I love WW2 themes.
I love manga.
I love realistic, practical thinking.

Gunka no Baltzar is all these things. Except its actually pre-WWI era theme i.e. 19th century. However, its not taking place on Earth (now correct me if I'm wrong haha) but on different world altogether but the focus (for now) is on a continent that is very European in style.

What I simply love about Gunka no Baltzar is its focus on real, practical, logical military tactics and weaponry, and also world politics. Most series (especially shounens) rely too much on plot shields like 'pure willpower trumps all' or 'friendship!'.etc and that is fine - however they do get tiring after a while.This manga mentions real math formulas to use in artillery firing solutions. Wow. The superior advantages of a bolt-action rifle compared to a musket. awesome. The irrelevance of horse cavalry in modern warfare. Things like that.
Its in the middle of the 19th century (in Earth terms) so countries are still only starting to embrace modern technologies like trains, telecommunications and the aforementioned military tactics and technologies - this is very very fascinating for me, seeing all that process of modernization, amidst the politics and plots.

Aside from that, the characters are pretty good as well. The cast come from all walks of life and each has interesting backstories. No annoying teenage angst here! XD

Also, I applaud all the research the mangaka did in making this series (which he explains and the end of each volume).

I cannot stress how much I LOVE 19th-20th century military themed stories, especially in manga and anime; sadly there's not a whole lot of them...(I have only found Pumpkin Scissors, as far as I can recall now...also Valkyria Chronicles though that's a video game)
Wish there were more! XD

This manga took me a few chapters for me to get into but after that I couldn't stop reading it.
Initially the shoujo art combined with the lack of female characters made me expect the series to turn shonen-ai/yaoi. Luckily it did not.
The focus of the manga is on a young talented officer who is sent as a liaison to train officer cadets at a new allied country's military academy.
The MC is very forward thinking in his approach to military tactics and technology.
Initially it starts with him trying to indoctrinate his progressive approach to military thinking to the academy but soon shifts the situation between the various countries and the political maneuvering of allies and enemies.
In the midst of this our MC and his cadets are thrown into the deep end having to worry about skirmishes and unseen plots.
Usually I dislike series which are too political in nature but the sinister nature of the opposing forces reeled me in and has made me invested in the fate of the MC and the two allied nations he represents.

... Last updated on March 19th, 2015, 6:34pm

Here is an interesting manga about what seems to be a time around the end of the 19th century in europe. It's not an historical manga and it's not our world either, but the main character, the Major Balzer, seems to an officier in a german like country ( name of towns, and others characters). The weaponery is that of the armies around 1870, so if you like this era, this manga is for you!

Major Balzer, promising young officer of the glorious Weiben army, is sent to improve the army of their new ally and neighboor, Baselland. Even if he isn't satisfied with this order, he still do is utmost to upgrade the rusty army of baselland, bearing in mind that having good relationship and military coordination could be a good thing for Weiben's future.

I like the art and the precision in the drawing of the differents armies, weaponery, and scenery, the mix between political and militay intrigues make the manga really entertaining. Balzer is a good officier, nor good nor evil, just thinking in what could be Weiben best interest. He is intelligent and have what it takes to be a really good leader. The other mains characters are mostly young trainee officers from Baselland, learning the arts of war.

For now, there aren't much battles where our protagonists are involved, but as the manga continues, I have great expectations for it.

I have to say, I never thought I can become a fan of a military manga. The story so far is quite interesting, and the manipulations and twists are great. The art is very good, nicely drawn with good details. The main character is quite likable, even though sometimes I think he has to be a bit more aware of some elements.
I will give this 9.5 rating, and really looking forward to see how the story evolves.

8/10: I'm a fan!



Story is military fiction based off of 19th century Western Europe. Specifically, the two fictitious countries so far depicted are culturally deprived from Germany. The author has extensively researched the era and that translates to historic foods, machinery, and architecture. He even reveals the components of 18th century muskets and canons.

It's a history geek's delight. With 10 chapters out, most has been spent not necessary avoiding character development per se but on establishing the world. Characters besides the main character have yet to fully take their mantle as pillars of the plot. You know who they'll be, but, because there's 5 of them and the need to explain background politics, they are yet to be given much attention. All in all, it starts rather slow on the character development side. For Euro history and 19th century gun buffs, this'll be a delight. For others, it may take an arc to grow on you if the richness of the setting doesn't.

p.s. btw, for other history buffs (especially Macedonian and alexander the great history, I recommend Historie)

... Last updated on June 19th, 2012, 11:51pm

Gunka no Baltzar starts off great with a young and ambitious protagonist named Balzer who begins work as a military adviser at a foreign training academy. I don't know what it was but something about the beginning gave off a sense of uniqueness and potential. Unfortunately, I didn't feel or get any of that as the chapters progressed. The challenges that Balzer overcame felt either superficial or exaggerated and that in turn made his character less believable. With no side characters to support him, or at least any that were memorable, I simply didn't have any reason to continue reading. Then came the 'Turning Point'... or at least that's what I call it since I dropped the series immediately after.

The Turning Point


Edit: I tried picking up this series again but to no avail. It's hard to stomach a series that has to spoon-feed it's characters common sense.

... Last updated on November 1st, 2016, 5:25pm

I don't understand why can someone give this a bad rating??

the story is still developing and very promising so far and the main char is very interesting, he is modest, yet straight forward, and actually has a backbone.

the art are very accurate, even the reference to some foods, beers, weapon and building architecture.

I've been waiting for something like this.

if you like 18th century europe with war setting don't miss this one.

... Last updated on December 11th, 2011, 8:03pm

I truly recommend Gunka no Balzer for anyone who has even the least bit interest in 19th century warfare. Or even, in the lack of that, to amazing art, well researched background, solid characterisation and a complex storyline. Volumes are only released twice a year, but they are very skilfully and thoughtfully composed, well worth the read.

For the moment, the lead has a strong and likeable personality and there are a number of colourful characters that are all well developed and fleshed out besides him. The story is set in an 18th century Prussia-like setting and there are numerous references to the culture of Prussia and other parts of Germany, for instance, it's food and beer.

As a note for people considering the series, Gunka no Balzer would be much better described as 'slice-of-life' in a historical setting than 'action' or 'adventure'. It's very wordy, big on cultural aspects of 19th century german/prusian/austrian/whatever you want to call it academics, politics, food, etc and only in v5 do we start seeing some actual action, which is very realistic and strategy based.

... Last updated on January 31st, 2014, 7:46am