Overview (Spoilers Below):
Ray White (Kevin D. Thelwell) has inherited the title of the world’s strongest “Iceblade Sorcerer”. Three years ago, he suffered a deep emotional wound and left the battlefield to go into hiding. Now, he’s concealed his identity and has enrolled in the Arnold Academy of Sorcery. However, as the sole person at the academy from a lowly family, he gets disdain from the noble-born sorcerers. But he also meets Amelia Rose (Alexis Tipton), the daughter of the most prominent of the three big noble families, and a half-elf named Elisa Griffith (Emi Lo), and thus his life as an academy student begins…
Our Take:
Attending a new school usually starts roughly before it gets better, especially when you’re the only ordinary guy at a sorcery academy. However, it can be the opposite when you have a secret power underneath your typical appearance. This is the case for Ray White, a commoner with a secret past who attends the Arnold Academy of Sorcery.
The first episode of Iceblade Sorcerer consists of Ray fitting in at the academy despite being harassed and bullied by the noble students. It also wastes no time exploring Ray’s background during the process, most notably his involvement in the Far East War that left him emotionally scarred. Ray is also known as the Iceblade Sorcerer, who vanished after the war and is one of the Seven Grand Sorcerers. However, Ray isn’t the only sorcerer present at the academy, as the school’s principal, Abbie Garnet (Natalie Van Sistine), is also one of the Grand Sorcerers. Additionally, Abbie was Ray’s military commander during the Far East War and the only person who recognized him as the Iceblade Sorcerer.
At first glance, this series immediately reminds me of The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody, which I checked out last year. These shows showcase an ordinary person attempting to live an everyday school life while keeping their tremendous power and past a secret from anyone else. They also befriend several students during the process. In the case of Iceblade Sorcerer, Ray makes friends with some high nobility students like Amelia Rose and Rebecca Bradley (Macy Anne Johnson). He also meets a shy half-elven girl named Elisa Griffith, his fitness-obsessed roommate Evi Armstrong (Clifford Chapin), and a hyperactive minor noble named Clarisse Cleveland (Sarah Wiedenheft). There’s also Albert Alium, a noble student who constantly bullies Ray because of Ray’s ordinary persona. Long story short, Albert is the Eraldo of Iceblade Sorcerer, and I won’t be surprised if this guy continues to get on my nerves as the show progresses.
The first episode unsurprisingly makes haste in introducing me to its concept regarding its pacing. We’re swiftly introduced to the characters that are mildly enjoyable despite their formulaic personalities, including Ray, who’s described as a mature gentleman with a secret history. Additionally, the series benefits from its decent animation, mainly for its encoding materia scenes. Those moments are enough to elevate the episode’s familiar elements and by-the-numbers characters. Now, the big question is whether they can boost the series’s basic premise to make it stand out above the other “magic academy” shows. Only time will tell as Ray’s first year at the academy has begun.