Impressed by Nanao Hibiya's skill with a sword, Kimberly Magic Academy instructor Theodore McFarlane saves the samurai from certain death amid a fierce battle. With his encouragement, Nanao enrolls in the academy, where she instantly becomes a celebrity after she and four of her peers save a student from an enraged troll. Under the leadership of Oliver Horn, a young man who seems to hide a troubled past, Nanao and her newfound friends start their magical apprenticeship at Kimberly—where only four out of five students make it to graduation in one piece.
It does not take long for Oliver and his friends to experience the dangers of the academy firsthand, as a near-death encounter in the labyrinth under the school leaves Nanao grappling with her bloody past. The inexperienced yet determined students must stick together if they want to have a chance to survive and uncover the mysteries that the academy holds.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
verbinflection
'Reign of the Seven Spellblades' is a fantasy action series about teenage wizards at boarding school. It has a lot of ideas and it tries to do a lot of things, many of which could have worked: after all, it's basically 'Harry Potter', only darker and more violent. Unfortunately, every part of it is rushed, forced, and underdeveloped, practically perfunctory: watching an episode feels like reading a plot synopsis. It's an awkward mess from start to finish, entertainingly bad at times, but mostly just boring. It is immediately clear that the series is drastically abbreviating its written source material, and whatever appeal the original may possess,little has survived this brutal treatment. It's like ordering a pizza and receiving a ball of dough, a slice of processed cheese, and a squashed tomato. Scenes play out as if the writer or the director were checking off plot points scribbled on a sticky note, with no added detail or depth.
It's difficult to discuss 'Spellblades' without rewriting it scene by scene, because it does practically everything wrong. I will try to avoid doing that, but — well, for example, if you want to establish that a magic school is dangerous, you can introduce what we think is the protagonist of what appears to be a general fantasy action series, then subvert our expectations by having a magical plant devour him five minutes in. It's a bit more entertaining than having someone state that magic school is dangerous.
A relatable protagonist is a solid foundation for a story, which is why 'Harry Potter' begins at home with Harry Potter. 'Spellblades' begins by rushing no fewer than six main characters into a fight scene. It makes the most important character less relatable by relegating much of his personality to a mysterious backstory to be revealed at some later date, which is problematic in a point-of-view character. Also, it's difficult to create a sense of mystery when the setting is so underdeveloped: we can't tell if a scene is intentionally confusing because of a mystery that hasn't been solved yet, or unintentionally confusing because the adaptation is missing some important detail.
Having met on the first day of school, the main characters quickly become close friends. Anyone who ever lived in a college dorm can understand this formative experience of young adulthood and how the series has failed to capture it. I am not asking for literary realism: I am asking that they bond in a way that feels credible. Real life is often unrealistic. Real students can build a close friendship on a chance encounter in a stairwell at one in the morning, because real students are notoriously stupid. Wizarding students, on the other hand, are too busy self-seriously collecting plot points to have any formative experiences at all. I think one night of bad behaviour would go a long way toward humanizing them. Didn't Harry Potter use a cloak of invisibility to sneak his friends into bars? Let the edgy wizard boy date the goldfish-brained samurai girl. It doesn't have to be dark and mysterious: it can just be fun.
As it stands, the tone is inconsistent: the series often attempts to be whimsical — easily detected in the soundtrack — but the characters, the setting, and the plot are really too dark for that. 'Harry Potter' meets the minimum threshold for whimsy because Harry Potter and friends are basically normal kids, not child soldiers; none of them has a death wish, not even Ron; and the Slytherins are bullies, not murderers.
As for the violence, action scenes are fundamentally about character conflict; they are not necessarily violent. (The potato chip scene in 'Death Note' is a good example.) Violence without conflict is just spectacle: another pointless tournament arc. 'Spellblades' has plenty of violence but little conflict: many of the fight scenes serve no purpose, as the students are continually challenging one another merely to show off.
The plot is practically impossible to spoil because it includes practically every fantasy trope and treats each of them with about as much detail and depth as a plot synopsis. None of its ideas are inherently bad: every good pizza begins with a ball of dough. The plot, the setting, and the characters could have worked: just rewrite every scene. Make the goldfish-brained samurai girl the protagonist: her backstory, her struggle, her growth — all of it has potential. I know you can make any story sound stupid by describing it in a stupid way, and I have tried to avoid doing that. So an elf and a troll fight bees with a werewolf: so what? 'Hamlet' had a ghost and a pirate ship, and it turned out fine. In every case, it is the execution that counts, and in this case — I mean 'Spellblades', not 'Hamlet' — the execution is perfunctory, wasting its potential.
On the positive side, the series is morally inoffensive, exalting friendship, courage, traditional martial arts, and the ethical treatment of animals; in that respect, it's better than 'Black Lagoon'. I liked the kissing scene, the severed hand, and the barbecue guy. The last arc was watchable. The voice actors did the best they could with the material.
All in all, 'Reign of the Seven Spellblades' is unfortunately quite bad. At times, it was entertainingly bad; looking back on the season as a whole, the edgy wizard kids, the goldfish-brained samurai, the slightly improved final arc, etc., I can even say that it was endearingly bad, so long as I do not have to rewatch any of it. I can recommend it as a case study in how not to tell a story, but I cannot recommend it as a fantasy series.
robert788
Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru (2023) Overall, it is like a 7 but it has a massive issue. This isn't supposed to be the power of friendship and slice of life, it is supposed to be dark, gritty, and full of revenge. It was supposed to be deep but in the end, it is Harry Potter with more selfish characters. People hide their powers when it matters and you get a deep set of allies everywhere but they basically do nothing. One minute you get a deep backstory, see the targets, and get ready for some revenge and it was great but then suddenly itgoes back to the power of friendship and slice of life and nothing particular happens again. Even the finale builds up like it is going to be an epic battle but in the end, nothing really happens which is a real big shame.
The art is average, the sound isn't bad and the characters are somewhat interesting just sort of lacking.
If a season 2 came out with more of the dark stuff it hints about like it tries to in the final episode for all of a few seconds then fantastic. If not then it is just a fake story premise just like every other show in a school.
3/10 in its current state.
Xeconis
Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru, or Reign of the Seven Spellblades, if you prefer, is a great show that takes its time to develop itself. As an adaptation of the LN given a runtime of 15 episodes, it did a pretty nice job at what it was trying to do. That being said, it wasn't able to be as indulgent as the LN but what it does provide is enough to satisfy what it does cover in the story without leaving too many things undeveloped. That being said, the "3 episode rule" many people follow does this show a disservice. The suggested minimum episodecount for this show is 6 episodes. Watch that far and then make your decision, but it's definitely worth giving it a shot.
Each of the members in the main group have their strengths and weaknesses. This becomes apparent as the show goes on and they have to solve various problems that come up. Everyone relevant gets enough background and definition in a timely manner before they become relevant, providing the proper introductions in ways that feel fluid to the narrative and doesn't break it up too much.
The scenery and world leaves a lot to be discovered. There's a good amount of varied locations that the show visits despite being placed at a single academy. Many places get familiar, but not stale when returning to them multiple times throughout the duration of the show. It doesn't take long for the show to introduce one of the biggest reasons why there's so much for the students to explore, and leaves no doubts to them and the audience that exploration might be someone's downfall.
They aren't afraid to pit peers against each other, and they talk about the school's 20% rate of mages being "consumed by the spell" which is a nice of way of saying that someone died from magical circumstances. That's also not something they treat lightly, the show has a dark undertone to start and without getting into spoiler territory, it doesn't go away and makes sure it's known to be there. They try to cover it up with the day to day circumstances but it still lingers on the edge of perception.
The score is fantastic and at all times provides a proper atmosphere to the content being shown on the screen. Combat? Appropriately balanced brass and drums. Maybe some whirring strings in the mix. Minor mishap in class? Not overly dramatic yet still urgent flurry of notes. Day-to-day student interaction? Calm and collected background track. Both the opening and the ending songs are absolute perfection in musical composition for evoking the right feelings of wonder in both cases. Active curiosity and reflective pondering.
The animation of the show is very pretty. The characters are expressive, the choreography is well done, and the motions of characters feel fluid and dynamic. The colors blend nicely, things don't stick out unless they're meant to, yet nobody fades into the background outside of the nameless characters that are part of the background. Even the actions taken by things like brooms and plants sfeel fitting and real. With all the very beautiful animation to see, it's a shame that this didn't particularly carry over into some of the magic. The spellcasting itself is great, the magic circles that appear around the wands and such blend nicely and fit into the scenes where they're present. After the spell cast though, most elemental spells and other adjacent categories feel rather mundane to see. There's a lot of effects for more specialized spells and even some of the spells that aren't orientated around combat feel "magical" in their own ways, yet some of the more common spells used that are still magic to the audience and should feel magical, just don't. It's not a particularly major thing, but it is somewhat noticeable.
Unfortunately, on the more critical side, they did bite off a bit more than they could chew. 15 episodes was enough to get all they needed in, but it sits on the border of being too indulgent and not indulgent enough. This story is one that wants to be a 24 episode long haul so badly but it doesn't get that chance, and it's not often that a show ever comes out of the blue with that opportunity these days. Almost all of the shortcomings of Reign come from how the structural format of a show airing in 1 cour doesn't take well to the way a story like this wants to be paced and built up over time. If this show gets a season 2 then it will only benefit overall as it will have that time that it really wanted to shine.
Overall, the show is a lot of fun and a balancing act of dark tones and day-to-day life in the magic academy. There's a lot to love here but still something to be desired. That being said, the 15 episodes that we got are satisfying on their own while still allowing for a continuation in the future. It's worth giving it a shot if you're not one for reading, get to episode 6 and make the decision. If the show doesn't cut it, the LN doesn't have to follow the limitations the show has to deal with, and gets to be exactly what it wants to be.
mrfried
This series is a bit of a mess as it lacks focus and isn't sure what it wants to be The Harry Potter comparisons are apt, but clearly in an attempt to avoid those comparisons the series tried to add in all these extra elements and became an even bigger mess than Harry Potter is. It's a magical high school romp, except they are either skipping class a lot or the school just doesn't do more than two classes a week. It's a revenge story, except the MC doesn't seem to have much interest in carrying out his revenge In an overall story premise that makes little sense The schoolis dangerous because magic is dangerous and can consume the person, but its also made even more dangerous because the teachers and other students are actively out to harm all the students for no real reason other than 'they can'
So you see where everything breaks down, its a mass of ideas, but the worst thing is, they aren't all mixed together in a blender, its like the ideas are all put into a tombola and then drawn out one at a time, focusing on whatever has been drawn out and forgetting about pretty much everything else.
This is why I say it does not know what it wants to be.
One big issue is the cast, it has a cast of six 'main' characters, and yet that cast is often just stripped to two or three of them, and they are just painfully dull
It's actually some of the characters that aren't the main cast that are some of the most interesting and are given some development, backstory and also quite crucially, personality
Thing is, there is clearly potential here, somewhere amongst everything else, and it is not an outright bad series, but nor is it a good series, it does have some good moments, but those good moments aren't enough to elevate it.
The_Walker
< concise review > Verisimilitude: The "lifelikeness" or believability of a work of fiction. Well, in Seven Spellblades, this is not the case. Something just feels "off". Character interactions feel forced and cliche. The script is boring, idiotic, and campy. Character expressions fall flat. And thus the show fails the believability test. This is sad, because on paper this should have been a fantastic show. But the people who put it together just didn't know what the flying f**k they were doing. The worst part of the writing is the transitions. Switching from grimdark to happy-go-lucky friendship slice of life time is entirely possible todo well, the caveat is that to do this there needs to be something in the plot that logically ties the two together giving each more suspense. Things that hint at something more going on with one side of the story when you are watching the other. Seven Spellblades fails to do this, or to be more accurate it doesn't even try, emphasizing its verisimilitude check failure even further. It almost feels like you are watching two different shows that just switch between each other at random with no connection whatsoever, like a drunken fever dream you can barely remember.
5/10. Wasted potential.
Senpaika
Anime that will get you hooked from the very first episode. Before the anime was announced I had read my first 3 chapters of light novel. Then dropped it because I don't read light novels. But just to see what is popular nowadays. And then the announcement came, "Haha I knew they would make anime from this 🤣". Opened Discord and wrote to my friends "I won this bet 👍". What is good about this anime: I loved peacing from the start, not slow nor fast. The action scenes are looking nice and are quite engaging. The art and animation style is quite good and enjoyable. It's not the "Let's notkill anyone" type of anime. Which is always a good thing.
Mc has a good backstory. No spoilers here.
What would be better?
I want to see more things like the redo of healer or Isekai Meikyuu de Harem wo in animes. Or just a little hint of character having you know what with them or not being a total jerk when it comes to basic communication with girls.
Very solid 8/10
Devyat_
Another cliche magic school anime with boring characters and the cliche of the power of friendship that resolves any problem, the premise had potential, "a school that is possible die inside while trying graduate", no one died, if died I can't remember because the characters are boring and irrelevant to have any memorable moment. Art syle is good and was the thing catch me, definite above medium, it can sustain the quality in moments of fights, some episodes with a lot dialogues looks like a good PowerPoint, animation doesn't disappoint much when necessary and music was tasteless to be noted. Story was very predictable as alwaysare in cliche animes, lack of trying new things, lack of killing important characters to make it more intense, verry irrelevant.
Hisashe
The Story was less than average and confusing we spend 5+ episodes still learning new charcters that hardly matter to the story Also the focus on Katie and Nanao is not needed and same could be said for almost all of the charcters its to much to focus on and remember, the main focus should be on Oliver instead of these other background characters who play slight roles in the show Back to Katie who if couldnt handle the treatment of the magic fauna should have been removed from school and with Nanao who just wants to be unalived The there is just points where it cuts fromone moment to another with hardly no context adding to the confusing story
all in all its just meh compared to what other shows you could watch
lumii
A rather decent anime with a good budget. Enjoyable to watch, but ratings seem to be rather conflicted due to many upset novel readers. Overall, as someone who never read the source material, the show did fine in terms of storytelling even if bits felt rather fast. Ultimately, one of the downfalls of this story came down to pacing issues which was much to do with covering too much too quickly. It was fun to watch and made me invested enough to start reading the light novel. I wouldn't consider the negative reviews too heavily when deciding upon this as the animation quality is ratherhigh and seems to have been completely ignored.
TangyAbleOrange
At first I thought it was a mid magic school thing which is not great but not terrible, then it took a turn with a revenge plot that was very engaging and promising, and then it went backwards to not even mid but worse; it was disjointed, underwhelming, and overwhelming all at once. I really don't know what to say about the latter episodes other than they were bad. All else was, again, mid or above average. I guess to sort of break it down, the animation was so-so, the soundtrack was eh, the characters were eh (minus Oliver, but he was fairly sidelined), theplot was too all over the place to get a bead on, and the pacing was eh... Yeah, in general I wouldn't recommend this since it shows promise and then disappoints, which can be worse than just a bad show that doesn't fluctuate or forget itself for what it is.
zcv45
My expectations for this anime certainly was not high so this may lead to a higher rating than I would if it was the opposite. So, yes I was pleasantly surprised how entertaining the show was and would recommend it. But be warned that the show is not without its issues so don't expect a masterpiece. While I would recommend watching up to episode 6 to see if you enjoy it, that is quite a bit of commitment. And quite frankly, what you will see in episode 6 is not going what this season focuses on. But perhaps you may want to give the LNor manga a try if your interests was piqued by that point.
I gave it a list score of 7, but if I were to be critical, it is more a high 6 for me.
Characters:
The first thing the anime introduces to you is its main cast. While some anime series slowly build up the main cast and let it grow, this one establishes them all as close friends from the start. So let's start with characters. The main cast, or rather the entire cast are all unique relative to each other. Most of the characters(not all) may fall into certain archetypes but aren't too tropey to be considered cliche in my opinion. While they may be introduced with certain tropes in mind, they aren't dictated by it after the first few episodes. No two characters are the same here and thus feel like they are irreplaceable in the narrative. Damsel in distress and generic MCs often can feel like they are replaceable but in this case none of the characters ever give off that impression.
This is all important as the cast do get some character development. However don't expect huge changes since this season covers 3 volumes out of the 12 light novel volumes out so far. But for the parts it did cover, the cast definitely did grow and develop to varying extent.
Despite the characters having a strong start, they aren't explored too in depth as of yet. We only get a broad but shallow understanding of the main cast. Some of the side characters get deeper development if they are the main focus of the story arc. However due to how the story arcs are structured, we get their back story in one big dump and usually right before the climax. This often feels forced and doesn't leave any emotional connection compared to development that is spread out over time. This also applies to the developments for the main cast. It is often quickly revealed and quickly resolved leaving little time to actually relate with the characters' struggles. An example of this is Nanao, one of the main characters. She has a twisted world view due to the environment she was from but thanks to Talk no Jutsu, she immediately concedes. This happens to some of the minor antagonists too, although they are often defeated legitimately first. And these antagonists aren't actually evil, just a bit of a douche at times. So the talk no Jutsu is not too self righteous but it does happen, mainly by Nanao. Which leaves me to say Nanao sometimes feel like a Mary Sue. She has some flaws but nothing really meaningful. Some of the main casts are kind of useless in combat with a very niche support/intellectual specialization. However unlike other series, the weaker members of the main cast aren't just cheerleaders and offer non-combat support. They also know when to stay out of the way. They are rarely a burden during combat which is nice.
Story:
Which leaves me to the next point; the story. The pacing, especially at the start feels a bit rushed. The viewers won't feel left behind, but there will certainly be moments where things seem to progress too quickly. Like the main cast being close friends by the end of the first day. Or "You aren't acting like yourself" sort of lines despite knowing each other for only 3 days. Secondly, there isn't any overarching plot tying these story arcs together. The story arcs rarely even affect one another and if they do, they do so minimally. There is a reveal on the main plot but it only ever got focus for one episode with it being teased again right at the end. In other words the main plot if (you can even call it that) never got any progression after its introduction. The rest are more like side stories in relative importance but takes up most of the time. By all means, these are interesting but they feel disconnected from one another. It is kind of unfortunate because the main plot has the potential to be even more interesting yet it gets little focus.
The Fights:
That said, I mainly wanted to write a review because the fight scenes are surprisingly good. It is well animated, and the pacing are never too slow to be boring. There aren't too much unnecessary dialogue or side kicks describing every move. This means little interruption and we get a continuous fight. The fight also however isn't super "fast paced" where you can't make out what is going on (see punch barrages that is so common in shonen fights). The fights have a good amount of intensity to them but is mainly elevated by the fact most of them requires some strategizing. In fact the tactics and teamwork is what allow the main cast to win most of their fights. The fights showcases each team member's individual unique capabilities, teamwork, and intelligence to adapt and overcome their enemies. Despite the tactics and strategizing; they rarely bog down the fight with long explanations. This is really the highlight of the series in my opinion. I only learned that this was the same writer who wrote Aldermin on the Sky after finishing the series. This explains why the tactics and team play are integrated to the fights so well.
Animation and Art:
As mentioned, the fights have some really good animations. There isn't a fight that's boring. It's actually sad when they skip through the minor fights because that's just how good the fights are. There are better actions scenes out there but considering the rather mid art quality and animations outside of the fights; they did a good job where it matters most. So yea, the art and animations is not bad, not great. It's good enough most of the time and becomes great during the fights.
