This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it! I am giving this book three stars, as I don't want to give it a good or bad rating, since I did not get to it.

This was an interesting comic, although it was pretty plain and stuck to a normal shonen manga storyline although I did enjoy the past perspective of what happened to parents., I think there are some questions that still wasn’t explained, but I do really like this art so it was dramatic. It was harsh But altogether the character arc was pretty decent and I would read more of a this work

Thanks NetGalley and Mystical Martial Arts Comics for this arc.

I'll be honest, I didn't love this. The story was rushed and really choppy, and could really use an editor to proofread as some thoughts just end and don't ever finish, and there are some grammatical errors. The art is pretty good, the rough marker sketches go well with the story, but the way some things are drawn are questionable (like the scene where Rina's giving birth, and her doula is contorted at such a weird angle to give a good view of her very round butt, and what's up with the last page? Seems weirdly suggestive for such a sad scene, but maybe I'm reading too far into things?) or just confusing (Connor is supposed to be ten but looks like many different ages depending on the panel). It just feels unpolished. But, this could also just be bc I'm definitely not the target demographic (pretty sure it's teenage boys) so maybe one of them would like it more.

Thank you NetGalley and Mystical Martial Arts Comics, for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Curse of the Katana is a graphic novel by Phuoc Vu and illustrated by David Krymadhi. The story is a journey between the past and the present.
In feudal Japan lives a legendary samurai warrior - Shin'ichi - charged with protecting Princess Rina, who’s fated to marry Prince Gorou. Many Clans would like to prevent this union, powerful as it is dangerous.
The flashbacks - which occupy most of the first volume - are important in introducing the true protagonist of the story: Connor, who is mysteriously connected to a katana that his family has kept for generations.

A very well-written and drawn story that I enjoyed very much. The sepia color (it looks like coffee to me) used on most of the pages gives an excellent idea of past history and the illustrations are particularly striking. You can easily understand the fear, violence, and hope through the pages.

If I had to highlight something that I didn’t particularly enjoy, I would certainly focus on the fact that the past story was narrated in a rush.
In addition, I believe that there is too much narration, despite the drawings being very beautiful, not enough space is given to the graphic story, every single gesture and action performed is narrated. I believe that the reader should also have the freedom to imagine or understand the events through the dialogues, which is not very present in this first volume.

Curse of the Katana is about Shin'ichi, a samurai who's tasked to protect and escort Princess Rina to her betrothed. Along the way, he defends her against shadow warriors, warlords, and other samurai. It has mostly flashbacks, when in reality it's a narration of a father to his son on the present day.

It reminded me so much of an anime, but with an ukiyo style. The art was certainly eye-catching and it is certainly important on graphic novels.
Given that it is the first volume, I'm expecting the rest of the story, because the connection of the past life with the present day wasn't clear enough for me. But, more grammar and syntax edits should be considered more so that it is more pleasant to the reader and so that the story has a better flow. On the other hand, I truly believe that it wasn't clear enough because it's only the introduction. I'm surely expecting more.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks for the opportunity to read through this for a review. Since joining the netgalley community, this is my first graphic novel review. I love ancient Japan and its culture.

I did not totally this However. The art was pretty good, but the story did not flow with the art. It seemed choppy and forced in some places. Maybe I'm used to novel format, but it wasn't for me.

Maybe with some definite editing & a little revision it could be much better.

Thank you to BookBuzz and Net Galley for the ARC of this graphic novel. The art is quite good, I would enjoy maybe a bit more colour early on since it felt one note with the same brown tones in the beginning.

Unfortunately, the writing is rough. It did not feel like a cohesive story and instead felt like snippets of stories. It definitely needs some edits and revisions.

I always wanted to know the story and history behind a Katana and its so called Curse in the fictional sense, SO ofcourse i was intrigued to read this. Even though the art was wonderful and the story line could have been better, the writing was very poor and could have seen some redrafts.

Thank you for the ARC, I’m just getting into graphic novels and was excited for this. The art is amazing, I loved it, but the writing and the story was a bit lacking. It wasn’t the most enjoyable experience.

Thank you to BookBuzz and Net Galley for the ARC of this graphic novel. The art is quite good, I would enjoy maybe a bit more colour early on since it felt one note with the same brown tones in the beginning.

Unfortunately, the writing is rough. It did not feel like a cohesive story and instead felt like snippets of stories. It definitely needs some edits and revisions.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

The artwork and story will keep you engaged and intrigued. I LOVED this novel. Can't wait to read the next one.

This is probably the fastest I've read a graphic novel lol anyway...

Curse of the Katana is about Shin'Ichi, a samurai who's tasked to protect and escort Princess Rina to her betrothed. Along the way, he defends her (and himself) against shadow warriors, warlords, and other samurai. No major spoilers here, but he becomes cursed to fight as a samurai spirit for the warlord who eventually marries Rina. His spirit is tied to a katana, hence the title.

This whole story is told from the lens of a father telling a story to his son in the modern day. The father owns the katana and near the end, we learn about the family connection.

The Good: I really liked the art. It was simplistic and mostly monotone but it conveyed the action and the sense of urgency in a lot of the scenes. I'd love to see more graphic novel work from the artist. Honestly I bumped it up one star because of the art.

The Bad: The writing is... Not good. It needs several more edits before final publication. I don't mind the short sentences and simple phrases, but the grammar really needs to be looked at again. It really detracted from the story. There were some sentences that felt like they were parts of a rough draft and should've either been rewritten or left out entirely since the art already conveyed the meaning. Overall the writing felt like it was still a rough draft that hadn't been polished.

Thank you to BookBuzz.net and NetGalley for the arc.