Anime: Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

Seirei is yet another entry in the crowded yet apparently popular action-based harem genre. This particular entry takes a lot of elements from various shows and patches together a rather interesting story and premise. Like in Infinite Stratos, our protagonist, Kamito, is a male among a sea of women; he is the only male who is able to form spirit contracts. Spirit contracts are somewhat like what we saw in C3, where beings can transform into a weapon form. He enters an otherwise all-female academy with the intention of entering a Blade Dance contest to meet someone he lost in his past.

At the academy he is quickly declared a slave by a Shana clone named Claire (who happens to wield fire-based magic and has a whip to match her sadistic personality). Not to be outdone by her rival, another girl named Rinslet quickly also attempts to win Kamito's hand and thus the harem begins.

Seirei is an interesting harem to review; it isn't quite as good as Strike the Blood but worlds above other recent entries such as Invaders of the Rokujyoma. Whether you like this particular work will heavily depend on your ability to deal with an incomplete story where many elements are teased at but never explained. If you are looking for a recent, action-based harem, this is a pretty solid candidate.

Animation:
The overall animation is pretty good for the genre. The show has fairly detailed backgrounds and above average shading. The overall drawing style is light, utilizing crisp, dark red-magenta lines instead of black, similar to No Game No Life. As for character styling, this work looks like it's targeting more towards the shonen category with large eyes, even on our protagonist. Facial expressions are relatively believable but nothing out of the ordinary. You do have to wonder about the practicality of short skirts on the school uniforms considering that everyone is expected to battle in them, even if many of the ojous are nobles (though obviously fitting given the ecchi aspect of the show). I was kind of annoyed that many of the malevolent spirits look like what you'd see in a generic fantasy game but it's okay cause they included a cute, red cat spirit as well.

This show has a pretty good dosage of both action and ecchi. Expect a lot of battles, many special effects, and a bit of blood. There are relatively few CGI scenes but a lot of critical fighting moments are cheaply rendered as flashes of color. Speaking of blood, this will usually be Kamito who, like the main protagonist in Unbreakable Machine Doll, has an inexplicably short injury recovery time. Not sure if this show is ecchi-based? Just skip to the ED and you should be quickly reassured. There is a lot of camera angle play, a spirit who thinks it's best to sleep with the protagonist wearing only thigh highs for some reason, typical "accidents", typical bouncy body parts, and a lot of playfully-suggestive conversations.

Sound:
The series opens with a fast-paced, electronic-spiced piece that fits with the show, though the melody isn't all that great. The song ends on a fun, almost Irish sounding, ED that just pans around still images in indecent ways. The BGM is very light and not really memorable, I think the mixer screwed up a bit as even in tense battles, the volume is barely audible.

This show has a lot of relatively new VAs so don't expect particularly strong character presences. Saori Oonishi probably is the standout for her convincingly playful conversations as Fianna. Claire just sounds like a Shana clone, which is just a bit overused by this point.

Story:
The most important point to note in this category is that the story is very incomplete. There is an event called the Blade Dance, which is held to appease the spirits and to find out the strongest spirit-wielder, and this season is entirely about... the lead up to the Blade Dance. In many ways, the story is very similar to Unbreakable Machine Doll, a strong dude partners with a female and enters some tournament. However, it also nostalgically reminds me of Kaze no Stigma, as Kamito is battling because he feels indebted to his former spirit partner, who now shows up as an antagonist. I can see how the show can be frustrating, as we are constantly teased by this former spirit partner and the school principal Greyworth, yet we never really get any insight on Kamito's true motivations.

Incomplete nature aside, this work has a good mix of action, plot progression, and character development. The story can roughly be divided into arcs based on antagonist after the first few introduction episodes. Each sub-story is tied together with the main goal of forming a team for the Blade Dance. If you consider that, and not the actual Blade Dance, as the primary plot line, the series does actually reach a conclusion by the end, albeit pretty darn close to the very end. There are a few interesting plot moments but overall the show lacks the engagement and energy of Strike the Blood.

Overall, the execution is decent, and the set up well placed for a potentially great and exciting sequel. As long as you're okay with few things being explained, this is a good story with lots of intricacies to cover an otherwise well-treaded plot progression.

Character:
This is probably where I was a little surprised. I'm probably a little too used to cookie cutter characters at this point so this caught me a little off guard. Many of the harem members actually have decent characterization and some background explication as well. There is a bit too much tsun still but otherwise the show has a good variety of character archetypes. Happily, the harem genre seems to be moving away from the wimpy, "you should like me because I'm nice but indecisive" type of protagonist, and this show continues this trend with an upbeat and confident lead. Furthermore, even the antagonists, especially the first one, seem to have a bit more character than your average series. My only qualm is probably that Rinslet never really has a chance and is relegated as a third rate harem add-on.

Expect pretty good character interactions and development. For once, there is actually tension between the girls who aren't blindly allowing the protagonist to trek down the harem route. It's pretty clear who the harem lead is though, so if you're tired of Shana-like characters, you might not like this show.

Value:
Though not an outstanding show, this was an interesting watch with a lot of follow up potential. If you're willing to give an incomplete work a shot, this is pretty decent for the genre. It's not a particularly complicated show so there probably won't be a need or desire to re-watch. Regardless, the initial pass was a fairly engaging and entertaining one. It's not perfect, but it does have a lot of elements done right. See for yourself if this is a worthy Infinite Stratos successor.