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Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho Light Novels #1
Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentosho (Light Novel) Vol. 1
In this time-spanning fantasy epic of humans and demons, a warrior in feudal Japan must hunt a demon through time–a tale soon to be an anime! And don’t miss the manga adaptation, also from Seven Seas!
For generations, a shrine has stood in the mountain village of Kadono, and for each generation the shrine has had an Itsukihime—its shrine maiden—and the maiden has had her guardian. During the Edo period, a young man named Jinta protects the town and the Itsukihime. When he confronts a strange demon in the nearby forest, it tells him that in the distant future a Demon God will threaten all people, everywhere, and it claims that the the Demon God’s rise to power springs from this very time and place, in the village of Kadono. So begins the centuries-spanning journey of a man tainted by demons, hunting through time to seek justice for what he’s lost, and to find a reason to keep on fighting.
For generations, a shrine has stood in the mountain village of Kadono, and for each generation the shrine has had an Itsukihime—its shrine maiden—and the maiden has had her guardian. During the Edo period, a young man named Jinta protects the town and the Itsukihime. When he confronts a strange demon in the nearby forest, it tells him that in the distant future a Demon God will threaten all people, everywhere, and it claims that the the Demon God’s rise to power springs from this very time and place, in the village of Kadono. So begins the centuries-spanning journey of a man tainted by demons, hunting through time to seek justice for what he’s lost, and to find a reason to keep on fighting.
256 pages, Paperback
Published December 13, 2022
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222 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 8, 2023
3.5 - A solid first volume, laying the groundwork for this time-spanning demon hunt! Honestly, lowkey, it's giving Inuyasha and I love that. Now, that's not to say the stories are the same, but the use of demons, shrine maidens, and going from feudal Japan to modern Japan really does bring it to mind in all the best ways for me, even though Sword of the Demon Hunter has its own story to tell.
While I wouldn't say the story-beats in this volume are surprising, I still found it a good read, and the translation was smooth and didn't feel stiff at all. The book got more entertaining as the true plot began further in, but its beginning, while a bit slow, was sweet and necessary in order to let us get to know the characters and set things up. I can't wait to see how the story develops in the next installments, and who else we're going to meet on this journey! I'm hoping it can keep gaining momentum and really take me for a ride.
I think the only problem I had
While I wouldn't say the story-beats in this volume are surprising, I still found it a good read, and the translation was smooth and didn't feel stiff at all. The book got more entertaining as the true plot began further in, but its beginning, while a bit slow, was sweet and necessary in order to let us get to know the characters and set things up. I can't wait to see how the story develops in the next installments, and who else we're going to meet on this journey! I'm hoping it can keep gaining momentum and really take me for a ride.
I think the only problem I had
October 5, 2025
3.5
I over all liked this first volume and I will be continuing the story for another volume at least.
That said, I kinda get why a certain thing was made a plot point but still why.... why couldn't it have been something else. For those who don't care about spoilers.
I over all liked this first volume and I will be continuing the story for another volume at least.
That said, I kinda get why a certain thing was made a plot point but still why.... why couldn't it have been something else. For those who don't care about spoilers.
December 23, 2025
The story push the MC and his childhood friend into a corner with no way to pursuit their love for each other and then have the gal to justify their stupid capitulation to society and commit of emotional suicide by saiy it's for a noble cause. And then it have the gal to slap the only character into the story who stand up against all that injustice with the sticks of "just being mad" and harboring incestuous love toward MC. Pretty much just the kind of story you would expect coming out from Japan or Korea where nobody wanna do anything to fix their society and just either concede to evil like this story or escape into power fantasy like every single Isekai out there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2025
I don't usually enjoy historical settings anymore, but I enjoyed this one. I thought the narrator's presentation of the story was entertaining as well. I definitely picked up pretty early in the story the trajectory it would go so nothing really surprised me about it, though there was one element to the destination that I would've preferred was different. I will be continuing with this series and look forward to following Jinta on his journey.
February 20, 2023
The earlier parts were more like a 3/5, but as the story develops and becomes more complicated, it becomes a 4/5. And the first volume has only touched the opening, the back story of you will, of what I guess is the main story set in the future. I am curious of what will happen next!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2025
This is a good intro! I alr watched these parts in the anime thats currently airing and the manga so I just reread some parts to clarify some stuff that I didn't understand. I don't rlly like how they made suzune like him as a woman.... they're literally siblings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2024
Rating this 3.5 stars.
March 5, 2025
DNF 35% Just not my thing.
June 16, 2025
Oh so noble. AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED
October 30, 2025
I picked this up because the show was amazing and it turned out the book was even better. Now how many volumes are out??
January 4, 2024
When it comes to rating books or shows, I don't like to do it. Instead, I like to spew out my thoughts about it. Everyone has different opinions! If I like a book, it doesn't necessarily mean someone else won't like it. And if someone happens to see a poor rating on a book that I specifically didn't like, it might turn them away, so I am here to write a review that will hopefully let people know if they will or will not like it.
Sword of the Demon Hunter was a great read for me. There are a few reasons why. I loved the flow of the writing. This was not difficult to read. It was very smooth and easy to understand, and there were no rhymes or twists and turns to the vocabulary that made you want to tear at your hair trying to figure out the metaphor--not that novels like this are inherently bad, but it does allow for an easy read to a book if things are short and sweet. And this book was short and sweet (at least with its wording).
