Years ago, I kept running into a book in Animate in Tokyo. I’d pick it up and put it down over and over, in every store. Eventually I got home and learned I had been staring at a book I actually did want to read, Miniskirt Space Pirates, Volume 1 (ミニスカ宇宙海賊パイレーツ). I’m trying to go with my guts more these days so, when I was in Tokyo last time and I kept picking up a book and putting it down, I just bought it eventually. Which is how I ended up reading Toji no Miko, Volume 1 (刀使ノ巫女), grossly translated as Katana Maidens by people without an ounce of elegance in their souls.  

Eto Kanami wants, more than anything, to fight. She is suited to be and wants to be an amazing sword fighter, to protect her world from monsters. And, she wants to do it side-by-side with her friend and partner, Yanase Mai. Mai is the honor student Kanami will never be, but together they are a formidable pair. Together, they make their way to the all-school fighting competition, where only the best will move on to become a Toji no Miko, a priestess of the sword. 

Kanami defeats Mai and moves on to fight a mysterious girl named Hiyori who, instead of attacking Kanami, attempts to assassinate the woman who presides over the competition, but is stopped by her champion, a previous winner. Kanami saves Hiyori and runs off with her as the first volume comes to a close. 

The story is redolent of the Mai HiME series, with girls being used as fighters/weapons by and against a foe and powers that be whose objective they don’t understand. And, like Mai HiME, it’s got pointlessly placed service for those readers whose attention cannot be kept without it. This is a fast-paced action story with likable characters and it really doesn’t need service. In fact, it detracts from the pacing as the story screams to a stop while we all bathe or change or whatever sad scene sad men added to make other sad men happy. Thankfully, as a manga, I can skip quickly over the bits written for the lowest denominator.

The art is competent, and I like the inhumanoid designs of the monsters, the idea that battle spirit is a technique that the girls practice and the fight scenes, which make up a large chunk, but not a majority of the narrative.

There’s no Yuri in Volume 1, but the relationship between Mai and Kanamei is nice. They are good friends who like each other’s company and root for one another. When Mai loses, she says she’s glad it was Kanami who was the one who beat her – and she means it. Hiyori, however, is the Heathcliff of this story and clearly Kanami is going to revolve around her and her brooding in subsequent volumes.

Ratings: 

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 4
Yuri – Not really, maybe not ever

Overall – 7

I didn’t have much time or energy to read while in Europe, but I did manage to finish this volume during my downtime and I was a little surprised to find that I enjoyed the book and probably will read Volume 2. I’m less sure that I’ll watch the anime (streaming on Crunchyroll, free and legally) because of the service issue. I know how this works, we’ll get 8 minutes of bathing for every 2 of fighting. Otherwise, this is a solid Kadokawa offering, with a mix of action, friendship and tediousness.