Reincarnated as a Sword (Light Novel) Vol. 1 (2024)

I really, really want to give this book a five star rating, but I can't. More on that in a bit.

I really enjoyed this book and can see why it was picked up as fast as it was. It's a more unique take on the isekai genre (though realistically, not so much anymore with a ton of isekai being published where people become inanimate objects/monsters/etc) where the person being transported to another world becomes something non-human. In this case, a sword. (if the title didn't tip you off)

The opening chapters are about the protagonist learning how to exist as a sword and such. It's actually pretty meh all in all, and the reason that this book didn't get five stars. Things are pretty boring and all you do is watch this sword fly around killing things. It's not until Fran comes along that the story picks up. She is the star of the story, and adds a lot that was missing from the internal dialogue of the protagonist. I was even more pleased to see that the relationship between the sword is that of a teacher and student rather than the typical route that most light novels/anime take when an older male meets up with a younger female.

Sure, Fran is overpowered, as is the sword. But Yuu does a good job not really having that wreck the story itself where others have. The writing is solid, the characters all behave like you would expect real people to, and the overall fantasy setting is set up pretty neat. Some of the elements we have already seen from other isekai novels, but it's just enough to add familiarity, rather than being so close you feel like you're reading in the same world.

Also, the artwork is really nice. It's crisp, clean, and though there IS one fan service piece in the novel, it's not done in a creepy manner and doesn't expose Fran in a sexual manner, which I give full props to the artist for doing. All the artwork adds to the story and I really took my time to look at it whenever I came across it in the book.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel and can't wait to read more. Fran has easily become one of my favorite characters and I would highly recommend this novel series to anyone looking for something different in the isekai genre.

Another entrant in to the non-human reincarnation genre, this time at least it's something more fantasy-like, unlike become vending machines or hot springs.

Starting off pretty blandly with a half-hearted introduction to the protagonist, who wakes up one day as a sword stuck in the middle of nowhere, the first third of the novel takes a meandering route detailing some pretty generic adventuring with the added twist of the protagonist being only a sword, albeit one that some how manages to fly and level up.

Eventually, the series deuteragonist Fran shows up, a pitiful slave cat girl about to be killed only to be saved by the unnamed protagonist. The rest of the book then details their journey together. If you think Fran is a Mary Sue, yeap you're spot on.

All in all, the entirety of the book is pretty much wish-fulfillment type of story with "ORE TUEEE" trope coming out in full force. A lot of the story does beggar your sense of disbelief, such as how Fran being a twelve year old child manages to be a natural-born genius of battle and the author's half-hearted explanations of her meteoric rise of abilities is really weak as well.

That said, there is pretty decent setting that's being written in here, with decent attempts at foreshadowing and competent enough world-building that I'm willing to give the series a chance moving forward.

A pretty short volume overall, I'll give this series another 2-3 volumes to see how it shapes out for now.

A suggested story in a genre I'm not a fan of.

Disclaimer: I'm absolutely not a fan of light novels. The whole genre feeling like novelizations of manga is slightly off-putting. Still, the concept of reincarnating as an item, and becoming the teacher (or rather, Teacher) of a local underdog to raise her to massive heights of power is a good idea, and one that has been lacking in the litrpg verse.

The story follows the conventions and classic rythm of light novels, but is well paced, with enough interesting quirks that you have no great difficulty to remain interested in the further adventures of Fran the catgirl and Teacher the sentient animated sword.

As a light novel, though, reading is fast, and you end up reading the whole thing far faster than many similarly-sized volumes.

Only a complete total moron would give this more then 1 star. The very title is worthless as every possible aspect of being a "sword" is trashed in the first volume. Could easily be any supposed object which is stupid and worthless since he can fly and wield himself without any limits whatsoever. Complete Mary Sue and grossly over powered. Everyone is shallow. Everything is predictable.

Nothing else to say as there ain't more then that to say

A Little Light Reading
Light novels are a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. A distinguishing characteristic of light novels is that they are illustrated with anime and manga art style, often being adapted into such media. They are mainly published in separate book volumes, while some of them have their chapters serialized in anthology magazines before collection in book form, comparable to how manga are published. Read more about the genre at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_n..., and see some of the titles that we own at the Bettendorf Library at https://bit.ly/2IjeA2l
Reincarnated as a Sword is a fun quick read for anyone who is a fan of dungeon crawling RPG video games. There is plenty of action, leveling up, and it’s a joy to see how OP the main character can become. You will want to root for the sword and the beastgirl just so you can witness them max out their stats. This is the perfect weekend read during breaks playing video games.
-John G

An isekai work, though I am given to understand that becoming a sword was fresh and new for this work.

It opens with the common inexplicable rebirth of a character from our world in a fantasy world. This one, as a sword imbedded in a pillar. Fortunately for it, it can fly by use of telekinesis. Also, some goblins bother it, and it discovers that killing them grants it more abilities. (A video game status bar reveals all.) It does some frolicking about killing monsters which gets a bit tedious for lack of forward motion, but then it accidentally lands somewhere where he can't take off.

A month or so later, a party of slavers and slaves, chased by a two-headed bear, comes by. A cat-girl slave takes it up, and kills the bear. The sword then kills the surviving slaver, and the adventures pick up. It involves learning much about the world and its adventurers and its dungeons and what the swords has been accidentally doing and the danger of a goblin swarm.

A bit on the generic side once you get past the gimmick of the main protagonist being a sentient sword. I'll give the series another book or two to distinguish it from the dozens of other like books I've read this year. It has promise, but it hasn't done anything else I haven't seen done elsewhere better as of the end of book 1.

The definition of "ok".

I think is going to be a good 3.8/5 star read.
I had some expectations going into this book as the recommendations were good. The first hundred pages were a bit of a drag for me, as I felt like I wanted to get to the heart of the story too soon. And then we met Fran, and I knew right away I was in this for the story surrounding her. I like her characterization the most. Fran is a cute little cat girl who has few words to say and eager for battle, almost in opposition to Teacher, her sword.
Other than that, I like the setting. There's a good separation value from this to the standard isekai novel, which the more blatant case being is that this series can have a lot of dark moments. There is gore, and cursing, so this isn't a quick read for the young or faint. Aside from that, the first book of this series has described a lot of background build-up of its world. I hope to see more variety of monsters and characters alongside Fran and Teacher. I found this enjoyable enough to want to continue reading.
So, I'd like to recommend this to anyone wanting an isekai a little more mature, and who likes underdog characters.
(Parents: I don't give this the thumbs-up because of cursing and gore, unfortunately. But I leave it up to you what you want to do, nonetheless)

An isekai light novel with a twist, Reincarnated as a Sword, Vol. 1 by Yuu Tanaka and illustrations by LLO is one of the latest, utterly fantastic releases in the genre. A delight to read from start to finish, Reincarnated as a Sword embraces the best aspects of isekai, video games, and traditional fantasy and combines them into something truly memorable. This particular light novel is part of the growing subgenre of ‘reincarnated as an inanimate object’ with Reincarnated as a Sword being a rather imaginative inclusion.

When a thirty-year-old Japanese businessman is reincarnated, he finds himself in a fantasy world, but as an intelligent, magical sword. Unlike other series, there is no opening section featuring our protagonist as a human. Instead, we meet our protagonist after he’s been reincarnated as a sword stuck in an altar in a beautiful, open field. However, there are a myriad of monsters and other creatures, some of whom try to steal the sword for themselves.

There is a bit of a slice of life feeling to this light novel. Our protagonist, who remains nameless until meeting his wielder, doesn’t always feel human any longer. Its goal is to grow stronger by killing enemies and leveling up. Eventually, the sword finds itself a wielder in the form of a young beast girl named Fran in a sort of mutual rescuing.

Tension and multiple plots build naturally as the protagonist learns more about the world, runs into more characters, and visits new places. What begins as an interesting slice of life with a single recurring character builds a full cast of interesting, memorable characters. World building occurs naturally, with the protagonist learning much on his own, deducing things as he encounters new monsters, people, and places.

While the story could have easily fallen into standard tropes, it always manages to glide right past them. Instead of egregious fan service, our protagonist thinks of his young wielder only as a child he has to protect – a particularly welcome deviation from many other titles. While Fran’s abilities could be easily seen as overpowered, it remains clear that her rise in levels is a mixture of reflexes of being cat-like and the effects of using a magical sword.

Nods to other series appear from time to time, always enough to bring a smile but never enough to be egregious. Black and white illustrations by LLO are scattered throughout the volume.

Reincarnated as a Sword, Vol. 1 by Yuu Tanaka is a truly excellent new addition to the isekai genre. No matter how saturated the genre could be, there will always be room for wonderful stories such as this one. Do yourself a favor. Read this series. You will not be disappointed.

I received a copy of this light novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This review and other originally found at Looking Glass Reads.

This turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected it to be. It was full of your standard isekai tropes, the world building was blasé, and the sword protagonist was extremely overpowered. But, the overpowered sword was limited by the modest power of his user, Fran. There was a generic background to her character, but still, I found Fran’s adventure with Teacher (the name she gave the sword after she rescued it) charming and engaging. There were some inconsistencies with the skill building, particularly the skill taker ability which seemed was going to be limited to the sword but then both the sword and Fran used it. There is the potential for some deeper exploration of social issues, but after reading a handful of light novels, it’s a depth not often realized. Inexplicably, despite all the negatives, I enjoyed the read enough that I’ll try the next volume.

I really didn't think I would like this as much as I did, but ended up enjoying it far more than most of the other Isekai/LitRPG series I have read through. It's hard to put my finger on what I liked most about it, but it's one of the few books I have ear marked to come back and read again. Something about the world is really captivating and I look forward to seeing more come out for this cute series.

I've never been interested in those "In another world" stories but this is the first one I have read and it was nice and fun. It has cool fighting and adventures and I like the game menus showing stats and other information.

This novel, though its the first one is a lovely book. The person that became a sentient sword reacted to his situation greatly and how he met up with Fran is a lovely turn of events. I highly recommend it to anyone, they will enjoy it or at least like it.

Definitely better than I expected. I like the relationship between the sword and Fran.

Excellent

Loved the story, from the MC to Fran, both are interesting and Fran especially is all sorts of fun to read😁

I liked it

It is pretty good read i think everyone should give it a try if you're into this sort of books

Fun, quick read.

Read this one recently. I think it's ok as a starter novel, like a Shield Hero, and swiftly becomes an "Overpowered character fantasy" series. I don't know if I'll continue with it as the first volume didn't quite hook me, but I figured I'd go over what the first one entailed.

I think a lot of people coming to this one are looking for 3 things: 1) A parent / teacher supportive relationship, 2) Cuteness (cat girl lead is very much in that Kanna from Kobayashi Maid mold, and a bit gap Moe with how she's ruthlessly badass when she fights despite her diminutive stature and quiet personality otherwise), 3) Fantasy action. It delivers on all of those aspects (the teacher / parent thing could maybe be a bit more expanded on with some further training + slice of life stuff).

Reincarnated as a Sword is a Reincarnation Isekai (reborn in another world) story where a man finds himself no longer a member of humanity... But a mentally conscious sword.

The story has a few arcs. The first is a decidedly lonely solo expedition by our sword hero, him quickly coming to terms with his newfound abilities to manipulate his metallic body through telekinesis and other aerial flight, and hack through monsters. The second sees him leaving the forest thanks to a chance run in with a cat beastman slave girl named Fran, who he helps free. There is then a preparation arc which takes up the majority of the novel, Fran going through the motions of joining the guild, buying new equipment, and finding lodging + foodstuffs. Nothing too interesting outside of some of the shopkeeper personalities, and even some of the character stuff you'd like to see there is done off-screen (Fran bonding with the guild's female receptionist is talked about but not seen). There's some obnoxious Fran fan service art which isn't even much in the text (the "teacher" sword is shopping with Fran for undergarments, and tells himself not to think anything perverse, which I guess the picture is supposed to represent his imaginings...uh). There is a guild initiation ritual thing in that arc which involves more battling too (and sizes up how powerful our heroes truly are). The final arc has our heroes participating in a guild request that involves most of the able bodied guild members, though we only really get to know one of the representatives (the overpowered Donadrond, who fights them in the aforementioned guild initiation).

