By Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Young Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

I had been very excited about the introduction of Tamaki’s new rival that was promised in Volume 6, and sure enough we do meet her here. Unfortunately, that’s really all that happens, as the rest of the book is taken up by lots of introspection, very little kendo, and far, far too much Kojiro.

It starts off pretty well, though. The girls (and Dan-kun) go on a shopping trip, with Tama boggling at everything around her as we get reminded that, new friends or no, she’s still mostly a shut-in when it comes to socialization. Unfortunately, at one point a sign comes loose from above, and is about to hit Dan-kun! Along with some hot ramen! And a thief running through the mall! Never let it be said that Bamboo Blade isn’t afraid to lampshade its ludicrous situations. Before any of our heroes can do anything, though, all three dangers are erased by the wooden bokken of a passing mystery girl.

The girl is very reminiscent of Tama – deliberately so. They both have ‘placid’ as their default expression, they’re both kendo masters, and most important,y they both are huge sentai otaku. But of course, Ura is meant to be a dark mirror to Tama, like many shonen/seinen rivals are. She’s abandoned her kendo (to her father’s distress), and is a fan of a different variation of the series than Tama is. (The explanation of the Battle Hero sentai series (all 20 of them), and how Blade Braver and Black Duran (Ura’s obsession) place in it is one of the best jokes of the volume, mocking sentai’s need for constant reinvention and merchandising.) Sadly, all we see of her plotline is a bit of her father whining about her decision to abandon kendo, and of Kirino finding out who she is.

The rest of the book rests on the shoulders of Kojiro, who is still trying to regain the fighting spirit he feels he lost after high school. He has a long talk with Ishibashi, his sempai, who challenges him to another duel with a 2nd set of girls he’s coaching. But for the most part, we get almost 70 pages of Kojiro, which is all fine and dandy, but if I’m reading a series about kendo girls I want to focus on the girls and the kendo. I appreciate the coach’s dilemma, but we just don’t really care as much.

There are two good side-stories in here, one focusing on Miya-Miya, who is having to deal with her old kohai and feeling angry and frustrated. Kojiro’s suggestion that she work out her rage via kendo is cliched, but it does manage to show us an important point – slowly, almost unconsciously, Miya-Miya *is* improving. It no longer seems beyond the bounds of reason that she could win against someone at her basic skill level. The other, shorter chapter deals with Tamaki’s mother, who I believe we finally see in full-face here after several volumes of being hidden. She looks like Tamaki with long hair, but her gung-ho personality certainly didn’t carry over into her daughter. Still very sweet.

I ended up writing more than I thought I would about the things I enjoyed (I didn’t even mention Tamaki’s facial expression on page 96, which is worth the price of the book by itself), but I still felt that this volume was moving far too slowly and awkwardly in its attempt to transition to its next set of battles. Here’s hoping Vol. 8 will bring us more of the girls, and far more kendo.

By Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Young Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

This volume of Bamboo Blade introduces yet another minor antagonist, this one clearly made out to be evil – she’s drawn that way, and in a fake fakeout designed to confuse us we realize that she really *is* that way. Yet Konishi isn’t going to take Tama down with dirty tricks any more than the other earlier clubs could, and tricking her into a sprained ankle is only going to make Tama mad. Indeed, the best part of this manga is seeing Tamaki in full rage mode – partly as she’s so angry at anyone being that disrespectful of kendo, and partly as the pain in her ankle is causing her to lose her reason a bit.

The other cast members are all going through their matches as well, but these are actually rather predictable. Azuma is dealing with overeating, acusing her energy levels to wobble back and forth. Miyamiya is getting better at kendo, so much so that it looks like she may finally put up a fight, but this is sadly destroyed by the presence of Reimi and her wacky crush. Saya actually manages to win by simply being good at the basics, something that Bamboo Blade emphasizes but which we rarely see with these powerhouses around.

