Reign of the Seven Spellblades is a Weird Case

Key takeaways from The Reign of the Seven Spellbaldes reviews\:

1. The anime’s plot starts as a typical magic school setup but transforms into a political and serious narrative with well-executed twists.
2. The anime excels in world-building, introducing various magic types, sword styles, and Spellblade characters with detailed backgrounds. Family connections play a significant role in the story.
3. While the plot and fights are engaging, pacing issues and rushed character development hinder the overall experience. Art direction, and soundtracks contribute positively, but character personalities fall short.

So, I am very divided on this anime. If you recall back when I did the first impressions article for The Reign of the Seven Spellblades, I was not particularly impressed by it. The pacing and content cutting of the anime really messed up some things.

Turns out that the plot really picks up after the initial episodes. Although the plot and fights are great, the anime is held back by other factors. I still appreciate sticking to it, but it could have been even better with more budget and care.

So welcome to the first review of the Summer 2023 season. And I am starting the review cycle with The Reign of the Seven Spellblades. Let’s get into it.

Plot

The plot starts as your average magic school plot with the MC forming a group of friends who deal with seniors, teachers and what have you. It quickly changes into something way more political and serious though. Everything that happens in the school has far-reaching consequences and these do come into play as the plot progresses. There is a really cool plot twist involving the MC too, that twist really helped his character.

The world-building is really good. Unexpectedly good, I should say. Different types of magic, different sword styles, and different Spellblades are all explained well. The families of each character play an important role, which is why we get a really detailed introduction to everyone in the first episode. I don’t like the plot pacing though. Nothing is given time to sink in, it is just one thing, then immediately the next. This rushed pace really hurts the plot.

Characters

Once again, the rushed nature of the plot hurts the characters too but not as much as the plot. Now, the characters are very stereotypical but what makes them interesting is their stories. Yes, a character’s story in this anime is usually much better written than the character’s personality. The MC himself is a great example of this. His personality is nothing special but the revelation behind his mother and his objective for being in Kimberly Academy are really well done

So even if the characters are very cookie cutter, without much personality the story carries them hard.

Animations and Soundtracks

The animations are really mid. It is the art direction that makes this anime stand out. The effect for casting spells, the character design. the monster designs, etc. look pretty good. But the animations are pretty choppy at times which is a bit distracting. The soundtracks though are really good. Be it BGMs or the opening/ending themes, they’re all really well done.

Conclusion

Here are my final ratings for The Reign of the Seven Spellblades:

• Plot – 8/10
• Characters – 6/10
• Animations – 7/10 (one extra point for the art style)
• Soundtracks – 8/10
• Enjoyment – 7/10
• Could have been so much better – 10/10
• Overall – 7/10

This is a -pretty good anime when it comes to the plot but it is held back by pacing issues and poorly written characters. The characters are saved by their interesting stories but the pacing issues are a bit harder to ignore. Those were my thoughts and opinions on The Reign of the Seven Spellblades. Let me know yours in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out all we know about Faraway Paladin Season 2 here!