Need another fantasy sword and sorcery anime? You got it. Add an academy that teaches a group of diverse friends to hone such skills. Check. Mysteries and conspiracies also abound. Got that covered. Nanatsu No Maken Ga Shihai Suru didn’t come as anything striking to me. The dilemma of me whether to skip this one has been on my mind for a considerable while. And because of that, it means the only to bust away such dilemma is to, you’ve guessed it, watch it and judge for myself. I know, it sounds dumb like always but if I left that quandary hanging with no resolve, it might bug and haunt me again with the same tormented feelings many years later down the road. Besides, isn’t this already a sign indicating to just (STFU and) go watch it? For better or worse. My guts are one thing but I should have known better…
Episode 1
Oliver Horn makes his way to Kimberly Magic Academy. We see a few other main characters making their way there. They watch the welcoming parade of monsters when somebody plays a prank on Katie Aalto and forces her legs to run towards a troll. Troll goes berserk but is stopped by samurai girl, Nanao Hibiya. She intends to take on the troll but Oliver knows it would spell her doom so he has the rest help him out with his magic plan to create a diversion. It is successful to take the troll’s attention away but Nanao did not run and instead knock out the troll. When she did so, her hair changed from black to completely white. Whatever innocent colour or it is called, all I know is that Oliver says it means she is going to be a great mage. The ceremony begins with headmistress, Esmeralda giving her speech. She warns them their life is in their own hands. Because 20% of the students at the end of their 7 years here will end up being consumed by magic. Meaning they get corrupted, go crazy and some committed suicide. But it is all up to you to achieve greater heights. During the welcoming banquet, our main characters get acquainted and introduce each other. We have Michela “Chela” McFarlane from a very famous magic clan; Katie who is into animals; Guy Greenwood who is into plants; Pete Reston whose family do not have any magic (I suppose he must be a real smart guy because he is always reading and that’s how he got into this school, right?); Oliver who comes from another great family clan and he has family members at this school; Nanao who was about to be killed in battle but saved by Chela’s father who is an instructor at this school, hence she was recommended to attend. Oliver is up very early one morning and goes for a walk. He notices someone watching him and calls out to her. Teresa Carste is tasked by his brother to watch over him and if he needs her assistance, feel free to call her. Oliver is shocked to see Nanao bathing in the public fountain. Oh sorry, purification a she calls it. More shocking, the scars all over her body. Her pose and all reminds Oliver of something similar. He lends his coat for her to cover up. Although he finds her strange and innocent, but he also smells blood on her that cannot be wiped away.
Episode 2
First day of class begins. Pete showing off he knows much about the history of magic and some students are already sniggering the nerd he is. Luther Garland will have some students duel each other so Nanao volunteers. When Richard Andrews volunteers to fight her, Oliver gets a bad feeling about this guy and usurps him to fight Nanao. He knows he was to guy who stood there watching during the troll incident and did nothing. Richard gets met when Oliver points this out so Chela offers to fight him instead. Oliver begins his fight with Nanao and can’t hold back. However she starts crying and this forces him to get serious. But before the fight finishes, Garland stops them. Seeing the intensity of this match, Chela and Richard withdraw from their match. Later Nanao thanks him for facing her seriously and wants to duel him again. However Oliver is not pleased and refuses. He will never fight her again for he doesn’t want to kill her nor to be killed by her. Then under some magical biology class by Vanessa Aldiss, the students are to feed the right amount of magic into silkworms. Because too much will turn them into vicious monsters. Everyone except Nanao is doing fine. But the worrying one is Katie because as an animal lover, she is trying her best to save every last one. And then when the final one flopped, she still thinks she can save it but gets bitten, forcing Oliver and Chela to intervene, causing them to lose points for intervening. Later Oliver talks to Katie as she relates why she will always try to help any animals or demi-humans. She cannot accept the rationale of mages exploiting anything that has no human rights to their benefit. All Oliver can say is about the harsh reality of this world and that what she has seen is just a fraction. Though, it is her choice if she wants to remain the way she is. Later when Pete claims he lost some book, Oliver and Chela quickly help him to find it. Although it is found, suddenly the landscape changes. As Kimberly is built upon some maze, the hallways turn into a maze after sunset. Not to fear, students getting lost is common but thankfully there are instructors and seniors who are patrolling. But they encounter upperclassman, Ophelia Salvadori. Olivia and Chela are cautious about her since her pheromones have a very seductive effect. It might not work on them but it does on Pete. They quickly take him away and won’t accompany her. However another upperclassman, Cyrus Rivermoore won’t allow them to just leave.
