Forty-four years ago, the surviving nations of the Valbanil War declared peace and forbade the use of the devastating demon contracts that ravaged the land. Now, inexperienced knight Cecily Cambell is eager to follow the example of her family and protect the people of the city using the sword she inherited from her father.
Her first challenge arises in the market. A crazed swordsman wreaks havoc upon civilians and Cecily jumps into action to restore order. Overwhelmed, her weapon shatters, but a skilled stranger wielding a strange-looking sword intervenes. With the situation diffused, Cecily heads to a local blacksmith in an effort to restore her family heirloom. However, she finds out that her savior—the blacksmith Luke Ainsworth—may be the only person capable of such intricate repairs. Determined to have her treasured sword repaired, she seeks out the man who rescued her.
However, a group of bandits suddenly attack a convoy headed for the city. The assailants look inhuman, and an ice demon appears. Luke suspects the use of a demon contract and calls upon a sacred power to defeat them. Meanwhile, a shadowy hooded figure lurks, watching from a distance. Who is this mysterious evildoer, and what does his appearance mean for the pair?
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
bjtdevera
What it's really about: A big-chested clumsy knight gets involved with a demon problem, as well as handsome blacksmith and his mysterious past. The Good: - Excellent production value - The relationship between the blacksmith and the knight is cute - The episodes that don't directly further the plot are still very interesting - The setting has an intriguing history The Bad:- The knight can be viewed by many as "annoying."
- Those expecting a Lord of the Rings experience will be sorely disappointed.
Conclusion:
I think the reason this anime got so many below average reviews is because of the reviewers' preconceptions of what the anime should have been. If you can manage to dispel any preconceived notions you have about this anime, then you're in for a very nice treat. Just enjoy it for what it is.
NV2301
The Sacred Blacksmith is a really mixed bag. This could have been good, with the underlying story being highly interesting. The whole excecution of the story is unfortunately, horrific. The flaws in the storyline mainly lie with the protagonist. Cecily as the main lead has shown growth but this is unfortunately obscured by her annoying personality. The way her "talk" sequences were done was extremely off-putting, and her jarring voice made things even worse. This links to the lack of a logical flow to the storyline whenever it involves Cecily. One evening, she's in a life-threatening battle, the next dayshe's smiling at her potential killers (twice...same people, same arc!). Another example is excessive, irrelevant chatter during battles. It's as if her speaking has a "freeze" effect on the enemy (yea right!).
The supporting main characters, Luke, Lisa and Aria were highly pleasurable and fun, each having rather interesting backstories as well as a good source of laughter. They fulfill their respective roles excellently.
The art was average-good, with the use of an eye-pleasing palette. Afterall, I started watching after seeing the nice art at the Animesuki season preview. The girls were either cute or hot, depending on age! The monsters looked ugly but aren't monsters supposed to be ugly anyway? The animation sequences during battles were very well done. It's a shame the battles had to be rushed in a short, 12-episode series.
The BGM is very good and it is a pity because of the lacklustre storytelling. This situation is reminicent of Tsubasa Chronicles season 1 where the music was awesome, but too lively for a poorly executed and slow story. The OP seems to have split people but I felt the beat and tone was a good fit. The ED is just awfully cute, and expresses Lisa as a character very well.
Overall, I enjoyed the story because it had such potential, as well as the interesting and likeable supporting characters which kept me watching this rather mediocre series. That said, the lack of logical flow *points at Cecily* is a serious killjoy. People have asked me what I was watching during Autumn 2009. While I gave an honest answer (SnB was the only show I was following!), I have told every one of them to avoid.
Pumpkinification
Fantasy is all about adventure. It’s about going outside of your comfort zone, seeing a new place and a new facet of yourself, and being changed by the time you return home. Anime like that is filled with believable cause and effect. And then there’s The Sacred Blacksmith. The series opens with Cecily Cambell, a newly trained knight charged with the protection of the Third Independent Trade City. She is an excitable girl, stubborn, and full of bravado. She wishes to help people, but has little actual competence. The broken sword of her family is as much a symbol of her own need to be temperedas anything. Towards those ends she pursues the services of Luke Ainsworth, a standoffish blacksmith with little patience for Cecily’s immaturity. Joining them are Lisa -- Luke’s pint-sized and spunky assistant -- and a woman with a mysterious and tragic past named Aria.
Dark events soon push them together as tenuous companions. Some figure in the shadows is collecting Demon Swords, powerful remnants from the great war that ended forty years ago. The City is threatened and Cecily and Luke have their own reasons to stand against it.
The setting and plot sound clichéd because they are. This is well-trodden ground. The first few episodes promise to offset that imbalance with the characters, but sadly that’s where things start falling apart. As our protagonists quickly find themselves thrown headlong into one problem after another, their relationships become secondary. Instead of friendships blossoming from shared duress, they just seem to ‘bond’ because they shared the same scenes.
Part of the problem is in Cecily’s characterization, which puts light on the deeper issue of Sacred Blacksmith’s incorrect focus.
Two of my favorite moments are when Cecily realizes that her desires and willpower are not enough to become the best she can be and then, later, when she uses that deficiency to overcome a seemingly insurmountable object. That was when the story shined and I thought “yes! -this- is what this show is supposed to be.” Cecily is our protagonist in all her inept glory. Watching her stumble towards being a skilled knight is where the show -should- be focused, how each tiny victory and tiny defeat magnifies her growth.
Admittedly, there are times when Cecily sheds her armor and shows some vulnerabilities in a realistic light, but usually she merely sheds her armor so someone can joke about how wonderfully large her breasts are. I like running gags as much as anyone, but Sacred Blacksmith never really earns the right to do so. They would be complementary features in a series less problem-ridden; instead they merely draw attention to themselves and make it difficult for a reviewer to be objective and not single them out for one whole paragraph. It gets to be a little bothersome when they just pop up out of nowhere.
And, no, that wasn’t a boob joke.
It isn’t that the foundation here is weak, but that it’s uneven. There are some really exciting and insightful moments and yet they are surrounded by plodding uninteresting plot and cloying melodrama. It sometimes feels like a writer du jour was invited on board each week to pen the script. The story is disjointed, populated with mini-arcs that hardly elucidate the main arc at all. Challenges seem incidental. Character development unearned. And then everyone dresses up like a maid.
If that last sentence seemed to come out of nowhere and confused the hell out of you, it was supposed to. That’s exactly how I felt.
The most irksome problem is pacing. The main story arc only gets underway late in the series, ending up rushed. Halfway through the series our cast of characters effectively doubles, but we have no time to get to know them beyond their two-dimensionally flat personalities. Worst of all, two battles are halted in their tracks while our heroes take a break to lollygag. Oh, I mean, “work slowly at making a weapon to continue the fight after all the scene’s original tension has been obliterated”. It felt more concise to say lollygag, though.
Aside from that specific editing choice, the battles are actually engaging. In fact, my greatest praise is what weaponry gets used. For all the adherence to the conventions of the swords-and-sorcery genre, there are some uncommon armaments here. I can’t describe enough how visually refreshing I found this, to see different weapons and fighting styles. Like all the other good bits in the show this too doesn’t last long, but it helps break up the “This is a fantasy; we need more swords!” mentality that plagues the genre.
Overall, the art and animation is of consistently high quality. The city is a vibrant place. Manglobe’s attention to detail in creating a living, breathing setting is laudable and effective (something I personally found lacking in their earlier work, Ergo Proxy). There’s an idyllic peace in the city when all hell isn’t breaking loose and a gritty immediacy when it does. That the city is built at the foot of a mountain covered with an ominous and never-moving cloud is a fantastic addition. The characters too are well-designed and have outfits that are intriguing albeit sometimes impractical. If only they were as cool as they look.
I couldn’t help thinking back to last season as I watched this. CANAAN showed how to put together a compelling ensemble cast, while Spice and Wolf II showed how to dramatically weave the complexities of a relationship about two protagonists. Both lessons are lost on Sacred Blacksmith. There is neither a group dynamic nor a fully realized pairing. The one great friendship we do have between Cecily and Aria gets lost in the shuffle of events and hardly has the emphasis it deserves.
What disappoints me most is what Sacred Blacksmith fails to do. It fails to do anything exciting with fantasy. It fails to test its characters’ resolve with any meaningful challenges or anguish. It presents so much magic… yet fails to capture any wonder. Once we understand more of Aria’s nature, for instance, a wild world of possibilities opens up. How does her nature impact the way she interacts with the city she lives in? The people she calls friends? Her own inner turmoil? Instead, her character development seems to have the same tedious trajectory that everyone else has: at least one episode devoted to mental struggles, a resolution easily attained, and a sanguine outlook the rest of the time.
The music is a good analogy for the show as a whole. The OP starts strong, is rather catchy, reasonably dynamic technically speaking. The score of the series is standard fare medieval fantasy (recorders, lutes, tambourines, and the like) and other more traditional orchestrated pieces that are apt, but not spellbinding. Finally, the ED is the most randomly bright and unbelievably saccharine thing you have ever heard. While I freely admit my personality isn’t morning glories and sunshine, this outro is so distinctly misplaced and just one more example of Sacred Blacksmith’s disjointed elements.
So who is this anime for? More forgiving viewers, I imagine. The series isn’t high art and let’s face it: it’s not trying to be. It doesn’t want to be a humble, little fantastical tale, but a brief little epic about a lot of different things. About companions trying to help each other, faltering romance, sociopolitical intrigue, freaky monsters, black villains, sleeping horrors. By including too much its scattershot attention span shows, but if you can overlook that and the other systemic problems, want a light-hearted romp with a peppering of drama, or happen to be a fantasy junkie, you might have fun with this.
If there is a second season I can only hope they strip away the extraneous parts, peel back the deeper layers, and leave what remains proudly exposed and naked for all to behold.
And, yeah, that was kind of a boob joke.
lali97
First thing is what I think of this anime on a whole. Your first impressions are this is going to be a big disappointment. Sure! it may not be the best but it's enjoyable. There wasn't any surprises, nothing new but it was enjoyable. Don't judge it by the first episode. It really gets better. Story(6-fair) Cecily Cambell becomes a knight and she is totally useless. She's all talk. She is saved by Luke Ainsworth and begs him to make a katana like his. And so their relationship begins. The story was like a Déjà vu (literally!!) But it shines! It makes you laugh, sometimes cry andfeel the feelings of the characters in the story. It wasn't repetitive nor boring. Sometimes the fillers and disappointing. There is only one filler episode but in each episode there is a part that has nothing to do with the actual plot. Either it is at the beginning or the end. Even so, it's no boring or unbearable.
Art(7-good)
the art was exactly like K-ON's sometimes I thought Cecily looked like Yui just in a red version(LOL). I'm very picky about my art. It has to be up-to-date and such. But the animation flaws my eyes just don't see I don't know if there aren't or if there are. But the fights, when the swords are swung and the colors it's really catchy.
Sound(4-Decent)
The theme song matched the anime but it wasn't special in particular. The ending son was very catchy. Also, the background music, which sometimes I don't notice is good and it goes with the whole flow of the anime and it's set date.
Character(10-Outstanding)
I liked Cecily's character. She's useless but she understands others feeling and her feelings are genuine. She isn't one of those big mouth girls who cant do anything or the crappy type of girl she's a strong willed character that I like.
Not only Cecily but all the character's have their share in the spot light, their time to shine. You can feel the feelings of all the main characters.
Enjoyment(7-Good)
As I said it is really enjoyable even without much action.
Overall(7-Good)
Just watch the anime!!!
soregashi
Seiken no Blacksmith is anime that sounds very good when you look the descriptions. It says that there will be an adventure, but doesn't says that the adventure will be so boring. Story - 3/10 Fantasy world with demons, demon swords and some mysterious people. Sounds very nice, but the way that the story develops it's everything but nice. The demons are the usual, the sword too, not to mention the main antagonist - "the man in black"... and this is not the worst. The main characters are also the usual strong boy and weak knight, the only "new" it's that the knight it's a female character.The development of the story it's boring and predictive, and the end it's in my personal top 3 of worst ends.
Art - 7/10
This is may be the best part of this anime. The characters are drawn very well, and are easy to remember their appearances. I don't really like the hairdo of Luke and this funny "armor" of Cecilly, which seems to be there only to make the viewer lough. The special effects are the best part of the art - lighting, the spells, and my personal favorite - when Luke forges swords.
Sound - 6/10
This is good too. The opening and ending are nice songs, although I wouldn't listen to them (not my music). The seyuus are good too, although they are nothing memorable. Background music it's there, but doesn't make any impression, so it's good.
Characters - 3/10
Compared to the story characters are good, but in fact they are just stupid and boring. Female knight with big breasts and funny armor, who looks like catches sword for first time in first episode and it's yelling "mamoru desu"(I'll protect...) all over, and over, and over again. Male blacksmith, who is kind of bad-ass, but later very emotional and deep character with good feelings. Female demon sword complaining about how bad destiny she have, and how she want's to live peaceful life. Those are the good, and the bad are even worse. Some "man in black" who at the end reveals to be kind of absolutely non mysterious guy and kind of well known bad guy. Even the secondary characters are cliche after cliche.
Enjoyment - 4/10
If this was my first anime, may be I would think it was good, but it's not and everything in it it's well known and I've seen it numerous times before. If it wasn't the good art and the studio I would never end this, and now I kind of regret i did it.
Overall - 5/10
This is one of the worst animes I ever watched, and the worst thing it's that it's made by Manglobe, studio with animes like Samurai Champloo and Ergo Proxy in it's catalog. Really, don't waste your time with this, just go out and bang your head against some wall... it will be less painful.
PS.
Sorry if there are some mistakes, but English it's not my mother language :)
aishiteruu
After watching all of these reviews I decided to make my own. Every review here says that is the worst anime ever. That is not true, I liked this show. I dont have to see a great epic quest with intergalactic battles with sound from mozart and picasso himself drawing the hole thing, to enjoy it. Well sure it lacks many part to become a great anime, but still. If you just wanna relax, and see a naive cute "knight" doing mindless s**t WATCH IT. Dont make hater reviews stop you from seeing a show you might enjoy.
du5k
The Sacred Blacksmith is a decent anime that I really enjoyed; partially due to a load of crap I happen to be watching, and also I had really low expectations of this show. When I heard of that this series is gonna get animated, I went ahead and read a few chapters of the manga and frankly, the story isn't anything impressive. Any many other similar works becomes worse when animated so yeah... that is what I've expected out of this series. Now, I don't remember the studio Manglobe nor remember if I've watched any series from that studio, but it turns out that Manglobe doesa damn fine job with it. Even if the manga wasn't good material, I'm glad they stuck with the pacing of the story instead of going inventive, which usually sucked. The colours are brilliant and the animation are crisp; and for once, the action scenes are actually pretty good. I don't know how a series like this got that kind of budget but hey, I'm not complaining.
I didn't think much of the story but I really love the characters, even Cecily, who I thought was irritating in the beginning for being really useless, but her really cool action scenes towards the end made up for it. The ending of the story feels like one of those last minute addition to create a finale (I don't know because I didn't get that far in the manga), and though the main villain is a pretty crappy character the ending ain't too shabby.
A fairly nice series to watch if you're a fan of medieval settings, like me.
Plot/Concept: Fairly Good
Story Style: Great!
