First Impressions – Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance
Do we really need another generic fantasy harem show?
The short answer is probably not, right? But, I feel that every show needs time to breathe, settle in, and make it’s mark. So does Blade Dance satisfy this?
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Something pre-packaged
Some QUALITY animation this scene
I was rather prepared for this. The opening chapters of the manga are only so many cut out cookies, and we’ve seen these before several times over. I can hardly blame TNK for this; in so much as they wanted to follow the source material. I know why they picked the show, as the Blade Dance festival and all the politics surrounding it are what drive the story. Characters can and will evolve and show true colors. But as stated, this was so by the book it was almost missable. If you were to spitball all the comparisons you could think of for this show, all of them would stick, and with good reason. At this point, we have little to go on with our MC, Kamito Kazehaya, only that he is in a place he shouldn’t be, having a power he shouldn’t have, and that they mentioned a great demon lord at least three times….
“…and whomsoever pulls this sword from this stone shall forever be the Queen of the Tsundere…”
In a nutshell, much like IS, this world runs on exclusion to be unique. I don’t really think it worked that well in other shows, and it doesn’t quite do the job here either. But, the females of this world can make contracts with spirit powers, that in return for whatever it is they get out of the deal, give their masters power. The training for this power is kept behind cloisters, as the ladies in question must remain pure. Add in a somewhat clueless MC and the story kinda writes itself. So far all four female leads we get this time out are not deviating from norm. Hot headed top guard, sociable noble with clumsy maid attachment, tsundere hot-headed first girl, and the mysterious other one. So for a premiere episode, it takes a huge risk being this generic. I think the word the kids use this day is “dropped”. Proceeding without that attitude, I can tell you that they start to get way better later on. So tropes are a good place to start once you put your own stamp on them. As for favorites Clair is just my type, as even the most tsun of tsundere’s can be rather entertaining if they play them right. And even in the first episode chock full of tropishness, they give her a little more to her dimensions.
All in all, not a bad place to kip
Now, with all these things in mind, this episode does have a few points that are somewhat positive. In the first fanservicy scene, Kamito does rather get what he deserves. That was a foolish thing to say to a young lady, and that is rarely seen in the “whoops I said something that could be taken two ways…bad or worse” department of silly things harem MCs say. It was dumb, and no excuses for it. And at least his accidental grope was coming off a heroic moment, saving a girl from her own brand of hotheadedness. So he’s out of the IS derpartment. As for other harem elements, he isn’t the horndog that Issei from HS DxD is proud to be, nor is he haplessly dating the girls to seal powers that whatshisface was in that one show.
Color Coding
Now, I am going thru the motions in asking if we need a show like this. It’s entertainment, you hardly need much of it at all really. But with that way far aside, what we got was as generic as they come, but with some promises. As stated the source material does rather heat up and tell it’s own story sooner rather than later. But that is a risk as well, as the best comes many LN volumes later, with the manga not even caught up yet. Since I’ve only read the later, that’s as far as I can go. It has promise, and I think it will make the “three episode rule” worth being a guideline. What did you folks think?
About skylion
All around nerd that enjoys just about any anime genre. I love history, politics, public policy, the sciences, literature, arts...pretty much anything can make me geeky...except sports. Follow me @theskylion
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Read the 13LNs in 36 hours… and here is the beatdown.
The bastard child of Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima minus the TsundeRie and the H level taken even higher than ZnT. Very obvious. Also very sad that there is no TsundeRie.
*cut and paste miniwall of text from elsewhere*
This show is about only one thing: Hentai
13 LN volumes so far and approximately half of each LN is devoted to the Lust/Licentious Demon King of Perversion (of various times of the day) ending up in H situations. Your hero is in the standard mould of unfortunate pervert. On the upside, this actually helped because it meant that half of the LNs can be skimmed through easily (unless you are a thorough pervert/hentai/lech/etc.