Episode 3
Apparently Ophelia and Cyrus hate each other’s guts. They summon their monsters to fight each other. The rest take this chance to escape. Nanao comes to join in the battle but the whole farce is stopped by Alvin Godfrey the student council president and Carlos Whitrow. Leaving the labyrinth, Oliver then lashes out at Nanao because she intended to fight and die in that battle. The rest cool him down and let Nanao explain her story. She starts about this battle she was fighting. There was endless killing. She reached the enemy’s general and wanted to fight his son who was said to be the best. However she was pointed out she just easily slain him. The general was sad of his son’s death and ordered his men to kill her. But that was then Chela’s father popped up to prevent that and invited her to Kimberly. Nanao comes from a school of thought about fighting to kill someone you respect and admire. That term is called shiawase. It is something she has been looking for. She was happy when she fought Oliver but then subsequently he turned her down and she got all weird about it. She is unsure she has fallen for him or his sword. All Chela can advise is that she will come to find a new way to live and proof is that she is here and alive so it’s not a dream. So let’s make fun memories together, okay? Next day, Nanao is obviously too close to Oliver. Not that he hates it. Then some lesson from Garland about the current Spellblades and those who are trying to invent new ones to defeat existing ones. As they practice, Richard still wants to settle a score with Oliver. He agrees but Nanao wonders if he will lose on purpose because she feels it from him. Later Chela talks to Oliver that Richard is her childhood friend. Both were always compared to each other so he has developed that fear of losing his place. Soon a commotion as Katie confronts Snape Darius Grenville because he wants to kill that troll. He is not amused she is vouching for a life that would probably kill many if left to live. She claims she will convince it not to kill but he laughs at it and teaches her a lesson with this painful spell. Garland and Vera Miligan come to stop him as they tell him the investigations are still undergoing so the troll is still an important piece of evidence. Besides, right advocates are no longer a small group so you bet there is going to be trouble if this gets out. Grenville backs down for now. Oliver and Nanao get a challenge letter from Richard.
Episode 4
Katie is trying to talk to that troll. Yeah, even trolls can get depressed. However this has many students mock and badmouth her. Guy wants to give them a piece of mind but Oliver doesn’t believe it is worth it. Until those mockers continue to do so in Katie’s face, Oliver blows his top. Nanao and Guy join him to blow them away. Sure, they get detention but now almost everyone else is against them and this will affect their duel with Richard. When they head over to the colosseum to face him, Richard puts up a display of killing kobolds. Turns out they will not be duelling as Richard feels he will not get his deserved honour in that. Instead they will hunt kobolds brought into the ring and the one who kills the most kobolds wins. Obviously Richard is a veteran in that. Nanao gets mad and chastises everyone for enjoying such blood sport. She gets booed but she lives. This fight is not worth her blade. But chaos soon ensues because inside the kobold’s cell is a divine creature known as a garuda. Yes, it starts slicing everyone! From the looks of it, this isn’t part of the plan. Even the audience can’t run since the loose kobolds are attacking them. Richard gets scared and runs away. Only thanks to Nanao blocking the attack. Nanao and Oliver put up a gallant fight against this mad creature. Oliver gets injured and retreats to heal himself. He sees Richard cowering there. Richard can’t understand why they can fight that monster. Have they no fear? Well, Oliver does but can’t say for Nanao. That is why she has to help her to teach her what it means of being normal. Besides, Nanao was hoping to see him fight. Oliver returns to assist Nanao and they need to end this quickly. Oliver will be the diversion to create an opening for her. Just when things get desperate and Oliver going to allow the garuda to wound him, Richard is the one who returns to help prevent that. This allows Nanao to decapitate the garuda and end the madness. The duo thank Richard who reveals he wasn’t actually afraid to fight but rather the loss of being an embarrassment to his clan since they put high hopes on him. The duo continue to praise him with all the honours and consider him as a comrade in arms so I think it’s safe to say that they’re friends now. Or at least Richard won’t be holding such petty grudges against them.