Audio/Visual: Great!
Value: 7
Crashmatt
I was actually looking forward to Sacred Blacksmith it seemed to have many elements I like in anime. The story centres around Cecily a female Knight who not particularly good at being a Knight. She is saved from certain death one day by Luke (the sacred blacksmith) who has the ability to forge magical Katana swords in the heat of battle. Lets get one thing out of the way first, the English dub is awful. Cecily’s voice grated on me so much I switched straight to subtitles. Most of the voice cast sound like they have just walked off the set of high school musical.Avoid the dub.
The story itself centres around a town which Cecily protect and the rising demon hordes that are causing trouble around the town. Luke is often called upon to save Cecily as she so inept and then like a sulky teenager disappears back off to his workshop with his apprentice Lisa.
This is only a short series so you expect it to stick to the main story which centres around the revival of a demon god and how people are entering into demon contracts effectively turning themselves into demons. It doesn’t. Instead we get the ridiculous Charlotte Frobisher story arc as well as an entire episode dedicated to shopping (seriously). We then have supporting characters like Aria who is a demon sword who can also take human form (seriously). This is never fully explained so you just have to go with it.
The character designs are good but nothing amazing and the battle scenes are pretty average as well. The show also suffers from the –I’m going to do a speech so all fighting stops problem. Enemies also seem happy to let Luke forge his Katana mid battle.
Cecily as a character is quite shouty and annoying while Luke spends much of his time sulking and trying to avoid Cecily. Its only in the last four episodes do we get some character and story progression. We find out why Luke has a face like a slapped arse and also see Cecily progress from being useless to reasonably competent as a knight.
The series has some decent ideas like the forging of magical swords but they are poorly executed. The story is not particularly original, couple this with some rather annoying main characters, the series pushes the boundaries of your patience. There is some mild nudity which seems a bit out of place and the constant referencing of Cecily’s ample chest wears thin after the first episode. The animation quality is fairly fluid and sound is ok with a very cheesy closing song which sticks in your head.
It’s difficult to recommend Sacred Blacksmith if it wasn’t for the final four episodes this series would have been a total waste of time. The series also doesn’t have a conclusive ending and you feel there is much more of the story left to tell which makes it all the more puzzling why so much time was wasted with side stories at the start of the series. It’s unlikely we will see a second season but based on the first this is no great loss.
OmegaSiets
Guard, Save, Belive. No, you didn't just misread that. These are in fact the words etched into the stone of Chester Cambell's grave; spelling errors and all. I guess he must've been a little dyslexic. After he passed away from a serious illness, his daughter and only child Cecily was left with the responsibility of becoming head of the Cambell House, which has long been a prestigious representative of the Independent Trade Cities of Housman. Having now succeeded her father, Cecily enlisted as a third generation knight to uphold the tradition and respect of the family name. However, she is inexperienced and clumsy, and oftenhas to rely on intimidation using her title as a knight to hide her weaknesses. Eventually, this strategy ran out of luck, and when her combat skills finally had to be put to the test, Cecily was defeated and her family's precious sword shattered. Now she must seek out the blacksmith Luke Ainsworth to forge her a new sword, which consequently thrusts her into an unexpected chain of events that threatens her life and involves her in a dangerous plot. Between this and the fact that no one can take her seriously because of her huge breasts, it's needless to say that Cecily has plenty of stress on her hands.
Yes, you'll find that there's no shortage of fanservice here. In fact, it's pretty much the running gag of the entire series that everyone pokes fun at Cecily's chest. This is further explored by convenient costume malfunctions and shameless bathing scenes. Thankfully all the pandering is at least tasteful enough that it never interrupts the flow of the story. The writing carries enough wit to know when sexual humor is appropriate.
At a glance, much of Sacred Blacksmith's story is standard procedure for an average fantasy anime. It has all the elements one would expect; knights, magic, demon swords, and giant mythical creatures are abundant. It even comes complete with an angsty tsundere romance. Where the series falls short in originality though, it makes up for this in its near-flawless execution. All of the main characters are rich with distinct personalities and deep backstories that are revealed steadily as the plot unfolds. The story progression also strikes a perfect balance between comedy, drama, and action; constantly keeping the viewer engaged with these three elements while the pacing never stutters or moves too quickly. Even episodes that could potentially be considered filler don't really feel like it, as they serve up plenty of character development to excuse them. Although at its core the plot is fairly familiar and straightforward, Sacred Blacksmith is not without some of its own twists on the genre either. It mixes a strangely light-hearted tone to the story with very dark and mature medieval themes, and while demon swords may sound conventional for the setting, their ability to transform into rather unassuming humans with more nuanced intentions is quite unconventional. Though it may seem like this odd mixture wouldn't blend well at first, the series somehow manages to make it all mesh together nicely.
It's worth noting that Sacred Blacksmith's narrative is heavily character-centric to such a degree that traditional fantasy tropes one would expect to see in its setting are often absent or take a back seat to character development. This may be off-putting for some coming into it expecting to see a Tolkien-esque expansive epic, which is unfortunate because the series does otherwise tell a very good story for what it is, but it often gets a bad wrap from critics who may be judging it based on something that it was never aiming to be. Sacred Blacksmith takes its time to flesh out its characters and doesn't invest much in the adventurous side of fantasy or exploring its world. Although it's clear that there is still a rich history behind it from the brief glimpses we are occasionally given, nonetheless this is not the story's focus.
