Reincarnated as a Sword

or , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yuu Tanaka and illustrated by Llo. Originally published as a web novel on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website in October 2015, the series was later published as a light novel by Micro Magazine in July 2016. A manga adaptation illustrated by Tomowo Maruyama is published by Gentosha since December 2016, as well as a spin-off manga illustrated by Hinako Inoue, published by Micro Magazine from June 2020 to December 2022. Both the light novels and manga were licensed for North American release by Seven Seas Entertainment, as well as the spin-off. An anime television series adaptation by C2C aired from October to December 2022. A second season is set to premiere in October 2026.

Plot After dying in a car accident, an unnamed man finds himself reincarnated in another world as a sentient sword with powerful abilities and no recollection of his name, though he remembers everything else from his previous life. Accepting his fate as a sword, he begins to seek someone to become his wielder, fighting and gaining powers. He discovers a caravan of slave traders under attack by a two-headed bear. A young catgirl slave, Fran, discovers the sword, and uses him to kill the bear. After being freed from slavery, she names the sword "Teacher", and the two embark on an adventure together.

Characters

Originally a human in his past life, Teacher finds himself reincarnated as a powerful, legendary sword equipped with an A.I. that gives him pointers. However, after being forced in place, he resigns himself to rest until a mighty warrior can find and wield him. He soon becomes Fran's ally and primary weapon after he frees her from slavery, who also gave him his name. He is able to gain abilities from various creatures after killing them, which allows him to evolve and get stronger. He can also share his abilities with Fran. Besides Fran, a few other characters know that he is sentient.

A 12-year-old Black Cat girl. Her parents were killed when she was young and was subsequently sold into slavery. However, when her caravan is attacked by a two-headed bear, she comes across and draws Teacher from his resting place, who helps her kill the beast and set her free. Together, the two embark on a quest to help Fran evolve fully, a feat no Black Cat has been able to achieve. When facing great danger, she will not back down despite others warning her otherwise. Her abilities all originate from Teacher. Without him, she is far weaker.

A half-elf who runs an orphanage. She has great admiration for Fran whom it is revealed she herself had looked after since her parents had died. Despite her bubbly nature, she is a very powerful warrior who is much stronger than Fran and Teacher. She also serves as a mother figure and mentor to Fran, although Fran did not enjoy it at first. She has a soft side for kids and is one of the only characters who knows about Teacher.

A Wood Elf elementalist who is the guild master of the Alessa Adventurers' Guild. He has a special ability that allows him to see a person's true nature. He is suspicious about the source of Fran's abilities after he could not identify her, but allows her to join the guild and soon sees that she isn't a bad person. He is Frion's uncle.

An Oni warrior who acts as examiner for the Adventurers' Guild, challenging prospective adventurers to duels to test their skills. He is defeated by Fran and allows her to pass the exam.

The receptionist for the Alessa town Adventurers' Guild. She possesses a hidden dark side wishing death on adventurers she dislikes, but quickly warms up to Fran.

An old dwarf with a passion for blacksmithing. He supplies Fran with all sorts of equipment and knows about Teacher due to him having an ability that bypasses identity blocking.

An adventurer that Fran and Teacher rescued sometime after the two met.

An adventurer that Fran and Teacher meet during their journey.

An adventurer that Fran and Teacher meet during their journey.

An adventurer that Fran and Teacher meet during their journey.

The cruel vice-captain of Alessa's guards who bears a hatred towards adventurers. He has two special abilities that allow him to tell if a person is lying or not and charm others, although he abuses his skills. These abilities are stolen from him by Teacher, which results in his reputation being ruined. To get revenge on Fran, he hires the Blue Cat assassin Gyuran to kill her, but she turns the tables on them and kills Gyuran instead. August is then put under house arrest permanently by his father as punishment for his crimes.

A Blue Cat assassin. His kind have been known enemies of the Black Cats and is the reason why Fran ended up in slavery in the first place. He takes pleasure in killing Black Cats and selling them into slave labor. August hires him to kill Fran for sabotaging his reputation, but she manages to kill him instead and take his weapon, avenging most of her kind.

The ruler of Alessa and August's father. After learning of his son's crimes, he punishes August by putting him under house arrest forever. However, it is implied that he has ulterior motives. Cruise Riouselle

The leader of a party called the Azure Guardians and an examiner tasked with helping a group of warriors whose goal is to defeat a group of spider monsters in one of the world's dungeons. Rig

A member of the Azure Guardians and an examiner tasked with helping a group of warriors whose goal is to defeat a group of spider monsters in one of the world's dungeons. Eizelle

A member of the Azure Guardians and an examiner tasked with helping a group of warriors whose goal is to defeat a group of spider monsters in one of the world's dungeons.