The bad bits aside, the more interesting half of the LNs looks promising. PLUS the character design for the anime is much better than the LN illustrations. Way better. The faces in the LN are so similar
that you have difficulty telling apart which nude girl is wh… err..Restia and Est in their waffe forms got a massive upgrade. Find some LN pics and you’ll understand.*start new section*
It started well (depending on definition), pervert sees cute young LOLi (is sixteen still once?) and then completely messes up the introductions (standard hentai harem protocol). Unfortunately,
this burning hair, flaming eyed,twintail, Pettan.. (no claire-sama! Not the whip! NOOOOOO…!!!!) happens to be the love child of Shana and Louise. Those of you that understand know that this is a recipe for a VERY hot romance…Now for the character breakdowns (and what you are if you are their lead fan(boy/girl):
Kamito: You Demon. Stud. Demon Stud. Your standard hero/main character. Not clueless. Has some past issues which will be explored. Also good at cooking and cleaning. Makes a good Waifu. Has dark secret as cute Ren Ashbell.
“Dusk Witch” Greyworth: HTF did she end up here… Blackmailer extraordinaire. Do not cross her nor get on her bad side. She will ensure your demise is slow and equitably enjoyable (for her, not you). Reminds me of myself. 😀 For those who like Fdom.
Claire Rouge: #2 on the list. Not related to the X-men. As mentioned before, honours student and excellent tactician. Lethal with the whip. The female version of Shiroe except with 10×10^10 more tsundere. Do not ever mention about her lacking departments. Only disappointment is that she is not voiced by The TsundeRie. 🙁 Her favourite cooking style is very well done BBQ. Like done to a cinder/coal (literally). Oddly likes peaches (given her um… you know). Has emergency canned food supply so when disaster strikes, you will never get hungry. For the tsundere lovers, ie mine.
Scarlet (not Johanssen): #1 and A CAT IS FINE TOO! Cute akaneko. E:3 Nyan… Meow… SO CUTE that Ellis wants to hug. Master’s Master is my Master. Read LN9 or 10 and you’ll understand.
Rinslet Laurenfrost: What fantasy harem series would be without the ojou-sama as the foil to the main heroine? Excellent housekeeping and cooking skills, like Hisui and Kohaku melded into one minus their deficits. Makes a good maid. A little tsun (more like frosty). Sniper with a bow. For the ojou-sama lovers.
Carol: Maid for above. Useless maid. Like Hisui and Kohaku melded into except she received all the defects. Makes you wonder who is the maid/master in their relationship. Also, like to pour oil into the burning fires of misunderstanding when it comes to Kamito.
Ellis Fahrengart: Hard on the outside but soft and girly on the inside. Likes cute stuff. Do not let cute stuff
near meher. Shy to show her real self. Tanks using a spear with the power of wind.Fianna: PURINSESU. Also, #2 blackmailer. Yandere is apt to describe here. Kurumi’s counterpart here. Fuufuufuu… Healer and support. Mischief maker. Likes to make people cosplay of the NSFW kind.
Terminus Est: For the Hadaka-kneesocks lovers. If you like to wake up in the morning with her suddenly with you in hadaka-kneesocks… ‘Nuff said.
Restia: *information reacted* Complicated story. More would be major spoilers. Kamito’s previous seirei.
Overview conclusion: Generic fantasy harem anime with interesting points. Has potential to exceed expectations if they don’t overuse the H like what ZnT did. Not holding any expectations but this show takes up the harem anime slot in my limited watch list. Only because Claire is an interesting character. (and A CAT IS FINE TOO!)
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
… spammy really doesn’t like long, coherent and carefully scripted comments, does he…
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
Yeah, tl;dr’s are a no go for the past few weeks.
Keep it short and simple for now.
Like say, you can’t spell best without Est.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I did say it gets better. Est is Best.
