Fire Emblem: Hasha no Tsurugi

Interested in reading a manga that feels like an old school Japanese RPG? If so then this manga might be (and I mean MIGHT BE) for you. This manga feels like it was written during the late 1980's all the way to the early 1990's because the story and design is so similar to the early Final Fantasy games. The story is about a boy with a strong sense of justice named Al who inherited a powerful sword from his father during an age of conflict and warfare. He travels across the continent (or world... I'm not really sure) and ends up getting involved in fightinga tyrannical kingdom bent on taking over the continent/world with the help of dragons. During his travels he discovers the existence of powerful artifacts called Fire Emblems and ends up fighting along side an enormous knight (Gant) and a princess (Tiena) as well as other guest characters who are all fighting against the tyrannical kingdom. To counter the dragons, Al and his party begins searching for information about the Fire Emblems and in the process get involved in the battles of other nations... If you're looking for characters with complex character development, then you definitely won't find them here. Almost all characters present in the story are uninteresting because they are all based on certain anime and manga stereotypes such as the kid with a strong sense of justice and friendship (like Naruto). The artwork is pretty decent but is nothing special, it is pretty difficult to tell which soldier belongs to which army and the minor characters such as the soldiers look generic to one another. Many scenes are also not shown such as how they were able to infiltrate a castle and make their way to the location of their captive comrades. The fight scenes are both hard to follow and lacking as you would often times be forced to use your imagination on how the massive battles concluded because these battles usually only focus on two or maybe 3 characters fighting while the rest of the soldiers are just shown having a static brawl in the background and it seems that the only significant role these poor guys have is to raise their sword and shout Hurrah!. Overall: This manga is nothing special and is definitely aimed at fans of the game it is based on as well as fans of traditional Japanese RPGs. If you're reminiscing about the good old days of old school RPGs, then this manga might just suit you're taste but if not then perhaps it would be better to read a different title.

As a Fire Emblem fan, I really needed to read this. Fire emblem Hasha no Tsurugi is a side story for Fire Emblem Binding Blade (a GBA game) who changes the main protagonist, from Roy, to Al. The story follows the journey of Al, a brave 15 years old kid who gets involved in a war that will affect all the continent (not world, continent) First, the premise of the history is a cliche, a boy with a strong sense of justice who travel with his friends and save the world-sorry, continent. Still, you shouldn't judge this for the premise, but, the development, i mean, a lot(if not all) of the fire emblem games have the premise of saving the world of dark forces. The first chapters are the adventures of Al where he meets friends and allies. Later, when he meets Roy (star of the original story) the story takes the direction of the original story of the game, with differences by focusing the story on Al and giving more background to his past. Something that i like, is the relation between characters (Important in the games) the history sometimes take a break, make some jokes and play with the characters. So, I give the story a 6/10. My biggest problem is the rhythm of the story, sometimes it feels slow, but in other parts all goes too quickly (especially at the end). Writing about the art, well, it's prety good, and some pages looks like some kind of wallpaper, but, it's a bit generic. There were a few moments when i could not differentiate between certain characters. So, i give the art a 7/10. Then, characters, you will probably like them... mayority. Almost everyone have a background history with some chapters to fill it. The characters from the original game don't have anything, they are just there... So, i give characters a 7/10. I forgive the problems with the original game characters because you can see their stories on the game. But, some original Hasha no Tsurugi characters are no very well used. Finally, enjoyment, this is personal. A big 8/10 i really like the new characters, the appearance of the original game characters, the "record" at the end (Typical of the series) and more. So, in overall, i give this manga a 7/10.