Music:
The music score is pretty decent. I liked the opening and ending. Some tracks did stand out to me but nothing made me go look for them. However this doesn't mean it is bad, sometimes you don't want the music to stand out. If it blends with the scene as one; such that you didn't notice, it may be because they don't it to overtake whatever they want your focus on. It is hard to judge the music without listening to them on their own, but it is also important to keep in mind of its proper context during the episode. Unfortunately, I didn't focus on the music and am not musically trained to break it all down. So I'll just leave it at that.
Shinkuo
"Reign of the Seven Spellblades" But the main cast is six characters. This is how I knew what to expect from this story. In all seriousness, it was an interesting enough show for about the first four episodes. You had all of the interesting and exciting world building and character/relationship establishments occurring. Lots of seemingly nuanced combat and power systems that would later be explored or explained. And more! What caught my attention was how they described their swordplay in tempos since only people who have actually done sword sports will have probably ever heard the terms before. I was waiting for them to start describing thedifference between probing actions and committing actions, and utilizing multi-tempo or chained actions into dynamic distance situations in off-tempo manners, but they never delved that deep into the swordplay. And that made me sad. Everything they seemed they seemed to be building up to got tossed to the wayside to make space for crap. So much crap in fact that they had to extend the show by 3 episodes to fit it all in.
I had high hopes when it seemed like the writer had done their research and built an interesting enough world and cast. But by the halfway point it became apparent they had done just enough research to make it seem interesting and sophisticated but not actually be anything more than a somewhat poorly written fantasy story with plot lines pulled seemingly at random to whatever sounds good at the moment. An over-arching plot line is created along with some possible interesting character interactions and relationships, and that gets shoved to the side for a crappy generic plot line that cant seem to even keep it's story elements properly in place.
I'm more disappointed in how good this show and story could have been if the writer had spent more time developing the main storyline and combat system than chasing shit storylines and characters that really only serve to distract from how poorly crafted everything actually is.
I'd still watch it since I can pretend the last 11 episodes never happened, but that might not be what everyone else will enjoy.
6/10 since it is entertaining at times, but honestly deserves a 3/10 for poor execution and crushing my dreams of having an anime with well-explained swordplay
deadlyspawn
Simply awesome and divine. I enjoyed this anime from start to finish. Keep in mind I found out about it only recently and binged it right away. I'm fortunate for not caring about reviews/spoilers or what social media is chirping about until I finish the story. I don't allow "group think psychology" to get in the way of my personal taste and enjoyment of art - not before, during or after the show. That type of thinking belongs at work, at schools, in public because that's the purpose group think serves. This show was great at showing the duality of eachcharacter. Whether good or bad as a medium of choice, you are presented with the dichotomy for every character they focused on, obviously not for certain one's because we didn't get there in the story yet. Also for some characters it's subtle yet still well presented; obviously the story isn't complete and people forget that if all questions are answered, the next addition is then a sequel and not a continuation. A first season of an anime is just the beginning of the story and the plot hasn't started rising yet. Sure there's a secondary full plot to clearly have a start and finish... that's writing in a nutshell. But this one is going to get intense and only better with more seasons.
Definitely not a waste of time for most who will watch and I've seen other magical school anime's, this one is great compared to its peers.
You want Harry Potter? watch that... or read it even.
I get it; magic school.
Like every movie with an elf, dwarf, humans and a wizard reminds them of Lord of The Rings.
Pepsi? Coca-Cola? blah blah blah.
rowanblack
"Reign of the Seven Spellblades" ventures into the mystical realm of magic and intrigue, but unfortunately, it struggles to break free from the shadows of its more iconic magical predecessor, Harry Potter. The echoes of J.K. Rowling's world are too apparent, making it challenging for the series to establish its unique identity. The animation quality, while acceptable, falls short of achieving exceptional heights. The visuals lack the innovative flair that could have elevated the series to a higher standard within the anime genre. Though serviceable, the animation fails to leave a lasting impression. The central theme of a dangerous school promises a dark and gritty narrative, butthe execution falters, leaving viewers yearning for a more profound and immersive experience. The show fails to deliver on the potential intensity of its premise, missing opportunities to explore the darker aspects of magic education.
