I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (WN)

"I was a Sword when I reincarnated" (also known as "TenKen" or "Sword Dad") is one of those series I always find myself revisiting. While other series might offer more dramatic plots or unique twists, this one delivers a solid, enjoyable adventure through a typical fantasy world, filled with exciting escapades and battles.

If you’re diving into it for the first time, don’t be misled by the initial arc where the main character (a sword, of course) goes solo, flying around and slaying monsters. The series truly finds its footing once the MC meets Fran, a quiet, adorable catgirl whom he rescues from slavery. She becomes his wielder, and their dynamic forms the core of the story.

The unique dual-protagonist relationship is what sets this series apart. Although the narrative is told from the sword’s perspective, the "public face" that other characters see and interact with is Fran. This setup provides a distinctive viewpoint where the MC acts as a backseat driver, guiding and worrying about Fran as she faces challenges and dangers.

And, let’s face it, Fran is just plain cute.

The lore and information get repeated frequently—not because the author is forgetful or because the main character (MC) is designed to have memory lapses—but because Fran and the MC are following a paper trail. Everything begins with a rumor, and as the chapters progress, they meet people who have higher authority on the information.

Spoiler:
This pattern escalates until the MC ends up meeting the God of Chaos herself.

At first, I was a bit confused about why people kept repeating the same information but with different words. However, I realized that Fran and the MC were literally walking a path to the truth. After all, this is a story of a young girl trying to achieve something on a legendary scale. It makes sense that her information network has to grow exponentially.

I was told that this story got better as it went along, but no, it didn't. In my first review, I didn't explain the reason very well (well, I'm usually mostly intoxicated, and I still am right now).

This series suffers from what I would call the "Bleach Effect" (does anyone even remember Bleach anymore T.T). I have read about 70-80 chapters since my first review (I'll keep my previous simple-minded thoughts in the spoiler section). By the Bleach effect, I mean a story that lacks direction. The story has nowhere to go. It doesn't have a clear narrative like becoming the Pirate King or Hokage. Instead, the story continues for the sake of continuing, with each new challenge or problem. A plot is an end goal, something the story aims to achieve, even if it ends mid-way or changes course. So, this story is purely an endurance test; you will read it until you get tired (with 343+ chapters and still going, huh? I guess I'm not wrong). I'm not saying that the story will never have a plot in the future, but I am saying that the plot will not be the center of it. One of the few series that manages this somewhat effectively is One Piece. It has a vague plot, characters with motivations and reasons (very important) to follow the said plot.

My second issue with the series is the deus ex machina, or what I call the "ass-pulls." The magic system in the series is out of control. It does whatever the author wants it to do, trying to be both a video game and real life. Even Dōmachi had a more believable magic system. If in this world someone can regrow an arm and leg with high enough healing magic, what stops people from being able to resurrect the dead? Another story that started similarly is Dragon Ball Z, infamous for characters sabotaging themselves for the sake of creating tension. If you can revive people from the dead, most dangers afterward become meaningless. So, in this world, if you don't know a good healer, you're screwed.

My final issues are with the characters and tone. The tone is all over the place. It doesn't know where it wants to be. It vacillates between being very childish and edgy, sometimes even within life-and-death situations (some fights have incredibly stupid banter, even when the enemy is super strong). The characters are stupid, bland, and archetypes. They have skewed personalities, especially the protagonist, and lack defined morals. Even after 80 chapters, all I know is that the cat girl loves food and fighting, and the sword-wielding character is a loli-con/father archetype.

**Spoiler**
How bad can a story really be? This is a question all writers must face during the creation of their work (it's obvious I had no idea where I was going with this nonsense). It's bad. Really bad.
I can only guess that this was written by a man-child (also likely a deviant with anger issues), with basic education (maybe middle school, possibly high school? If it's high school, God help him). It's really disappointing when you can feel that there is a lot of heart in the story, but just like how I play the guitar with a lot of heart and no one hires me, the execution falls flat.
It might get better, it might get worse. However, I got all I needed to know from a few chapters. It isn't for adults or children but for teens—escapist teens, specifically. If you like that sort of story, well, you might like it.
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First of all, the chapters are short but come out frequently, which makes me eager to read the raws, but I won’t. Maybe it’s just me, but I think the power system is quite vague. I can’t quite figure out how the main character beats certain opponents, but it’s still a compelling read. The power system is somewhat similar to Dragon Ball; it doesn’t make much sense, but it somehow works.