Episode 5
The friends discuss about the garuda attack and basically it was an attack on conservatives who don’t want to give their rights to demi-humans. It could also be retaliation from demi-human rights activists for that troll incident. Hence this might spark a war but Kimberly won’t do anything about it since it happened in the labyrinth and they’ll view it as students having their little arguments. They shift their topic to praise how good Oliver was. So Chela wants to give him a victory kiss?! When Nanao learns about it, she gives him a quick one and wants one in return! Interrupted by Oliver’s cousin, Shannon Sherwood who is here to say hi. During Grenville’s magic class, some students have trouble with their experiments so Oliver was quick to help solve all of them before it blows up. This earns Grenville’s attention. He notes his talents but warns him to choose his friends carefully. Later Richard talks to Oliver to warn him about Grenville. This guy has a very shady reputation like stealing results from his students and publishing as his own. Oliver will soon get an invitation from him. Tempting but think twice before accepting. His friend also wants to talk to them. She is the one who pulled that troll prank on Katie. She did so since her family thinks activists like her are an embarrassment. However she didn’t think it would go out of hand. Katie continues to talk to the troll and to her surprise, he can actually speak. The troll warns her not to come here anymore. As Oliver and Nanao talk about the troll incident, it seems from Nanao’s point of view, the troll was trying to run away rather than going berserk. This opens up a new perspective for Oliver as he realizes Katie is in danger. Too late, she is kidnapped. The troll gives the description of that person. As they make their way, Oliver narrates about some past project about activists trying to make demi-humans smart so as they could have the same rights as humans. But the project was scorned by many. Perhaps someone is doing that secretly in Kimberly. Not surprisingly, it is Vera. She has kidnapped Katie to examine her brain for her talents (since she managed to get the troll to talk). Don’t worry, she’ll put it back and release her once she is done. Of course Oliver won’t allow that. Vera does some powerful magic that is easily dispelled by Oliver. She further introduces herself as a rights activist and wants to raise demi-humans’ status in society. Yes, demi-humans is her biology major.
Episode 6
Oliver and Nanao team up to fight Vera. She is formidable and can handle both of them at once. Even more so she has this magic eye whom they must avoid contact at all cost. Eventually Oliver realizes Vera has a hidden magic and Nanao might be falling for her trap. However Nanao severs that hand where that hidden eye is. Because Nanao is unaware of what she has done, Oliver deduces that her sword allowed her to break through some space-time and distance and cut her opponent first. So it doesn’t matter how fast the eye could travel because speed has no meaning in the face of that sword. He believes is a Spellblade that doesn’t match the existing ones and could be the seventh. In the aftermath after Katie is saved, she learns of Vera’s fate. She might have started out with good intentions but seeing Katie making to troll talk, she got greedier. Because the troll has showed some intelligence, it will not be disposed as a unique specimen. Katie is glad everything worked out and kisses Oliver and Nanao. Katie stays positive on the path she takes and this makes Oliver cry? Well, he is happy he got to protect somebody.
Later Grenville summons Oliver so as to clean up some students who died while doing some research. Oliver then questions him about the troll incident because he is not a biology teacher and yet he wants to get rid of it like as though he wants to bury some evidence. But he finds it odd Grenville is helping Vera. It seems Grenville wants to eliminate stupidity from mankind. To do that, he must find a way to change human intelligence. Thus he is planning to use the same techniques on humans but now he feels disappointed he won’t get demi-human samples. Oliver then changes his tone and asks for his alibi on a certain date. Grenville soon takes it that he is targeting him from the start. They fight but Oliver could see all the different future outcomes. Most end in Oliver’s death so he picks one that has him emerge victorious. After he slays him, he reveals he is the son of the woman he slew that night. Grenville is in shock not to realize he is her son. Yeah, they don’t do look alike so it worked in Oliver’s favour. Oliver then tortures him with various pains that he did upon his mom until he says the right word. That word is to end this so Oliver kills him. Big brother Gwyn and Shannon check on him and despite Oliver’s determination to use this special ability till it kills him, they note he only has very limited numbers to use it so don’t do so unless necessary. Like some weird cult sh*t, all the other comrades gather around as they coronate Oliver as their next leader. It seems their goal is to kill every last one of those traitors who betrayed and killed Oliver’s mom, Chloe. The remainders are: Vanessa, Frances Gilchrist, Enrico Forghieri, Demitrio Aristides, Baldia Muwezicamili and Esmeralda. But Oliver is left to remember Nanao’s words that swords wield out of revenge bring no joy but only those out of mutual love. Time to test whether if she is right.
Episode 7
Esmeralda and Chloe’s killers are having a discussion among themselves as they note Grenville has been missing for 4 months. It is safe to assume that he is dead. She wonders if one among them killed him or could it be a student. Either way, that person has made an enemy of her and will only regret their stupidity. One night, Pete wakes up and finds himself with boobs?! WTF?! Hence throughout the day, he is acting strange and telling his friends not to get near him, making them feel weird. Then there is Stacy Cornwallis and her attendant, Fay Willock who are relatives of Chela. They have been ignoring her ever since enrolling at Kimberly. Dustin Hedges will teach the students how to ride a broomstick. Apparently broomsticks are living things so they’ll hover close to you if they like you. There are many who like Nanao but it seems there is one stubborn broomstick Nanao takes a liking. In short, they hit it off as they ride wildly into the skies. This brings back memories for Oliver because his mom used to ride like that. The friends talk about Grenville who has been missing in the labyrinth (the official story) but are soon interrupted by Theodore (Chela’s father) who is here to teach them alchemy. Then the next class of magic engineering by Enrico, he has the students diffuse some bomb box but since time runs out, it explodes. Oliver protect Pete from the snakes but nothing fatal. Oliver then privately talks to Pete and from his action all day, he knows he has switched sex. Some phenomenon called reversi due to one unsure of their sexuality but because of that, best of both worlds means his spells are more powerful. Carlos heard it all and gives Pete and invitation. Oliver accompanies Pete into the labyrinth as Alvin leads them to a secret party that is a gathering of students having this reversi condition. The students mingle with each other to make each other feel more comfortable with their sexuality and this makes Pete feel a lot better. Although he won’t change rooms (for fear of being alone at Kimberly), maybe just a simple curtain to separate their beds.