The characters that Motoo Nakanishi created are wonderful. I always like it when an author throws in a character that is bad, but you can't help but like, and a character who is good, but you can't help but hate (and ohhh, you know damn well that you should like them, but you can't help but get irritated and roll your eyes when they show up!). This book had both of them.
I disliked some characters, but I did not hate. My difference is that if I dislike a character, they are well-written, but just very against my beliefs and morals. But if I hate a character, I don't like them or how they were written. Motoo Nakanishi made characters that were dislikeable, but they were not written in a way they were to be hated. He did very well! The characters all stuck to their emotions and personalities. They were true and had unique little touches to them.
Our main character, Jinta, is a very, very devoted man, loyal, and true to his word. He is serious and strong, and at the same time, he doesn't believe he is any of these exceptional traits. Lord please take the confidence that Gege Akutami has and give it to Jinta. I love Jinta! He is such a great main character. I'm really excited to see how his character is played out, especially after what happened in this first book.
This book has twists and turns. Some were easy to see, but some weren't. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I didn't see something coming, and it was shocking. I knew a couple times I had my hand slapped over my mouth.
Even the ending, though made me grit my teeth and shed some tears, was nice. Because of story events, it takes you all the way to the future where the next book will continue. Once that is all said and done, leaving the mark for the start of book 2, it goes back to some nostalgic moments for Jinta and recaps two events in his childhood that brought together some things in the first half. I liked it; it was a nice and sweet touch, and definitely hurt a bit after all was said and done.
The book surrounds Demon Hunter Shrine Guardian Jinta who is protecting Byakuya, a princess of a village who holds hope and light to them. She also happens to be his childhood friend whom he is deeply in love with. With him is his sister, Suzune.
There is one thing about this story that irked me. Suzune's feelings toward Jinta. She is...just not normal. Her words being something along the lines of wanting to be a woman for Jinta, not a girl. Yeah...thankfully, with the events that play in this book, this is spun in a different direction because Jinta is not a weirdooo. This irk is only really bad for 2-3 out of 255 pages when you get a POV from Suzune.
But anyway! If you like stories with good characters, angst, found family, death, nostalgic moments, requited unforbidden love (nothing weird in this sense, just it didn't work out...you'll see, it's sweet and heartbreaking at the same time)--anywho, this story has quite a bit to offer, and I personally think it's a good read!
Sword of the Demon Hunter was a great read for me. There are a few reasons why. I loved the flow of the writing. This was not difficult to read. It was very smooth and easy to understand, and there were no rhymes or twists and turns to the vocabulary that made you want to tear at your hair trying to figure out the metaphor--not that novels like this are inherently bad, but it does allow for an easy read to a book if things are short and sweet. And this book was short and sweet (at least with its wording).
The characters that Motoo Nakanishi created are wonderful. I always like it when an author throws in a character that is bad, but you can't help but like, and a character who is good, but you can't help but hate (and ohhh, you know damn well that you should like them, but you can't help but get irritated and roll your eyes when they show up!). This book had both of them.
I disliked some characters, but I did not hate. My difference is that if I dislike a character, they are well-written, but just very against my beliefs and morals. But if I hate a character, I don't like them or how they were written. Motoo Nakanishi made characters that were dislikeable, but they were not written in a way they were to be hated. He did very well! The characters all stuck to their emotions and personalities. They were true and had unique little touches to them.
Our main character, Jinta, is a very, very devoted man, loyal, and true to his word. He is serious and strong, and at the same time, he doesn't believe he is any of these exceptional traits. Lord please take the confidence that Gege Akutami has and give it to Jinta. I love Jinta! He is such a great main character. I'm really excited to see how his character is played out, especially after what happened in this first book.
This book has twists and turns. Some were easy to see, but some weren't. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I didn't see something coming, and it was shocking. I knew a couple times I had my hand slapped over my mouth.
Even the ending, though made me grit my teeth and shed some tears, was nice. Because of story events, it takes you all the way to the future where the next book will continue. Once that is all said and done, leaving the mark for the start of book 2, it goes back to some nostalgic moments for Jinta and recaps two events in his childhood that brought together some things in the first half. I liked it; it was a nice and sweet touch, and definitely hurt a bit after all was said and done.
The book surrounds Demon Hunter Shrine Guardian Jinta who is protecting Byakuya, a princess of a village who holds hope and light to them. She also happens to be his childhood friend whom he is deeply in love with. With him is his sister, Suzune.
There is one thing about this story that irked me. Suzune's feelings toward Jinta. She is...just not normal. Her words being something along the lines of wanting to be a woman for Jinta, not a girl. Yeah...thankfully, with the events that play in this book, this is spun in a different direction because Jinta is not a weirdooo. This irk is only really bad for 2-3 out of 255 pages when you get a POV from Suzune.
But anyway! If you like stories with good characters, angst, found family, death, nostalgic moments, requited unforbidden love (nothing weird in this sense, just it didn't work out...you'll see, it's sweet and heartbreaking at the same time)--anywho, this story has quite a bit to offer, and I personally think it's a good read!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews