By Yunosuke Yoshinaga
CMX, 200 pp.
Rating: Teen Plus

In a world where everything is powered by the people’s innate abilities to manipulate quartz, the few that can’t are called unsorcerers. Broken Blade follows the adventures of one such unsorcerer, Rygart Arrow, as he finds himself unwillingly drawn into a brewing war and piloting a mysterious Golem (mecha) that only he can use.

At this point the story should seem fairly familiar to people. A young man set apart from society for one reason or another discovers he has a talent/ability/skill that makes him key in an upcoming conflict. In this case it’s his apparent ability to operate an ancient mecha that none can use. Add in a possible love triangle between Rygart and his two friends, Sigyn and Hodr, who also happen to be the King and Queen of the country Rygart lives in, and a friend-as-rival in the form of Zess and you might be forgiven for that vague feeling of déjà vu.

That said, while it might not exactly be groundbreaking at this point, it doesn’t feel poorly rehashed either. Rygart himself has some rather odd personality quirks, not the least of which is the way he desperately clings to his pacifistic beliefs. Actually, it’s kind of annoying to see him encouraging his friend King Hodr to hand the country over to an invading army simply to avoid bloodshed. Having a main character who doesn’t want to hurt people is one thing, having one who’s willing to lay down for anyone who threatens violence is another thing altogether. That said, it’s fairly clear that he will have to make a stand and fight, regardless of how he feels about it.

Artistically, Yoshinaga appears to be versatile in both body types and facial shapes, making everyone look different beyond their clothing or hair styles. Short, fat characters with round heads, square-jawed generals, younger clean soldiers, and more. There are backgrounds in nearly every panel, and sure, most of those tend to be rocky plains, but at least they’re there. The mecha designs are interesting enough but nothing really amazing at this point; their mass-produced nature really precludes anything too outrageous or over-the-top; they’re war machines not super vehicles of justice. It’s a solid-looking book, but at the same time I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something lacking. Maybe it was the action sequences. With artwork as nice as this maybe I was expecting more from the few fights we get. They’re entertaining and easy to follow, but they’re not particularly dynamic at this point. In fairness, the book feels more reliant on the characters to move the story along rather than flashy action, so maybe that’s to be expected.

At this point, Broken Blade is a perfectly enjoyable and engaging shonen series with surprisingly good art. Yoshinaga has set up the main conflict nicely, and also dropped hints about the world’s past and even a possible romantic entanglement, things that could all play out in a very interesting manner. It’s a good start for the latest CMX/Flex offering.

Volume one of Broken Blade is available now.