Episode 8
Not sure what beef Tullio Rossi has against Pete but it makes the latter mad enough that during practice, Pete fights him with emotions and that made him lose. As he wants his friends teach him to get stronger, Oliver and Chela argue over which of their styles to be taught. Sorry Nanao, your input isn’t considered! Katie suggests they both teach him so they make a compromise. Tullio then comes up with a game to see who the strongest first year is. Each will be given a medal and the winner of the fight takes it. The 4 with the most medals move on to the finals. Evelynn Odets challenges Nanao and thinks as long as she can keep her distance and use her magic, it is an easy win. Too bad Nanao’s swordsmanship is way better than that as she takes this win easily. As Oliver is invited to have tea with Gwyn and Shannon, he stumbles into Ophelia who talks to him for a while. She warns him not to adventure too much and should be studying like a student. Meeting up with Gwyn and Shannon, they discuss if Nanao is the 7th Spellblade. Oliver has no proof but his guts tell him so. Even more so, the broom that chose Nanao belonged to Chloe. Oliver is confused about his obligations to help Nanao so Gwyn tells him to forget the complicating feelings stuffs and concentrate on being himself. On his way out, Tullio wants to fight him. They begin as Tullio dominates Oliver at first but eventually loses. So I guess he is out of the running. Oliver commends Tullio’s unique fighting ability and hopes he learns some basics to hone it further since his skills will soon hit its limit. He is telling him this since he envies him for his talent. Oliver views his own skills were not of product of his own talent. After that, Joseph Albright challenges Tullio and is going to take everything from him.
Episode 9
Pete is in pain. It seems the magic has not gotten used to his body in his female form so Oliver administers some pain relief. Pete then comes out to the rest of his pals. Chela then administers some magic in his womb to store extra magic. During practice, Stacy seems to have some beef with Pete. Try as he might, Pete couldn’t land a blow. He feels depressed but his friends note how much he has improved. Even Tullio offers his praise on his improvement. Only Stacy remains mad and now she is for Chela, thinking she taught Pete their basic style which in some way humiliates her. Huh? WTF is her problem? Katie then gets her own workshop in the labyrinth and brings her friends there. It seems she disagrees to the rate in which demi-humans are killed at Kimberly for nothing and wants to make a name for herself to change the rules and make this place a haven for fauna. Along the way, they meet a lot of strange labyrinth creatures, some traps and a weird group of students eating as much meat as they can? They’re the labyrinth gourmet club and they invite them to eat but they’ll pass. The friends heard stories of Kevin Walker as he got lost in the labyrinth of 6 months. By the time he surfaced, his funeral was already held! They also go to buy some ingredients for food before finally reaching the workshop. Looks like a really good place as a secret base. They have so much fun camping that Chela suggests giving their group a name. Nanao has everyone raise their swords and because it forms some sort of rose, from today onward they shall be known as Sword Roses.
Episode 10
Katie brings the troll now named Marco to join them. She got Vera’s help, though. A rude awakening from Pete since Vera’s chopped off hand has now taken a life of its own! Is this Thing?! Vera was the one who helped secured this workshop for Katie as she is interested to see her potential grow. As Sword Roses continue to explore the labyrinth, Stacy and Fay show up to challenge Chela and Oliver. But Joseph butts in and wants to make it 3 on 3 with Nanao. Fay thinks this is a good deal seeing Joseph is after Nanao and this will increase their chances in taking down Chela. As the fight begins, Oliver quickly goes to fight Joseph. This leaves Chela and Nanao to team up against Stacy and Fay. Joseph is able to decipher the kind of moves Oliver makes and thus his fighting style. Stacy reminisces about pleading to her uncle in keeping Fay as her servant who was supposed to be killed. Since Stacy wants to win so badly, Fay tells her to just order him so since she is his owner. With that, he turns into his true werewolf form. Chela realizes that Fay being a half-werewolf has some disabilities and that means being in extreme pain in this form. She cannot understand why she would make her partner feel so much pain just for this fight. More flashback showing Stacy has always wondered why her uncle never accepted her. Is it because she is not his true daughter? In that case she vowed to get her real dad back from them. She is jealous of Chela who has everything. Nanao reminds Chela about the wrong way she is showing her kindness. Since they are going all out to fight her, they too must fight at their full strength or it will be an insult to them.
