A young bugler with supernatural powers is swept up into an epic struggle for the fate of the world. Cry havoc and sound the song of war!
In Arboral Year 1294, the world is dominated by nine massive towers known as the Spires-remnants of an advanced civilization, they are filled with lost secrets and powerful knowledge that nations struggle to possess. Luca is a bugler in a mercenary company who wants nothing more than to leave the battlefield behind and become a true musician, a maestro. But marked as one of the enigmatic Branch-hexed, and gifted with the strange ability to see the sound of his instrument, Luca finds himself drawn reluctantly into a war of epic proportions!
Left for dead after a battle, Luca is saved by the mysterious Pontiff and learns he is not the only person with unusual powers. The Pontiff has formed a special team of Branch-hexed individuals he plans to use to help him defeat rival empires-and Luca learns that his powers, rather than being an escape from the battlefield, now force him to be a muse of massacre.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Imprint: Viz Media
Publication date: 17/07/2025
Illustrator: Toumori, Higoro
Series: Bugle Call: Song of War
Bugle Call: The Song of War
By Mozuku Sora and Higoro Toumori
Review by Mida
I don’t think I’ve ever been so intrigued by the concept of a manga. We follow Luca, a young bugler who dreams of being a real musician but is drawn into war of epic proportions between civilisations vying for control of ancient relics. Where many of its peers focus on small-scale battles where opponents fight one-on-one, Bugle Call shows the full breadth of the war that our characters fight in to get a birds-eye view while it maintains a blistering pace.
The main drawing point of this manga is that we are able to witness battles on a larger scale than other titles. Luca’s ability to ‘see’ the music that he produces and wordlessly communicate to the rest of the army keeps the pacing sharp and quick, but we are never allowed to forget that the soldiers he commands are real people. Faceless goons, these are not, and Luca must bear the weight of the lives that rest in his control.
While at a first glance, I thought this was going to be a historical manga- a genre I have found to be tragically small! – it definitely leans more towards fantasy. But there are more than enough historical elements to satisfy the hungriest of readers and the tension of Luca and his fate runs high from minute one. I cannot wait for more volumes and I can see this becoming a series I fall back on again and again.
For fans of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth and Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.
