War is a state of struggle, in which every person involved in it fights back with both his body, mind and psyche. It has no clean cut definition, on which everyone agrees upon, and nor does it needs - for every single person it has it's own meaning and it brings forth specific sorrow and grief. As a manga, Break Blade tries to explore just that, using multiple characters, countries and conflicts, and it's runtime it manages to mold up and shape a personal and touching war story, filled with regret, anxiety and pain. As long as that, it manages to bea story about loss of innocence, almost discarding one's own rose-tinted glasses of naivete, and looking unflinchingly through the disillusion that once was there. But, amidst the themes of despair and violence, one can also find a glitter of hope, despite the cruelty surrounding them, the characters are trying to grip into something they love, believe in and hope for and enter the chaotic sandstorms with decisiveness.
Art wise, the manga provides, interesting, even if slightly confusing early on, battles and fights. The mechanical details on the mechs on every single country and faction had been kept consistent, proportionate and solid, the action scenes are varied and nicely presented, at a few moments the battlefields do lose it's details, but the strategic movements of the units is kept grand and in perspective, giving the reader very detailed and engaging viewpoints.
The characters cast is vast, expanding upon multiple factions and various social standings. While juggling with that large cast does means some of them could be undeveloped or straight up forgotten, for the most of this manga's run, this is kept to a minimum. It can be said that the ending does feels rapidly wrapped up, leaving some political and relationship threads hanging, as far as the main characters are considered, all of them are neatly concluded, with minor, or major, but in any case, some kind of conclusion.
As far as the art for the cast goes, it is neatly consistent, presenting us with satisfying detail in the character's emotions and feelings, their personal moments of turmoil, victory, greatness or downfall. As well as in the mech details, the various uniforms and clothing in the different kingdoms are well defined, and cleverly thought out, representing their lifestyle, habitual differences and cultural definitions.
The initial and gripping world building of the start does keeps it's momentum, even if it does staggers in a few moments. The various sieges and battlefields were thoroughly presented, with a lot of attention to the movements and the maneuvers that the mechs, as well as the supporting it infantry does in order to outmatch their opponents. For a fantasy setting, filled with mechs, the technologies and strategies does feel highly inspired from the medieval warfare - ladders for breach, as well as anti-ladder machinery for the defenders, usage of battering rams and heavy axes and hammers to break the main gates, the attention on the guard for holding these gates as well as to fortify their tower nests with sniper units - all these small, but intricate and nuanced small bits does show the mangaka's appreciation and understanding of the situation, in which the futuristic clashes with the medieval, and in which the sophisticated meets the primitive.
While most of the cast deserves it's own mention, I do believe the main character in this work to be very interesting, and consistently built upon, character wise. While he starts as a pilot by sheer luck, something very common writing for this genre of story, his development is quite engaging. While as the story progresses, he does shreds bit by bit his simpleminded and childish outlook on the life that surrounds him, as well as for his relationships with his friends and fellow soldiers. He slowly, but surely finds out how warped, narrow minded and cruel this war makes him, but even so he still has his kind and generous, humble and welcoming side of him, which makes his character much more complex and engaging. This is not a story about how life hardens you, but rather, a story about how conflicts and wars change people, usually evokes the worst of them, and brings nothing but misery and destruction in it's aftermath. There are no glorious heroes, or grand victors, just people, surviving this massive massacre, which scars them for life, and shows them how frail and precious life can be.
As the name suggests, this manga's name is reflective of this creation - it could be chipped down, and battered, but it manages to be this immersive and touching war story. It could feel both gritty, but also emotional, and touching as a story. As the name suggests, this is a story about one raw, and unshaped person, who never liked fighting, to embrace the destiny that had opened to him, but in the same time, it is a story about this person, being traumatized, broken down and plagued by his fears, regrets and grief while fighting for the things he sees meaning in.
