Tensei Shitara Ken deshita (Novel)

Description

A modern otaku is reborn into a fantasy world as a sword in this hilarious new light novel series!

Reincarnated as a sentient weapon with memories of his past life, but not his name, a magical sword saves a young beastgirl from a life of slavery. Fran, the cat-eared girl, becomes his wielder, and wants only to grow stronger, while the sword wants to know why he is here. Together, the strange duo’s journey has only just begun!

Seven Seas Entertainment, Vol. 1

Original Web Novel

Type

Novel

Related Series

Tensei Shitara Ken deshita (Spin-Off)

Tensei Shitara Ken deshita - Rev: Kuroneko ga Saikyou no Ken to Level Up (Spin-Off)

Associated Names

I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (Novel)

Reincarnated as a Sword (Novel)

転生したら剣でした (小说)

转生成为魔剑 (小说）

Groups Scanlating

Ensig's Writings

Kisato's MLTs

Pengu

Latest Release(s)

c.66 by Pengu 8 years ago

c.65 by Pengu 8 years ago

c.64 by Pengu 8 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

1308 WN Chapters (Complete)
19 LN Volumes (Ongoing)

Completely Scanlated?

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1 (S1) / Vol 3 (S2)

Ends at Vol 2 (S1)

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

0 topics, 0 posts

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User Rating

Average: 8.6 / 10.0 (67 votes)

Bayesian Average: 7.89 / 10.0

60%

12%

Last Updated

August 26th, 2025 9:28am PDT - 4 days ago

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Genre

Action Adventure Comedy Drama Fantasy Shounen
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Tensei Shitara Ken deshita

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Recommendations

N/A

Author(s)

TANAKA Yuu

Artist(s)

Ruroo

Year

2015

Original Publisher

Micro Magazine

Syosetu

Serialized In (magazine)

N/A

Licensed (in English)

Yes

English Publisher

Airship (14 Volumes; Ongoing)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #774

(-37)

Monthly Pos #1854 (No change)

3 Month Pos #3391 (No change)

6 Month Pos #4273

(-1389)

Year Pos #6847

(-614)

List Stats

On 247 reading lists

On 88 wish lists

On 10 completed lists

On 5 unfinished lists

On 95 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

I wasted my time with this; don't waste yours

by Orange Rooster
4 years ago

Rating: 2.0 / 10.0

I've read only the first volume and I don't intend to read any past that. From start to finish, this story made me aggravated and extremely bored.This made utter the deadiest words for a story: "I don't care about these characters". And I said that more than once for just the first volume.

I was drawn to the initial premise: our protagonist is reincarnated as a sword, whom I will refer to as just "the sword". However, it has amnesia, so the reader is left just as in the dark as the sword about its past life. It quickly adapts to this new word and does what a sword does best: kills things, particularly the local monsters. How can it do this when it's just a sword? Why, because it's a psychic sword, that's how! He uses telekinesis to fly around like a thrown dagger in perpetual motion, killing any monster that it finds with either its blade or the environs. It quickly kills just about everything in its vicinity, thereby devastating the local ecosystem, until it gets trapped in an anti-magic field. Its is saved by a young catgirl named Fran, and they go a quest to be the very best like no one ever was.

It sounds interesting, right? My interest quickly dwindled with each monster the sword effortlessly slew. It's one thing to see a character grind and have them struggle through it, but it's something else when they have no trouble whatsoever. That makes a character incredibly boring, since there's no inherent danger or risk towards them, therefore every outcome is the same: they win with no effort on their part. Who would want to read a story like that?

The characters themselves aren't that interesting either. Sure, the sword has amnesia, but it has no bearing on its character, aside from its willingness to kill with reckless abandon. There's no point to the sword being a reincarnated person, since it doesn't lead to any meaningful character development. If that's the case, why not just make the sword a regular sword from that world to begin with?

Fran isn't any better. She's basically Raphtalia from Rising of the Shield Hero if she had all the personality sucked out of her. I get that she's supposed to be this stoic, soft-spoken little girl who's been traumatized, but again, this has no bearing on her character as far as I could see. Well, aside from maybe some hints that's she's a little psycho who's too willing to kill whoever makes her angry, no matter how petty the reason. Part of her character is going from a complete nobody to perhaps the strongest member in her guild. The problem is that it's all because she relies on the sword's incredibly high stats; without it, she can't do anything. Okay, so just disarm her and everything's fine, right? No, because the sword can just fight by itself if need be and aid Fran from afar. In the final fight of the book, something happens in regards to this that's so stupid I was left speechless. It was at that point that I realized every fight with these two was going to end the same way, high reward with no risk, and I gave up hope of ever caring what happens to these characters.

Personally, I think this story is testament to how an overpowered protagonist, when played completely straight and not balanced out by anything else, can ruin a story. When every fight ends the same, when the characters are just so uninteresting, when you have to force yourself to read on in the vain hope that it will get better, that's the mark of a story not worth reading. I won't stop you if you decide to read it, for whatever reason that may be, but you'll only have yourself to blame if you do. As for me, I just want my money back.

... Last updated 4 years ago

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Translated chapters actually go over 300 at this point!

by berubetto
6 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

The translators just stopped updating here and went to novel updates. I love this series and when I realized I was almost out of chapters I can't tell you how depressed I was! I see why the person who rated it 7 would do that, but the beginning part goes by quickly and thereafter it's just an enjoyable ride.

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One of hella lucky heroine...

by Pringer-X
7 years ago

Rating: N/A

well she lead a shitty life as slave

meet OP sword that become her teacher and make her damn strong in just very short time

some people who trained for 10-30 years was baffled that in just mere 1 months she surpassed them

later all the strong adventurer was attracted to her and become her friends, yes all of them from S rank to A/B rank.

sure they also have villain that want to do something bad on the girl but they are weak as hell so she just stomped them all.

Basically she was strong and if left unchecked she will become the OP definiton MC and gladly she got supports from many people who are stronger than her.

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Reasonably enjoyable light reincarnation novel with a better grade of obligatory twist

by naeddyr
9 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

Pretty straightforward comedic reincarnation fantasy, of the sub-genre Unusual Reincarnation, this time as a Sword of OP +10.
The weakest part is the beginning, filled with the usual dreary supergrinding and superfast leveling. Even if the MC is a floating sword, it gets tiresome how easily he mows down mobs and bosses just like that. The OP-ness of the story comes from the sword's capability to just absorb enemy skills, and then share it with someone wielding the sword. Thankfully, we soon come across our REAL main character, Fran, the kemonomimi child who then becomes the focal point of the story as she cutely OPs everything in sight with her sword and climbs the ranks of the Adventurer's Guild.

OPness levels: mid-high, ridiculously fast rise, but not yet able to destroy everyone; main strength comes from skill diversity and having access to a ridiculous sampling of skills
RPGosity: mid-high, the usual Scan/Appraisal skill things, status screens up the wazoo, Skills being a discrete Thing that you can absorb, stats and damage; all of this is integrated and alluded to by everyone in the story
Cutidity: so cute
Story?: yes, some
Characters?: characters!

EDIT:

Note how the manga skips the very beginning and goes straight to Fran meeting the sword.

... Last updated 9 years ago

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