You may remember, I kind of praised this anime back during my mid-season review. And do not get me wrong, I actually had fun watching this anime as I said in my previous review. But, I did not talk about its flaws in my previous reviews. So while I really did enjoy watching Reincarnated as a Sword, I also accept that it has a lot of flaws.
So welcome back to another one of my reviews. Today we are talking about Reincarnated as a sword. This is one of two disappointments in this season for me. I will talk about the 2nd one next week. It started out OK but, stuff kind of went downhill from thereon. I know a few episodes are still yet to air but, I don’t think they will change my views on this. So let’s get started.
Plot
Reincarnated as a Sword is like your average isekai but the MC is a… you guessed it, a sword. The first episode is just about the MC messing around, killing monsters, and gaining levels/skills. Then through a series of events, he meets the “true MC” Fran. We get no backstory on how the Shishou died or how he got reincarnated. He apparently lost his memories but still remembers RPG systems and stats. There is also no explanation of who the voice that Shishou asks questions to is.
There is a little bit of world-building here and there but it is pretty much what you’d expect. Some explanations are interrupted because Fran is not interested. This is adorable at first but gets annoying when it happens for the 5th time in 8 episodes. It is a coming-of-age type of anime in an isekai and we have seen better renditions of this same pattern in many isekais. In fact, one of the best isekais is a modification of this pattern, Mushoku Tensei.
Characters
Reincarnated as a Sword does have quite a lot of characters but, most of them don’t really matter. Fran and Shishou pretty much carry this anime in this regard. The rest of the characters just exist, some of them do play slightly important roles in the story but none of them are particularly memorable. Shishou is a fairly entertaining character and Fran is genuinely adorable but that is about it.
Animations and Soundtracks
Oh boy… this is truly the place where Reincarnated as a Sword truly falls off. While I do like the art style of this anime, the animations are pretty bad. Only the bare minimum stuff is animated, they don’t even bother with the background. And a lot of small details are pretty jarring once you notice them. For example, there is no blood on Shishou, ever. No matter how many monsters he cuts, there is no blood on him.
And then the soundtracks… oh god. The sound effects of this anime sound like stock cartoon sound effects. I’d say even the stock cartoon sound effects sound better. The BGMs are nothing new as well. You won’t immediately notice all this but once you do, it hurts. The only good thing about the sound design is the opening theme.
Conclusion
Well, here are my final scores for Reincarnated as a Sword:
- Plot – 4/10
- Characters – 6/10
- Animations – 5/10
- Soundtracks – 5/10
- Enjoyment – 7/10
- Could Have Been Better – 10/10
- Overall – 5/10
Well, those were my views on Reincarnated as a Sword. I don’t like giving harsh reviews to animes I enjoyed watching but there is some stuff I just cannot overlook. I still recommend checking out this anime though, it is good for turning off your brain and enjoying it. This is all subjective though, so let me know what you think in the comments. And yeah, I will take my leave here. See ya!!