Episode 11
Knowing that he can’t best Joseph, Oliver tries to drag out the fight and wear down his concentration. This pays off. Chela bests Stacy and this reduces the latter to tears. Hope she isn’t a sore loser. As Chela seeks an explanation why she always hated her, Fay admits it isn’t her fault to begin with. As Stacy is from a branch family, she thought by killing Chela, she would take her place. Obviously a silly theory that won’t work. Making it sadder is that Chela and Stacy share the same blood and are considered sisters but their family tradition doesn’t allow them to do so. And with irony, the harder Stacy works and excels more, the more father shunned her. Like as though it made him realize his own blood was inferior to Theodore. So all this was to show she was more talented than Chela to have Theodore accept her as his daughter but come to think of it, even if she was successful, that wouldn’t happen either. Nanao tells Stacy that it would be impossible for her to become Chela because she is not. Instead, she wants to be her friend and get to know her as Stacy. So now they’re friends? Okay. Now it is Joseph’s turn to tell his past. He had a servant girl when he was young. He always beat her in chess but she never gave up and studied until she beat him one day. Despite the loss, Joseph felt satisfied. But when he told his father about it, he got beaten up for half a day! His servant was never seen again and her entire family was rid of! That day he learnt that his victories do not belong to him along but his family. Thus he will not accept this loss as he summons killer bees to get them. The gang stays safe in Guy’s vines but it won’t last. Oliver has a plan but Chela also has an idea. That is to reveal her true form as she is half-elf. This allows her to use some advance magic that would’ve put a lot of strain on normal bodies. After the bees are taken out, Nanao faces Joseph. Time to make him taste what true defeat feels like. This is a fight between them and no family or gods can take this victory or loss. Eventually he loses but accepts it. So now he is friends too? As they return, magical beasts attack. Unfortunately, Joseph, Fay and Pete get kidnapped. When Oliver returns to report to the student council, they too already know about this as there have been many reports of such. They also know that Ophelia is behind this as she has been consumed by the spell.
Episode 12
Guy is impatient. Are we going to sit here and do nothing? Yeah. Seems like it. But it’s better than rushing in and lose their lives. Even when they go talk to some of the teachers of assistance, basically they’re saying that they can’t be of help and they have to figure it themselves. Hey, you were warned when you signed up at Kimberly. Now we have Chela wanting to head into the labyrinth herself as atonement or she can never face Pete again. Better to minimize their losses this way. Oliver wants to come but she wants to do it alone. He won’t approve of it. So he’s her father now? But now there is the issue of Katie and Vera. Katie has agreed to be Vera’s experiment assistant in exchange for her help. Once more, Oliver being Katie’s father or something to object to that even if Katie herself agrees to it. Vera warns that they have very slim chance in defeating Ophelia. But she can help train them to increase that chance by 1%. As Vera’s research depended heavily on Grenville, now that he has gone missing, her research has hit a dead end. That is why she is interested on Katie. Aside training them, she will help find Ophelia’s lair. As Vera takes Oliver, Chela and Nanao into the labyrinth, she explains more on Ophelia’s family. Basically they believe they are related to the succubus and attempted to create a perfect life form. They failed and the succubus is de facto extinct. As seen, a lot of mana is needed to create a chimera. Ophelia needing a lot of chimera, she could be trying to create something more terrifying. Thing is, the mana she specifically needs is the male sperm. Well, this is bad news because if she finds out Pete is a reversi, she might get rid of him. Meanwhile Gwyn and Carlos lead a small team into the labyrinth to find Ophelia. They bump into Kevin who has mapped a lot of the area and it lightens their work to find Ophelia. Our trio watch first hand as Vera teaches them the tactics on how to deal with tougher labyrinth monsters. This is the minimum they have to do if they want to get past it and save Pete. Essentially, their teamwork in different areas will play a key role in defeating the monsters. They arrive in the next layer of the labyrinth which is a forest.