The series' character-driven plot does often work to its advantage though, because where Sacred Blacksmith truly shines is in its ability to masterfully craft a cast of characters whose interactions make them instantly likable and constantly engrossing; never leaving the audience with a dull moment. Cecily's unwavering dedication to helping others is interesting to see being put to the test as her inability to defend others frequently conflicts with her convictions. Aria's mysterious past as the demon sword of wind hides behind the veil of her lovable friendliness, making you eager to find out more about her history and motivations. Even the most seemingly loathsome characters can become hard not to sympathize with as more of their histories and backgrounds are uncovered. It is commonplace that conflicts arise between them purely because of of how sharply contrasting and vibrant their personalities are. Luke's cold and dismissive attitude perpetually clashes with Cecily's stubborn determination, which makes for some particularly entertaining dialogue. The script is often written rather heavy-handed, but it helps establish the strong characterizations of the protagonists. Still, Cecily's melodramatic monologues can occasionally overstay their welcome.
The production values of Sacred Blacksmith's art and animation are nothing short of superb as well. Character designs are thoroughly detailed depicting even the subtleties of Luke's fake eye, and animation is consistently smooth and fluid. Couple this with its epic orchestral soundtrack and solid voice acting that fits the characters and effectively brings them to life, Sacred Blacksmith satisfies in nearly every aspect of its design. All of this is accompanied with quality intro and ending segments set to some J-pop tunes. The ending in particular has a rather catchy and cute arrangement, which is further enhanced by the associated artwork with it that really shows off the impressive designs of the characters. In fact, it's possibly my personal favorite ending piece just because it's so adorable and the music and visuals play off each other so well. The intro on the other hand has a decidedly more standard song choice that isn't quite as interesting, but it more than makes up for this with a good mixture of action scenes and beautiful perspective shots of the characters. Sufficed to say, this is one of those rare cases where I found myself watching both the intro and ending for every episode because they were simply that enjoyable.
With everything right that Sacred Blacksmith has going for it however, it's difficult to take notice of any of its major flaws--until it ends. Just as soon as it feels like the journey is only beginning, it is abruptly cut off. This unfortunately is Sacred Blacksmith's greatest shortcoming. By the time the series come to its conclusion, many major plotlines and ambiguities in the story have yet to be fully fleshed out. It's clear judging by the finale that there was still much more of the story to tell, but for one reason or another there appears to be no sequel coming in the foreseeable future. As of the writing of this review, you will need to consort the manga that the series is based on if you wish to delve deeper into its story. Despite this, it's not enough to break Sacred Blacksmith's strong momentum from start to finish. Even with these problems, the anime still manages to deliver as satisfying a resolution as can be reasonably expected while leaving the plot open for continuation. With its colorful cast of characters, high production values, and engaging narrative that has its own twists on the genre, Sacred Blacksmith is sure to entertain many fans of fantasy anime.
Kireas
When I started on this anime, I kind of regretted watching it because I felt bored at the first episode, but, since I've been looking for an anime that has a strong male character, I decided to watch on and I'm glad I did. Story - The story is very poor or rather, like most animes, rushed. The series is more about the main character's daily life and interaction with other characters of the series rather than the main character itself. They focused too much on the main characters that the story was neglected and at the end, it was rushed to complete the series. Ifthere were just one more episode, I believe that the anime could've ended on a nicer note.
Art - Like most of the anime that are currently being released, character designs and animations for them are pretty good. I particularly liked the designs of the houses like they were in medival times. Other than that, nothing much to say here.
Sound - The only music worth mentioning is the opening and ending songs. Other than that, I have no impression of any noticable music really. Which is also one of the main flaws of the series. Although fights need not necessarily require music, it does add to the flavour and feel of the situation at hand.
Character - Character development is fantastic. The main character does grow over time and slowly gets people to acknowledge her, though of course it's not like she was ostracized, bullied or looked down upon by the community in the first place, just that she wants to prove a point and she did. The only flaw is that we don't get to actually see the character become strong since everything was rather rushed towards the end.
Enjoyment/Overall - Aside from the flaws I mentioned, I rather enjoyed this series and I do hope that a season 2 will be made. I think that the series will do very well in season 2 should there be one.
angelsreview
When you think of blacksmiths, you think of large, strong men who make swords, horseshoes and other appliances for a medieval world. What you normally don’t see is a kid doing all this with a smaller kid as an apprentice. That’s what happens when you watch this one. The characters seem not fleshed out enough, and we barely see a back story to any of them except Luke and even that happens a little to late in the game. By that time, the characters felt a bit stale, and hard to relate to. In a 12 episode show, they shouldn’t be dinking around like theydo, mostly bringing up jokes about Cecily’s breasts and her strange breastplate that seems to be way to close to her to not of been molded on her breasts. And what’s with her mother even bugging her about it? Really? It’s not enough that the whole town talks about her breasts but her mother too? I’m not fond of how this show seems to move a bit too slow this show gets, but once it gets to the point, it is pretty good, and then it ends... Really, they spend more time talking then fighting and nothing really gets said.
