Bladedance of the Elementalers Review
Warning: The following review may contain spoilers. If you wish not to know some events in the story, or simply don't wish to find out what happens in the series, please leave the page, since I don't want to damage a watching experience for you.
With that said, thank you, and onto the review:
*Door opens*
Restia, what the hell are you doing here?
Umm, what do you think? Doing the review.
Seriously? -_-
Yeah, why do you ask?
NO ONE ASKED YOU! GET THE HELL OUT!
Sorry guys, but you just got introduced to my least favorite character. More on her later..
I first saw this show on Anime News Network, when in Japan, they started to show two promos. I was curious about this show, and decided to check it out.
I noticed that even though this was animated by TNK, and considering their long line of fanservice shows, I was wondering to see how this show did in the end.
Signs of hope appeared. Not as much fanservice, a different character designer, a mix of different girls. The time finally came a little before it was finished to start this series. And to say for sure, this series surprised me.
With interesting characters, a nice plot, and one of the worst villains I have ever seen, this series actually managed to show a lot of promise. But the real fun is just about to start. And I think this needs a second season in order for us to get that.
Meanwhile in the present, let's talk about the story:
Story
In this world, spirits exist, and only maidens (aka girls) have the ability to make a contract with spirits. Maidens from the richest of nobles all gather at Areishia Spirit Academy, where they are trained in order to become elementalists. Once every 3 years, girls are chosen to compete in the Blade Dance, a competition in which the winner gets a wish answered. 3 years prior to the story, a girl named Ren Ashbell won the Blade Dance, which inspired many girls to fight in the tournament as well.
Enter Kamito Kazahaya, a male teenager who can actually contact spirits, and is one of the only reported males to do so. He is sent a invitation by the academy's director, Greyworth Ciel Mais, to come to the academy and train for the Blade Dance. On his way there, he meets a girl named Claire Rouge, who is purifying in a lake. How does she take this? Not so well.
After dressing and then beating the crap out of him, they both stumble into a cave where a legendary spirit sword is held. Claire tries to obtain the spirit for herself, but fails. In order to help save her life, Kamito successfully makes a contract with the spirit himself. Claire is a bit upset about this, and claims that the spirit was stolen. She disregards Kamito of saving her life, and says he must atone it by being her slave spirit. Well, ish.
There's more to this story than generic harem plot line though. We have other girls who might harbor rivalries, or may know something from Kamito's past. There might be a supposed demon king. What will happen?
The story at the beginning was a bit odd, as I found myself wondering how stereotypical this would be. But with newer situations, and some more depth to some of the characters, the show actually had a decent story. Though I've heard when the Blade Dance comes in, the story is going to get better.
The plot with Ellis's older sister towards the end of the series was probably my favorite event out of all the ones in the series, minus Fianna's. I did like Geo's "demon king" thing, but since that was Restia's main doing, I didn't like it as much.
All in all, the story was interesting. Hearing about majority of the character's pasts might make you sympathize with them a little more, or be intrigued to them. It's a nice treat, and the events that happened did do some justice, though more toward the middle and end.
Even though some might find the characters in this series stereotypical, that doesn't really count to me considering that I did like most of them. I found some of them to have some generic stereotypes sure, but they weren't overstretched like others ones I've seen. However, there is one character I despise.
But let's start off with out main lead, Kamito:
.jpg)
Kamito is perhaps the world's only known male elementalist in this day and age. However, he was also Ren Ashbell in the Blade Dance 3 years prior, but only Fianna knows about this. Besides Ellis's older sister, no one can tell that his eyes are the exact same color as in his disguise.After dressing and then beating the crap out of him, they both stumble into a cave where a legendary spirit sword is held. Claire tries to obtain the spirit for herself, but fails. In order to help save her life, Kamito successfully makes a contract with the spirit himself. Claire is a bit upset about this, and claims that the spirit was stolen. She disregards Kamito of saving her life, and says he must atone it by being her slave spirit. Well, ish.
There's more to this story than generic harem plot line though. We have other girls who might harbor rivalries, or may know something from Kamito's past. There might be a supposed demon king. What will happen?
The story at the beginning was a bit odd, as I found myself wondering how stereotypical this would be. But with newer situations, and some more depth to some of the characters, the show actually had a decent story. Though I've heard when the Blade Dance comes in, the story is going to get better.
The plot with Ellis's older sister towards the end of the series was probably my favorite event out of all the ones in the series, minus Fianna's. I did like Geo's "demon king" thing, but since that was Restia's main doing, I didn't like it as much.
All in all, the story was interesting. Hearing about majority of the character's pasts might make you sympathize with them a little more, or be intrigued to them. It's a nice treat, and the events that happened did do some justice, though more toward the middle and end.
Characters
Even though some might find the characters in this series stereotypical, that doesn't really count to me considering that I did like most of them. I found some of them to have some generic stereotypes sure, but they weren't overstretched like others ones I've seen. However, there is one character I despise.