The leader of a group called Dragon's Roar, who join a group of powerful warriors to defeat some spider monsters in a dungeon. Upon meeting Fran, he is resentful towards the idea of having her and Amanda join the party that mostly consists of men, but soon respects her after seeing how powerful she and Amanda are. Bart

One of the members of Dragon's Roar. Victor

One of the members of Dragon's Roar. Gennel

One of the members of Dragon's Roar. Furion

An elf sorcerer who is the leader of a party called the Eyes of the Forest. He is also Klimt's nephew.

A wolf magic beast summoned by Teacher who accompanies Fran's group in eliminating a group of spider monsters in one of the world's dungeons. Kinan

Fran's father, whom Amanda knows of before their deaths and entrusted their daughter to her. Flamia

Fran's mother, whom Amanda knows of before their deaths and entrusted their daughter to her. Jean Du Vix

A necromancer. He is not really evil and serves as an ally to Fran and Teacher. He also knows that Teacher is sentient as, like Gallus, he has a skill that can bypass identity blocking. Bernard A friendly undead and Jean's servant. Nameless An unnamed boy who is currently a slave. Andy An undead dragon that Jean summons to help get to the floating island. He sacrifices himself to help Jean, Fran, Teacher, and Jet get through a barrier around the island.

Media Light novel Written by Yuu Tanaka, Reincarnated as a Sword was published on the novel posting website Shōsetsuka ni Narō from October 2015 to February 2024, with side stories still being written as of October 2025. The series was acquired and published by Micro Magazine under their GC Novels imprint with illustrations by Llo, with 21 volumes released as of September 2026. The fifth volume's limited edition was bundled with a drama CD, telling an original story.

Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they have licensed the series for publication, with the first volume released on August 6, 2019.

Manga A manga adaptation by Tomowo Maruyawa was serialized in Gentosha's Denshi Birz magazine from December 9, 2016, to January 15, 2018, which resumed publishing on Comic Boost after the magazine was cancelled. The series's chapters were collected in 20 volumes since the first volume's release in April 2017. Seven Seas Entertainment also licensed the manga for North American release, with the first volume released on December 17, 2019.

A spin-off manga written by Tanaka and illustrated by Hinako Inoue, titled Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish, was serialized in Micro Magazine's Comic Ride website from June 1, 2020, to January 30, 2023. The spin-off manga is also licensed by Seven Seas.

A second spin-off manga written by Tanaka and illustrated by Itsuki Fujioka, titled Reincarnated as a Sword: My Dish, will begin serialization in Comic Ride on September 30, 2026.

Another Wish

Anime An anime television series adaptation was announced in the twelfth volume of the light novel on September 24, 2021. The series is produced by C2C and directed by Shinji Ishihira, with Takahiro Nagano writing and supervising the scripts, Atsuki Saitō designing the characters and serving as chief animation director, and Yasuharu Takanashi composing the music. The series aired from October 5 to December 21, 2022, on Tokyo MX and other networks. The opening theme song is "Tensei Shitara Ken Deshita", performed by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets, while the ending theme song is "More Strongly", performed by Maon Kurosaki. At Anime Expo 2022, Sentai Filmworks announced that they licensed the series outside of Asia, which was followed by an English dub as announced at Anime Weekend Atlanta on October 28, 2022.

Following the airing of the final episode, a second season was announced, with the staff and cast reprising their roles. The season is set to premiere on October 8, 2026. The opening theme song is "Dream of Butterfly", performed by FZMZ, while the ending theme song is , performed by Hanabie.

Episodes Season 1 (2022)

Season 2 (2026)

Reception Theron Martin of Anime News Network, in his review of the first volume of the light novel, praised the interactions between the two lead characters, and said: "Beyond the action scenes, Tanaka's writing skill is a little above average. Dialogue and character development flows smoothly and world-building, though somewhat limited, does fit with the perspective of the central characters." However, he criticized the story's lack of originality, noting its similarities to So I'm a Spider, So What?, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, and Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon.

See also Mushi-Uta, another light novel series illustrated by the same illustrator Oreshura, another light novel series illustrated by the same illustrator Unbreakable Machine-Doll, another light novel series illustrated by the same illustrator

Notes

References

External links at Shōsetsuka ni Narō