The Sacred Blacksmith [Funimation] - DVD Review

"The Sacred Blacksmith" is about a girl and a town on the verge. The narrative follows the elements of a would-be knight who has not quite found her full potential but must stand up against challenges, both personal and professional that try her representations of life. Mixed with some lurid fighting scenes in paradox to the psychological mistrust that revolves in almost all of her relationships creates an interesting dichotomy in the story without too much melodrama.Disc 1 Following the travails of a new would-be female knight, what becomes abnormally clear is that despite having a strong will of structure, Cecily (The Knight) has too much of a soft side to be a warrior. That, and everyone seems to pay unusual attention to her breasts (which might just be the animator's structure of humor). The beginning of the disc plays to a darker vision with the animation bruised in fire with some cool war sequences which highlight the anti-hero of this series: Luke, the local blacksmith who has an otherworldly control of katanas. What begins to anchor the story is the essence of the demon sword. Like the mechas that populate other more modern anime, this angle of more medieval structure revolves around the essence of demon contracts that take over people's souls. Aria, who is the first demon sword to be brought to fruition in the story, does not want to be used as a weapon of death yet that is who she is. Cecily herself has problem killing her first demon in battle because she believes that the human still resides within. This of course makes her the perfect master for a demon sword. The story is also seen through the eyes of Lisa who is Luke's assistant. She too seems to have a power over the katana that can defeat other demon swords. The last progression on this disc has the supposed daughter of the Emperor who has three female guards with her intent on taking Aria. Again when Cecily falters, Luke comes to her rescue even though he refuses to make her a katana. The tension is there but Lisa seems all the more intuitive about it.Disc 2 Resurrecting into the second disc, the narrative continues upon the fact that Cecily is both forgiving but undeniably structured into a notion of traditionalism which at times makes her a less than viable knight. The crux in the first few episodes revolves around the vetting of the Emperor's daughter and her claims to royalty. What becomes interesting in this structure is the psychological cross-section, however fleeting, where the princess connects with Lady Campbell, Cecily's mother, as a surrogate figure. This drama is offset by the comedic wrangling of the head maid who forces all the girls to dress up and do chores. The notion of Luke as a wounded hero persists more into play when the possibility of the scourge of the Empire impacts on his protection of Lisa which turns out to have a much darker origin than originally conceived. Topped upon this, Cecily's mother asks her daughter to be more feminine in securing Luke's affections. This balance serves the story well without overplaying it too much offering a bit of levity from the darker underlying baseline. Luke, in fact, lost a supposed girlfriend three years before who is very similar in personality to Cecily which makes interrelation that much harder. The progressing problem happens upon when the Man In Black (as is normal) sends a Demon Sword and soldier of his own to kill Lisa. The revelation of Lisa as a demon, made out of the death of Luke's former love, gives the story the depth it needs. However it exposes complicated through-lines which continue to mount. Ultimately the Emperor's commander Siegfried is revealed as the instigator of the attack on Lisa (and, by extension, the town). Unvariably though, his motivation and overwhelming arc seem a bit light. The final attack on the city where undead creatures are summoned forth definitely offers the artists texture to explore style since the color palette simply jumps with energy with the oranges, reds and blacks. Unexpectedly though, this approach simplifies the feelings and explanation of Cecily's defense of Luke and his unrequited love for her simply leaving her perception of closure for another day. The extras on the disc are spare but effectively structured offering the opening and ending songs without titles but also showing unseen previews that give more a glimpse into the original storyteller's mind."The Sacred Blacksmith", as an anime, follows conventional structure, but in dealing with dark themes, especially in balance, it offers a little more paradox to the nature of archetypes. Everything maintains a grey melancholy motif while the positive aspect of human nature rallied in forgiveness and hope is adequately maintained. Because of this complication in its favor, I give "The Sacred Blacksmith" a 2 1/2.