Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru

[neflight86]

2032

"* Based on a fantasy light novel series written by Uno Bokuto and illustrated by Miyuki Ruria.

Springtime at Kimberly Magic Academy brings a new batch of first-year students, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as they begin their journey to become full-fledged mages. Among these newcomers are Oliver Horn, a studious boy equally skilled with the wand and the blade, and Nanao Hibiya, a strong-willed samurai girl from the distant nation of Yamatsu. The wheels of fate bring these two souls together at Kimberly, where they become both comrades and rivals in equal measure. However, lurking within the academy's halls are countless dangers and dark secrets guaranteed to threaten not only their friendship-but their very lives...

Source: Yen Press"

Genre(s): Fantasy, Action

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1

So far, this has done one of the best jobs of any fantasy anime in recent memory of making magic seem... magical! This will probably be a solid recommend for Harry Potter fans due to the similar way that magic school focuses on the spectacle of magic over flat MP, levels, and harem antics... at least so far. It is even debatable who the protagonist actually is. One of the central characters is a bumpkin and does not have a background in magic, but rather traditional arms combat, which is an interesting twist when the entire premise show isn't centered around that as a gimmick. These are kids and are not yet superhuman geniuses eclipsing all of their peers by the power of sheer wish fulfillment. They aren't jaded, stoic prodigies who are too cool to care (one sort tries for that branding, but that mask is quickly torn off); they are students destined for greatness, hopefully with not too many shortcuts.

The fun energy here makes a great watch so far, and their world map is comically a modified map of the real world... minus some of north America, India, and Africa. It's funny because they pass a map around pointing out their home countries.

Anyway, give it a try for the cell animated monsters alone!

[neflight86]

3-7

What a strange ride. On the one hand, it's handling of subjects like social justice and revenge are trite, clumsy, and embarrassingly simple, but on the other hand... no show I've seen this season is more ambitious in its world building. Spellblade also tries to be consistant with its mechanics; some seeming deaths in ep4 not withstanding. The same set of basic spells are used over and over- as if they are the bread and butter of basic magic for first years, while we have seen a sampling of more advanced magics to keep our imagination pumped. This makes the fights more readable and interesting, even if the animation can't quite keep up (but it sure tries to). We are even finally given a proper explanation of what makes a Spellblade; an indefensible attack. Small battles, sparse character flashbacks, and the many moving paries at odds are a fine and serviceable tapestry to weave a sword and sorcery series around, so far.

Without going into specifics for those still on the fence, if you can hand wave some of the more eye rolling elements, kept to a precious minimum, this is really worth a look and is more than meets the eye, even if you aren't looking for a Harry Potter surrogate.

[KrayZ33]

I wanted to like this but the Samurai girl ruined it for me in episode 3 or what it was, when she unleashed her emo suicide tripping

[neflight86]

If it is of any consolation, she gets over that in the next episode I believe. Interesting enough, that is due to a 'cultural' divide she and MC have that boils up some emotions in a way that didn't come off as completely stupid, given the age of the characters. She also gets a reasonable flashback explaining that mindset soon after.

I like the dutiful 'degozaru' samurai trope, and she fits it to a tee.