0
0
Year: 2009
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Episodes: 12
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
What or who is a blacksmith? A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from iron or steel. A blacksmith will sometimes use other metals by forging the metal and using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths were known to produce objects like gates and furniture but also was the one who could make weapons and armor. History’s famous blacksmith is probably Hephaestus, the Greek God of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metallurgy, fire, and volcanoes. Hephaestus made all the gods’ weapons in Olympus: Hermes winged shoes, Achilles’s Armor, and with the help of the Cyclopes, forged the three great gods their weapons in Zeus’ thunderbolt, Poseidon’s trident, and the helm of darkness for Hades.
How about an anime set in medieval times after a great war? Swords and steel are the way of the world, and when monsters attack, a young man wields a sword that no one has ever seen. A young knight discovers the young man is a blacksmith with skills in making swords on the fly with a trusted assistant. The Sacred Blacksmith is an anime where some weapons have feelings.
Overview
Forty-four years ago, the world was sent into chaos with the Valbanill War. During the war, dangerous weapons called Demon Contract, where humans sacrifice their bodies to become powerful demons, were used. After the end of the war, the surviving nations declared peace and banned the use of Demon contracts.
The Sacred Blacksmith begins forty-four years later with Cecily Campbell. Cecily is a 3rd generation Knight from Housman, one of the cities of the Independent Trade Cities, a democratic federation of cities. Cecily comes from an influential family, as her grandfather was one of the founders. Cecily has extreme pride and honor in carrying on her heritage and family name with the wish to protect the city as her grandfather and father did. Even though Cecily is a knight, she is vastly inexperienced. Cecily’s world changes when she fights against a crazed veteran. She is quickly outmatched and was surely going to die when she is saved by a mysterious blacksmith named Luke Ainsworth. Cecily is impressed by the weapon that Luke uses, which is a katana. Cecily asked for one to be made for her as her sword was destroyed in the mini-battle. As Cecily tries to get a new weapon, Demon contracts start showing up again around the city. Cecily and Luke must figure out what is happening before it is too late.
Review:
I read the manga for this anime a long time ago and thought it was pretty good. The anime is meh in my eyes. It entirely doesn’t give the manga any justice. It does have some moments, but when you see that anime has only twelve episodes, it will either knock it out of the park or just be meh. This anime falls on the meh side of the anime spectrum.
The story or plot was meh as it revolved around Cecily and Luke. Cecily comes from a line of famous knights, but she is somewhat on the weak side and has never seen combat action. When monsters start attacking, she is saved by Luke, who wields a katana. The whole anime is her constantly begging Luke to make a katana. Maybe not constantly, but it seems like that is all she wants. In an anime like this, we have a bad guy that wants to rule or destroy the world from the inside.
Most episodes seem to have a point, but it doesn’t go off too well. In one episode, we meet Aria, the demon sword of the wind. The episode and Aria are nice because the character didn’t seem evil but was a kind soul. In another episode or three-part series, it had to do with a princess that was disowned and was trying to find a way to prove herself. It didn’t come off that well. It was a bit entertaining, but I could’ve done without that section.
The ending fell somewhat flat. We have this big build-up on who the enemy was and some back story on Luke, and then splat, was bored. The final battle tried to be intense, but the main bad guy didn’t even die. The anime set up for more to come, but it was an unfilled anime series.
The animation is the highlight of this anime. Is it some all-time amazing and fantastic animation? Nope, not even close. It does make it appealing to watch as the characters are drawn with crisp colors. The fight scenes are drawn in a way that will keep you entertained because they do go all out. Aria’s wind ability is nice to look at, and the whole forging scenes are fun to watch.
As far as the characters go, they are okay, but the character development seriously lacked, or it was a quick episode. First, there is Cecily Campbell. She is a 3rd generation knight from The Knight Guards of Housman as her grandfather and father were both knights. Her grandfather was one of the founders of the Independent Trade Cities during the Valbanill War. Cecily is a strong protagonist who goes through the typical character arc. She has a strong sense of justice, but she is shown to be weak when put to the test. She trains her ass off to prove to everyone that she is honorable of her name but also one who will do anything to protect her home.
The main male character is Luke Ainsworth. He is a blacksmith of great skill and renown and a talented swordsman. His backstory was told toward the end of the series. He had a hard life with tragedy but made the most of it by living with Lisa. He seems like an asshole, but when you see what happened to him, you feel a little sad for him.
Lisa was my favorite character. She is a little girl who is a live-in assistant to Luke. She is a demon born from Lisa Oakwood, Luke’s childhood best friend. Lisa is one of the sweetest and most caring characters in the series. Even though she thinks she is a burden, she gives it her all and will do anything for Luke. Lastly, there is the beautiful Aria. Aria is the demon sword of the wind. Aria is unique as she can transform into a human. In her human form, she is gorgeous, light-hearted, romantic, and very feminine. Being a demon sword, her past is filled with bloodshed. During the series, she forms a strong bond with Cecily.
The Sacred Blacksmith is one of those anime series that you can skip. It is a quick and easy watch. The story and characters are meh, and it has a few action scenes that will make you a tad interested. You can watch the series, but I would say skip it and watch something else.
