User blog:Ash9876/Ashy's Review: Hiro Mashima's One-Shot - Starbiter Satsuki.

Yo, everyone! Ashy here! So to those of you who don't know, Hiro recently released a new one-shot! It's called Starbiter Satsuki, and the link is here. Considering that the majority of us do like Hiro's work to some extent, I thought I'd take the opportunity to review this new series he introduced to us. To me, it was quite a fabulous entrance! So let's get going~

"It was pathetic...and because of the fear that overwhelmed me that day, I've been unable to lift my sword since. But I refuse to run!!!! I thought I could find a bodyguard and then come back..."

- Jirō

"What do you know of swordsmiths? More than anybody in this world...We love swords!"

- Satsuki

"I break thee, Demon Sword!"

- Satsuki

Starting off with a stellar amount of color, we see a rather well-crafted color page with an interesting scenario beginning to draw out. A girl named Satsuki and her Master, who is an unnamed bird, are wondering in the woods while starving. Then they smell something...that something being Dango, of course! But what I first notice about the two characters is that their designs, especially Satsuki's, are atypical for Hiro's character designs in, let's say, Fairy Tail. Satsuki appears to be a young teenager who, unlike Fairy Tail, actually has decently sized proportions. Just like to say that this is a great start to something new! And besides that, pink birds...Hiro's embracing a bit of femininity, aww yiss. Dango, to the source of the Dango!

Moving onward (from my pitiable puns), we see the scene of a young swordsman who is attempting to fend off nearby wolves, and conveniently says he "tastes like shit" in order to detract their attention from him. Poor, desperate victims. But of course, our Starbiter Satsuki comes to save the day with a marvelous entrance and completely bland expressions. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it is the Starbiter!

My lack of humor aside, we see that Satsuki and her Master's only intentions are the young man's Dango, much to his chagrin. She further proceeds to talk in, what I assume to be Old Japanese translated into Old English. Satsuki proceeds to notice the sword that the young man carries, analyzing it carefully with what seems to be a magically empowered eye, analyzing the components of its attack power and finalizing that it is at 98. "Borrowing" it, she proceeds to effortlessly defeat the wolves that are threatening the small group. *insert bad power level pun here*

Satsuki, already appearing the Mary Sue, immediately breaks the cliche by remarking the faults in her own calculations while still keeping on a rather stoic tone nonetheless. The scene instantly shifts, however, to a much calmer scene where Satsuki and her Master proceed to eat the meat of the wolves they just killed. Satsuki then explains that she and her Master are looking to find what are known as "Demon Swords." While parallels can be made to various other series, there is an obvious element of humor as she reveals that her Master created them in the first place. They were stolen by an unknown assailant and assumed to be either sold or dispersed around the world. Their intention, however, is to destroy them due to their significant power. Once again, Satsuki and her eccentricity shine through with her "comeback before he can make a statement", confusing the young man, Jirō, even further. Satsuki then proceeds to reveal that her Master, the bird, became a bird due to being struck by one of the swords himself: "You reap what you sow", it seems?

Satsuki then describes some of the other swords in detail while making an obvious reference to Natsu through the "Fire Dragon's Roar" blade, which the Master states was one of his most famous pieces. Ho-yay! The trio go to a small lodging, where everything appears to be quite barren as Jirō hides under the disguise of a thief. Jirō then reveals, in his rather ridiculous thief costume, that the Wolf Family have taken over the lodge. In his attempt to defeat then, he was utterly humiliated and has since then, abandoned his sword. However, like a reasonable man, he says:

Even a coward has his strong points.

Because, really, if you can't beat them, you might as well get someone else to. After being brought to tears, Satsuki boldly replies that she'll be the bodyguard, with her Master supporting her decision. However, Jirō questions whether she is up to the task, and both Satsuki and her Master begin to laugh rather loudly across the town. Questioning Jirō about what he knows about swordsmiths, Satsuki runs off to the area where the Wolf Family resides while confidently stating that:



Barging in through the front door, Satsuki is confronted with numerous sword-wielding enemies. She analyzes all their swords extremely quickly, deducing their power levels before stealing the sword that has the power level of 106 from a rather large goon after defeating him. Defeating the rest of them, the leader of the Wolf Family, with his horrendous cat puns and name: "Wolf Monkey", appears.

Well aren't you purrfectly atrocious?

Satsuki then reveals her full name, Satsuki Mujika, before her sword - and clothes - are completely ripped apart by the sword of Wolf Monkey. Quickly, Satsuki and her Master note that the sword he is wielding is one of the Demon Swords, "Bare Naked Nymph." Jirō, like a reasonable person, asks what the Master was thinking while Satsuki immediately analyzes the power level of the blade and then proceeds to empower her own wakizashi through the process of a technique named: Demon Sword Reversal - Starbiter Forge. Her power level is... Still not over 9000...

But with a staggering power level of 1500, Satsuki one-shots her enemy and destroys the Demon Sword that he wields as well. Before being abashed by the fact that her clothes have been ripped apart, Satsuki cements her resolve that the power level of 1500 is not enough to destroy the Demon Swords she will later encounter. However, Wolf Monkey is still alive. Not having the ability to react in that moment, Jirō saves her and knocks down Wolf Monkey with a final strike. Happy for the young man, the duo later depart. While Jirō is asked what reward they took with them, his response was inevitably: We came for the Dango, we left with the Dango.

Scores
This was...different from what Hiro normally produced. Truthfully, it was quite an enjoyable read despite integrating multiple predictable plot elements and characters. Satsuki is a quirky but devoted young woman to her cause who is obedient to her Master but appears to confidently make her own decisions, so her characterization shines through there. Additionally, she excels as a combatant but completely understands her own weaknesses, giving her good room to develop from what little I've seen of her. Likewise, the Master is a somewhat ambiguous but humorous figure who has quite some importance to the plot of the overall situation despite not acting as such. And Jirō, an ashamed young man who is still persistent in achieving his goals. All three characters introduced so far serve to enhance the flavor of the little I have seen of this potential series, and it has definitely spiked my interest! In terms of artwork, Hiro has done quite a good job with varied character designs and emotions, giving him a solid 10 in that category. The story had little to offer considering it was but a one-shot, however, it gave enough insight to the potential makings of a great series, so I'm going to give it a modest 7. The fights within this one-shot were short, but sweet, with great detail added to Satsuki's overall analytic nature. A good 8 on that regard. Overall, I rate this one-shot as a Very Good read, and I totally believe it should be serialized!

What are your thoughts? Put them down below. And thanks for reading!