Blade Dance of the Elementalers

Bladedance of the Elementalers is a 2014 Fantasy Ecchi-Comedy anime series from a studio that can be best described as Japanese’s one-hit-wonder animation studio, and that’s TNK. At the same time, any popular anime series is still popular at the end of the day. Can a studio-like them have a hidden gem within their backlog of creations? Potentially, but what’s more interesting is that this series had only one English-translated volume ever produced by Digital Manga Publishing, so that’s a flag right there. But this series may be better on the adaptation side than the source material, especially when the same studio creates it as High School DxD.

On his way to Areishia Spirit Academy, Kamito Kazenhaya runs into a naked Claire Rouge, a student who had been bathing as part of a purification ceremony. She had been preparing to form a contract with a powerful spirit to acquire more power as an “Elementalist.” Yet to be discouraged, Claire then announces that Kamito must become her contracted spirit instead! Since only pure maidens have the privilege of contracting with the spirits. The only maidens able to do so hail from noble families, and they happen to coincide within Areishia Spirit Academy’s doors.

After reaching the school grounds, Kamito escapes from Claire and meets Headmaster Greyworth Ciel Mais, who invites him to enroll at the academy. Although his life at Areishia will be far from easy as the only male student among the shrine princesses-in-training, he begrudgingly accepts in exchange for information about his former contracted spirit, Restia Ashdoll. Adding on to that, he also must fulfill Greyworth’s main request: to win the Blade Dance, a battle festival occurring in two months, where he will face the strongest Elementalist rumored to be contracted with a dark spirit.

A series with only one physical English translation that is not even in print anymore shows how much potential this story may have. However, what it was building up towards the story is a little better than what one may expect. The Comedic timing is pretty accurate and loose enough where viewers may not see the punch line right away but still be laughing as they mean it. Another positive within the story is that the writing is effortless to follow in a generic sense and doesn’t take any extra effort to keep track. The fantasy and action scenes are friendly to look at and pleasant to the viewers potentially watching this for the first time as they may have a chance to be submerged into the anime’s world.

However, those are the bare bones of the positives one could muster up while watching Bladedance of the Elementalers. First, the writing is introductory and overly generic. It’s best described as a Russian knock-off of a PBS show. The script does have good moments, but overall, the viewer will find the same setup and gimmicks within dozens of anime series released in any given year. Having a generic story is not always a negative, but when a studio chooses to use easy fruit that has already landed on the floor, there’s a massive problem within the story. The biggest problem that Bladedance of the Elementalers ending is that there is no end; it leaves itself on a cliffhanger to be forever unfinished.

Having a series end without an ending is questionable and downright pathetic for any writer in any entertainment medium. Considering that the cheapest and most basic anime series has a limitation of some kind, this story didn’t care to do one, and that’s unforgivable. If a viewer wants to watch a story – that’s good or bad – be a complete waste of time, this is the best of the best.

The artwork within Blade Dance of the Elementalers is a mixed bag of sorts. In some areas, it’s good, but in others, it’s below basic, which is unsettling. The art style is excellent in the beautiful color schemes and places where fantasy and action meet head-to-head. However, even when those areas meet, they are fundamental with little to offer that other series with a potentially more significant budget do exceptionally well. Though this anime is not at all bad when it comes to its designs or even the artists’ skill, the art style is almost a discounted anime series that is just being used for filler between other series. Overall, the artwork is flat and uninspiring, making the viewer get this series confused with another one.

However, what is rather interesting to have associated within Blade Dance of the Elementalers is that the voice cast is performing the ending theme song. The voices of Claire Rouge, Rinslet, Ellis, Fianna Ray, and Terminus Est are all performed by their respectful voice cast. Though unglue tie artwork being rather genic and underdone. Though the character designs are beautiful to look at and funnier than most of its competition, this may. Suppose someone loves this soundtrack. It’s not about looking at a new record store. BUY THE HOUSE WHEN YOU SEE ‘because it’s a first-come, first-serve basis story, just when the resident is alone.

Kamito Kazehaye is the world’s only known male Elementalist. He is a respectable and polite teenager with a shady past that he does not like to share with anyone he deems unnecessary to expose details towards one another. He forms an incomplete contract with sealed sword spirit Est while responding to a summon from the director of Areishia Spirit Academy. Kamito’s life at the academy is a little taxing, and that’s putting it very mildly. This is mainly due to the girls’ feelings for him. Having so many girls’ feelings towards him coupled with wild, exaggerated rumors and misconceptions about him is just as draining as running multiple marathons during the day.

The Elsteins are very noble people who have served the royal family for multiple generations since the Ordesian Empire’s founding. Claire Rouge is the younger daughter of Duke Elstein. She inherited the Elstein fire-red hair and eyes and the family aptitude for magic. Four years ago, her elder sister, Rubiam the Queen serving under the Fire Elemental Lord, snatched the most robust flame spirit, Laevateinn, and then disappeared suddenly. Although she treats Kamito as her “slave spirit” as punishment, she seems to enjoy books where the male character enslaves the female protagonist and even has dreams of being Kamito’s slave.

Ellis Fahrengart is the daughter of Duke Fahrengart, the head of the militant Fahrengart family. She has a contract with Simurgh, a wind spirit who takes on the form of a large hawk with the ability to transform into the form of a spear. During and after school hours, Ellis is the captain of the Sylphid Knights, a group of students who help protect the Academy, enforce discipline and morals, handle wild spirits, and any other problems on school grounds. After seeing Kamito fight numerous times, she is suspicious of how similar his fighting style is to Ren Ashbell’s but is fooled by an article listing her “preferences.”

Rinslet Laurenfrost is one of the daughters of the Laurenfrost family. At the same time, a prominent family was slightly lesser than that of the Elsteins before their fall. Her personality is best described as being show-offish on the outside but not at her expense of doing her duty despite being a rather shy girl who hides her concern for others and, unlike many, never treated Claire any differently from when they were friends to Rubia becoming the Calamity Queen. She was chosen by the Laurenfrost guardian spirit Fenrir to be his contractor. Due to being contracted with him, she is very skilled in Ice magic. Like the others within the school, she has the heart of an innocent maiden who has fallen deeply for Kamito.

Throughout Blade Dance of the Elementalers, viewers will fall into two camps. The first is that they love the show because of the cute female characters with skimpy school uniforms. Or there, in the smaller camp, they understand that this series was never meant to be a huge success, nor was it meant to have a large following. Considering that the writing and artwork are as generic as can be mixed with the abysmal entertainment of the production, this series reeks of the stench of fighting for a property that no one had read the source material and expected to ace the test. This is not a terrible series by any means, but it’s an easy skip to make considering that there are dozens of similar choices that do the same thing, and most of them are even better.