The ancient Japanese folk tale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (otherwise known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya), is famous the world over. It's a bittersweet story of a young girl found in a bamboo stalk named Kaguya. Raised by an elderly couple as if she were their own, it is revealed that she is the moon princess and that one day, she must return to become the royal she was born to be. It is a touching tale of familial piety, duty, and honor that has been adapted and re-adapted across mediums. One of the latest renditions of this story is a loose retelling in Manga form called Blade of the Moon Princess written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo.
Unlike its mythological predecessor, Blade of the Moon Princess starts the story with Kaguya being a rebellious teenager on the moon in its illustrious palace known as The Silver Court. Kaguya is brash, crude, and rude. All these qualities aren't exactly what her mother or the retainers of the court wish to see in a princess who will one day become ruler. Aside from the princess' rambunctious spirit, there are bigger problems brewing in the royal household.
Conspirators have made their way to its sacred walls to start a coup. In order to keep her daughter safe, the Moon Empress hides her daughter away in a spaceship that (in keeping with the manga's source material) is shaped like a bamboo stalk and sends her to Earth. The moon people call Earth the "Tainted World," but her time there keeps her safe from the conspirators on the moon and teaches her the strength and humility that will eventually guide her back to the moon as its rightful ruler.
Blade of the Moon Princess defies a cut-and-dry genre classification. On one hand, it is a science fiction story with spaceships and space travel. On the other hand, it is a fantasy that pays homage to Japanese mythology and folklore. Thrown into the mix, readers who are familiar with its source material will also catch glimpses of a "gritty reboot" for modern audiences. Some could argue that it is an Isekai as well. Although there's ambition in playing with these various subversions, all that can be said about the story as a whole is that it is passable. There's nothing outstanding about it, but nothing boring or actively bad about it either.
The characters, while having some charms, are largely forgettable. Kaguya is the typical and predictable take on the "princess who doesn't want to be a princess" archetype. The basic elements of the story can force the occasional eye-roll. It's a story that's been told ad nauseam, and there's nothing new to separate it from other tellings. What makes this manga work is its artistic qualities. Mangaka Tatsuya Endo has a way with action scenes that glide about the pages like raging water.
Character designs are expressive, and all of them are unique. It helps that Blade of the Moon Princess avoid the sometimes cookie-cutter pitfall of other similar works in the world of Manga. While not breaking new ground or charting new territory in the genre of action manga, Blade of the Moon Princess works as a mildly entertaining space-filler. It may be a good Manga for newcomers to the art form, but if readers want something to sink their teeth into that has more depth, it might be better to look elsewhere.