English Dub Review: Reincarnated as a Sword “Catgirl Meets Sword”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

A sentient sword. A powerless girl. The adventure of a lifetime begins when Fran, an enslaved cat-girl, stumbles upon a living blade in her darkest hour.

Our Take:

Many characters begin their new lives as heroic warriors or devious villains bent on world domination. However, one of them happens to start their journey in another world as a sword. You read that right, ladies and gentlemen. The future savior of the new world is a weapon heroes use to slay monsters. Again, the isekai genre is weird sometimes, but I can’t help but enjoy it regardless.

The episode introduces us to our protagonist (Ty Mahany), who was originally an unnamed man in the real world before being tragically killed in a car accident. Now reincarnated as a magical sword, the protagonist spends his days slaying monsters and learning powerful skills. But unfortunately, he winds up in a forest where touching the ground drains all of his magic, trapping him for months. That is until he’s discovered by an abused Cat-girl named Fran (Melissa Molano), who lives as a slave but dreams of greatness.

One thing I should give the show credit for is that it offered something different in the genre’s reincarnation element. I’ve seen plenty of isekai shows featuring characters reincarnated as other people when transported into a different realm. Heck, I’ve even watched a series where a guy transforms into a fantasy knockout. However, Reincarnated as a Sword flips the element on its head by having the main character be a magical sword with telekinesis, with an enslaved Cat-girl as his wielder/student.

Aside from that, the first episode signifies that the show might become yet another isekai series involving RPG elements and plenty of violent action scenes. Although, it also has a few moments that could help it reach its enjoyment heights for me. One of them is the main character, who goes by the name Teacher. Teacher is seen as an ecstatic sword destined to be the most powerful weapon for his wielder by slaying monsters and gaining skills. While his quest got a bit tedious after a while, the character offers enough charm and humor to compensate, largely thanks to Ty Mahany’s vocal performance.

Then, you have Fran, a young Cat-girl child who’s sold into slavery when her parents were killed. She hopes to become strong after being beaten mercilessly by her disgraceful captors and evolve fully, which hasn’t been accomplished by any Cat-girl before. Fran also has a calm personality, even when frightened or angry. Melissa Molano, who recently voiced Akari Tokito in The Executioner and Her Way of Life, did a pretty good job voicing Fran. However, she has plenty of work to accomplish in the later episodes to impress me thoroughly.

Overall, “Catgirl Meets Sword” offers a fine introduction to another isekai series with an interesting concept. Regarding the voice cast and suitable animation work, it did enough to get me interested in the rest of the show. It’ll surely become downgraded by its familiar elements, mainly the teacher/student relationship, as it progresses, but as long as it provides enjoyability in the characters’ chemistry and story, that’ll hardly matter.