三浦勇雄

This is the third volume in the Sacred Blacksmith series. I found this volume to be pretty boring, again with a lot of focus on how huge Cecily's breasts are (I am really not sure why that has to play such a big role in these fight scenes).

This book introduces us to Charlotte E. Firobisher, who demands that Cecily give her Aria (a Demon Blade). When Cecily refuses Charlotte commands her three guards (who all wield demon blades) to attack Cecily.

Cecily again is pretty lame in the ensuing fight and Luke has to step in to save her....again. The plot creeps forward just a small amount and Cecily shows absolutely no character growth.

The illustration is decent and I like some of the characters. But mostly I thought this was boring and I continue to dislike that Cecily is defined mainly by her breast size. In fact a couple of the other women who are wielding demon-blades seem to hate her explicitly for her big boobs...so weird.

Overall this is an okay fantasy manga, but not great. I don’t enjoy how much Cecily’s breast size drives the story and how lame Cecily is as a character. On top of that this volume was just plain boring. I think I am done with this series and wouldn’t recommend. If you are looking for a good fantasy manga series check out Claymore or Beserk.… (meer)

This is the 2nd book in the Sacred Blacksmith series. I didn't like this book quite as much as the first one. I did enjoy the introduction of the Demon Sword and some of the revelations around demons.

However, the focus of this book was very....busty to say the least. There seems to be a huge focus on the "strong" female characters nearly bursting out of their cloths; as well as a nice nude scene of a supposed young girl to start out with (sarcasm here). I don't mind nudity, but I got sick of how disproportionate some of these women are...I am also not a big fan of child nudity portrayed in a sexy way.

The main heroine is still fairly ditsy (although a bit better than the first book). Luke (who the author blatantly admits to putting on the cover to get more female audience for his manga….nice) doesn't have a ton of page space; although he does remain my favorite character in the series.

The drawing is good but not great. It's easy enough to follow but there's not a ton of background detail in some of the scenes.

Overall an okay addition to the Sacred Blacksmith series. I am not super thrilled with the characters or illustration in here but the story is getting more interesting. I am going to read the next couple books in the series because I already have them and then after that we will see. I would tentatively recommend to those who enjoy fantasy manga.… (meer)

This was a decent start to this fantasy shounen manga series. Cecily comes across as a bit silly at times; she wants to be a Knight Guard like her father and grandfather before her but doesn’t really have the training. She recognizes this and tries to seek out training. However along the way she gets obsessed with the fact that maybe an awesome new sword will make up for her lack of training.

During an incident where a madman starts terrorizing people in the marketplace, Cecily tries to stop the madman but fails miserably only to be rescued by reclusive swordman/blacksmith named Luke.

I thought the drawing was good but not spectacular. The storyline is pretty typical fantasy; complete with Demon Pacts, a lone swordsman who can kill anything, and a hopeful girl who wants to learn how to kill anything.

I enjoyed Luke a lot as a character: he has that whole mysterious lone samurai thing going on. I thought Cecily was okay but she was channeling a bit too much ditsy naiveness for me, hopefully this will be toned down in future books.

Overall this was a good start to this fantasy manga series. Although there’s nothing spectacular in this volume I enjoyed the traditional fantasy storyline and the illustration style. I think the characters have potential but hope that Cecily is less ditsy in future volumes. I would recommend to fans of fantasy manga; this reminds a bit of Claymore or Beserk but isn’t as edgy as those manga.… (meer)