But Tama, despite her best efforts, can’t hide her ankle forever, and Kojiro withdraws her from the match. Since they’re all tied up, this means Kirino (who won easily earlier) now has to fight another battle… and what’s more, gets good news at the worst possible time. Kirino’s intense concentration is impressive, but I have to admit that I prefer her hyper idiot persona, especially to contrast with the others. (As an aside, we also get a flashback examining why Konishi is the way she is. Fairly typical of these sorts of series that like to humanize their rivals, but I’m not sure it really works here – Konishi’s simply not very likeable.

Still, despite the result, it still seems as if these early battles are lacking something. Kojiro knows it, and the reader knows it too. Tamaki is simply TOO GOOD. She’s miles ahead of everyone else, and this leads to situations like the one we had in this volume, where she has to be essentially crippled in order to be able to get past their team. This being a sports manga, this cannot be allowed to stand. Tamaki needs a rival. We don’t get that in this volume… but the preview for the next (which is for once a serious preview) implies that we will see her in Volume 7.

As for this volume, in the end it was not as good as some of the others, but there weren’t any major problems with it. For those reading the series, it’s a good, enjoyable volume, giving you lots of kendo battles and a good helping of humor.

By Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi. Released in Japan by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press.

Once again, welcome to our love-letter to kendo. As this volume of Bamboo Blade shows, kendo allows you to do anything! You can use kendo to get better grades! Kendo can increase your self of self-worth! Kendo can distract you from the pain of your mother’s hospitalization? Why not try kendo today?

As lampshaded by the author, Bamboo Blade is not a series to read if you want to read about guys. Neither Yuji nor Dan get much development here, and that’s unlikely to change anytime soon. Dan is there to be Miyamiya’s morality chain, keeping her from snapping and killing everyone. (He really is quite good at it, sensing exactly when he needs to step in and cheer her up, and knowing just what to say. Acorn head aside, it’s very clear why Miyamiya’s love for Dan is not just a false front.) And Yuji… eh. Whatever.

But the girls, as usual, shine in this volume. Pay particular attention to Miyako. She’s under considerable stress here, having to deal with her rabid rival/stalker Reimi, who’s now going to all her meets armed with a camera and a leer. (Yes, that’s right, Reimi’s ‘hatred’ of Miyamiya is actually an intense crush… hands up anyone who wasn’t expecting that. Anyone? Bueller?) She’s still doing poorly in her matches, either letting her rage get the better of her, or winning by default due to not having an opponent.

And yet, she shows that she’s the craftiest of the bunch. Kirino’s plan to get Azuma interested in kendo again is good, but it can only go so far. What it needs are a few dark and foreboding threats. The amusing thing is that, despite her over the top dramatics, Miyamiya is exactly right. Likely just studying and having no life won’t help Azuma at this point; kendo teaches self-discipline, which Azuma desperately needs; and really, a kendo scholarship *is* probably the best way to get into college for her. Of course, Miyamiya also thinks that she’ll make a good slave, and starts ordering her to get juices and things. Aww…

As for the meet itself, it was cute seeing a small shy girl from the other school inspired by Tama-chan to continue kendo. Her resolve to stay or to quit wavers widely as the fights go on, just as you’d expect from a teenager, but there’s no doubting her adoration of Tamaki’s amazing kendo moves. (It helped that Tamaki was fighting Azuma, the only one in that room who’s even remotely near Takami in terms of ability.)

I also liked seeing the coach of the other team, who is a hard-ass slave driver to his team, and knows that that may not be the best approach to take, but is driven to do it anyway. It makes Kojiro think about his own coaching style, and how he’s pretty much been simply standing by and letting Tamaki’s presence force the rest of the team to step up their own game. It’s not a bad approach, but it’s made clear that he really should be doing more, and is spinning his wheels by being lazy.

This is one of my favorite Yen Press books coming out at the moment. Sports comedy with a strong female cast, and lots of great set-pieces. It’s not overly dominated by action or comedy. And it’s deeper than it looks, too. Highly recommended.