Reviews

Jul 1, 2017
Mixed Feelings
Ah, Danmachi. With the harem/fantasy show’s legacy leaving behind such wonderful memes about its busty loli goddess heroine like the famous boob ribbon and ‘Hestia is Bestia’, it’s no wonder the show had a tough time having a complete positive footing in the anime community due to various aspects about it like its multitude of female characters wishing to breed like rabbits with its main protagonist. So how can you make a show like that into something that’s similar, but objectively better in comparison? Well, for starters you could follow the source material.

Story: Sword Oratoria is the Danmachi story shown from a different perspective. Instead of following the adventures of the Hestia Familia with Bell and his journey to become adventurer that he wanted to be, we follow the story of the Loki Familia and its sword princess, Ais Wallenstein, as she and those in her familia unravel the truth of strange going-ons in the dungeon and uncover a darker plot happening in the town or Oratoria.

In contrast, the story of Sword Oratoria is a more serious take on the fantasy dungeon story of Danmachi, as it features an overarching mystery plot that those in the Loki Familia attempt to uncover as stronger and more bizarre monsters appear both in the town and in the dungeon. As such, the plot feels a lot more serious and more involved, as the story shifts from a generally lighthearted adventure involving a boy climbing his way to the top, to that of a slightly darker story featuring a girl coming to terms with some of her demons from the past. The overall plot just feels better written due to the fact that it feels like there’re consequences and that there truly are stakes to be had.

If that were the case, then we’d have no problems. Unfortunately, the story falls flat on delivering that darker and weightier atmosphere that the story at first glance seems to promise. A lot of the heavier and more gruesome moments from the manga are absent, and instead we’re treated to the fangirling delusions of an elf mage desperately trying to monopolize the full attention of the sword princess. While the story is objectively better from a tone standpoint, the actual content of the series is littered with random moments of our new character Lefiya attempting to be what appears to be a shoddier attempt at being another Bell. This results in a lot of tonal shifts that draw away from the impact of the main plot, thus not only making things a lot less dire, but also making the new character we’re supposed to support, a lot less appealing to the audience.

The ending is a culmination final standing point for progression to the next point of the series. It’s an ‘ending point’ that only finishes the first part of the story that seems to be real final stakes moment, but doesn’t really feel that way when you look at everything before it. Arguably it’s not a terrible ending, but when put alongside the journey to get to that point, things could be better.

Overall, Sword Oratoria, while considered to be a better story due to the show’s more serious atmosphere involving character exploration and some disturbing aspects about the dungeon that weren’t mentioned before, still falls in its own pitfalls and makes unnecessary sacrifices that resulted in the show feeling less impactful and slightly more irritating to watch. Simply put, if we cut out all of the fluff involving Lefiya’s obsession over Ais, this would’ve turned out a lot better.

Overview:
+ Different and better viewpoint of the Danmachi story
- Sacrificed emotional weight for less important fluff aspects
- Changes from source material suffered

Characters: Instead of Hestia, Bell, and the rest of their familia, we’re treated instead to Loki and the expansive (and well equipped) myriad of misfits that she has managed to raise and grow.

Of course, if you’re talking about someone in the Loki familia, you have to talk about Ais Wallenstein, the mysterious female swordsman that Bell idolizes after she saved his ass. Several times. While shown to be a cool and collected girl in the original Danmachi, Ais’s character really shines through in Sword Oratoria as its main focal point. We’re given a look into her past and her own internal struggle, pushing her away from the idealized sword princess that everyone treats her as, and instead as someone who feels more human and wants to improve based on her current state when we’re introduced to a different side of her character. We also get to see her interactions and opinions about Bell in a different light, and it’s really refreshing to see who I thought initially was a boring character become something that had more to her with each passing episode.

Then…Lefiya… I’ll be honest; I don’t like this girl. Lefiya is what I would describe to be everything that’s mostly wrong with this adaptation. The show initially treats us to her as a compatriot of Ais, as the two of them are in the same familia and are often put on the same team together. Her entire character can be described as a low level mage who looks up to Ais and wants to be looked at and praised by the sword princess. However, what sets her apart from a certain rabbit boy is the fact that the show goes so far with her wish that it becomes uncomfortable. When she’s not busy getting her ass saved by everyone around her, Lefiya spends a good portion of her screentime fantasizing about spending time with Ais to almost disturbing levels. It takes away any potential screentime to be dedicated to the main plot, and it detracts any likeable characteristics that this girl may have had in the first place because obsessive jealousy is not a cute characteristic.

Aside from these two, the rest of the screentime is split amongst more commonly known members in the Loki Familia including Loki herself, some new additions to the cast, and a couple other known characters in the series that don’t get as much as a role since they’re not all that important to the story of Sword Oratoria. In terms of development, the majority of it is dedicated to either exploring the inner workings of the Loki Familia itself and how its members interact with one another, and some of the stories of the new additions to the cast that we’re given. I lot of it really is more akin to world building, but that really doesn’t serve as much of a problem since it only furthers expand the world and the kinds of people within the world of Danmachi, which is always a nice little extra to have.

Overview:
+ Ais’s spotlight develops her well
+ Side cast aids in providing more of the world to the audience
- Lefiya’s apparent obsessive personality.

Art: Made by J.C. Staff, the art for Sword Oratoria is the same quality as the original Danmachi. The colors and animation is clear, colorful, and evokes a bright adventurous feel, the action is fluid enough for it to seem like a good enough fight scene/rpg battle for those in the viewing audience, and things are pretty consistent throughout. It’s standard fare, nothing too amazing or anything worth getting excited over.

Sound: Similarly, the soundtrack isn’t something that’s worth really writing home about. The OP is cheerful and adventurous sounding, but nothing that memorable or special. Its ED ‘Day by Day’ on the other hand is a more laid back piece that completely contrasts the supposed more serious nature of the show. It’s a decent piece, and worth a listen to, but not really something that I’d personally give too much thought on.

Personal Enjoyment: A lot of things I’ve heard from the grapevine about Sword Oratoria is the fact that it was collectively renowned as a spin-off that is superior to the main story. Poking through it, it certainly was of better quality at least story-wise, as had a much more involved story with aspects that the original was simply lacking. This adaptation however wasn’t dressed to impress. While maintaining a slightly more serious tone, Sword Oratoria always felt like it was missing something, and the struggles with the characters in their fights felt too easy when compared to the scale of the creatures they had to fight. (This ain’t some tiny Minotaur anymore.) Needless to say, while I really hoped the adaptation met the expectations of the original, it’s unfortunate that things didn’t really turn out that way in the end.

Did I like this series?

Despite that, I did enjoy the series…relatively. Aside from the depth with Ais’s character, I really liked what they did with Bell and how they showed parts of his journey in the original story from Ais’s perspective. It’s strange to say, but I actually liked and felt a lot more involved with Bell’s story when the camera wasn’t focused on him.

What didn’t I like about this series?

Lefiya. Lefiya wasn’t like this in the manga, so the upped ante with her admiration for Ais to an almost disturbing, creepy, and downright mean-spirited nature towards anyone foreign who’d want to so much as talk to the sword princess was definitely not an aspect that I was a fan of.

Would I recommend this series?

If you’re an anime Danmachi fan who chooses not to touch or read any of the source material, than this is probably the show for you. The contrasts between the source material and this adaptation would make anyone who came from the manga side definitely unhappy. Despite that, the series still keeps many of the story’s aspects intact, and is still what I would think to be a much better version of the story simply because the core aspects of it are centered more on a centralized story and characters, rather than just one character like the original.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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