It seems that everything leans up to the climax but many of the things are lost in the first part. For instance, the only time I find out that that Luke has a fake eye is to the second to the last episode. If it was a big thing with the story then it should be said earlier in the story along with Luke’s story. I feel like I only got half the story through the show and I wish there was much more to help me see the lines. It just screams second season to and from what I know of, there isn’t one.
The artwork is pretty nice though some of the characters look familiar to other shows. Little Luke reminds me of Sora from Kingdom Hearts and I can pick out little things hear and there that felt like rip offs. And don’t get me started on the creepy monsters that attack. It plays out mostly like a monster of the week style though the story makes it hard to watch them out of order. The comical parts in the art seem forced in whenever we have a serious point and trust me, that happen way to much for this show. I wish they chose a side, ether comical artwork with comical plot, or serious artwork with serious plot.
The voice acting is pretty good but I am a little put off by one or two of them. Lisa isn’t that great a voice, making me sigh at the high pitched sound from her mouth. Some side characters really need deferent voices because sometime it makes them feel way too important then they should be.
Flashflame00
The current score for this anime is harsh (6.99). This was one series that deserved to be stretched to double the amount of episodes it has. Sure, the series was rushed but it has more character development than any other long anime series I've seen. Although short, they showed a lot of character development in the main characters (Particularly Luke Ainsworth). I admit that I am a fanboy when it comes to Medieval setting and Holy references. But many modern day anime lack what this anime has. Jealousy is a very common factor in modern day anime and I saw no hint of jealousy here.Seiken no Blacksmith is one of those series where I've had a ton of enjoyment and will always by one of the best Medieval sword themed anime I've seen.
Apdo1
Negatives: - Annoying Female knight that acts like every fucking weak protagonist from many different anime, but at certain time, they somehow became so strong that they surpass others. - The unnecessary nudity/fanservice (eventhough in kissanime this anime hasn't been categorized as ecchi at all) kinda destroy my experience for me. It mean, the fanservice is definitely better than Love Ru darkness, but man, it doesn't really fit this kind of genre anime. - The pacing of the story, or the plot line is pretty slow. Many things tend to be digress into the build up of relation, learning about their world, seeing cute interaction betweencharacters (although, since i find the female protagonist annoying, it kinda ruins it for me), and doing things that digress from moving the plot forward.
- Despite being an anime with genre like Action, Adventure, Fantasy anime. There seems to be alot of slice of life stuff going on here. And that's not what i came for. The Male protagonist is pretty badass. That's an enough reason for me to watch the entire of the first episode, but later on i eventually got bored. Although the action scene is pretty fun to watch. There seem to be more slice of life rather than what the genre have initially stated.
- It's just a hypocrisy when a knight didn't want to protect its kingdom and its people that supported those kingdom that the knight were served to defend in the first place. So the Female protagonist is pretty annoying when it comes to killing someone, or to use whatever is in her capability to use on human life like hers. One word, "Naive".
- I personally feels like the entire enjoyment of the show is solely on seeing our male protagonist fight, because that's when we get to see some badass fight scene. And btw, why the fuck does the enchant "kill good" at the very end of turning themselves into a sword after being seen to be in their human form? (as in the magic sword). It's just so random, and makes no sense.
Positives:
- If you like the character in the show, then you will enjoy the large amount of time of character's interaction that digress from moving the plot forward. I mean take slice of life anime for example. This anime is kinda like that.
- The Male protagonist is fucking badass. His personality is pretty strong/cool, and deft with many combat like skills.
ggultra2764
As a whole, The Sacred Blacksmith is a mixed bag in its exploration of Cecily and Luke's ordeals surrounding the Demon Swords and the mysterious man causing troubles throughout the kingdom the two young heroes inhabit. The series essentially divides itself into arcs focused around various conflicts that Cecily and Luke encounter with a different situation pertaining to the two said scenarios. One of the show's biggest weaknesses proves to be the choice in which it follows its plot direction. The series has you believing at first that the plot would be focused around Cecily and Luke unraveling the schemes of the mysterious man untilit tosses in the element of the Demon Swords. This brings about the arc involving Charlotte which while a touching one to look into, it doesn't do anything in advancing the other critical plot development involving the mysterious man.
Adding to these complications with the plot are some unexplored plot elements such as why some Demon Swords like Aria are able to take human form and preparations for the battle against the powerful demon being feared. Pacing also seemed fairly rushed towards the show's second half leading to unnatural developments with plotting and characters due to the lack of proper buildup on such elements such as the revelation of the mysterious man and improvements in Cecily's swordsmanship. In addition to these issues, I was getting quite turned off by the show's cheap attempt at getting humor off nods to Cecily's bust size. While fan service isn't rampant in Sacred Blacksmith, hearing the characters tease or mention Cecily's breasts did annoy me at points.
