Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171638 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-28
• Released on: 2008-10-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780765321817
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review

"Hayate X Blade is the best manga on the market and it’s criminal that it’s not an anime yet." —Erica Friedman, Yuricon

About the Author

Customer Reviews

I've seen this before, and yet....
In a short summary, Hayate goes in place of her injured twin sister to Tenchi Academy, a school where she is enrolled as a swordswoman, and must compete in occasional free-for-all bouts to gain status and prizes. Initially planning on being a mere place-marker, Hayate decides to help some friends in dire need and plans to rise in the ranks as soon as possible, leading her to coerce/seduce?/annoy older classmate Ayana into joining her cause.

Let this be known right meow, this manga actually had me in a steady state of giggling.

Hayate is your standard hyperactive, clueless protaganist who has to be told the premise of her own story but possesses the agency to get things started. Ayana is the "tsundere" character, all thorns but with a mushy heart.

But those tropes fail to convey the sheer comedy genius that is this graphic novel. I had a chuckle practically every page.

"I need to do a flashback!"
"Uh, sure, go ahead."

Self-referential jokes like these occasionally pop up, and much of the comedy is written in the tiny comments made by the characters or the omnipotent author/narrator. The visual gags are so prevalent that I would call this a 'physical' comedy, despite it being in a static, print format, due to the sheer energy in Hayate's actions.

In terms of art, I have no complaints. The panels are very kinetic, energetially moving you from place to place as Hayate sprints to her next destination. The uniforms are simple and bold, and I applaud Hayashiya's coloring and shading, particularly in differentiating Ayana's black hair and black uniform. In fact, I find Hiyahishiya's work very pleasing to the eye, with just enough details to understand the setting and lots of attention paid to motion lines.

The plot wastes no time, jumping right in--as Hayate tends to do--so fast that an immediate reread was enjoyable in covering small, hilarious tidbits I had missed the first time.

The manga is being marketed as a Yuri comic, but in the first volume there isn't too much romance, though the couples have obviously been established. Though if what I've read elsewhere is true, the romances will pick up in the next volumes anyhow, and I'll enjoy this book as the groundwork for even better chapters in the future.

To top it all off, there's plenty of unanswered, urgent questions that leave me impatiently waiting for the February release of Volume 2.

For maturity rating, I give this a T for Teen. I say this only because of the violence inherent in a manga about sword fighting, as well as the fact that Ayana beats Hayate up whenever she is annoyed with her, which is approximately every five and a half pages. And occasional curse words, but nothing anyone hasn't heard before.

Seven Seas very helpfully included a guide to the different ways of addressing people, as well as translation notes. There are a few gags, however, that might require previous knowledge of manga motifs, but they don't distract from the story, so newbies should feel welcome.

I highly, highly recommend this manga to anybody. It's funny, cute, lends itself well to multiple readings, and buying it will support this underappreciated genre of comic. Of course, maybe some rampant popularity would also get some more of Hayashiya's work over here--oooh, Strawberry Shake Sweet--hint hint.

engaging manga graphic comic book
When her twin sister Nagi Hayate becomes too ill to go to the Tenchi Academy that has accepted her in their prestigious "Sword Bearer" program, Kurogane agrees to temporarily go in her stead. Ever the optimist, Hayate assumes the switch should be easy. However, after arrival at the all-girls boarding school, she begins to learn the rules of Star Stealing and wants to compete, but needs a partner. As a first year student, who arrived late, her choice is limited to losers whose eyes look vacant.

Upbeat as always, she observes third year student Mudou Ayana defeat an opponent without using her sword or hands. She learns Ayana has no partner so cannot compete; Hayate wonders what happened that left Ayana alone. She decides Ayana will be her partner though the older girl keeps rejecting her. When Hayate learns the Dandelion Garden orphanage that she was raised in is in financial trouble with owing a fortune to Yakuza mobsters, she makes it her goal to earn money by winning the Star Stealing, but needs Ayana as her Sword Bearer sister to do so.

Targeting older teens as there is some profanity; HAYATE CROSS BLADE is an engaging manga graphic comic book. The story line is fast-paced from the moment that the Pollyanna with blades Hayate arrives at school and never slows down as she does everything to make Ayana her partner and save the Dandelion Garden. Hayate's always rah-rah can do attitude is a doubled edged sword; fans will admire her bubbly optimism yet at times is irritating just ask the usually stoic Ayana. Still readers will enjoy attending Tenchi Academy where the best swordswomen in Japan are trained through the intriguing Star Stealing program.

Harriet Klausner

Highly recommended!
This is a really fun series. There is yuri content but it isn't the primary storyline (the main character who seems to like girls, tends to say double entendres loudly in public situations causing her sister in arms much embarrassment and a room mate makes routine and funny overt suggestions to a character, causing embarrassment - both of which are very funny in a non-judgmental way).

The main character is a young heroine who blindly throws herself into everything (literally and figuratively) and who believes that no matter what she and her friends will win. The story is full of slapstick comedy as the main character gets herself into all kinds of trouble due to the fact that she doesn't think much before she acts. All of the characters are interesting and well realized and there is a lot of sword fighting action. It's the best yuri/action manga I have read so far, and although it is centered in the ever present school environs of most yuri manga, it is 100% different than all the others. I highly recommend it!