One notable drawback is the protagonist's overly encyclopedic knowledge, which diminishes the tension and stakes of the narrative. A well-rounded character should face challenges and grow, but when the lead character already possesses an extensive understanding of the magical world, it limits the potential for character development and the sense of jeopardy.
The inclusion of themes such as animal cruelty, transgender issues, and class inequality attempts to add depth to the narrative. While commendable for addressing important societal topics, the execution lacks finesse, often feeling forced and disconnected from the main plot. These themes, rather than enhancing the story, seem like checkboxes that the series aims to mark off without delving into their complexities.
The show's ultimate downfall lies in its failure to achieve the darkness it aspired to convey. The tone remains insufficiently somber, preventing the narrative from fully exploring the consequences of its characters' actions. This lack of depth robs the series of the gravitas needed to distinguish itself in a genre that often thrives on complex and mature storytelling.
In conclusion, "Reign of the Seven Spellblades" offers a glimpse into a magical world with potential, but it struggles to break free from its influences and falls short of delivering a truly captivating and dark narrative. While the series has its merits, it leaves viewers wanting more depth, originality, and a greater commitment to the dark tone it initially promised.
Flacion
A slow burner, that takes you through serious plots, while still keeping the characters natural. The show is based on a group of students that has just started at a very famous, but also dangerous school. It builds up slowly, showing us the characters and seeing how they start to form a group. It then follows the group that has to work through different situations, where they don't shy away from showing more serious solutions. There is a serious tone throughout the show, which makes it clear how dangerous things at the school can be. It also has some more wholesome moments which strengthens the bound betweenthe characters. This combination really helps to build a connection to the group and thereby make you more invested in their problems.
Fights in the show are generally great, since they show a good combination between sword fight and use of magic. The fights vary between being high intensity, showing off cool fights with impressive moves, and more strategic fights, showing a more calm battle where every strike matters. They also uses these moments to explain more about the world and show how characters have evolved
The show also gives off a feeling that there is always something going on in the background. Which can make you more aware of what's going on, and sometimes help you with getting a better understanding of the characters and show.
Overall would I recommend this anime, if you would like a more serious magical school anime.
Dubh
There are three things to say about it to summarize my thoughts. Firstly, the anime had a fairly good opener, first couple episodes were solid, giving it a good hook that definitely piqued my interest. Second, the revenge plotline is what caught my interest, and many other peoples interests too, however, it dropped that storyline almost too suddenly, making it almost feel rushed for the plot you're there for, and steadily becoming mildly boring, following a story that almost feels forced, even after showing another side of the main character, which isn't seen again afterwards. Finally, it feels like an anime version of Harry Potter,which you will find no shortage of people also expressing this. Overall, 6/10, art was great, world building is good, music was good, action scenes were almost lackluster, the plot was good at first and then quickly fell short. It has great potential in the revenge plot, but I get the feeling we might not see that, as I don't believe it'll get renewed for a second season. Will update if more information surfaces though.
rbp_pbr2
Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru is not great. It could have been a lot better than it is, but it doesn't explain its world well enough nor give itself time enough to cook through. What it is though is compulsive viewing, it has a soap-opera quality to it where you want to see what happens next, even if you know it's not going to be good. So don't think too hard about it and just slide on through. If you want to think about where it falls down (and I wouldn't bother...), then it sets up a dark fantasy world with elements of the tedious "don'ttrust anyone murder your classmates" type shows with an Attack on Titan or Lost fixation on adding new mysteries into the mix... Then it tries to power of friendship its way through the setting with the central cast trying to show the world a new path (while there's obvious grounds for a giant heel turn at the end), it could work, if the show tried harder to make it work. But it's too fast and too superficial. Maybe the light novels are better having more time to grow.
