Status: Ongoing (98 volumes and than it stalled)
Premise: 20 years ago 14 knights set out to defeat a great evil that besieged the land, they were named the the 14 Lances; 3 died on the journey they were named "The Honored Dead", 4 abandoned the cause and were cursed as "The Lances of Betrayal", and 7 completed the mission and returned "The 7 Heroes". Under the benevolent ruler-ship of "The 7 Heroes" the land prospers and a new age of prosperity dawns, but not all are happy under the ruler-ship of these "benevolent" heroes and rebellion rustles in the fringes of society. We now follow Koinzell, a young boy who quelled the rebellion in a single night not for "The 7 Heroes" but for his own vendetta.
Thoughts: This manga is quite the piece of work, it has extremely dark overtones and plays upon the motivations of the characters heavily. It is an action packed fight for survival from the get go, the entire series revolves around a single minded determination for revenge but from a character that would normaly not be described as spiteful.
Prose: Strong action, exciting storyline, and a one man (army) on a mission. This is one bloody manga so take that as you will, but the that comes with the territory of a truly good sword fight.
Cons: This story is more than a little unnerving; severed limbs, nudity, murder, insanity, a couple of instances of cannibalism, not to mention that Koinzell is more than a little creepy all on his own. If you start be prepared for some messed up moments but these are not done as a fan-service, they are all intended to give you a deeper meaning to the characters and the world.
-Notes: I waned you, but this is actually one of the best sword fighting manga's I have ever read. The manga had stalled for the better part of a year and a half, but recently we received a new chapter so the series might be gearing up again soon. UPDATE: The series is back up and running! It is on a bi-monthly release schedule, so torturous slow, but it is back with new and exciting plots and fights.
8.5/10 (Sex, Swords, and a Mandolin!)
I've been following this manga since it had about 40 chapters, Its pretty good. I wouldn't be too worried about the gore though, its not in colour or too terribly detailed.
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