The slave aspect is thrown out there, and then not really touched on much after Fran is free. I thought for sure they'd find additional contracts on the slaver, maybe go on a quest to save those folks from their constraints, but nope, Fran was his only living slave after a bear attacked the others from the caravan and there was apparently no operation base they could take out. It'd be nice to see the novel go back to taking out slavers and abolishing slavery at some point.

In terms of Reincarnation stories, this one is pretty tame since a sword, even a telepathically talking one, is not that unusual for a fantasy setting. I like the more unusual reborn as another being ones, from succubus to vending machines to spiders. The sword's prior life experience doesn't seem to be too much of a factor either, which is again, not unusual for these "Isekai" stories. Because the sword itself isn't that unusual, it becomes much more about the skill oddities it possesses, and the way they can be shared.

As for those skills, I think it's going for a different audience than, say, a Grimgar, where every single skill is given its moment to shine individually and has to be learned through training. Here, characters are just flinging newfound magic around like candy, and by the end of the book they have an insane amount of both useful and useless skills acquired that I could hardly even begin to list out. It feels in line with early Shield Hero in that way, though maybe Shield Hero had more focus on specific shields and skill combinations that made sense + got appropriate build up / explanation to their use.

I feel this is a good starter light novel. General tone is feel-good, no major stress. The characters are ok, and the frankness of Fran is kinda cute / funny but also leads to less developed interactions socially between characters (she likes to respond to long explanations with "'Kay"). The goal is pretty vague (evolve Fran for her race's pride; what does evolution entail and how do you know you've achieved it? Idk). There's no noble "become strong to save the world / defeat the demon lord" goal. There's very little character drama. It's very much an action packed series that will see our characters taking on guild quests to briskly rank up the boards to take on tougher quests. I know that the "dad" aspect of the sword character is an appeal, as is wanting to see the growth and protection of the young cat warrior Fran as well, and I think that'll get even more development later when there's less needed "set up" arcs. The bonus chapter for instance was more slice of life-ish, seeing them carving up monster parts and eating Hamburger monster meat.

Two stars is maybe a little low, but there's basically nothing special here. It's entertaining. Well, it gets entertaining. Before it gets entertaining, you need to slog through about half the book, the first half being on the tedious side.

This is one of those books which is less isekai than litRPG. There's a lot of attention paid to systems. Whole pages are devoted to the stats of monsters and people. Really, the fact that the protagonist has been reincarnated as a sword is incidental. Set this up as 'an intelligent sword meets a catgirl and they slay monsters' and there'd be little difference.

The protagonist alone (which is a good 30% of the book) is pretty boring. He's a sword. Wow. The interplay with Fran (catgirl, ex-slave, and new sword owner) and what the two get up to together is what makes things entertaining. Even then, it's a basic power fantasy at this point. I may try book 2 just to see whether there's more to it than that.

The anime adaptation of this is due out in April. I have a feeling that might be better. It'll depend heavily on the screenwriter. If the first episode or two is a sword flying around chopping up goblins... Well, I wouldn't go that way.

These isekai, light novel guilty pleasures are great insofar as they are recognized as basically mediocre pieces of fiction. There's nothing really original about them and nor are they particularly invigorating, intellectually speaking. But by golly are they excellent time-killers. One doesn't have to spend much of their brain capacity to comprehend these. For that matter, one can only read these to amuse oneself; they are essentially crap that one reads to get away from it all.

Reincarnated as a Sword has that one hook, like most isekai, that is meant to set it apart from the flock (i.e., being reincarnated as an inanimate object). But in reality, it is pretty much a cornucopia of tropes and clichés. There are parts of it where there's some hint of a great novel peaking out from behind the pages, but it is hard to spot indeed. Being aware of the kind of book one's getting into is always important to a reader. The right expectations can make or break a good read. I knew what I was getting into and I got exactly what I wanted.

Fairly obviously a first attempt.

This is OK as far as isekai, RPG-style stories go (why does everybody want to get reincarnated into role-playing games?!) The biggest questions I have after finishing are why does the protagonist feel such a strong need to have a wielder? And will we learn more about the region of no mana?

Fran is a cute, lovable character, and just like Teacher, I am rooting for her to succeed and evolve.

