Bamboo Blade, Vol. 1

Bamboo Blade #1

by Masahiro Totsuka, Aguri Igarashi (Illustrator)

Poor, in debt, and living on instant noodles, high school kendo instructor Kojiro makes a bet with an old friend on a practice meet between the all-girls' teams of their respective schools. The prize: a year's worth of free sushi! It's too good for the desperate Kojiro to pass up! But with only one active member on the kendo team, Korjio must move quickly to put together a squad before the meet. He's got his eye on Tamaki, the daughter of a kendo master and a skilled swordswoman herself. The only trouble is...she's not interested. Kojiro's willing to try anything, but what will it take to win her over?

Genres: Manga, Comics, Sports, Graphic Novels, Seinen, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2005

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between the fairly standard story and art, this is decent but doesn't inspire anything more than "I liked it." There are nice character moments now and again, and I liked the omake and the comparison of the writer's character designs vs. the artist's.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kendo shows up quite a bit in manga and anime, but rarely in a starring role. Bamboo Blade does that, giving kendo what I tend to think of as the Bad News Bears treatment. I don't normally like that sort of movie, which is probably at least part of why I couldn't get into Bamboo Blade itself. The rest has more to do with the art (which, among other things, used up an entire year's worth of motion lines in one volume) and that the characters are yelling almost constantly. Also, I don't know much about kendo. Probably a much better fit for readers who do.

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bamboo Blade is a charming manga series focusing on the triumphs, travails and everyday lives of the Muroe High School Kendo Team. Loser coach Kojiro is inspired to revive his dying team to win a bet with his former sensei, and puts together a modestly talented squad of girls...except for Tama, a shy first year who is preternaturally talented at the sport. Except, unsurprisingly, she isn't interested at first, viewing kendo more as a chore she carries out with her father than something to do for fun. The first volume is mostly stage setting, with the main cast lightly sketched in and the modest stakes established. Kojiro is a typical jerk with a heart of gold coach, a selfish man-child who learns to empathize with and support his young charges whether or not it benefits himself, though his character development is commendable. More refreshing in this series are the treatments of the girls, who start as archetypes but are fleshed out to multidimensional personalities: perky leader Kirino, erratic and insecure Sayako, Miya-Miya the miscreant who finds an outlet for her darker side in Kindo, her gonky boyfriend Donnie, and Yuji the nice guy who occasionally flirts with Tama. The show works best in charting Kojiro's personal growth and the mundane interactions of the girls (who are mercifully presented without ecchi or fanservice treatment), creating an enjoyable mixture of slice of life and sports anime. Adapted into an equally charming anime series.

[Erica Henry]

DNF at page 60

[Stuart Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goofy and glorious, Bamboo Blade vol 1 is a fun story about a food-motivated teacher (a man child, really) who gets involved in a bet for sushi. He must put together a team of five high school girls to compete against his old friend's kendo team, and he must win, or else continue to live his life eating cheap cup noodles. The characters are really fun in this story, filling many of the larger than life tropes you would expect of a sports manga, but sillier and more whimsical than many. The big draw is the comedy drama, but i found myself deeply engaged by the wider character stories and the few kendo bouts in this first volume. I recommend trying it out if you can find a copy.

(Personally, I requested this into the library where I work so i could put together a sports manga display over the summer holidays. I wanted a girls sports drama for the display, one that wasn't hentai and did have classically good manga artwork, and after much research, this looked like the best bet. However, this story, despite the sword fighting girls, is actually also just a tale about a guy recruiting girls to his team like Pokemon! Sports manga...! Bah! What can you do?)

[Camille E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Une histoire de combat de Kendo entre clubs de lycéens. C'est un peu longuet parfois mais les personnages sont drôles.
C'est mon premier manga donc j'attends de voir la suite de la série pour juger de l'histoire. Là on est plus sur une présentation des personnages je trouve.

[Arnoldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super fun story that is not too long and drawn out.

[Beni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the anime hope the manga is as good so far bit sure I like the art style.

[Vesper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tre stelle e mezzo.
È divertente e leggero, disegni piacevoli; una commedia sportiva da tenere in considerazione.