What does work for the series are the character relationships and developments witnessed throughout Sacred Blacksmith. The series does a decent job in fleshing out prominent characters in regards to their backgrounds and their personal beliefs. The series also establishes character relationships that mesh well enough to have you care for the bonds that said characters have for one another such as Charlotte and her posse from their struggles for acceptance by Charlotte's kingdom and the unique wielder-weapon bond between Cecily and Demon Sword Aria. Visuals also look decent on the eyes sporting clean details and vivid colors in regards to scenery, as well as good-looking character designs like the attractive human form of Aria and the various demons that are slayed throughout the series. Animation often consists of static shots during battle scenes, but has its moments of great animation during sword fights involving major characters and the sword forging spell used by Lisa and Luke.
The Sacred Blacksmith is far from being the best anime one will come across due to its shoddy direction in plotting and rushed pacing in the show's second half that hamper developments and elements within the series. However, the character bonds and the individual developments of said characters do help alleviate these major flaws to a degree. While not being the most original title one will come across, The Sacred Blacksmith is worthwhile enough for a quick watch if you take interest in it.
kawaii123456
It's not a horrible Anime, but it is definitely below average, about the only thing it has going for it is if you prefer dubs over subbed anime, it has a English version. The story section will have spoilers, starting with generic info about structural problems of the narrative that kill any joy you may have had watching and then more detailed issues. Art: 7 The art was good. There was good blending of the CGI and the battles were watchable. If you are expecting Errol Flynn for the sword fights think again. They are dominated by big glowing rays and blobs of magic all controlled byplot armor.
Sound: 6
Music was appropriate to scenes. Opening and Endings were fun but too loud something of a common occurrence in recent anime. If the volume levels were more consistent the audio would of scored a 7
******
Structure
Spoiler
******
Story/Characters: 4
The big killers, it doesn't end or resolve. I really really really hate this in Anime, in this case though it's forgivable because quite frankly I didn't care what happened next. I didn't care that absolutely nothing was resolved. Didn't want to dig up the novels. Didn't want to find the manga. Maybe the Anime was trying to cram too much into 12 episodes, maybe the source material wasn't any good.
*****
Good points, and specific problems
*****
Start with the good. There was a certain amount of reality you just don't see in media these. The female lead Cecily is five foot nothing and I doubt she'd weigh more than 100 pounds sopping wet. If you were expecting her to beat up the likes of Odd Job, and Jaws from the bond films think again. At least for the first 3/4 of the Anime. Seeing that is what actually got me to stick with this.
Sorry, that's is about it for the good.
******
The Bad
*******
The male lead, Luke, he's a loner who lives in the woods with a magic lolicon. There's not much too him. He pops in and saves Cecily over and over again, when she does stupid things like trying to fight 3 swords women who have better magic swords than her.
The female lead is completely wrong for the part she is playing. She is a knight that could be taken out by the average swordsman by his falling on her. She is a tribute to the power of nepotism, and the people who got her the spot had to think she would be dead the moment she saw combat (which actually was very much the case for the first 4+ times excepting plot armor)
Later on, she is taught that if you want to be swordsman you have to actually train, then in a couple of weeks she becomes Miyamoto Musashi. Takes a bit, if you could live with it in the Karate kid, you can probably stand it here.
The relationship between the Cecily and Luke is as thin as stone soup. You get the idea she is one step up from women that form relationships with convicted felons. Yes he does keep saving her, but does nothing to court her. On the plus side Luke's overall reaction of WTF why do I keep running into this annoying baggage seems spot. The problem is just about the time she has her suddenly competent moment, he goes all professor Higgins , and decides he has "become accustomed to her face". Wut ??
Other stupidity
You're a moe character so it's OK you came into rob, kidnap, and kill us, lets be besties. Literally and it gets worse. There's an arc where a foreign princess and her guards come in, to rob her, kidnap luke, and kill her or anyone else that got in their way, doing some significant damage in the process. It's a saved by plot armor. For some reason the princess who is actually competent in just about everything didn't bother to find out anything about her target. Her guards easily take down Cecily, but he is such a bad ass swordsman he takes her down and her guards.
The town mayor and police force is then ok that's fine why don't you just stay in Cecily's house and the princess for giggles forces her to be a maid, even though her job as knight is what's paying for everything. WTH ?
I don't know what the term for the other big problem in the plot is. I am certain there must be a name for it, it's that common. Everybody in the story never seems to know anything except what's in right in front of them. Luke is the sole survivor of the attack that sealed off the Demon Lord that was ruining the world ? Big deal, yes ? nope Cecily is thick as a brick on the topic, and how magic works, and how all those Demons she has been busy fighting pop up. She isn't the only one. The guy who creates demons and dispenses magic swords like candy doesn't know the first thing about them. Luke who lost everything to the demons is forging the means to defeat the next coming of the Demon lord, needs Cecily to decipher how everyone he was with died, with information she got 5 seconds ago and he already knew.
Or one of my favorites oh there was Demon heading to your house, I didn't think I should tell you because I was too busy trying to figure out how to interfere in your love life.