Like all stories in this genre, "bad" races are mowed down like cannon fodder in service of leveling up the protagonists. If you find this problematic, you'll have trouble enjoying the series. You have to wonder what the world looks like from the perspective of a goblin or orc. Contrast with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime where the main character, Rimuru Tempest, makes allies of the goblins, orcs, and ogres (though he does decimate an entire human army)

You know when you get some kind of cheap RPG game, with barely any story, and you immediately start to grind mats and level up your skills? That's the feeling this book gives. Instead of describing in vivid details the monsters encountered and the battles, the all-too-different feelings of being a sword, the plains and forests and city, we are given updates on the skill set again and again (not that there are no descriptions for these, just that they seem to only be mentionned for the sake of explaining the new skills). The book is not bad, I'm not reading light novels with high expectations, and having a low-stakes story made it the perfect bed table companion. But be warned that it is long and repetitive. Well, I bought a few more in this series so I guess I'll continue and hope that more happens than "after 150 pages I met a catgirl and made her OP".

A slow start for an excellent entry into the Isekai subgenre. The "main character" serves more as a narrator for Fran's adventure and his presence is purposely more as a mentor or observor, a nice change of pace from the typical male power fantasy.

The first volume is fairly uneventful, but serves as a decent primer to the rest of the story by introducing the magic and skill system. Tanaka is smart enough to avoid all the typical tropes and archetypes that make Isekai bad while retaining the good ones. The story draws very heavily from Reincarnated as a Slime, but is character rather than plot oriented.

There is (almost) no fanservice and the relationship between Fran/Teacher is familial rather than romantic, a refreshing turn for a genre plagued by harems.

'stop worrying and love the isekai'

I feel the series was written as a bait-and-switch with it's Isekai title when it's actually a really unique and endearing fantasy story. It's not necessarily groundbreaking, but everything i see doesn't have to be. So, its a traditional 'murderhobo' DND protagonist story only the sword is pretty much the Watson of this story. He's the main character and narrator, but he's not the protagonist. Fran is the equivalent of Holmes in tbis world, the story revolves around her.
His Wielder is the protagonist. He becomes her 'sword dad'.
The fact that its a wholesome father/daughter dynamic is also really nice to see.

Certainly a unique take on the isekai genre with the main character being reincarnated as a sword in a fantasy world. The first chapter reminded me a lot of the opening moments of Reincarnated as a Slime and Arifureta with the skill gathering. Fran is also a fun character, but I did find her a little one-note and didn't notice a ton of expressions being described for her. The dialogue could also be tricky to follow sometimes with multiple characters speaking and no super clear indication of who is talking. But I liked the story overall and I'll be eager to see where it goes from here.

I was told this was about a sword dad and it gets there so that's nice. It has some of that isekai jokeness that feels fairly out of place here. Honestly unlike a lot of these series I think this general plot would work well without the isekai elements. Teacher could just be a cool sword with some personality quirks. Overall it isn't my favorite series like this but it's solid and can hopefully go places now that their father daughter thing is more firmly established, so I could see it picking up from here.

It starts as the typical story of the protagonist from modern times that reincarnates into a new world as a sword, gets a poor teen sidekick to be the sword owner as they travel to find fighting techniques and cultivation materials. This storyline works well until about chapters 500 to 600. It gets slow as each chapter in that arc gets buried with unnecessary complexities. Each task they take on for some group/school/individual ends up peeling back a new set of tasks and new enemies. The big picture of the subplot gets lost in the minutia and filler chapters. That was enough for me. 3/5

Reincarnated as a Sword is a unique take on the isekai genre. The protagonist, reincarnated as a sword, offers a fresh perspective on the typical hero's journey.

While the early chapters may feel slow-paced, the story picks up as the sword and its wielder, Fran, embark on their adventures. The dynamic between the two is heartwarming, and their journey is filled with both humor and peril.

The author's creative world-building and engaging characters make this series a standout in the isekai genre.

I really liked this story, I love how determined Fran is and how the sword, teacher cares about her in a fatherly way.

The battles scenes where exciting. The book describeds how they get all thier powers, so despite the fact that they have stronger then average abilities for thier world, they dont seems too crazy over powered. Meaning they dont suddenly have powers they did not before.

The two grow as a team and that makes them better characters.