Episode 13
Flashback shows Ophelia was always alone. Every guy she talked to went crazy. Until Carlos. More jungle adventures we see from Vera guiding Oliver and co. Then they come across a lord of a region. Vera talks to it to let them pass. However it shows hostility as she prepares to take it down. Luckily Nanao continues to talk with it and just like that it lets them pass. Apparently it is wounded and would like to avoid any more fighting. Plus, Nanao explaining about the aura and scent one gives out. Magical beasts can sense that so one must confront them with a calm and sincere heart. Well, too bad for that magical beast because it got decapitated by a chimera! Now we see the trio showing off the fruits of their training as they cooperate to make their first big kill. When they camp for the night, Vera asks Oliver why they are risking their lives to save Pete whom they’ve only known for a very short time. Oliver recounts the incident when Marco went berserk during the parade. Nobody would’ve blamed Pete had he run but he chose to stay and fight with them. Considering he comes from a magicless family, he must be the most scared among them. That incident marked the beginning of the friendship for Sword Roses. Another thing Vera points out is that she is interested about Oliver. No, not in the romantic sense! Unlike others, it seems he is a plain guy but when in battle, his fighting becomes equal as his comrades. So what made up that gap in talent? Don’t worry, she won’t pry further and is just concerned as his senior. Now that Joseph has awakened, he now understands Pete’s condition as he is not affected by Ophelia’s perfume. In this desperate situation, Joseph, digs out orbs hidden inside his own body (OUCH!) and gives them to Pete. OMG is he killing himself with this move? Oh well, perhaps better than being Ophelia’s guinea pig. Anyway he is entrusting his life to Pete to use this orbs when he sees fit to escape and get help.
Episode 14
Heading into the final layer, the land is a thick marsh. Vera teaches them how to walk on water and this in turn will be useful so they can evolve into walking on air. As they get going, Cyrus attacks them. They think he is after Ophelia’s research and since they just want to rescue their friends, they can join forces. Cyrus refutes that so Vera believes he wants to be Ophelia’s last visitor before her funeral. Chela manages to summon a chimera to keep Cyrus company as they use this chance to escape. As explained, when someone’s spell goes out of control, there will be a last person to witness their last moments. That person is called the last visitor and sometimes may be consumed by the spell. Now we see Ophelia’s flashback. When she first came to Kimberly, everyone stayed away from her because of her strong succubus perfume. Carlos was her only friends but Alvin tried his best to do the same. But each time he approached her, to avoid being seduced, he kicked his own crotch! Every. Single. Time. To a point where he doesn’t even react anymore. Sure, there are better methods to handle this but this pain is nothing in comparison with the hell she has lived with. Ophelia then soon joins his group who watch Kimberly that includes Tim Linton and Lesedi Ingwe. A shy Ophelia soon grows in confidence as she participates more often in the watch. However there are a group of students who still dislike her. So one day they confront her to accuse her of manipulating Alvin with her charms. Lies obviously. After calling her names, they hint that they will acknowledge her if she is stronger. That was when she hit the button of no return. She activated her spell to consume them. She became lustier and her body even more bodacious, radiating even more sex appeal. When Tim confronted her about this, he too became a victim and it made Alvin sad. The time is right for Pete as he bursts out from his cage. Once outside, he uses a flare in hopes of somebody noticing his position.
Episode 15
Everyone sees Pete’s flare. But the one who reaches him first is Oliver’s group. Naturally Pete breaks down in Oliver’s arms. He was scared all along. But put all that fear in the backseat for now. Because they’ve got psycho Ophelia to deal with now. As Ophelia claims she has reached the peak of a succubus, Vera tries to negotiate to let them go seeing it’s not like they want to interfere with her plans and that she can’t do anything with a reversi like Pete. Too bad Ophelia is no longer rational and locks everyone in her Grand Aria. In this world cut off from the rest, all the rules bend to Ophelia’s will. Also pulled into this Aria is Stacy. Everyone fights off her chimeras while Vera seemingly tries to piss her off about her failed love life. With Ophelia mad and attacking Vera, this is to let Ophelia see her magic eye and get petrified. Too bad it doesn’t work. Vera continues to mock her as Ophelia continues to pierce through her body. Oliver and the rest launch a final attack to kill Ophelia. But before Nanao could land the fatal blow, she sees Ophelia’s crying face and hesitates. She gets owned. Nanao realizes Ophelia is just a child and it’s against her policy to kill one. So we’re all screwed and going to die now? As Ophelia laments her love life, Alvin and Carlos break in. Carlos approaches Ophelia despite being beaten up. Carlos sings to end it all. As Carlos made a pact with Ophelia’s family, something about him having his male reproductive system remove since young and hence his voice ‘frozen’ at that point became resistant to any types of sexual magic. They both embrace and get consumed by the magic. Alvin says goodbye to Carlos. The survivors return to the surface and life returns to normal. Oh heck, this is already the norm for everyone. Oliver hasn’t forgotten his path of vengeance and believe he is still on the right track.
Live By The Spellblade, Die By The Spellblade
Sorry, no fairytale ending. At least for Ophelia and preventing it from being an outright tragedy as childhood friend didn’t let her die alone. I thought they might pull off that sort of ending of saving her but I guess the kind of grim and dark atmosphere this series has, it is a reminder of the dangers and risks that students will face as long as they are at Kimberly. And since Ophelia wasn’t part of Oliver’s group, I guess that’s okay. She won’t be missed. Hahaha! Sorry… Anyway, I’m glad it is all over. Any more of it and I too may be consumed by the magic madness known as confusion. Good grief.