But let's start off with out main lead, Kamito:
Before becoming the man he is today, Kamito used to be trained as a elite assassin. This made his personality turn into more of a emotionless shell in order to make him a usable tool. That is, until one day, when he meets the spirit Restia. Restia teaches him about the outside world, and such, manages to rekindle his emotions. After the school in which he worked in was attacked, Restia was sealed away by a special ring that belonged to the first Demon King.
Greyworth and Kamito have both met each other, as Greyworth met him before she became the director of the academy, thinking by his skills alone he will become a fearsome sword fighter. She summons him to the academy so that he can once again participate in the Blade Dance. Although his swordsmanship isn't as good, he still has much hope.
At the academy, Kamito often gets into many situations in which majority of the main girls have to compete with him, or get mad at him, in which Claire will use her fire magic or something. He also has gotten rumors spread around the school for him, mainly being called "The Demon King of the Night" due to many thinking that he has perverted capabilities.
So overall, I don't think it would be fair to call Kamito a complete generic main male lead. He had some distinct qualities that I like, and he can be kick ass, unlike Ichika, where it seems that deus ex machina ALWAYS has to come in somehow. I like majority of his friendships with the girls, and even with all of the misunderstandings, I don't think he really cares in the end.
Now onto Claire:
Claire is perhaps the most conflicting character in the series for me. While I can sympathize with her backstory, she's more often a complete bitch to Kamito that I just don't really like her. But she's not as bad as Restia ever will be.
Claire is the youngest daughter of Duke Elstein, and is most famous for something that happened to her sister Rubia four years prior, in which she stole one of the strongest fire spirits, and vanished without a trace. After the previous Blade Dance, both of Claire's parents were arrested, and she was going to have to hand over Scarlet, her own fire spirit. But Greyworth convinced the royals otherwise, and such, is why she is now at the academy. As of this, Rubia is now given the nickname "The Calamity Queen", and has such gone under some teasing from classmates.
From her first appearance, it's somewhat obvious that Claire is just a generic tsundere character. There really isn't anything that I should describe about her that won't make her stand out from others of this trope. At least she has a interesting back story and what not. But I think it's not a surprise that she's just too generic.
What character is this like again? Oh yeah, Houki.
Now onto Rinslet:
Rinslet somewhat reminded me of Cecilia, but only a little bit. It's a bit of a shame that she wasn't developed as enough as some of the other girls, but she's still a likable character.
Rinslet comes from the Laurenfrost family.They were pretty prominent, although less than the Elstein family before their fall. Her two other sisters also have blonde hair and blue eyes. Though she may be a bit of a showoff and can be seen as a rival to Claire, she is quite shy, and actually does have sort of a friendship with Claire. This is because she does know important details about her, such as her birthday.
Rinslet is very skilled in the area of housework, such as cleaning, doing laundry, and even cooking. Even though she does have a maid to help her out, she can manage by herself if she needed to.
Overall, Rinslet is the least developed out of the main girls. Which is a shame, because she does have some potential under there that could come out if this show does manage to grab a second season. As for right now though......
For the plot I guess. *Sigh*
Ellis's turn:
Hello. favorite girl of the series. I had a feeling from Episode 1 that Ellis was perhaps going to be my favorite character. And I was right. This chick just has something unique about her, and that she actually can try to kick ass? Thumbs up.
Ellis is the captain of the Sylphid Knights. They help protect the student body, enforce discipline and morals, and help handle wild spirits. She also has an adopted older sister named Velsaria, who lost to Kamito in the last round of the Blade Dance 3 years prior. She now exhibits a colder personality, due to a cursed seal.
At first, Ellis is very cold to Kamito, and doesn't like him, due to the fact that the only other male elementalist is the demon king, She also is skeptical over the rumors that are spread of him. But later on, he gains respect for him, and generally falls for him. This is done better than Infinite Stratos, where in Cecila and Laura's cases, you get the idea:
Ellis may be a bit stereotypical, but I can still see past her faults. Towards the end of the series, there's some cute scenes between her and Kamito, and I couldn't help but fawn over them. Best girl!
Let's talk about Fianna now:
Fianna is the second princess, but is also known as the Lost Queen. This is because she lost a fight, and her spirit to Claire's older sister. She is also the only character who's actually met Kamito in the past after he saved her from a monster. This is the reason why she came to the academy, in order to see him again. Though she did cheat on the entrance exams, but let's forget that ever happened.
Guys who keep on staring at her impressive rack will be disappointed to find out that she uses padding in order to store a family bloodstone. This actually made me happy, because in comparison to Highschool DXD, tcha. She also has some decent power in her. Besides regaining her spirit who she uses as a shield, she can also create a home field advantage However, this requires some speical treatment, and it does help them defeat Geo, so plus!
Fianna also has a playful personality, occasionally making some dirty jokes. but shes often a good friend, and a great asset to Team Scarlet.
Est's turn:
Est is Kamito's second contacted spirit, besides Restia. Because of Kamito's guilt of contacting another spirit and abandoning Restia, the contract was partly completed, so for that reason she can only manifest 10% of her power. She's still pretty strong though.
