(L) Seiken no Blacksmith (The Sacred Blacksmith)

[aulzon]

It's a pretty decent first episode. The fight scene near the end with Luke and that monster was pretty well done.

I wonder if this will be episodic or have a main storyline. It does have that dark guy watching from the shadows, so they'll probably build up to something with that.

So far however, the characters haven't really clicked with me but I'll be watching more.

[itisjustme]

I liked the first episode, but what was up with that breastplate with giant boobs? It's just so ridiculous. =P

[justinstrife]

Cecily annoyed me a bit but I'm sure she'll get better.

btw shouldn't this thread be moved now since the first episode has aired?

[Manji Midou]

loved the first episode...the handshake between luke and cecily was lulz worthy as was at the line " please look at me"

Lisa is my favorite little elf so far (^_^)

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Manji Midou

loved the first episode...the handshake between luke and cecily was lulz worthy as was at the line " please look at me"

Lisa is my favorite little elf so far (^_^)

The handshake was pretty good. When in doubt grab the other person's hand and force them to shake .

[Tamad]

Seems like this will be a good Tears to Tiara replacement for this season, since every second just screamed of role-playing fantasy adventure whatnot. So as an actual introduction episode, I'd say it did about average. Nothing really stood out to catch my interest, but at the same time it entertained me enough to where I didn't drop it out of boredom, so I guess I'll give it a few more episodes before finalizing whether I'll keep up with it or not. I know one thing for sure though, that the art for this show is really pretty, and was probably the best part of the episode.

As for characters, Cecily is a mixed bag for me; she's annoyingly honor-driven and is all talk and no walk so far, but at the same time she's actually quite kind, and doesn't seem to let too many things get under her skin. I can't stand Luke's cocky, silent, badass anti-hero characters, but he has a good chemistry with Cecily and they're a pretty amusing and interesting pair. Lisa is cute and seems to be treated as this shows mascot character for now, but apart from that she almost wins best character by default since she's a loli. The only reason she didn't win is because the crazed, wartorn old man berserker was the best character this episode. Strong cast of characters overall, and I hope they get developed properly down the road. I want Cecily and Luke to stay friendly rivals, so hope Luke to be the one to make some wrong decisions and go antagonist halfway through the series or anything. I'm also hoping that Cecily doesn't surpass Luke's sword skills, but that seems inevitable.

On a final note, am I the only one who's bothered by Luke's eyes? They just look so funky and unnaturally drawn for some reason.

[deadlight]

Originally Posted by Manji Midou

loved the first episode...the handshake between luke and cecily was lulz worthy as was at the line " please look at me"

Lisa is my favorite little elf so far (^_^)

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

The handshake was pretty good. When in doubt grab the other person's hand and force them to shake .

Spoiler:

That's probably because he didn't actually see her hand
He has a glass eye.

[Manji Midou]

Originally Posted by deadlight

Spoiler:

That's probably because he didn't actually see her hand
He has a glass eye.

l think he was just ignoring her...going by his reaction towards her shaking his hand forecfully.....

besides he does have two eyes. 0_0

Originally Posted by Tamad

On a final note, am I the only one who's bothered by Luke's eyes? They just look so funky and unnaturally drawn for some reason.

One of his eyes is just like deadlight mentioned... that's why they might end up looking a bit weird at first

[slidingk1]

So far this is on my watch list. Anyone noticed animation quality went up a good bit from this season compared to the last.

[jedinat]

I watched about 10 minutes... it looks really annoying. Stupid girl pretending to be a knight, all serious about honor and crap while at the same time disgracing her profession by wielding a worthless sword and being utterly incompetent... I'm fine with naive protagonists who learn and grow as the show progresses, but that character at least needs to be plausible.

[chinaboat]

So what it boils down is: A bunch of fanservice, a loli mascot and a handsome teen age guy with a steely gaze who can basically fart out a new katana whenever he needs one.

This should be classic

[kujoe]

Oh Luke, you tsundere you...

I doubt Cecily will surpass Luke's sword skills. The guy wields a katana, which is pretty much hax in this setting. Bascially, Katana > European sword as the trope goes.

As for the episode itself, it's pretty entertaining. It's not going to set the bar in the areas of story or plot, but it's well done in the technical side of things. This being the first episode, such is to be expected.

I also noticed that the ED features another sword, which I assume belongs to Aria..?

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Manji Midou

loved the first episode...the handshake between luke and cecily was lulz worthy as was at the line " please look at me" Lisa is my favorite little elf so far (^_^)

This is where I'm at with this show, too. I'm not a fan of the genre, but I liked this first episode. I'll just ignore the monsters, which were pretty good as far as monsters go (which isn't very far, for me).

I thought Fujimura Ayumi did a nice job as Cecily. She has become a real pro. And I thought Luke's character design was good: not exactly attractive, more like a manly ten-year-old. Lisa may be the "mascot character," but she seems to be the one with the real power, too.

The plot in ep1 was okay: just character intros. If there is a continuing plot, it will show up in the next ep. What we got was enough for me, so far.

I definitely have nothing against Cecily: she was brave despite her fear, had pride in herself and her family, and even when she knew she might die, she was determined to go ahead. This is admirable, it seems to me, even if it is also stupid.