To be honest, I am quite confused with the storyline and plot of this series. Yes, the light novel that this anime is adapted from is still ongoing and there are more chapters that have yet to be adapted. But as far as this anime version is concerned, personally I thought it was all over the place and somewhat directionless. I know it is not fair for someone like me who has not read the source material to be saying such things but oh well, you know how it is for people like me who don’t read. Yup, first impression counts and I would say that this anime did not really impress me. Even more so with the confusing plot. If I have to summarize what this show is all about, it would be simply about a group of friends attending a magic academy and having some sort of random adventures and fending off disbelievers who want a piece of them. Yeah. That.
For the most part, I would say this first season feels a lot introductory as obviously we are introduced to a lot of stuffs like the setting, terminologies and the characters. Oh boy, there are a bunch of characters and we’ll get to that later. The closest plot that got me interested was the one whereby Oliver’s true goal here is to avenge the death of his mom. So yeah, it’s like he has already created a hit list of all those responsible and will be taking his time to pick them out slowly one by one. Unfortunately as my guts would have told me a long time ago, this will not be the case for the rest of the series. That is why we have detours and other random side plots especially the season ending with some sort of rescue mission and turning busty buxom Ophelia babe into some misunderstood villainess. So yes, Oliver slowly carrying out his secret agenda would have been the more interesting plot that I was looking for in this series but I guess everything would have ended too quickly had Oliver did all that instead of biding his time to set things up and build rapport. I believe it is for the better for the overall story but in terms of my enjoyment, very unfortunately it took a nosedive. To think this season had a strange number of 15 episodes. But I guess those extra episodes didn’t do jack sh*t to improve my sentiments. My, how fussy I am, huh?
One thing that also impeded my enjoyment are the various terms they used here. I’m not saying they are tongue twisting but they sound so alien and it adds to my ‘torture’ and hence my brain don’t really start remembering them. WTF this weak excuse but yeah, here I thought only sci-fi genres I will have such problems but it turns out if a series is too much fantasy, looks like I have a problem with the terms too. But hey, at least I remember that tonitrus spell is. A basic spell of just shooting basic lightning! Yeah, they spammed enough of that for me to remember. Last and not least I want to point out if not all of you viewers would already have noticed, the setting of this fantasy world is heavily inspired by Harry Potter. Sorry, I’m not a fan of that fiction to make deep comparisons and analysis but it was enough for me to think if Harry Potter got an anime version, this was it. Only big difference is that the students aren’t placed in different houses! Yeah, Mashle already did that so… We have flying brooms here but no Quidditch as per copied in Mashle so…
Moving on to the characters, I am also primarily confused by them. Heck, there are a hell lot of characters here although mostly are minor. Thing is, the way they show them feels like they are as of importance but as far as this anime played out, it feels like it leaves more to be desired. Like that obnoxious Richard guy, it felt like he was going to be a thorn in Sword Roses’ side. Oh you know, he could be this anime’s version of Draco Malfoy. But after he got ‘tamed’, he fell into obscurity. Oh well, better he being a repented insignificant than some persistent annoying dick. And then there is that Tullio guy whom I am also confused with his intentions. But you know what? Anime already reaching its end so it doesn’t matter. While there are a few like Vera who seemingly play more supporting roles in later episodes, the rest just fail to impress at least at this point in time. So what about that Kevin dude who wanders the labyrinth by himself? Or Stacy being some jealous misguided relative of Chela? Or Carste who is always working from the shadows like as though she is Oliver’s shadow secretary. Too many unanswered questions in the end so I just screw it all.
It doesn’t help that the sextet of Sword Roses too don’t make much of an impact in my books. They are only so because well, they’re the main characters. So to sum them up, we have Oliver (typical main character with revenge guy), Chela (elf girl), Katie (beast girl), Guy (plant guy), Pete (trans guy) and Nanao (samurai girl). There. To put it bluntly. So yeah, the typical ingredient that as a group of besties, they do things and care for each other. So while it may look like some draggy affair, I suppose this way is better than rushing things so in later chapters we can vouch for them being close friends in times of crisis. We are also being enlightened briefly about some of their past but it is not enough to make me feel like I want to support them. It’s all bits and pieces that the light novel has probably done its part in fleshing them out later. But as I have said, as far as this anime is concerned, a lot is left much to be desired. Can we consider Marco as their pet mascot now? Sorry people, not cute like your Pokemon, Digimon or Hamtaro so please don’t be a racist. Heh.