There's other things, lik "We need to lay a trap for the people trying to steal the magic sword so lets use Cecilly because she keeps screwing up, followed by lets let her hold onto the cornerstone of our defense because she screwed up again". Pure SMH moments.
zurgboy00
This would be my first review. Ill just skip to what I have personally experienced watching this show. Its kinda mediocre though the story's plot is great and all it wasn't really convened properly in the anime feels like every episode there was that dull moment to it. I was expecting more of like Full adventure action romance but i guess i expected too much of it. Has potential. though its best to just read the LN or Manga
LavenderKiwi
Opinion, all reviews are simply opinion and with that in mind ill continue. Most of the reviews on this anime are against it, i guess my opinion is different since i liked it, not loved it but i liked it. Plot: The plot is original i assure you and though its not a strong one it does satisfy the watcher. Theres not much to say on the plot, it focased more on the building of the characters than the enemy at hand but it didnt make it bad in any way. Art: The art was good, it was clear and descriptive andyet still easy to watch.
Sound:
The sound was average, not bad at all.
Characters:
The main character were what the anime's episodes focased on, you may be thinking duh but what i mean is the anime made most of the episodes about their growth and development and bits of their past. The main enemies were not very main at all, although they were meant to have a place in the plot they didnt. They had maybe 3 or 4 episodes about them in general and didnt really tell us what happened to them afterwards.
Overall:
The plot was not what it was supposed to be but it was fine although i would have liked to see more about the antagonists and less of the protagonists. Overall it was a very watchable show and i would re watch it and also suggest it.
SakuraRosaPetals
One day while walking around Best Buy I saw this DVD, and since I make it a point never to leave there without an anime DVD I decided, why the hell not? I have to admit with this anime I was not expecting much n my god...even with no expectation I was disappointed! Ok well let me explain, this anime suffers from three main problems. And two of these I see occur in most short anime series. First it's about a clumsy knight (Who seriously need to invest in a bra, n whose animators need to actually decide what size and shape her breasts actuallyare.) named Cecily Cambell and her quest to get a new sword from a blacksmith named Luke. All the while she must protect a demon sword that can take human form named Aria. There is also a god-like demon that is tied into Luke's past that Cecily tried to unravel.
No this! ...I love this! While this does not make it the anime of the century is does get very interesting, the characters could use a bit more development, but I love this. What happend to Luke? Why are his swords so amazing? (yes, that's what she said, hardy har) What is the secret behind Aria? And there are so many things that come up in the anime that are amazing that can be expanded upon.....until.....we run into the first problem with our anime....
There are side plots and filler episodes that go nowhere and do nothing for the show and are rather quite boring...we have our obligatory shopping episode. Then a side plot come the hell out of nowhere where some illegitimate princess shows up and tries to prove who she is, but her father won't listen and why!? Just why!? Why do we care? Why are you here?What does this have to do with demons and swords!? Nothing! It serves no purpose and is just boring!
Then our second problem, and Hell Girl suffered from the same thing...the main story doesn't come in until like the last four episodes! Only then do we find out about Luke's past! Only then do we find out what our villain's motivation (or lack there of) was! And normally I wouldn't mind this...if the rest of the anime wasn't useless filler! There are bits of interesting plot sprinkled throughout only held together by boring subplots only to get slammed with the heavy stuff at the end.
And finally our last problem though one that I guess could be excused, but nothing is explained! not the original novel and manga (both I have not yet read) are still going. So yes some animes such as Deadman Wonderland, if the original material is not yet completed, rather then just going off on filler (like there wasn't enough in this series already) they will just end and go then continue with another season once they have more material to go on. But at least Deadman left things off ominously, this....it just ends! Not even leaving you room to think what might happen next.
The manga or novel might be worth a look at if they just stick to the main story, this anime however, it won't hurt you to just pass on to the next.
KnightwingNC
This anime HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL! The episodes up to episode 6 were really good! You know when an anime is good when you realise you're halfway through the series just like that! The anime is in basic, a girl who wants to be a hero and a blacksmith who is rude. Now it sounds bland but honestly, the characters in the opening episodes were written well. Luke, the blacksmith slowly builds up his character and shows he cares. Lisa is that classic cute little girl who has that voice actor who you would swear is in EVERY anime ever, so just a run offthe mile character. But her story is entertaining and fun to watch, not the best written character but for the role she plays, just fine. Cecily is a busty and clueless character, but in a good way. She comes off as this want to be hero but slowly learns the meaning off a knight. She's well written but I think her back story could have been fleshed out.
Now here comes the ending off the praise, the other characters. You know when an anime is bad when you can remember many of the main characters names. Honesty episode 7 and on wards is a total waste off time. New characters come in and for a whole two episodes, Luke doesn't appear. Now I'm all for new characters but they just turn up and they don't have any real back story.
The voice acting was meh, it sounded like it's one off those animes they made because off how popular the fantasy genre is but didn't give a crap about making it good like past fantasy animes such as Castlevania and Seraph of the End, both off those shows flesh out the characters and make you want to root for the heros and Hell, even the villains are good. The voice acting just seems like a B grade, the first episode has some voice acting which sound like something you'll get in a fan dub.
The artwork was meh as well, nothing fancy. Most anime's artwork is meh isn't it. I guess here and there you get some decent art work but this anime isn't a stand out. It's just your run off the mile fantasy harem ecchii anime (Yes you get to see Ceila's chest). I guess watch this if you're not looking for anything great, a good anime to legit waste your arvo. Got time to kill? This is the perfect anime. Don't expect to much, expect a bit off laughs and story telling but that's it.
Overall 5/10
Not anything special but it's not half bad. Could be better.