Ignore the low ratings; those readers probably don’t get the light-hearted yet dark vibe the story gives off. So go ahead and read it—it’s definitely worth it.

This primarily revolves around a sword with a beast-loving, lo*icon personality that was passed down from Earth. I think the main character (MC) makes a lot of questionable decisions, but that's common for most MCs. Additionally, I feel the author is rushing to increase the number of chapters, possibly due to a lack of substantial plot development.

Guys, this is the best. I'm not sure how many of you who read novels like Overlord ended up here, but trust me, this novel gets better the more chapters you read. As you dive deeper into the battles and conflicts, the story becomes increasingly engaging. If you're curious about the final outcome, each fight introduces new theories and twists. The narration is superb. I hope you'll take the time to read it all the way through until the end.

First, ignore the cover image of the light novel; it gives a completely wrong impression of the story’s characters. Spoiler:  
Like what the hell is Fran wearing?! She only owns and wears armor in the story.

Second, read the first 20 chapters (they are short, so it’s no problem) before commenting or deciding how the story is. Not everything has to start with a meteor shower, Truck-san, or a pair of boobs. Spoiler:  
No ecchi for you here, only gap moe.

Maybe 11 chapters of a sword explaining the abilities and showing the mind, weaknesses of the main character (MC) could help with world-building.

I liked it enough that it became the first web novel where I read the raws until the latest release and now have started to translate it together with Ensign.

Bad points first:
- The MC sometimes rambles. Spoiler:  
(well, he only talks to like 3 people in 180 characters, so of course he talks to himself)
- Short chapters? At least this means it will be released more frequently.
- Has only the most necessary world-building.
- Very few point-of-view (POV) chapters (I really like this kind of chapter).

Good points:
- Good pace.
- MC is a sword, so NO HAREM.
- No MC solving everything alone. Spoiler:  
or even cares to.
- No moral preachiness.
- Fran.
- Fran's dialogues.
- Fran's grandiose speeches.

While the story isn't bad enough for me to tell people to stay away, it's also not a story I would willingly recommend to others unless I knew they were willing to give a story a fair chance. The premise of the story, while somewhat original and intriguing, quickly loses its appeal.

Reincarnation isn't new, but being reincarnated as an inanimate object is a first for me. Unfortunately, the sword has no goals beyond becoming generally stronger and finding a wielder. While this is to be expected from a sword, stories centered on fighting and growth rely on such goals to show whether the protagonist is still far from their objective or is closing in on what they seek.

The direction of the story isn't as clear as I'd like, or perhaps the author tried to do too much.

The author attempted to balance slice-of-life with action/adventure, but in my opinion, it fails miserably. I enjoy both genres, but some authors get overambitious and try to combine them, leading to a disjointed narrative. This story doesn't seamlessly integrate slice-of-life elements into action sequences or vice versa. Instead, it feels like reading two separate novels with the same characters—one where they go on dangerous adventures, and another where they leisurely hang out with friends. Additionally, there's an excessive focus on cooking and food, which, while common in Japanese novels, detracts from the story.

Many characters are likable and well-written, especially the recurring side characters. However, the main characters quickly become stagnant, to the point where I sometimes hoped for more side characters to appear just to keep things interesting.

The main character group, consisting of a reincarnated sword, a former slave cat girl, and a monster wolf, have consistent traits but lack depth. The sword, a reincarnated Japanese man, exhibits traits of a gamer but doesn't understand how typical RPGs function. He's also one of the biggest Gary Stu characters I've encountered. He gains skills from monster cores, levels up by consuming magic stones, becomes more durable, amplifies with magic, earns skill points, and can share all his skills with his wielder. The author inconsistently portrays the sword's intelligence, perception, and obliviousness to suit the plot.

The female lead, Fran, is a taciturn loli who enjoys eating, beating up those who look down on her, and proving her strength. Her brusque demeanor and attitude are often entertaining, but the author repeatedly emphasizes her intelligence and intuition, despite her solving problems with brute force. The wolf is essentially a non-speaking clone of Fran, adding little to the narrative.