POWUH: 700-799 and Parkouring Fanboy with 776 comments
I couldn’t make it past 2/3. Only 2 girls & headmaster introduced at that point, but they were so utterly generic, following cliches to the point of parody, that my mind couldn’t take it. No real hook for the plot that entire time, too. Shame, because I love Kido Ibuki, and it sounds like it gets perverted later? I’m not gonna be there to see it.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…it sorta gets perverted later. But I do agree with you on all points.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
It doesn’t get perverted later… It gets perverted NOW. It, however, gets more sensible later.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Perversion and sensibility are things that aren’t easily mixed.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Oh god yes! Super generic ALL THE WAY and it sort of feels like a re-hashed Dragonar from the previous season or Machine Doll? Yeah…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It was pretty dumb, but not offensively dumb to me. Some terrible names, expy characters. But I’ll probably watch some more.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…why do we do this?
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It’s TV. Everyone watches dumb stuff on TV. It’s not all Nature and Masterpiece Theatre. 🙂
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s a way of saying people are flexible with what they watch.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
We are M? 😛
POWUH: 600-699 and LN Enthusiast with 623 comments
One becomes M by watching anime or one needs to be M to watch anime.
Which comes first?
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s an infinite loop. There’s no hope of telling where it all begins.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Isn’t it obvious? On the road to becoming an anime fan, a considerable amount of masochism is required to get over the top. Also, despite certain unpleasant traits (depends on who’s watching), it still pulls you in. There’s a banner on the internet that reads: “Anime: More addictive than crack”. I’m inclined to believe that.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
I liked the scene where he told her the only way he could serve her is by sealing the contract with a kiss and how far he pushed it. More gutsy than your typical spineless shounen lead, also indicated that he might not be completely oblivious to the romantic advances around him, which would be refreshing.
But yeah… we didn’t really need another one.
I’ll probably watch it though – for similar reasons to why my dad always used to watch crappy Chuck Norris films on cable in the evenings after work.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I usually always leave at least one bit out of a review; thanks for picking this up, that near kiss was in the manga, and it came of kinda flat…much better in the show; two good performances and good blocking in that scene.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
No denying the heavily generic elements but this Blade Dance tournament is kinda enough for me to go on a little faith for this series.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…I think it should settle down by the third episode…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hopefully whatever possible plot there is starts by the second.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Plot is already there: Our lovely crossdresser is looking for his Dark Waifu; which in the process of finding will get a Light Waifu, a Tsundere Waifu, a Yandere Wai…
Wait. This is not plot, this is Harem. Sorry, my bad. ^_^;;
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
I think that this series (in terms of storyline) is just too much escalated, each and every time I just say “Woah, well that escalated quickly”, and “Again?!”
But well, I just continue to watch the series, mainly for “PLOTS”, “PLOTS”, “PLOTS” and story. (Wait, did I type “PLOTS” three times?)
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Kyleus, welcome to Metanorn, good to have you here. I hope to see you around on these pages!
…yep, as HWY points out above, we watch with our expectations on.
POWUH: iLurker with 2 comments
Of course, I have a great expectation for the next episode (so far)…
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
woahhh I was not expecting to be late on this post :v
such speed skylion, speedlion much
First episode was pretty mehh, but the fact that I’m caught up with the novels also factors into why it was slightly boring for me.
Might drop the show like I unfortunately do with most series I’ve read parent works to, but pretty all I’m waiting for is le PERFECT WIFE RESTIA to show up some more huahaha.
The series gets better later on, but they aren’t even going to get to the actual Blade Dance Festival arc lol
I’m going to predict this series will get near DAL’s popularity though. Action+Harem shows always end up that way.
Incoming 1000 Kazehaya Kamito roleplay accounts on twitter & facebookPOWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I do what I do…speed or not….
I agree that reading the source can dampen things. Restia should be very interesting, Restia.
I’m rather hedging that they will get to something of the Blade Dance, even if they have to condense.
Good to have you back!
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I am hedge they get up to anywhere since a lot of the stuff is compressible and it all depends on how much H they leave out.