tl;dr: watch, no thinky
i-like-this
Harry Potter and the Magical School That Might Kill You. Suppose you’ve grown into an adult and crave a Harry Potter-esque story with a wizarding world that isn’t completely vapid, a story that hasn’t aged poorly over time due to retcons and sometimes thoughtless writing and wasn’t written by a Terf fascist who fully fell down the right-wing nut job hole due to being unable to take Twitter criticism over the many things she's says and does. In that case, I can’t say that Reign of the Seven Spellblades will fully check off all those criteria. Still, it absolutely does a better job of creating amore intricate, whimsical yet dangerous magical world inhabited by a likeable group of friends who aren't just three Brits being assholes towards each other, and I say that as a Brit.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades is set at Kimberly Magic Academy. A castle that's much bigger on the inside where the heirs to prestigious wizard families and the gifted children of non-magical families come to learn about magic and the magical world. To graduate from this Academy means to go on to have a prosperous career and in some cases change the world whilst those who don’t are usually the victims of the arcane forces that haunt the academy halls and the dungeon dimension below.
The show follows a group of six friends brought together seemingly by coincidence. We have Guy, the son of magical farmers, Pete, the child of nonmagical parents and a Reversi, a rare human who can switch between genders, Katie is an exchange student, a magical country bumpkin and an activist for the rights of demi-humans and magical creatures, Michela, the eldest daughter of the prestigious McFarlane family, Nanao, a magical samurai from the east who is very used to combat, and finally Oliver, a magical prodigy on a secret quest to avenge the death of his mother by the hands of the Kimberly staff.
I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but this is probably the first anime which introduces a core cast of six characters which doesn’t suffer from what I like to call ‘too many characters syndrome’. Not only are their introductions fairly balanced, but they all get relativity substantial character development over the season (except Guy). They’re all incredibly likeable too. They go out of their way to look out for and help one another which makes them feel like a tightly-knit group. It’s rare to find a believably written group of friends in light novel anime who also have good heads on their shoulders, but I found myself enjoying their camaraderie.
The world-building is another strength the anime shows off. We’re introduced to a ton of magical creatures, plants and phenomena, spells which require proper magical sounding incantations instead of lazy “flame”, “fireball”, “wind cutter”, y’know, light novel isekai magic, and a ton of different characters and concepts that makes the world feel lived in. Of course, you have your classic wizard nobles being dickheads to students of non-magic folk, but there are debates over the rights of magical beasts, the ethics of magical research and little things like school clubs for people like Reversi and my personal favourite, a gourmet club that explores the dungeon to find, Barbecue and eat different magical beasts. I love the amount of detail the show goes into.
The animation is also solid… for the first half of the season. The McDonalds of anime studios J.C.Staff had done an incredible job with some excellent magic action and little animation touches that make the show really pop, but it doesn’t last and by the end, it feels like the animation budget just ran out.
There are some things about the show that bugged me, unfortunately. Because of the story's emphasis on how dangerous not only the magical world is, but also the students around our core six there's an air of suspense that never goes away. This wouldn’t be a problem if the show had some points where the characters feel safe, but those moments are few and far between and it results in Spellswords being exhausting to watch.
Although it is a bit cringe to watch every girl develop some form of romantic feelings for Oliver his magical skills feel balanced until he whips out a special ability which is so broken it defuses the tension from every other fight he's in. I won’t spoil what it is, but let's just say he might as well be end-game Yhwach from Bleach.
I also think the season finale was disappointing. It felt flat and unsatisfying considering the build-up the main antagonist received throughout the season. Oh yeah, and some of the students look like adults pretending to be teenagers and that always bugs me.
Reign of the Seven Spellblades has quite a few flaws, but I think they're offset by its strengths. I had a great time with it. It's nice to watch a light novel anime which actually feels magical.
7/10 Good
Bora-kun
I think Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru has everything that a magic school anime needs. Interesting characters, mysterious world, duel scenes... Most characters are unique in their personalities and abilities, developing relationships with each other. We can say the character development is dynamic. All characters are grey, there is no such thing as a villain or ally character. Every season they publish dozens of magic school animes, everybody likes them excluding me. This time, it's the opposite. I can't guarantee whether you'll like Nanatsu no Maken or not, but I'm pretty sure that it's better than most magic school animes. If you like others,you probably will like this one too. I'm not a fan of magic school animes, but it was nice.