[Sebastien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Après avoir lu Video Girl et I’s, la barre était haute pour n’importe quelle série. Donc j’hésitais vraiment à passer à mes nouveaux gros cannon (fullmetal alchimist, eyeshield21, etc). Cependant, j’ai décidé d’aller vers un manga moins populaire, mais qui avait une très belle cote sur le net. J’ai donc commencer Bamboo Blade, un manga sur le kendo avec des filles comme héroïnes. Je dois dire que je n’ai pas été déçu de mon expérience. J’avais zéro attentes et j’ai eu droit à un petit bijou dans son genre.

L’histoires est celle d’un prof de Kendo qui est un peu nul, sans argent, célibataire et surtout sans succès. Son club de Kendo compte 1 membre à temps plein et 3 autres a temps partiel. Il se fait donc proposer un pari qui est de monter la meilleur équipe féminine possible. Sur cette simple prémisse on embarque dans un voyage inspirant dans un monde d’inspiration, de persévérance et de coeur. Difficile de savoir vers où l’auteur nous amènera, cependant je vous garantie que le voyage en vaut la chandelle.

Côté dessin on a droit un travail de type assez bizzare pour une seinen a saveur de shonen. On se croirait dans un shojo, mais l’histoire ne parle pas de romance, mais d’amitié et de kendo. Les dessin souvent de type shibi pourraient en ragouter plusieurs. De mon côté j’ai bien aimé, surtout que les scènes d’actions était quand même assez claires et bien dessinées.

L’humour, l’action et la découverte du kendo est vraiment présent, donnant une oeuvre assez sympathique et sans grandes vagues. Cependant, c’est là que ce manga perd sa cinquième étoile. L’histoire manque cruellement d’intensité. On fini un livre avec une annonce du type “cependant une horrible nouvelle les affectera”, puis finalement c’est pas si pire que ça. Étant un seinen il aurait fallu un peu plus de drame ou d’émotion pour que je puisse donner 5 étoiles à ce manga. Les livre se lisaient quand même très bien, mais je ne pourrai jamais dire plus que c’était une lecture sympathique et rien de plus.

Ce qui donne un bonus, c’est le dernier acte qui est phénoménale, il contient des émotions, des retournements, des conflits et surtout il fait réfléchir. De plus, l’histoire se tien dans son tout et en plus quand on arrive à la fin on a que très peu de questions. La seule question est répondu par l’auteur dans la post-face.

Donc en outre, ce manga est trés bon, surtout si vous avez un intérêt a découvrir le monde du kendo dans ses bases. Sinon pour fan d’histoire avec des filles mignonnes comme personnage principale, là aussi vous y trouverai votre compte. L’histoire est simple mais sympathique, l’humour est assez bien placé et j’ai apprécié ma lecture. A découvrir.

[MC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bamboo Blade is a neat little "slice of life" story about the reestablishment and revitalization of the Kendo Club at a school in Japan. In Japan, kendo is a popular martial arts sport, especially at high schools. Essentially, you take the shinai, the kendo weapon, and do swordsman-like fights and so on with it. Since it is not sharp, the sport is relatively (emphasis on "relatively") safe so long as you wear the correct equipment. It can still be quite dangerous, but mitigating that danger are what referees are for.

Anywho, the story begins with a student and her teacher/kendo club advisor, Kirino and Ishida-sensei respectively, are talking. It turns out that the teacher is depressed and has no drive for teaching or coaching Kendo. The next day, Kirino is pleasantly surprised when she sees the determination of sensei to win at kendo and make the club a success. Little does she know, or would really want to know, the reason for Ishida-sensei's sudden passion.

Thrown in some new students, such as the kendo prodigy Tama-chan, a male student not as good as Tama, but still talented, the gonky boy Eija, his girlfriend Miya, and others, and you have a hilarious story. Especially since the sensei, for his goofy reasons, is only interested in the girls' exhibition match against a childhood friend and senpai.

What was especially good about this was how the characterization. Each character has quirks the writer and artist really communicated and established as part of who he or she was. First, there's Tama-chan, who could've come across as wierd was quite adorable and charming. Her sense of justice, love of super-hero shows, so on, make her a really fun character. Meanwhile, you have team captain Kirino's cheerfulness, which lights up the page. Miya, well, she is weird, creepy, and funny at the same time. She wants to hurt things to the extent that others are afraid of her, but she is so cheerful you find yourself liking her despite wondering if she' all there.

