Review for Sacred Blacksmith: Complete Series (Review)
Saturday, 3rd September 2011, 17:05

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Introduction
Boobs! We all know that sex sells, and that's even truer for anime, the majority of which is targeted at the young male demographic. That isn't to say that there are not a grand variety of shows out there, a wide selection of genres and styles, stories and ideas. It's just that the money comes from those series that appeal to the core demographic, and as the industry has contracted in recent years (as has everything else with the global downturn), these are the shows that keep getting made, while the imaginative and creative ones fail to find funding. What that doesn't necessarily explain is why the same core demographic that exists in Japan, is also assumed to exist outside of Japan. After all, the US, and UK anime distributors have their choice of shows to licence, and if they so wish, they can go for the non-fan-service-y shows. But apparently sex sells to UK audiences as well, hence Manga releasing Master of Martial Hearts, Sekirei, and Shikabane Hime so far this year. They also have Strike Witches and Samurai Girls lined up for later. Of course the fact that I loved High School of the Dead no doubt tars me an utter hypocrite. But you know, when for the twentieth time I see a female character somehow lose her top, realise after a while, then turn bright red with embarrassment, while the usually uptight, or wimpy male watching said wardrobe malfunction suffers a gushing haemorrhage from the nostrils, before the female half beats him to death… I react with a rather disinterested, 'Meh'. Guess what happens in The Sacred Blacksmith. There had better be something other to this series than just the boobs!

Cecily Cambell is a young knight, carrying on the tradition of a long line of Cambell defenders in the free trading town of Housman. The trouble is that she's not very good at it, still a rookie, and has thus far got by on bluster and borrowed reputation. In her first real fight, her ancestral sword is broken, and she's almost skewered, before a passing blacksmith rescues her. Luke Ainsworth isn't exactly the hero type though. He's arrogant, mercenary, and antisocial, although he makes up for a lack of appealing character traits with a wizard skill at forging weapons, with the aid of the elfin Lisa. Try as she might, Cecily can't get him to forge a worthy sword for her though, and she certainly can't pay the price he charges. But there is trouble looming in the land. A mysterious cloaked figure is unleashing demons, using magic banned after the end of the Devil's Contract War, and Cecily's going to need more than just your usual sword if she is to stand a chance. Luckily her first real mission is to guard a demon sword named Aria. Aria can cut with the power of the wind, and has the added benefit of existing most of the time as a young, pretty girl. In the inexperienced and reluctant warrior Cecily, she may have just found her ideal partner. Meanwhile, Luke is looking for a special sword too, a sword that can kill God!

Manga Entertainment presents all 12 episodes of The Sacred Blacksmith across two discs.

Disc 1

01. Knight
02. Devil's Contract
03. Demon Sword
04. Pledge
05. Ties
06. Princess

Disc 2

07. Family
08. Departure
09. Remnants
10. Victim of Love
11. Truth
12. Blacksmith

Picture
The Sacred Blacksmith gets a very pleasant 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer, which courtesy of Australia's Madman Entertainment, is a native PAL transfer with the requisite 4% speed-up. The image is clear and sharp throughout, with fairly generic character designs enlivened by a bright and vivid colour palette. At the same time, Manglobe's animation is of high quality, energetic and lively, with a fair attention to detail and a lot of effort put into the action set pieces. It's a top quality transfer for a very well accomplished animation.

Sound
You have the choice between DD 5.1 English and DD 2.0 Japanese, along with translated subtitles and a signs only track. I gave the dub a spin and it was acceptable enough, with solid, if somewhat predictable English voice actor performances. The 5.1 surround was a little more open than the Japanese stereo, but still pretty front-focused. It did do the action sequences more justice though. I still prefer the original language track as always, but again, the voice actor choices and performances were pretty run of the mill for a show of this genre.

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