The protuberant breastplate was a mistake. The sword-smithing scene was excellent -- except that it seemed he was giving commands that didn't match the timing of the images. My other nit to pick is the title: he isn't a blacksmith, he's a swordsmith, as the kanji clearly say. Then the Japanese producers go and stipulate an English pronunciation that doesn't actually match the kanji.

[Yushi]

I am so excited about this series! Watched the first episode and loved it! XD Then again, I've always liked anime where the main guy enters the show already skilled instead of those typical shounen adventure ones where some newbie has to start from lvl 0. Luke is awesome, I loved the sword forging scene~!

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep1:

Despite the art looking cheap, both the magazine scans and anime, it was unexpectedly interesting. Stereotypical, but interesting. It feels average, but considering the lack of anything good to watch on Sat...

OP and ED are both nice.

What happened to the bad guy anyways? His heart, so... He became the monster? He died along with the monster? What?

EDIT:
Forgot...
But that chanting took way too long... To use up time? I hope they don't use up so much time with the chanting everytime he does what he did...

[MrTerrorist]

Originally Posted by Manji Midou

l think he was just ignoring her...going by his reaction towards her shaking his hand forcefully.....

besides he does have two eyes. 0_0

Spoiler for Correction::

One working eye and one glass eye. I think he didn't see her hand coming.

Originally Posted by kujoe

I doubt Cecily will surpass Luke's sword skills. The guy wields a katana, which is pretty much hax in this setting. Bascially, Katana > European sword as the trope goes.

Just because he has a Katana, doesn't mean it's better. It just depends on how well it's crafted. I wouldn't be surprise if a Claymore breaks that Katana.

As quoted by TVTropes on Katanas Are Just Better:

The myth of the katana being a better weapon than equivalent European swords (namely the medieval longsword) is debatable. Japanese swords use vastly inferior iron for katanas compared to that available for medieval European swords, necessitating costly and time-consuming efforts by Japanese master swordsmiths to remove impurities from the iron, such as the famous "folding of the blade". Folding iron is a common forging technique not unique to Japan, but Japanese blades were folded many more times than many (but not all) European ones to compensate for the inherent lack of quality in material. (One exception was Viking swords, which were commonly more folded, by orders of magnitude, than most ancient Japanese swords.) Contrary to popular belief, folding a sword does not aid its cutting or edge holding properties at all; it merely made it more durable by ensuring an even distribution of carbon within the steel (while some other alloying elements will remain layered).

On the other hand however, European swords are just as good, if not better than the katana. Besides aforementioned better material quality, the longsword was double edged with a point, which was far more difficult to forge than a single edged weapon. The longsword is a much more versatile weapon, able to cut and thrust, and the cruciform hilt construction is a lot better for parrying off blows than the katana. And the second edge allows the weapon to cut in either direction; blows with the "short edge" (which faces the weilder) are a major component of many Western martial arts. Contrary to popular belief, many longswords of equivalent size were just about the same weight.

Cutting motions were of relatively limited use against armor. Sword designs begin to heavily diverge here, as Europeans wore increasingly sturdier armor made of hardened and spring-tempered steel plates, while the Japanese, due to their poor mineral resources, continued to use armor made largely of soft iron plus non-metal components such as horn. Consequently, European weapons began to focus more on stabbing to overcome more vulnerable sections, while Japanese weapons evolved primarily as a result of warfare against those outside of Japan; the tachi, the main ancestor to the katana, tended to break its tip off when used against Mongolian and Korean armor.

But generally, the only thing that matters is the man behind the sword. Both European and Japanese weapons have been developed through centuries of martial tradition and along with them various techniques to use them effectively, responding to changes in the combat environment as they occur. So in a match between unarmored competitors, the more skilled swordsman will win out.

In other words, if you have a well crafted sword & great skills in sword fighting, you are the better swordsman/swordswomen.

Originally Posted by kujoe

I also noticed that the ED features another sword, which I assume belongs to Aria..?

Look at the OP, that might give you a hint.

[kujoe]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Just because he has a Katana, doesn't mean it's better. It just depends on how well it's crafted. I wouldn't be surprise if a Claymore breaks that Katana.

Yes, that was what I was implying by mentioning the trope in the first place.

The katana will get the special treatment in this anime; in fact, it's already being veiled in mystery. Cecily hasn't seen such a sword before and it performs well. In other words, it's unique, exotic and it stands out. It's special and simply way 'cooler' and thus perceived as superior. It also certainly doesn't hurt that Luke himself is already quite skilled in wielding it and forging it.

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Look at the OP, that might give you a hint.

Actually I was supposed to mention that in my previous post...

Spoiler:

...about how the OP shows Aria turning into a sword.

I didn't notice that the sword from the OP and the ED are one and the same.

[deadlight]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Spoiler for Correction::

One working eye and one glass eye. I think he didn't see her hand coming.

Yep, that's what I meant.

[Statonxyb]

Originally Posted by chinaboat

So what it boils down is: A bunch of fanservice, a loli mascot and a handsome teen age guy with a steely gaze who can basically fart out a new katana whenever he needs one.

This should be classic

Though I'll still watch the series, this made me lol hard.

[LusterFlare]

I liked the fight scenes so I'll probably keep watching this. What happened to the monster while Luke was forging? Was it mesmerized like Cecily was xD?