Although the action bits are part of this series, sad to say that I am not impressed with it either. Yes, all those flashy moves and some spells to go with it to add some spice. But at the end of the day, our young heroes always end up victorious because it is in the script. And yes, a bit of blood and gore too although it won’t affect your wellbeing unless you’re a weak ass wuss. If there is one thing that I really dislike about such fighting sequences, they ramp up the volume of the sound effects. I thought it was my hardware problem but thankfully it is not. So unfortunately I have to annoyingly turn down my volume because the clashing and even the damn background music suddenly becomes very loud. I know, I know. They want to increase the tension and drama of the intensity of the scene. Too bad it just annoyed the hell out of me.
To further nit-pick, want to bet that Nanao is the 7th Spellblade or something? Oh don’t worry, I already Google it so I’m already spoiled. Thing is, this Spellblade thingy still feels confusing. At least to me. From what I understand, it is supposed to be some super move that cannot be blocked. Oh you mean like those special uncounterable moves in fighting video games? Must be so badass, huh? Yeah, like we seen Oliver’s case but I’m still left confused. Not awe. Just confused. So this is the invincibility of his Spellblade? Uhm. Whatever. And to think there are 6 known ones but nobody knows who they are. Then how the f*ck do they know?! It just feels so flimsy. Especially when I did my short Google search to find out more, it had to gall to state it is not known except for the fact that it ‘exist’! WTF. That sure killed my motivation to do any more research. Unfair to conclude so but yeah, whatever. And to think that I thought the Sword Roses would be the ones mastering the Spellblades but that’s just my fault for me to go so far and assume all that. Come to think of it, the anime title might have trolled us all. How is it the f*ck the reign of the 7 Spellblades?!
I have mixed feelings for the art and animation department. Well, at least for the most part it looks pretty standard with the characters looking like your conventional Japanese anime character. Also with the fantasy setting and Harry Potter influence, mostly the atmosphere of Kimberly feels dark and eerie. Well, we were warned about what this school is about and it isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Especially in the labyrinth where it is all mostly dark, what a way to hide all the visual shortcomings. Just kidding! But oh well, got to be pleased with all the special effects of magic during the action sequences. It’s more than just some flashy light show. Done by J.C. Staff, you know at least there is at least some quality assured with this veteran studio.
Voice acting is also rather okay. Nothing that impresses me much. Hearing a few recognizable voices like Ai Kayano as Ophelia, Hochuu Ohtsuka as Enrico and Satoshi Hino as Alvin did little to bright up my day for this series. The rest of the huge casts are Atsushi Tamaru as Oliver (Ayato in Gakusen Toshi Asterisk), Yuka Nukui as Nanao (Serina in Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha No Oukoku Saikenki), Misuzu Yamada as Chela (Koushi in Megami-ryou No Ryoubou-kun), Riho Sugiyama as Pete (Jessica in Kinsou No Vermeil), Shinsuke Sugawara as Guy (Kei in Flying Witch), Hitomi Ohwada as Katie (Ryouko in Machikado Mazoku), Ai Kakuma as Vera (Rossweisse in High School DxD), Atsuko Tanaka as Esmeralda (Motoko in Ghost In The Shell), Kaori Maeda as Stacy (Shizuku in Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai), Kazutomi Yamamoto as Carlos (Yumoto in Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love), Makoto Furukawa as Joseph (Shirogane in Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai), Hiroki Touchi as Grenville (Lily in Fairy Tail), Shouya Chiba as Richard (Ayanokouji in Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi No Kyoushitsu E) and Tastumaru Tachibana as Fay (Mori in The God Of High School).
Kenka by Kujira Yumemi featuring Mimizuku & Fukurou as the opening theme tries to sound dramatic and epic. Oh you know, it starts off quite grand to get you into the feel that this is going to be some great and big Hollywood-esque movie wannabe. Over the top orchestra strings and vocals, but the rest of the song just sounds pretty average to me. Then there’s the ending theme that is also sung by the same singer, Aim. Another epic and dramatic piece wannabe but with a slower pace and a bit of hip hop-like elements. Still doesn’t impress me, though. The better one is the special ending song for episode 7, Beyond Fate by Mion Yano. A string filled slow piece, it has medieval-like vibes which also suits the dark nature of the series and the powerful vocals give the song more impact.
Overall, I am not impressed with this series although it is only from an anime standpoint. The light novel is still ongoing and my guess is that there are more revelations over there than what has been adapted. So another season for a chance to change my mind? All I can say is that if you want to watch and enjoy this, you have got to be an enthusiast in the fantasy genre. Or else if you’re a casual viewer, you’re not going to appreciate what is going on. It just doesn’t have to be this anime but others that are heavily and deeply rooted in fantasy vibes. Need time and dedication to invest and understand the world. Otherwise, it will all be just pretty meh. At this rate this series won’t be more than just a Spellblade. It will just spell (its) doom! HAHAHA!!! Sighs. Sorry to end it with a bad pun.
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 