The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy

Template:Nihongo is a Japanese light novel series written by Yū Shimizu and illustrated by Asagi Tōsaka. Media Factory has published fifteen volumes since May 2019 under their MF Bunko J imprint. The light novel is licensed in North America by Yen Press. A manga adaptation with art by Asuka Keigen has been serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's [[shōnen manga|Template:Transl manga]] magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace since November 2019. It has been collected in eight Template:Transl volumes.

An anime television series adaptation directed by Hiroyuki Morita and produced by Passione aired from October to December 2023. Critic Neil Lumbard of Blu-ray.com gave the series a positive review for its art style, "fun energy" and Yuji Nomi's score, stating that "Studio Ghibli fans will want to check out the series."

Plot

A thousand years ago, the world was at war. Led by the Six Dark Lords, humanity as a whole was nearly led to the brink of extinction. However, humanity had hope in the form of the Six Heroes. With their power, the Six Dark Lords fell one by one until finally, only one remained. In the year 447 of the Holy Calendar, the Undead King, Leonis Death Magnus, also fell but before his capital, Necrozoa, was conquered, he sealed his own body with a powerful barrier and cast a resurrection spell on himself. He declared that he will concede victory only this once but he shall rise again in one thousand years to conquer humanity for that is the mission given to him by the Goddess of Rebellion.

In the present time, a young girl named Riselia Ray Crystalia stumbled upon the ancient ruins of Leonis's mausoleum. Accidentally undoing the seal, Leonis awakens after his thousand-year slumber in the body of a ten-year-old human child. Mistaken to be a refugee of the Voids, Riselia takes Leonis into her care and Leonis begins his mission to uncover what has happened to the world while he slept.

Characters

Main characters

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The Undead King and Strongest of the Dark Lords, Leonis awakens in the body of a ten-year-old child one thousand years in the future. With the help of Riselia (whom he and Regina affectionally call "Selia"), Leonis begins adjusting to his new life but Leonis also has plans of his own, including fulfilling the wish of his benefactor, the Goddess of Rebellion.

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Riselia is the girl who unwittingly undid the seal on Leonis's mausoleum and died protecting him from a Void; left with no choice, Leonis "heals" Riselia with the only spell he is certain would work, the tenth-order spell "Create Elder Undead", a spell that worked so successfully on Riselia that she returned to life as the strongest undead being, a Vampire Queen. Her parents were killed by a void when she was young, leading her to develop a sense of justice to protect others from Voids. She later develops feelings for Leonis.

Seventh Assault Garden

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Riselia's childhood friend and personal maid, Regina is a buxom girl who spends most of her free time trying to elicit a reaction from Leonis who deeply dislikes it (especially considering that this is the first time since forever that Leonis had a human body). She is in actuality the (former) Fourth Princess of the Integrated Empire, Regina Ray O'ltriese, however, due to being born under a superstitious star, she was removed from the family and replaced by her younger sister, Altiria Ray O'ltriese.

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Sword Warrior. Even though she was the youngest in the platoon after Leonis, she had a track record of conquering the void alone.

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A caring senior who serves as telegraphist for the platoon to which Riselia belongs. She has a history of losing her companions due to Void. She uses a support-specialized holy sword (Heavenly Eye Jewel), but was originally an attacker in charge of firepower.

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A childhood friend of Riselia, a Executive Committee member of Excalibur Academy and Captain of the 11th Platoon. She has a strong, ladylike tone, and she and Riselia argue constantly whenever they meet, but she is very protective of Riselia and congratulates her on her awakening the power of the Holy Sword.

Six Heroes

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The Archsage of the Six Heroes and considered to be the wisest of them all, he had survived through the one thousand years since Leonis's "death" and fights him once again as a Void Lord. He is defeated and erased from existence by the Demon Sword Dáinsleif but not before giving Leonis an eerie warning.

Other characters

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Media

Light novels

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy is written by Yū Shimizu and illustrated by Asagi Tōsaka. It began publication by Media Factory on May 25, 2019 under their MF Bunko J imprint. Fifteen volumes have been released as of April 2024. The series is set to end with the release of its sixteenth volume. The light novel is licensed in North America by Yen Press.

Manga

A manga adaptation with art by Asuka Keigen began serialization in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine on November 26, 2019. Eight Template:Transl volumes have been released as of December 2023. At Sakura-Con 2022, Yen Press announced that they would also publish the manga in English.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced on October 21, 2021. It is produced by Passione and directed by animator and lecturer Hiroyuki Morita, with series composition by Kunihiko Okada and character designs handled by Takayuki Noguchi and Satsuki Hayasaka. The series aired from October 3 to December 19, 2023, on TV Tokyo and BS Fuji. The opening theme song is Template:Nihongo by Chiai Fujikawa, while the ending theme song is Template:Nihongo by Kaho, with their creditless versions being released through YouTube on October 24, 2023.

The series was simulcast through Bilibili in Southeast Asia, while Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series outside of Asia.

Music

Template:Infobox album The series' score was composed by Yuji Nomi, who had previously collaborated with Morita for the 2002 film The Cat Returns and the 2007 series Bokurano. The soundtrack to the series was released on February 28 as part of the packaging for the series' 2nd volume Blu-ray release.

Track listing

Home media

The series was released by Nippon Columbia on Blu-ray in two volumes, the first on December 27, 2023 and the second on February 28, 2024. For the second volume, the soundtrack composed for the series by Yuji Nomi was included in the packaging.

In the United States, the entire series was released on Blu-ray on August 13, 2024, with the sole extras being the credit-less intro and outro.

Reception

The first episode of the series received mixed reviews from Western critics.

Neil Lumbard of Blu-ray.com gave the series a positive review, praising its "fun energy", art style and Yuji Nomi's score. He stated that due to the involvement of Nomi and director Hiroyuki Morita, "Studio Ghibli fans will want to check out the series."

External links

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