4 Star

The Thousand Year Surprise.

From Akira, to The Cat Returns and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence director Hiroyuki Morita brings us the anime adaption of the Japanese light novel series written by Yū Shimizu. The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy is a slick sword and sorcery anime series that brings plenty of action and a cool twist on the demon story. With Hiroyuki Morita‘s involvement with “Studio Ghibli” you can believe you’re in for a great time with this lighter side of the sword and sorcery genre.

We start in the year 447 of the Holy God Calendar, where Leonis Death Magnus is the last demon lord to reign, as humans fight back against their tyrannical masters. Leonis has never seen defeat before, but with the human at the gates of his bone castle Necrozoa, he decides avoidance is better than confrontation.

“I graciously accept defeat this time, see you in a thousand years”.

Eons pass and things change, and one-thousand years later an earthquake has revealed a mausoleum, and Riselia Ray Crystalia (Selia) and Regina Mercedes from the 18th Platoon Excalibur Academy, the research division of the Academy, are investigating the ruins, when they come across a huge crystal with something inside. From inside the crystal, the entity thanks his benefactor, and his promise to find Goddess Roselia Ishtaris when he emerges in the future.

But the future is now and unwittingly Selia undoes the seal, and behold Leonis Death Magus, the ten-year-old boy.

He may be a ten-year-old boy, but he still has all the powers of his prior life. H

owever, things seem to be different now, as he faces two human girls and they are lacking in sorcery, but they do have powers, as Regina shows off her “Holy Sword”

Apparently nowadays demons are not the problem but “Voids” are and the Holy Swords are their defence against these deadly new monsters. The Voids can lay waste to the few megacities that exist today, when they come in a ‘stampede’ that can be brought on when a Void Lord gets its hands on the Mana power source of these mobile floating cities.

First they have to get out of the tomb. Selia takes Leonis (Leo) under her wing as they head back to the surface, they are attacked by these Voids. In the exchange, Selia is struck down mortally wounded, and we see Leo’s power as he takes the Void’s down. Seeing Selia bleeding out, he does the only thing he can, he uses his tenth-order spell “Create Elder Undead”. She’s healed, and they take Leo back to the Academy, as he obviously has powers, they think that his sorcery is his Holy Sword.

He is accepted into the Academy and the 18th Platoon adopts him, that’s where his problems start, with fifteen and sixteen-year-old girls running around in states of undress. He and the 18th platoon have many adventures trying to keep the 7th Assault Garden safe and Selia has a vested interest in keeping it safe, as her noble family was wiped out in a previous stampede at the 3rd Assault Garden, years before.

Leonis Death Magnus takes this opportunity to investigate this new world and lay the plans for his return as the Death Lord.

Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy S1 Collection is a great start to a new anime, and I am certainly looking forward to seeing more. Great stuff.

Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy S1 Collection  is available on Blu-ray

MVM