The best thing that stands out about Sky Hawk is the art by Jiro Taniguchi. The sweeping landscapes and the various skirmishes illustrated throughout are quite a sight. If I had to be nitpicky, it's that there's some same face syndrome, even among characters from completely different races. Now, I would rate this story higher, closer to a 7 or 8, if it weren't for the obvious favoritism toward the weapons and techniques of our two Japanese characters, Manzo and Hikosaburo. I don't fault the author for including them in this era, he gives good reason for how they could have been there in hispostscript by mentioning how the first recorded instance of Japanese immigrants was in 1869. I thought it would be very interesting to see a Japanese take on a historic period in American history, and how Japanese and Native Americans would have interacted. That I was fine with in the beginning.

No, what took me out of the experience was, rather than an equal cultural exchange between Native American and Japanese, everything Manzo and, in particular, Hikosaburo teach the Native Americans is so astounding and amazing! So much more than the Native Americans' OWN tools and knowledge. And it feels like they have this reaction at every turn!
Because of the decision to place this story in the time period where we have this huge tension between the Native Americans and the U.S. government, there's a lot of concentration on battles. And yes, our two main Japanese characters were previously samurai back in Japan, warriors themselves. But I start disbelieving that they, they alone, survive every battle with seemingly little more than a scratch. And thanks to THEIR teaching the Native Americans--about jujitsu and the long bow (which regularly outperforms every battle with gunfire in it)--it's implied the latter perform better in combat against the U.S. infantry. It's to the point that Manzo and Hiko become like right hand men to Crazy Horse.

It's a discredit to the Native Americans' own strength and capabilities and I wish the author had had a gentler touch in that regard.

There's a level of this that is fine at first; yes, it would be very interesting to see these different martial arts and swords from another country and be taught how it works. And to be fair, it's not as if every Native American warrior suddenly starts wielding a katana; but they do get introduced to the long bow, as if that's far superior to the Native Americans' own bows and weaponry.

I will give Taniguchi some credit, because it sounds like in his afterword that the only way he could get a publisher interested in letting him write a Western like this was by having Japanese characters in it. I would have loved to see what Taniguchi would have done without the need for inserting such influences into the story.

Overall, it's a good read, but it could have been so much better if it truly was just about the Native Americans.