Bamboo Blade

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I have read this manga when i was midschooler. Now, after i became an adult, i didnt remember the story of this manga. I only remembered that this manga was somehow good. But when i tried to read it all over again, i realized that i have discovered a treasure.

To start off, this manga is a chill read. The first half, that is. But it transforms into something else, very subtly and very smoothly, in the second half. In the first half, it’s our everyday shounen manga covered in kendo as the center background. Then in the second half, this manga transforms into a seinen ... genre without discarding its shounen part. Doesn’t make it a mess, that transformation? No, it doesn’t.

The transformation from one genre to another is pretty difficult thing to do in a smooth manner, if not impossible. But changing from shounen to seinen smoothly is as possible as a teenager turns into an adult in a year. Shounen genre tends to focus on “what i want” vibe, with burning spirit and hard work. The first half of this manga does the same thing, but in a very relaxed way. Almost each and every character focuses on what they want to do (not specifically talking about Saya here) in everyday life setting.
Seinen genre, on the other hand, tends to focus on “what i have to do”. It’s an adult mentality where only an adult (doesnt matter his/her age) can relate. This genre tends to talk about the heavyness of duty, responsbility of choice and commitment.
In this manga, the first half and the second half was merged in a very smooth manner, by transforming the thing that the characters want to do into things that they have to do. It needs to be noted that this transformation wasn’t discarding an ounce of its shounen aspect. It’s very clear if we take a look on UmexUra battles and Tama’s finding of her reason to swing her shinai.

That transformation i wrote up there has consequence, obviously. And the consequence is character developments. This aspect is what makes this manga a treasure. Character development in this manga shone very brightly, and probably not even lose with other development cases from other animanga titles. These developments are pretty wide and deep, but one development that really worth to note down is Ishida’s. His development is very realistic, honest and touching.

There’s two sad thing that i want to note personally. One, this manga could still go further actually. Even the writer, Masahiro Totsuka sensei, already imagined what would happen after the Hiryuuki. But this manga stopped which was unfortunate.
Two, there’s a gap of story and style between the anime and the manga. I personally love the manga version as this version can handle the development smoother and more impactful. But that is that.
Try reading this, i hope you will enjoy it, and more than that, i hope it’ll have an impact to your life 

Bamboo Blade is one of those manga that you find on a random manga site,and decide to try it out.Then you come across it at your local bookstore and only bought it because you had the money to spare.

At least thats what happened to me.

Bamboo Blade is a manga that has a very slow pace.If you've watched the Bamboo Blade anime you probably notice this,since it is also very slow paced.The story is quite simple;Tojiro needs to win a kendo match,and get together five girls for this match,or risk giving a bashed up trophy to his sensei.I gave the story a seven since it's a ... very normal and plain story plan.Nonetheless it's still entertaining.

The art is good,but i certainly wouldn't call it a masterpiece.The art is just,well,a little lacking for me.I find,though,that the art is beginning to stick to me,and man tama-chan is soo cute!

The characters are great.Why?Because they all fit together nicely,and have distinct personalities. the five girls on the team for example:Tama-Chan;the quiet, underdeveloped, and not to mention unbelievable kendo skilled girl,Kirino: the bright,funny,sarcastic girl that seems to illuminate whatever room shes in,Miya-Miya:Dan-kuns gorgeous girlfriend with a split personality and a sadistic love for whacking people when he's not around (she's my personal favourite),Saya:she always quits in the middle of doing things and looks too tall to be a girl,and finely Satori:a naive strong kendo playing girl who is always concentrating on her studies and was tricked by Miya-Miya to join the club thinking kendo would improve her studies. Hows that cast for you?

The enjoyment is a ten because I find that a lighthearted story with a nice crop of characters fights and laughs,is an enjoyment in it's own,and i highly recommend it to anyone who likes corny jokes,all-out kendo battles,and gorgeous sadistic girls.

Perhaps I was too harsh on the anime.

I hate melodramatic anime original endings, especially when the only reason they have a finale is because the studio thinks that a finale is necessary for a show. Let alone a real drama, they even butcher finales for comedic slice of life sports anime like Bamboo Blade. Yet, Aic Asta does exactly that and somehow, I think it's better than the actual manga's final arc.

If you thought the anime's ending was a bit convoluted, introducing melodrama and uncertainty into the Kendo club while also re-introducing two bit villain defunct side characters, then the manga might be better. However, ... is that really the case? The manga's final arc is just miserable. The manga decides to have a "final showdown" with Tama and another character, Ura, that's rumored to be unrivaled. However, to introduce the rival character is such a chore. The anime does a pretty good tie-in with the anime original rival character --okay, the manga mentions her name in one panel, so technically not filler--by having Tama relate to her through her obsession with Blade Braver and the super sentai genre. It was smart, and even ties into the melodramatic theme of loss. The manga decides to put 20+ chapters into introducing a new TV show, introducing two idols that participate in the TV program alongside their managers. This TV show sets up the stage for Tama and the rival Kendo practitioners, but for some reason, the drama between the idols featured in the TV show are highlighted excessively, and the only tie in that it has is feeble at best. There's even a bunch of characterization to the director of the show. Why is the TV show tie-in more important than Tama and the other Kendo practitioners? Who knows. Definitely not worth the excessive chapter count to characterize the idols. The only good parts of the final arcs were the few panels that had interactions with the regular Kendo club we all know and love.

The whole character arc with Ura is pretty funny at times, but for the most part, this final arc introduces a bunch of new characters, and none of the old cast even gets mentioned for a majority of the chapters. The ending arc is not nearly as melodramatic as the anime, but it sure is a lot messier and is probably even more poorly thought out than the anime.

While the anime's animation is a glorified slideshow deck, the manga's artstyle is also just pretty sub-par.

I hate to say it, but the anime-original ending, just for the sake of how short and less convoluted it was compared to the manga, is better than the original manga's ending. Stick to the anime.