Title: Sword of The Dark Ones Volume(s): 3 Author(s): Kotobuki Tsukasa/Yasui Kentaro Format: Unflipped; Right-to-Left Publisher: CMX MSRP: $9.99 Genre(s): Fantasy Rated: Mature (18+)

Here's what many people find strange about the whole "Tenjho Tenge" editing thing: Since CMX HAS a Mature rating for their books why not just simply slap that on the book instead of go to the trouble of editing it! This is a very good question, and one I'm sure won't go unasked at one of the upcoming comic conventions either. However until we get to ask that question to a CMX official, we just have to dwell in the fact that series like "Tenjho Tenge" has been edited to a Teen while "Sword of The Dark Ones" ("Ragnorok" in Japan) receives the Mature rating. I'm not completely sure why this series is deemed worthy to be released uncut and "Tenjho Tenge" is not, but I'm glad CMX decided to leave this series intact, as I would hate to have had to missed out on reading this one. The story of "Sword of The Dark Ones" begins with the narrator explaining that the world of the Asgard Empire used to be a peaceful world and that people lived their lives peacefully and happy. Then one day, flesh-eating monsters known as the Dark Ones came out of nowhere (supposingly), and from this point on everyone has been living in a constant state of fear and terror.

Shortly after the Dark Ones came, men started training to become mercenaries so that they could help keep the peace around the land. The story of "Sword of The Dark Ones" revolves around the mercenary known as Leroy Schwartz and his legendary weapon Ragnarok. Now Leroy is, in all actuality, a VERY mysterious character! So much so that I am pretty much at a loss for words to describe him. He's tormented about something, it's pretty apparent that he doesn't want to be a mercenary all that much but continues to be one because something that happened once is making him feel obligated to continue doing this, and his only friend in the world is his sword Ragnarok (and before you write him off as crazy, his sword talks. What? I've seen stranger story twists before). Since Leroy is the star of this series, he is an extremely gifted mercenary. Leroys skills combined with Ragnaroks extreme power makes for one heck of a team (and mercenary). One day while on patrol, Leroy ends up saving a man named Yuri Paris from a Dark One. The man is so grateful to Leroy for saving him, that he invites him to have dinner at his business in town (which just happens to be a whore house, all but guaranteeing we'll see some skin). At first Leroy is hesitant to take Yuri up on his invitation, but Ragnarok convinces him that it might be polite to take Yuri up on his offer, so Leroy ends up going.

However Leroy should have trusted his in stinks, as once he gets to the whore house, Leroy finds himself in a trap that was set up by Yuri, and now he finds himself fighting for his life. While all this may sound strange on paper, in reality this is a set up for what is promising to be a very, VERY intriguing series! From what I understand, "Sword of The Dark Ones" is only three books long. I usually am weary of fantasy series that are really short, as most of the time short fantasies never get fleshed out to their full potential, and end up feeling like blueprints to what could have been a much better story. "Sword of The Dark Ones" doesn't have that problem from what I can see. The world "Sword of The Dark Ones" presents is neither too complicated nor is it too simplistic, it's big enough to have lots of fantasy elements, yet it's small enough so that we can understand how the world works and feels within such a short amount of time. The characters are also like the world, which means that the characters aren't extremely complicated, they're just complicated enough. Leroy is a typical badass with a terrible secret that haunts him, yet that's all we really need to know to be able to cheer for the guy. Yuri Paris is just a typical evil guy, but a couple of grudges his partners harbor torwards him makes him a bit more interesting then you would expect. Then we have Leroys sword Ragnarok, who ends up being the most interesting and surprising character in the whole book.

Granted, despite the fact that CMX has renamed this series to put more of a focus on Leroy, I guess this would make sense since "Sword of The Dark Ones" IS called "Ragnarok" in Japan, so it makes sense that Ragnarok would step up to the plate to be the sword to keep an eye on! The artwork is what really makes the series worth reading though. Some people question whether or not some series can survive off of style alone, and I think series like "Sword of The Dark Ones" makes a good case that they can. Despite the fact that most manga is in black and white to begin with, "Sword of The Dark Ones" has a very unique and distink gothic look to it. Characters are very angular, everyone wears gothic looking cloths, and (most surprisingly) the series gets by mostly by just having things either be black or white, as there is almost no grey to be found in this series (the only time the artist really uses grey is when drawing shadows). Not only is the use of blacks and whites intriguing, but everything is just so much cooler when the action starts. Fight sequences are fast, big, violent, and exciting to look at. The angle's at which the artist chooses to draw his characters makes the action sequences very dynamic to look at, and the coolness factor is ramped up a couple notches.

I've always said that it doesn't matter if you can draw guys beating each other up, if you can't make that exciting to read then you've failed as an artist. Everything in "Sword of The Dark Ones" looks like it was drawn by a choreographer, and it has a sleek, professional look to the whole thing that just stands out as a great work of art. Even though the story isn't the most complicated thing I've ever read, the artwork just makes the whole thing work so much more then it has any right to. One thing that is rather strange is that despite the fact that this series is being released with the Mature rating there is still one small edit that can still be found in this book. So what is edited out? Well, a front view of Leroys penis. That's it. Nothing to (forgive me) get tied up in a knot over, but worth pointing out for you purists out there. Despite the fact that CMX decided to make this one edit, the rest of the glorious violence, sex, language, drug use, and thematic elements have all been left intact (including some bare female breasts...yeah, I don't get it either). CMX's translation is also excellent. While I truly do question the reasoning behind changing the title of "Ragnarok" to "Sword of The Dark Ones," the rest of the translation seems to be spot on, with no Americanizations and no spelling error's to be found anywhere in the book. I guess what this all boils down to is that "Sword of The Dark Ones" is an entertaining little series that has more interest in looking cool then it does in telling a memorable story.

What makes "Sword of The Dark Ones" work is that the story is pretty interesting, and when you combine that with the excellent action and artwork, the series ends up being a winner in its own right. If this was a long series I could see how investing in this series would be a bit of a gamble, but with a mere three books in the entire series, "Sword of The Dark Ones" doesn't overstay its welcome, and ends up being a short but sweet ride. "Sword of The Dark Ones" is nothing deep, nothing revolutionary, but it is a highly enjoyable action/fantasy that doesn't require a big commitment and is fun while it lasts. I definitely recommend this series is you are a fan of action/fantasy manga.

Update: 5-25-2005

I have just been informed by Jake Forbes (who helped work on the manga) that the reason behind the name change was because there was already a series being released by Tokyopop called "Ragnarok." It was decided to change the name of this series to "Sword of The Dark Ones" as having two series by the same name is not only extremely confusing to consumers (think the "Comic Party" incident) but also grounds for legal action. I'd like to thank Jake for pointing out this information. And to all the people who have sent me e-mails about me supporting a book with censorship I have this to say: It's one panel out of three books and not worth boycotting. Really, get over yourselves folks, if you manga having a penis digitally removed is the worst thing that's happened to you then you should consider yourselves VERY lucky!

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -