The Sword of Kaigen

Swords are a significant symbol in the novel, appearing both as literal swords and as metaphors via strategic descriptions and dialogue. Each major character owns a sword; Mamoru has the sword Mamoriken, Takeru has Moonspire, Kazu has Riptide, and most significantly, Misaki has Siradenyaa. The prose repeatedly lingers over descriptions of these swords, detailing their forging, their aesthetic beauty, and their strength.

These swords symbolize each character’s purpose and willpower, and the narrative makes this connection explicit in several ways. For example, the Matsuda bloodline technique, the Whispering Blade, appears in the form of a sword, and all Matsudas believe this technique to be a perfect representation of the warrior’s “soul, his focus, his conviction” (180). Also, in Chapter 11, Takashi compares the Matsuda men to swords who have been “left in a sheath to rust” (215). He also laments the fact that peacetime has afforded him no opportunities to use his fighting skills, unleash his warrior spirit, or sharpen his killer instinct, and he hopes that Mamoru will not have to face the same fate. This sentiment neatly echoes the tagline on the cover of the novel, which states, “Better to die sharp in war than rust through a time of peace.