Bamboo Blade is an interesting manga, it reminds me a little of the movie Chocolate which is about a sweet, but very dangerous girl. Well, in Bamboo Blade, Tamaki Kawazoe is a thin, seemingly shy girl with one secret: She can maneuver bamboo like no one’s business with deadly strikes! Now, Kendo instructor Kojiro wants her. Not just because he see that she is good, but because he is broke, in debt and a friend placed a bet with him that if he can get together a good Kendo team and have them defeat his team, Kojiro could win all you can eat Sushi!
That was a sweet deal for Kojiro.
But not enough for Tamaki. She is not interested.
Throughout the manga you meet interesting and fun characters and you get a peek into why Tamaki is so precise with her bamboo blade. The first chapter is called “The Girl With a Broom”, but she is no simple girl. Kojiro tries to pull all the stops with her and get her to join but nothing can get Tamaki to join the Kendo team, unless she can be the hero.
This is where the movie Chocolate comes in with slight similiarities: Tamaki loves slapstick comedies and movies about superheroes-she copies the heroes moves. If no one needs rescuing, she will not pull out her stick and fight.
This was a very good manga and for some, may start off quite slow and there are some spots where I wasn’t sure if it was a person’s dream or reality(very few spots) but the storyline is well worth buying the book.
4 Stars
Book Details:
Bamboo Blade by Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi
Published: YenPress(2005)
ISBN: 978-0-7595-3005-8
220p
Price: US $10.99
*Book received for review from YenPress for my unbiased review