The side characters, however, are the highlight of the novel. Each feels like they could be the protagonist of their own story, with unique backgrounds, ambitions, and flaws. They are allowed to have both strengths and weaknesses, and their achievements seem earned rather than handed to them. , I found the side characters more engaging than the main characters.

Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy many aspects of the novel. The world-building is generally well-constructed, and several arcs are either exciting or humorous. The protagonist doesn't dwell excessively on his failures and continuously strives to improve, though more reflection on those failures would have been beneficial to avoid repeating them. I wouldn't mind a casual reread, but it won't be at the top of my list anytime soon.

Super-powered cheat parenting, but not very smart, paired with a dull orphan tasked with saving a kid who has a sad background story but nothing else particularly noteworthy.

A good read when you have nothing better to do, though don't expect much from this one.

Fran comes across as a one-dimensional cliché character: naive to the point of being borderline idiotic (though somewhat reasonable given her age), ignorant, cool and edgy, a glutton, and a battle maniac. Cute? Only according to the talking sword (or the author), who repeatedly call her cute, likely hoping readers will think so too and grow attached to her over time.

I'm up to chapter 321 so far, and there's been no character development for either of them, aside from becoming stronger. If anything, it feels more like character decline. It cringes me when she blabbers every secret she has (including the sword's) to some random princess she just met because she wants to be friends.

The more into the story, the more powerful and stupid they become. The MC (the talking sword), who is supposed to be the adult and responsible for stopping her from making foolish decisions, instead goes along with her stupidity, saying, "Ah, I can't stop her, so I'll support her recklessness." What?

At least they haven't done the hundred-chapter training arc yet, so there's some adventure to keep it bearable. However, it's becoming a bit too predictable:

They go somewhere → something shady happens as a sign of future trouble → the trouble actually occurs → they aren't capable enough to handle it → Fran insists on solving it while the sword tries to stop her but eventually agrees to her reckless decision → some help or miracle occurs → trouble is solved, everyone is happy → insert slice-of-life content where she eats tons of food and whatnot → they say goodbye → she goes somewhere else → repeat.

Edit: Chapter 655 here, and gosh, they are on a secret-spreading spree, *facepalm*

"Hey there, stranger. I'm Fran, and this is Master, an Intelligent sword. My parents died, and I was a slave. I'm on a journey to become strong so I can kill S-Class Fiends to save my kind from a curse that prevents their evolution. By the way, there are Divine Beasts, Ex-Divine Swords, and a sealed God inside Master. Nice to meet you..."

The first few chapters are quite boring, to be honest... But everything changes when the Nekomimi girl enters the scene.

In this novel, the MC (a Sword) serves as the companion, teacher, master, guardian, and parent figure for the Girl (the Wielder). It’s not an exaggeration to say that the MC is essentially the Nekomimi Girl (the Companion), and we just read the story from the perspective of the Sword (the actual MC). It’s somewhat like reading *Kino no Tabi* from the point of view of Hermes, the talking bike. However, it isn’t anything like *Kino no Tabi*, as the premise is entirely different.

But that’s what makes this novel so interesting. Watching the Girl’s development through the eyes of the MC is what really draws me to this story.

A breath of fresh air in the Isekai genre.

Since the main character (MC) is a sword, there’s no harem in sight, and there’s also no sign of an edgy revenge plot. The MC takes on the role of a parent for the cat girl Fran and excels at it. Both of them have distinct personalities, and their interactions are sweet and humorous. The named side characters also have well-developed personalities, and many of them reappear throughout the story.

Because the duo of cat and sword isn’t overpowered, the outcomes of important battles aren’t predictable from the start, and the power of friendship doesn’t always save the day against formidable enemies. The skill system is reasonably designed, and the fight scenes are highly entertaining.

The world-building is solid, and the plot itself is interesting and, at times, intriguing. The only parts that could be considered filler are the descriptions of food, a common trope in Japanese media. Additionally, the introduction of the major antagonist raises the stakes and builds anticipation for future plot developments.

Sure, here's the rewritten content:

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I’m not great at writing reviews, so I’ll keep it brief. I absolutely love this novel. It’s true that it’s still early in the story, and the first eleven chapters can be a bit slow. However, I have some experience with novels, and I can see a lot of potential in this one. If you’re interested, give it a read, show some support by liking, following, or commenting—whatever you prefer. It might just motivate the translator to release updates more quickly. (The translation speed isn’t too slow, but I had to try, right?)

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