story above other isekai. The story quickly devolving into an adventure focusing on Fran as the main character, with the sword relegated to acting as a trump card and helpful exposition tool.

It goes through the motions for most of it. Not veering far from the common structure of isekai stories. It has an adventurer guild the protagonists register at, it has levels, stats and dungeons for them to explore. It even has an evil adventurer team that the protagonist beats up in the first chapters to establish their fame in the starter city. It is not a very strong nor unique isekai story, but it has a few passable moments with actual thought and effort put into them and the flow of the story is very well executed.
Unfortunately that is as much praise as I can levy at this manga.

Much of the story feels tailored to put female characters in situations where the artist of the manga can draw them in clothing (or completely naked) that will turn the reader on. Many female characters in the manga wear sexualized clothing that exposes their thighs, stomach or chest, and highlights their curves. Sometimes going as far as putting female characters in micro bikinis. Fran, the child deuteragonist is also a victim of this, wearing clothing designed to entice paedophiles and satiate the fetishes of the author.

The author attempts to justify this by saying that because it is magical armour, it will protect the user even though their legs and stomach is completely exposed, and by wearing skimpy armour like this, it improves mobility. This weak excuse is undone by the fact that it is only female characters who wear armour like this.

▶Setting: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world is quite well developed with a lot of systems and lore that ties the world together. The way the dungeons work in this setting is expanded upon quite significantly. Unfortunately it needs a lot of text to explain the world and does so quite clumsily. With characters just standing there explaining the world to the reader for whole chapters.

▶Characters: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The protagonist has little in the ways of character traits and appears mostly to act as a stand in for the reader. The most passionate he gets is when he gets to see the 12 year old Fran or other female characters naked. Where he visibly expresses that he is turned on by their appearance.

The deuteragonist Fran does not have many character traits either, and is mostly defined by her tendency to reply to people in short sentences or grunts. She shows most passion when striking at slavers, but that is not much of a trait.

Oddly enough it is the side characters that have the most characterization. While most of them are simple anime tropes, some of them have actual character development and traits and are given several chapters to showcase depth that go beyond merely being evil or good.

▶Artwork: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The art is very good, bordering gorgeous, with detailed backgrounds and intricate character designs. The artist also does not shy away from showing a significant amount of violence and gore. As is common with Japanese comics, this manga is black and white, with no colours.

▶In conclusion: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While a very basic story, it is very well paced and has a good flow to it. So it is such a shame a story with some potential is burdened by such a disgusting author insistent on stuffing all his fetishes into the story.