Kara Dennison
October 17, 2023 
If all you know of Tatsuya Endo’s work is SPY x FAMILY… well, that’s understandable. The hit manga is now a hit anime, and it’s also just plain good. But there’s more where that came from, and the increasing popularity of the domestic espionage series means we get easier access to those other titles! For example, Endo’s 2010 manga Blade of the Moon Princess—which has officially come to the Shonen Jump app!
This sci-fi reimagining of the oft-mined tale of Princess Kaguya has a lot of things Forger family fans will love… such as…
Super-Cool Action
Blade of the Moon Princess is just as action-packed as it sounds. As mentioned, it’s loosely based on the legend of Princess Kaguya. And Kaguya herself is our heroine. Except instead of being a mysterious baby born in a bamboo shoot, she’s a teenage princess living in a futuristic moon kingdom. (Yes, that sounds familiar in its own way. The manga even tips its hat to the shared mythological DNA.) As the series begins, the ailing empress must face down a coup from a branch family. To protect the royal line, she sends Kaguya to the tainted prison planet below… that’s us, by the way.
Armed with her family’s magic sword, Kaguya must fight for her survival on Earth. But she also ends up fighting for the good of the common people while she’s there. Fans of SPY x FAMILY‘s cool action scenes will love the retro-futuristic swordfights in this series!
Art That Runs the Gamut
Tatsuya Endo can hit you one of two ways: with gorgeous artwork or with hilarious background gags. More often than not, he does both. And he’s at it again (or rather, was at it before) in Blade of the Moon Princess. As mentioned before, there are some very cool fight scenes, many with lovingly-drawn full-page spreads. And Endo also goes to town with sci-fi elements inspired by legendary touchstones. The intricacies of his worldbuilding are fascinating to look at.
Of course, there’s also silliness all around. If you’re a fan of SPY x FAMILY‘s background business, you’ll be happy to know it continues here. There’s no one quite as chaotic as Anya, granted, but Kaguya is giving it her all.
Family Ties
As Blade of the Moon Princess begins, Kaguya is preparing to accept her role as heir to the throne of the moon. But when things come crashing down—specifically lunar peace and her mom’s health—there’s a change of plans. The seemingly-irresponsible princess has to muster all her willpower to live up to her family name. And while early chapters may not make it seem this way at first, Kaguya and her mother respect each other hugely.
The antics of SPY x FAMILY are a bit more splintered, as no one person knows everything that’s going on. But that same fierce loyalty to family, mixed with disparate personalities and goals, is present here as well. Even though Kaguya is far from her family, she’s got that spirit.
Start reading Blade of the Moon Princess now on the Shonen Jump app!