Est is literally the cutest thing you will probably see. Not only is her human form ADORABLE, but she has such a cute personality. She often makes misunderstandings just by showing up with Kamito in his bed only in kneesocks, but when she and Kamito interact, I feel a presence lighting up in the room. Some of the girls think Kamito is being a bit too giving to her, but this is what I would do if I had a spirit like her. The power of cuteness compels you, indeed.
Now onto my most hated character, Restia:
Oh, how much do I hate Restia? Let me count the ways...
You guys ready for another character rant?
First off, I haven't seen a villain this bad in anime since Laxus. (Acted like a d**k, but has that classic heart of gold bulls**t in which the ways villains turn around) In fact, she ranks up in that area with how bad she is, with The Trix, (Appearances get old people, The Trix should have been done in Season 3) and Toralei. (Who at the start seemed like a good villain, but after Season 2 of the webisodes, is too busy being that reoccurring villain whose plans always fail. OHMYGOSH, LIKE TEAM ROCKET!)
Secondly, if you want to be a great villain who has a good plan to do something to rekindle something, IT WAS GREAT HOLLY DANDY THAT YOU DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR POINT! YOU HEARD ME, NOTHING! BESIDES SUMMONING MONSTERS AND S**T, AND HELPING JIO IN EPISODE 8, SHE IS WORTH NOTHING. ALL SHE'S GOOD FOR IS THAT WE SEE HER MOST OF THE TIME JUST SITTING THERE, DOING NOTHING, SAYING SOMETHING INCOHERENT, AND THEN VANISHING. RESTIA'S PLAN ISN'T EVEN KNOWN, SO GOOD LUCK TRYING TO GUESS WHAT IT IS, BECAUSE IT MIGHT GET YOU NOWHERE.
LIKE HONESTLY, WHAT WILL BE GOOD FOR YOU IF YOU JUST SIT IN A TREE, DO NOTHING, AND COMMENT HOW KAMITO WILL BE A NICE "DEMON KING" AND WHAT NOT. BECAUSE I SWEAR, THIS CHICK TAKES MORE TIME SITTING DOWN PLACES THAN RATHER DOING ANYTHING. IT'S JUST "SIT AND TWIRL YOUR HAIR" FOR THIS BITCH.
This made me want to rage, like this:
But then again, I watch anime in the early morning around 6 to 7:30 am (or 8) my time. And since I don't want to wake my parents, this rage has gotten bottled inside me.
Look, Restia is perhaps the worst excuse I have ever seen for a villain. Not only is she worthless, she pretty much does nothing. She's only there for Kamito to get all shocked, and for her to be "HAHA I'M SO PRETTY." and to twirl her hair.
It's worse to me that The Dazzlings, who I think are great villains and are a better trio than The Trix, are better than her at evil. And hell, they were in a kid's movie for that matter. That shows just how much Restia disgusts me.
So here you go Restia. These are the last f**ks I give to you:
Ugh, glad that's over.
Other characters include the headmistress, the teacher of the Raven Classroom which is the main class of our characters, the so-called "Demon King's" follow-up who has contract with over a million spirits (exaggerating, but still), Rinslet's maid, and a side villain who's specialty is cursed seals.
Isn't it so sad when the two other villains in this show do more than the main? Yeah, thought so.
Animation
The animation for this series was done by TNK, who are most known for fanservice. Highschool DXD, Daimidaler, Ikki Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor. These are the 3 prominent examples in these past 4 years.
The animation for this show was pretty good. Unlike their other shows, which have decent animation but fantastic TNA animation, they managed to combine a bit of both. And the fanservice was toned down from TNK's other material, which is a nice plus. It also is great when you have a different character designer.
So overall, not too much to complain about, again, XD
Sound
The score for this series was done by Yasuyoshi Susuki, who prior to his series, hasn't done much in the scoring department.
For a first timer, this score is pretty good. Some tracks were very good, including one that takes me into my mystery thoughts The battle music is also interesting, and it provides a sense of enjoyment. A solid first effort, and I hope he continues to do more.
The voice acting is pretty great as well. with a lot of voice actors I haven't heard from before made this even more of a enjoyment. It was fairly enjoyable, even one who's been heavily over-used was quite good as well.
Highlights include Makoto Furukawa, Shizuka Ishigami (who sounds so much like Marina Inoue), Kana Yuki, Saori Onishi, Ai Kakuma, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (who's now almost every single "heroic' main male character, it's not even funny), Ayane Sakua, and Harumi Sakurai.
Verdict
Even through some uneven character development and a god-awful villain, this show still managed to be better than I thought it was going to be. With a interesting story, some great character, and some good animation, it was still very exciting to watch.
To the people who have been cautious to try and watch this, go ahead and take a look. I think anyone could find some enjoyment in the show, even through it's faults.
I recommend this show to harem fans who want a show without a lot of fanservice, and to people who love interesting set-ups.
Score: 8.5/10
Positives:
Great storyline.
Some interesting characters.
Good animation.
Unique, yet interesting score.
Negatives:
Some characters aren't as fleshed out as others.
One of the worst villains in anime history.