Look forward to:
Show ▼
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
As most LN adaptations take up around 2-4 volumes, they do have a chance of reaching the actual tournament since the arc starts at v4. The problem with that is v4 is honestly just the opening bit. The series revolves around the Tournament, thus taking up quite literally volumes 4-11. Should they enter the Tournament arc, they’ll have a hard time finding a significant place to cut off.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Hence the comment… BECAUSE doing it up to LN 10 is a lot to material to cover except that it can be done because 1/2 of the LNs consist of perversion and repetitive lines. (the main reason I could do 13 vols in 36 hours.)
And again, it depends on where they take the end of the Blade Dance Arc.
Show ▼
UNLESS… we have been reading things wrongly and this is a 24/26 episode series. Seriously, I don’t harbour any hopes for the show… The only reason it’s even on the list is
Ort…errr Scarlet. A CAT IS FINE TOO!There isn’t much you’re missing yet in LN13: Our dear Lustful Demon King of the Snow is attempting to bag Rinslet is the spoiler free summary.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
First comment on a post since like, probably last year, and spammy chomps on it.
Sad life.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Spammy makes no exceptions. Whether it’s comments from regulars or those who’ve been away for personal reasons. He doesn’t believe in special treatment. By the way, welcome back, Restia.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
Hello BB, your comment count seems to have nearly doubled since I last saw it? oh my
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yep, Metanorn as whole (commenters and bloggers) keeps me talking. 😉
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
Haha, yeah I see Metanorn’s comment commmunity is still as active & chatty as before XD
And the loli crusader has joined the ranks of the Meta Team? ho ho
POWUH: Meta Team and Ringleader Extraordinaire~ with 6433 comments
The Meta machine keeps on chugging 😉
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I still stick with Defender…simpler that way, even thou Crusader sounds really cool.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
skylion, LOLi Defender and Crusader of the realm; Cardinal of the LOLi faith and Bringer of Retribution to all Heretics.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…and the thickness is layered on…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…and if it’s a faith, then I have to be POPe. I’ll get around to commissioning cardinals at some point…
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I can’t believe you just voluntarily opened up all that symbolism…
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
…silence heretic…
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
*bow* yes your HOLiness. How would you like your heretic silence?
Calls dibs on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 😀
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
Just saw the episode and I found myself rolling my eyes the entire time! Typical harem antics right off the bat with MC-kun seeing MC-Chan naked = pervert label and he becomes her slave? Louise/Eco much? LOL
I will have to give this series two more episodes to see it it brings anything new, but as it stands right now I fail to see why there is any hype around this! Judging from the comments I guess it gets better? We shall see.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 245 comments
Tsundere red-haired heroine (Shana), uses a whip (Louise), maximum hue
Claire is a smushed up canon character, but the story gets better later on. Quite a lot of people read the Light Novels, and I believe the latest volume was 13 (which I actually haven’t gotten around to reading yet haha).
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I think your Seikaku no Dragonar comparision might be right. (Using the lechrous pictures that have been use for the reviews here.) Character-wise, I would say Claire is more Shana-like.
And there is no hype to this. If you waded through my moat of text above, it’s just a tactical analysis for those who want to chose whether to continue or abandon ship. My current stance on this is “going to suffer through the series unless it does a Zero no Tsukaima.”
-Meow-
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I was thinking Claire was more the ‘Aria Holmes Kanzaki’ type than Shana (I only saw the first series of Shana). She’s got that same kind of impotent heritage, same kind of hair style, same kind of personality, same attitude towards her new partner.
And Hidan no Aria was pretty bad, too.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
It seems like people compare every short tsundere to Shana for some reason.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
Well, Aria was a show I mustered my attention to get through, it was terrible, but it wasn’t to bad.
…and yet, apt comparison between Claire and Aria.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10997 comments
I want to leave a note here for those who have expressed interest in the show.
I will not be covering this week to week. It’s an OK show to watch, but after viewing the second episode, I find that I have little to no interest in writing about it. You should count on either a mid-series and/or end-series review. If the show doesn’t tick me off that is…