Seiken no Blacksmith is about as close to sword porn as anime is likely to get - gratuitous close-ups of everything from katanas to two-handed broadswords, even a sword that turns into a scantily clothed female - there is no doubt that someone on the production team has a borderline fetish for the weapons. It is not surprising given the focus on blacksmithing, however this is the more glamorous face which has a skinny youth forging works of art rather than leathery old men shoeing horses.
Kicking off with one girl's battle against a beast of indeterminate origins made entirely of ice, she is promptly saved by a katana wielding strip of a lad called Luke. Rewinding several hours, the protagonist Cecily is the typical spunky do-gooder: a freshly sired knight who sees off rapscallions in the market place before getting resolutely trounced by a derelict wielding a sword. Her heirloom sword broken, she seeks out her saviour and sporadic blacksmith Luke who bunks with an elf-eared child with a breast fetish. While the plot of the first three episodes isn't entirely predictable, there is a comfortable altruism to the proceedings that prevents anything too dynamic from occurring.
The series occupies an odd space between its contemporaries by being more cheerful than the dark-fantasy viscera of Berserk and Claymore but more bloody than the kaleidoscopic Zero no Tsukaima and Slayers. The bold colours of Cecily and her female compatriots is at odds with dull hues of the male cast members despite them occupying as much screentime. Luke's face by character designer Jun Nakai shares a striking resemblance to his other recent work on Tokyo Majin, but is the first of a plethora of other touches which are familiar without being outright copies. Even the constant references to Cecily's breasts - accented by her frankly absurd chest plate - are almost expected given the series' persona.
To its credit, predictions for the remainder of the series are difficult to form, the plot so far touching on ancients wars, hooded antagonists and deals with nameless monstrosities; enigmatic portents are scattered liberally throughout the opening episodes but only provide a modicum of interest. The series faces a stern battle to try and prove itself worthy of the projected twelve episodes, what it lacks in imagination it tries to make up for with lightheartedness but falls short of grasping either. It is an easy, brainless show which provides base entertainment but lacks anything engaging with a wash of formulaic characters too flimsy to relate to and a setting too broad and indistinct to get lost in.
Whether you enjoy and continue with Seiken no Blacksmith is purely a matter of taste and an affinity with the time period or light fantasy elements. There is nothing so egregious as to brand it as a sub-standard and with the studio and production staff involved it is likely to maintain that unexciting momentum. Certainly watchable but exanimate overall.
