"Sacred Blacksmith" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure with some minor elements of comedy.
Parental Advisory:
The age rating is listed as 17+. However, this is absurdly high - the show's content does not merit this high of an age rating. Two or three of the episodes include some very brief scenes with female topless nudity. There is combat violence in several episodes, but it isn't overly graphic. As a result, this show would likely be suitable for teens 13 and up.
Story: 7/10
The show is comprised of 12 episodes. During the episodes, several characters are introduced including the main protagonist Cecily, the blacksmith Luke, his assistant Lisa, and a few others from the city. Along the way, the world's history is revealed bit by bit. Without giving away too many spoilers, there was a previous war involving a demon and the repercussions of that are still being felt. Some of the main characters are directly related to the events of that war.
Much of it is fairly typical for a fantasy story, but there were a few interesting elements introduced related to the blacksmith and how he is able to magically craft weapons with his assistant. Some of the ultra-powerful demon swords can also take human form which is explored in a few episodes, but is never fully explained.
Near the middle of the series, a new set of characters are introduced almost out of the blue. At one moment they a supposed to enemies, and then suddenly they are allies, and the sudden shift doesn't make much sense. A few episodes later, they are whisked away. The few plot developments and pieces of information that are introduced by these characters could have easily been provided in other ways, and leaving these characters out of the series entirely would have led to a stronger series, and provided more time to focus on some of the other characters.
The series ends on a cliffhanger, which seems to indicate that a 2nd series was planned. However, I have found information about this, or when it might be released.
Characters: 5/10
Visually, many of characters in "Sacred Blacksmith" are more normal in size and appearance compared to those in other modern anime titles. Most of the females are especially demure, and the males aren't overly muscular.
The main character, Cecily Cambell is an overly inept knight. She is a very weak character to serve as the main protagonist, and this is a drag throughout the entire show. Through the series, some other characters make jokes the size of her bosom, but these fail to be humorous, partly because her breasts aren't really that big, at least not compared to characters in other modern anime. Her breasts are shown briefly in a couple of episodes in an apparent attempt at humor, but the scenes barely register on the funniness meter, and could have been left out.
Luke, the blacksmith, and his assistant, Lisa, are more intriguing characters. Some of the key plot developments relate to these characters. I would have liked to have seen them involved in more scenes instead of Cecily.
The main antagonist seems overly cliché. He's presented as a mysterious figure in a black cloak, before his real identity is uncovered. However, it was really obvious from the beginning who it was for those paying attention. The lack of originality of this character is a bit of let-down, as are his motives.
Other characters are introduced such as guards and key members of the city government, but they don't get much screen time. Rounding out the characters are a couple of living weapons one of which gets a fair bit of screen time, but not enough to fully explain their background.
Art / Animation: 7/10
The animation in "Sacred Blacksmith" was good overall, but not spectacular. It seemed to use a lot of recycled art through the series. For example, scenes of the city show an ominous, yet never-changing volcano apparently spewing a large ash cloud over the city. This erupting volcano is never mentioned or explained. I liked the blacksmith's magic weapon forging scene, but that too was essentially recycled a few times with few or no changes in later episodes.
Some of the character designs are a bit basic but nice, and thankfully they were not as over-the-top as some characters found in other modern anime. The outfits evoked a fantasy atmosphere, and their style had a simple elegance. I found Aria's outfit to be quite lovely and rather fitting for her wind-nature.
A few of the combat scenes were enjoyable to watch, and they seemed to capture elements of the action rather well.
Sound / Voice: 7/10
The soundtrack and background music used an orchestral piece which was quite good. Other sound effects, such as during the combat scenes, were fine. The English voice acting seemed ok.
Enjoyment: 4/10
While I enjoyed parts of this show, it really wasn't that enjoyable to watch it. At times, it seemed like the story could be quite good, and it had the potential to set things up for a serious fantasy adventure, but then it would shift gears and try to inject comedic elements that didn't really work. A big part of that problem is due to the main character Cecily - her ineptness more or less forces her to be used as comedy relief for many of her scenes. It's like trying to inject a character from “Slayers” into “Record of Lodoss War” - the results are predictably bad.
Final Verdict: 6/10
I really wanted to like this show. It had a cool fantasy setting with a very interesting backstory, some enjoyable combat scenes, and a few characters that were intriguing like the blacksmith. However, the unimaginative villain, the sudden introduction of extra characters, and the focus on Cecily end up derailing this story, never allowing it to climb out of mediocrity.
