The Summer 2023 Anime Preview Guide

Reign of the Seven Spellblades

Springtime at Kimberly Magic Academy, when new students begin their first year. One boy, clad in black robes with a white cane and sword strapped to his hip, approaches the prestigious school. This young man—Oliver—must form a bond with a katana-wielding girl named Nanao if he's to survive the dangers he's to face at this school that is anything but what it seems.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades is based on Bokuto Uno's Reign of the Seven Spellblades (Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai Suru) light novel series. It streams on Crunchyroll on Fridays.

Post-Harry Potter magic high school anime has never been my thing. They've always been a mishmash of genre clichés and indulgences toward an audience's desire to see the invariably male, singularly talented student who no one takes seriously at first prove himself. He usually has a couple of milquetoast friends that fulfill the hackneyed anime quota for certain personality archetypes. It's a power fantasy that gives me no joy, no fulfillment. I expected Reign of the Seven Spellblades to be more of the same… but it looks to be something quite different.

Don't get me wrong; it's very much a pastiche. A redheaded boy and Literally Anime Hermione argue about whether magical humanoid slavery is ethical that could well have been copied and pasted straight out of the pages of Harry Potter. A fight against a rampaging troll is a bonding experience. The headmaster makes a vaguely threatening speech at the entrance ceremony, followed by a feast. And those robes? Straight out of the wizard movies.

Besides Headmistress Esmeralda's ominous speech about only 80% of students making it out alive, the script mostly keeps things pretty light. True, the cast doesn't get much to do besides expository dialogue and introducing themselves, but they each felt distinct without completely being a database-style checklist of personality types. The whiffs of personality we get here and there are pretty appealing. Protagonist Oliver's a gifted magician, but his talent for making up and modifying spells on the fly can be chalked more to creativity than general overpoweredness or being reincarnated from some uber-powerful sage or demon lord or whatever. Meanwhile, Nanao comes through as a person whose bright personality is half sincere and half a façade to conceal some dark trauma.

In fact, there's a strong sense of something darker rumbling just under the surface. I'm sure I get that impression partially because all the key art is of the characters standing in dark places with serious expressions, rather than the chill vibes the first episode gives off, but foreshadowing a dark turn while keeping things blithe on the surface takes a degree of storytelling skill that I've found rare in light novels and their adaptations. Sure, it's a basic competence for most media, but the bar here is on the floor, people, and Reign of the Seven Spellblades manages to clear it.

Speaking of low bars, I was also pleased by the lack of fan service, even at moments ripe with opportunity. Esmeralda's got enormous honkaroos, sure, but there's also a refreshingly unsexualized bath scene that focuses on the scars that crisscross Nanao's body– further emphasizing the violence she's endured – rather than her tits. I doubt I'll end up watching more of Reign of the Seven Spellblades, but it didn't make me hate my life while watching it, which is more than I can say for most of its genre companions!

Reign of the Seven Spellblades was one of the shows I was intrigued by when we ran the Summer Trailer Watch Party, despite—or, perhaps, even because of—the undeniable influences being taken from a certain series of novels about child wizards. After all, it offers us a glimpse into the alternate universe where Harry Potter was written by an unrepentant and very horny weeb instead of a deranged transphobe, which at least lets us pretend that we don't live in the Darkest Timeline. Also, who among us would dare argue that those books wouldn't have been better if all of the children just committed to the bit and used sick-as-hell magic swords to kill each other instead of those goofy little sticks? That's right, nobody, because swords kick ass.

Alas, the unfortunate thing about Reign of the Seven Spellblades is that “What if Harry Potter but with swords and anime boobies?” seems to be about as far as this story got so far as its ambitions go. This premiere lacks the hooks needed to make for a compelling story instead of a mildly amusing fanart prompt. The pacing is the most egregious offender here; this episode felt so long, despite containing very little worth mentioning other than reams and reams of exposition.

I'm sure the endless cascade of monologuing and basic dialogue sequences play better when reading them in book form. Still, for an anime adaptation, you'll need to do better than a mild ruckus during a parade to keep your audience engaged. Here's a pro tip: When establishing your large cast of characters, you can generally do better than having them sit in a circle and just… introduce each other, like it was the first day of school or something. I mean, yeah, it is the first day of school, but you know what I mean.

There is some promise here, if not for an especially novel or creative anime, then at least one that can offer some cheap thrills and entertainment once it gets past all of the setup. I doubt this will end up anyone's anime of the season, but if future episodes can pick up the pace and get to the story proper, it might do an okay job of filling up the gaps in folks' watchlists, especially in a season as lacking as this one.

Here's an idea – if your school regularly loses a high percentage of students to death, dismemberment, or insanity, maybe you should re-evaluate your teaching methodology. That would be my advice for Kimberly Academy as a veteran educator who is also the daughter of an educator. But then that wouldn't make for nearly as interesting a story as Reign of the Seven Spellblades wants to tell, and as a novel reader, I can assure you that there is a good plot, and a reasonably twisty one, once we get past this setup…which, honestly, could take a couple of episodes. That's the major strike against this as a premiere– it's trying to do a lot in not quite enough time, and frankly, watching mages go to orientation and then introduce themselves around the dinner table isn't all that exciting.

