Seiken no Blacksmith
The Sacred Sword Blacksmith

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tl;dr: A manga with a solid story and a good beginning in terms of light-hearted storytelling, but that does a significantly worse job in that regard when it shifts to being much more serious. 

This manga started off kind of light hearted and amusing with a lot of comedy, and I think it did a good job with that. The characters felt likable enough even if they didn’t have a lot of depth, the comedy was good, and though the plot was still mysterious and not super serious it was interesting enough to keep things moving along. As it went on it got much more serious and melancholy, with it being downright dark at times, and ... ultimately I don’t think it handled that shift well, nor do I think the parts following it were as good as the parts before. What I’m talking about here isn’t the story itself, but rather how its framed, wherein it just felt a lot drearier. I’m not entirely sure if that was intentional either or just a byproduct of the pacing and this isn't a very good adaptation of the light novel. The pacing felt really fast paced to the point it felt like it was just flying through story points as fast possible. There wasn’t enough time for a lot of events to sink in enough for there to be an impact. It didn’t dwell on the times after victories at all, quickly moving to the next issue they need to face. So it didn’t feel like we ever really saw them being happy or just developing their relationships in a casual manner, but rather them simply going from crisis to crisis and hence things almost always looking bleak, desperate, or under pressure. As a result, though I was beginning to like them in the beginning, the character growth they had made them grow in a pretty depressing manner, so as it got to the ending it felt like I had less of an attachment to the main characters and their relationship, in that I kind of missed how they were when they started out. The setting and overarching plot were solid and interesting with good world building, though it felt like there were a lot of things they should have done more with. The ending wrapped things up in terms of the overarching story well enough in that it made sense and wrapped everything up, but due to where the web of relationships between characters stood and my investment in that as well as how it seemed to unnecessarily go through too much too fast in the epilogue, while I won’t go as far as saying I disliked the ending, I can’t really say I felt any satisfaction from it. The art was high quality but felt too busy at times and overall rarely felt like it was trying to look eye-catchingly good, and though Cecily, Aria, and Lisa had good character designs beyond that they were mostly pretty dully. 

Okay this is what I can say about the manga so far...

I originally watched the anime first and I thought to myself, it's okay.
Character development was weak, story progressed way too fast, but the plot concept was good; keep in mind that I am talking about the anime adaptation.
Since I didn't read the original light novel version,because I have like no way of reading it, all I can say about the manga is that it is WAY better than the anime.

The character development gets better.
In the anime we just see cecily as a weak girl who gets lucky in her fights basically.
In here we see ... her transform, we see how she trains to master her swordsmanship. We also see the progression between Cecily and Luke and how the two feel towards one another. So unlike the anime adaptation on the light novel, the manga adaptation is way better.

The character development is at a steady pace, and the way the story develops is once again better than the anime adaptation. So for all of you that saw the anime adaptation, give the manga a chance, and if you happen to find the english translated versions of the light novel online please give me call, for I can't stop reading the manga, and now I am curious as to how the light novel is different.

(PLEASE BARE IN MIND THAT THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION AND THAT THIS PARTICULAR MANGA APPEALS TO MY TASTE)

In the beginning it doesn't seem like a bad manga but as it progresses further, the heroine turns out to be a weak little girl with her head in the clouds. I don't know what it is with the manga writers (no idea what they're called), but every manga I've ever read where the main character is a girl, that girl is some naive little twit that thinks she can save everyone around her and has her spirit broken when she finds out that she really is a naive little twit.
-SPOILER ALERT-
The moment I dropped this manga is when she got to the line ... "you must save yourself with your own strength for the sake of that, I will even discard my womanhood" and then dresses up in guy clothes at a formal party. Seriously? At least OTHER naive little twits don't "discard their womanhood" to become stronger. Only an idiot casts away a crucial piece of themselves (and lets face it, it doesn't get much more important than your gender) in order to gain something as vague as "strength".
-END SPOILER ALERT-
This manga is a complete waste of the paper it's drawn on. Don't even bother with it. The only good thing is the plot behind it and even that could use some work