Broken Blade (ブレイク ブレイド) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yunosuke Yoshinaga since September 12, 2006. Flex Comix published the first tankōbon volume of the manga on April 10, 2007. The manga was previously licensed in North America by CMX, which released three volumes before shutting down. The manga is licensed in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing. The manga was adapted into six 50 minute animated films. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the movie series and released them on DVD and Blu-ray in 2012. The anime movies are also available online on Crunchyroll.

Plot

The story is centered around a young man named Rygart Arrow, a resident of a world where people can use "magic". This magic is the ability to control and empower quartz, doing many things from creating light to operating machinery to riding giant mecha called 'Golems'. Rygart, however, is one of the few exceptions; as an "un-sorcerer", he cannot utilize quartz, making many aspects of life difficult as well as being looked down upon by the rest of society. Despite this, in his youth he managed to befriend Hodr and Sigyn, the future King and Queen of the Krisna Kingdom; and Zess, the younger brother of the Secretary of War of the Athens Commonwealth. Years later, Rygart is reunited with Hodr and Sigyn where he learns the Athens Commonwealth has begun an invasion of Krisna. Rygart is also shocked to learn that Zess is leading one of the strike forces. While at the capital, Rygart discovers that he has the ability to pilot a recently discovered ancient Golem which cannot be piloted by magic users. Despite its ancient origins, the golem possesses capabilities and systems far more advanced than the current Golems, and could be key to turning the tide of battle. While hesitant at first, Rygart soon gets involved in the war between Krisna and Athens, in an attempt to save Hodr, Sigyn, and even Zess.

Characters

The Kingdom of Krisna

Commonwealth of Athens

The Empire of Orlando

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Yunosuke Yoshinaga, Broken Blade has been serialized by Flex Comix in the Shounen web manga anthologies Shonen Blood in October and November 2006 issues and FC Blood from January 1, 2007 to February 8, 2012, and in the Seinen manga anthology Comic Meteo since July 25, 2012. The chapters have been published into tankōbon volumes since April 10, 2007. 20 tankōbon volumes with 104 chapters were released and the manga concluded in October 2022. CMX released the first three volumes of the series in English.

Films

The films were chief directed by Tetsurō Amino, directed by Nobuyoshi Habara and produced by Production I.G and XEBEC. The films' opening theme is "Fate", performed by Kokia and closing theme song for the first five movies are "SERIOUS-AGE" by Faylan while the closing theme song for the sixth movie is "Nageki no Oto" (嘆きの音), also performed by Kokia. While the films mostly follow the manga story, for episode six, the animators deviated from the manga to end the story with their own plot.

Film list

Anime

The Broken Blade films have been adapted and edited into a 12-episode anime series by Production I.G and XEBEC, including scenes never featured in the original movies. The series was aired between April and June 2014 on Tokyo MX and BS11 stations in Japan. Both OP and ending themes were performed by both Sayaka Sasaki and Aira Yuhki.