There are, however, a few points in the episode's favor. Although we haven't seen much of him yet, the end shows that Oliver has more going on than being the main character; if his older brother-cousin sends agents to ensure he gets off to a good start, there's likely more at stake than his GPA. Katie's defense of magical beasts also is worth paying attention to; it's a controversial enough viewpoint that it makes someone try to get her killed, and it starts a much less dangerous argument with Guy, who has a different perspective as a farmer. Meanwhile, there's Nanao, the token totally-not-Japanese character. Oliver keeps referring to her as “innocent,” but I'm not sure that's the right word – she's naïve, perhaps, or untutored in the ways of society. Still, anyone fighting in wars is almost certainly not “innocent.” I also applaud the episode for not shying away from showing her scars, even if her nipples are too spicy for them. We don't often see female characters intended to be beautiful with scars like hers (or at all), and it's really good that they're shown here.

For all of the solid choices here – Chela has blond ringlets and doesn't do the ojou-sama laugh! – this isn't a very interesting introduction. We get our cast and the school, and that's about it. It's nice not to have a tortured explanation of the magic system, and it looks good, but based on my reading, you'll need to give this at least two episodes to prove its worth.

You know, when I heard people say this series was just Anime Harry Potter, I figured they were referencing the Western-style magical school and fantasy creatures. I didn't realize the similarities went as deep as having a redheaded guy and a mousy girl with brown hair argue about whether or not enslaving sentient magical creatures is okay. It doesn't stop there. We've even got shockingly lazy naming conventions – though I can't decide if “Azia” as the name for this world's version of Asia is better or worse than naming a Japanese magical school “Mahoutokoro” just yet. There are some aesthetic differences – the kids wield short swords instead of wands, Big Tiddy Dumbledore controls the school, and one of our major characters is a samurai transplanted from the aforementioned Azia – but I could fully believe that this series started life as the author's old fanfiction.

That's not a diss, just an observation of the energy this show comes out of the gate with. It carries all the enthusiasm of a young writer wanting to show you their super cool OCs and wastes no time bringing our ragtag group of spellcasters together. After they're together, a lengthy portion of the premiere is spent on formal introductions that, while a bit dry, do give us a good idea of the rapport these kids will have together. They're simple, distinct archetypes that are likable enough and get along pretty well, with only the nerdy Peter being too uptight to join the friend group outright. They aren't an amazing ensemble yet, but they are endearing enough to carry a solid magic school adventure. I am genuinely interested in seeing more of them – and finding out what Oliver's whole deal is. The most intriguing aspect is the school's extremely lax attitude towards students reaching horrific magical ends in the pursuit of power, which ensures that plenty of danger and hijinks await our heroes.

The visuals are a mixed bag for me. While the show is more polished than many other magic school series, some of that polish feels a bit misapplied. I like that the backgrounds are vibrant and eye-catching since that goes a long way to making this world feel legitimately magical. Still, something in the compositing is off, making everything feel too distant from the character art. There are many outdoor scenes where the cast looks like they're standing in front of a green screen, and some glaring digital effects during the Headmistress' speech. What magic we've seen is rendered well enough, and I'm thankful to have not seen any magic circles so far. The character designs are fine, though they all feel cookie-cutter for their prescribed personality. Overall though, it's at least an above-average production and certainly off to a better start than most of the other fantasy series this season.

That's about how I feel about the show overall, honestly. It's got enough energy and decent writing to carry me along, and I did have a good time with it, so I don't want to backhandedly compliment it by saying it's better than the worst shows of this season. Yet I can only give it a hardy recommendation by saying it makes a decent diversion. It's not arresting or original enough to be required viewing, but if you like some magical adventures, this one seems like a solid enough way to spend your time.

Over the past few months, I've heard a lot of good things about Reign of the Seven Spellblades through both friends and general internet buzz. So going into this episode, I was prepared to have my socks blown off. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

At its most basic level, Reign of the Seven Spellblades looks to be another in a long list of anime set at a magical academy. The twist this time around is that everything is far more dangerous—to the point that one out of every five students will die at some point over their seven years at the school. While simple incompetence or dangerous spells run-amok contribute to this number, this episode makes it clear what the real threat is: the other students. In fact, in this episode, we see one new student attempt to kill another before they even reach campus.

However, this life-or-death event catalyzes to bring six students from varying walks of life together. In a place where trust is in short supply, they have found others who will put themselves in mortal danger to do what is right. If you can't trust people like that, then who can you trust?

Unfortunately, that's about as far as we get before we hit the 22-minute time limit. We get a short introduction to each of our six characters, a bit of information about the world and society, and a few hints about the dangers they will no doubt face going forward.

It's intriguing but I'm left feeling uncertain about the tone and direction of this anime. How high are the stakes? How mortal are our heroes? Is it going to be action-oriented or more psychological? I feel that after the first episode of an anime, I should be able to grasp that much. However, with Reign of the Seven Spellblades, it's all still up in the air.

In the end, of all the premieres this season, this is the one that most feels like it needed a double-length episode to start with. While what we've got is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it feels like it's still in the middle of laying the groundwork when the credits roll. I'll certainly be giving this one another episode or two but that's more due to word-of-mouth about the source material than anything in this first episode specifically.