This was a fun first volume of the popular series finally translated into English, and I'm already starting the next one.

[MissAnnThrope · Rating 3 out of 5]

13 February 2013

Rating: * * * 1/2

I knew that I had become an instant fan of Bamboo Blade, Vol. 1 when I turned to the page and saw Tamaki save the vice-principal by batting his falling body with a broom back through the window on the second floor.

Tamaki, my new hero.


The other winning moment for me was seeing the reason Kojiro sensei took on his sempai's bet because lawdy I'd probably give my left kidney for that prize!



I love that the story focuses on kendo, one of my favorite forms of martial arts. I am fascinated with its deep history and connection to samurai. Not only is this manga interesting because of its focus on kendo, but the main character is badass at kendo and is a girl! Tamaki Kawazoe is this adorable do-gooder with a penchant for superhero shows. She may be tiny, but put a shinai in her hand and she is a force to be reckoned with!

All of the characters are great in this volume. Most of the characters are quite likable. There are tons of silly moments, especially with Kojiro's over-the-top personality. The action scenes can be a little confusing, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the story. This was an excellent introduction to this series and I'm looking forward to picking up the next volume to see how the story develops.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having long been a fan of the anime series, this was a something that I was highly anticipating to purchase when the manga was first announced. While most anime/manga series that centered on a group of females would take the path of lowest common denominator and make the series of pure fanservice (i.e. Ikkitousen, Saki, Akikan, Queen's Blade, etc.), it's very refreshing in the case of Bamboo Blade in that it effectively makes a story based on the characters themselves while making kendo interesting. The only other time I've seen something like this was with Hikaru no Go.

While it turns out that the anime is faithful to the manga (at least up to the first volume), what caught me by surprise was the how different the art style was in the beginning. All the characters, except for Kirino, seemed to be of a rougher design and was a bit hard to get use to. For example, Dan-kun was twice his usual height (same eye level as Yuuji). :D Still, by the end of the volume, the art exponentially improved and it felt like the artist finally got his groove. Similarly, where at first the story seemed a bit aimless, by the end it felt like all was starting to come together while the humor was definitely improving.

As I know how much this series will continue to improve, this is a series that I highly recommend to fans of humor and action.

[Despair Speaking · Rating 5 out of 5]

What makes Bamboo Blade really shine is the comedy. The characters of Bamboo Blade manage to find ways to keep you roaring with laughter with all sorts of random things. I'm not into kendo or any kind of sport manga. I find them boring and I've never been into sports save for those that involve a racket (like badminton, tennis, table tennis...). But just like Kuroko no Basuke (this just-as-hilarious basketball manga; move over, Slam Dunk!), Bamboo Blade managed to win my heart thanks to the characters in it!

Highly recommended!

[kuristina- tabreez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broke, in debt and practically starving high school kendo instructor Kojiro has made a bet with a friend from high school that if his girls team can beat his friend's, Kojiro can eat free sushi for entire year! But first he must recruit new members for this dying club, and Tamaki Kawazoe, daughter of a kendo master, is just too amazing to give up! But there's one problem, Tamaki won't join!

-1st time reading

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first volume of one of my absolute favourite manga series.
(The anime is pretty good too)
I just love the characters and their various attitudes towards Kendo that all come together to create this team of great people that you just want to spend loads of time with, almost like you're in the club with them.
Not one of the more popular manga series out there, but one that is well worth seeking out in my humble opinion.

[Drea]

I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet. The first vol. was mainly set up, so I need to see where it's going before I know if I truly like it or not. Drawing style is nice, although the fight scenes are overwhelming to me and I usually can't tell who is who (they'll in identical fighting garb w/masks!)

[Starbubbles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know what to think. I thought I would like this? Or maybe I didn't. I just remembered that there was an anime on it that I meant to see, and so I checked out the book instead. I don't see myself pursuing this any further though. The teacher just comes off more shallow than comical.

[Jebadiah Nybeck]

its ok

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can totally get behind the concept of dueling high school kendo teams fighting for the prize of all-you-can-eat Tokyo grade sushi for a year but this didn't do it for me. Not gonna continue.

[Chris Evangelista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Manga

If you watched the anime and wanted to see how it ends, this is great. It is translated well, and I enjoyed reading it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Promising start. I'd like to see how these characters develop over the series.