''By the Sword'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series created by

Sanami Matoh is a Japanese manga artist born in 1969. She debuted in 1990 with ''Next to an Angel'' published by Akita Shoten. Her other works include ''Fake'', '' By the Sword'', and ''Black x Blood''. She taught Kazuma Kodaka is a Japanese manga arti ...

, who is also the creator of ''

Fake Fake may refer to: * Deception, an act or a statement intended to deceive ** Charlatan, a person who practices deception to obtain money or other advantages ** Counterfeit, a reproduction of an item, intended to deceive ** Cover-up, an attempt to ...

''.

Plot

Asagi was born with a mysterious power that gives him the ability to slay demons, by channeling it through a sword. As this generally breaks every sword he uses, Asagi begins searching for a legendary sword known as the "Moegi". Along the way he meet a young girl named Kaede and the spirit of her father Kurenai, who join him on their journey. After he obtains Moegi, the group switches its focus to searching for Kurenai's body, which Asagi can rejoin him to using Moegi. They are also joined by Suoh, a famous spear wielder, his companion Rinrin, a woman of wolf origins named Aoi.

Manga

The ''By the Sword'' first ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' (bound volume) was originally published by

Akita Shoten is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Teio Akita on 10 August 1948. As of 2020, the company's president is Shigeru Higuchi. Magazines Male-oriented manga magazines ''Shōnen'' magazines * – Bimo ...

on August 24, 2000. Later, it was republished by

Biblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 88 ...

that released the first volume along the second volume on October 10, 2003. The third and final volume was published on October 5, 2005, by Biblos. The English version of ''By the Sword'' was released by

ADV Manga A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gree ...

on March 7, 2005. In the localisation process some nudity scenes have been removed. For example, ADV Manga edited-out

nipple The nipple is a raised region of tissue on the surface of the breast from which, in females, milk leaves the breast through the lactiferous ducts to feed an infant. The milk can flow through the nipple passively or it can be ejected by smooth mu ...

Reception

Jarred Pine from Mania.com qualified the story as "extremely average", and said it "just feels uninspired." He criticized the several demon battles that "don't progress the storyline", saying it "isn't going anywhere", and the "stale" humor. Despite Pine praised the costume designs and action scenes he stated it "doesn’t offer anything new" for the genre. Animefringe's Janet Crocker commented ''By the Sword'' has "a lot of family drama". Crocker called the story "engaging", and noted "it's two steps away from turning into a

Jerry Springer Gerald Norman Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, former lawyer, and politician. He hosted the tabloid talk show ''Jerry Springer'' between September 30, 1991 and July 26, 2018, an ...

episode."

References

External links

By The Sword
at ADV Films.com
Archive
* ADV Manga Akita Shoten manga Fantasy anime and manga Shōjo manga {{manga-stub