English Dub Review: The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World “The Boy Who Became the World’s Strongest Sorcerer Unveils Akasa”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

In order to rescue Rebecca from Evan, Ray has to face off against monsters and Eugenics sorcerers. Luckily, his friends join him, and they begin vanquishing their foes. Meanwhile, Rebecca’s, and thus house Bradley’s secret is revealed. Things take an unexpected turn when the orchestrator of the entire situation, the Sorcerer of Fabrication, appears on the battlefield. Will the Iceblade Sorcerer be able to protect everyone who’s dear to his heart?!

Our Take:

The Iceblade Sorcerer and his comrades are in the ultimate fight of their lives, including Rebecca’s, as we reach the conclusion of this mildly enjoyable yet admittedly formulaic series. I’m not extremely happy that the season is coming to a close, but it is bittersweet to see these characters one last time, especially since the second half slightly improved upon its first half. So there’s no doubt that I continue to be invested in its action-packed closure, which offers a few twists along with its action sequences.

The season one finale continues where the previous episode left off. While Amelia and the others continue to fight the monsters sent by the Eugenics, Ray hurries to rescue Rebecca and Maria from Eugenics. During his trek, we discover that one of the Eugenics members is actually the real Evan, who survived the incident years ago. The fake Evan who captured Rebecca and is engaged to her is the Fabrication Sorcerer named Lieselotte Eden. Luckily for us, Lieselotte is one of the good guys, as she seeks to defeat Evan and save Rebecca from her fate.

This resulted in a series of mildly thrilling battles between the academy students and the Eugenics. With Lieselotte confronting Evan in another dimension, Ray is left alone to battle the soul-devouring glutton, Paratrogo, while Rebecca has an emotional sisterly quarrel with Maria. Meanwhile, Amelia and the others struggle to fend off the monsters until Lydia, Carla, Abbie, and Carol arrive to save the day. Ray eventually uses his most profound ability, Pandora, to freeze Paratrogo in red ice and saves Rebecca from Overheating with Chronos Lock.

With Eugenics’s latest plot thwarted, Ray and his friends can safely continue their lives at the academy. Although, it isn’t without a few teases that’ll likely come into play in the show’s potential second season. One involves Rebecca and Amelia agreeing to compete to win over Ray, meaning we could see another corny anime love triangle in season two. The other has Ray receiving a surprising invitation from Ariane to join her in the Magicks War, which would likely result in Ray facing his traumatic past again. Finally, we have a post-credit scene showcasing a young girl waiting for Ray, who might be his little sister.

Even though its emotional core felt forced in some sequences, the finale of Iceblade Sorcerer delivered a satisfyingly cool closure to its first season. The show was fortunate to turn itself around in the second half. Otherwise, I would’ve given up on it before its fifth episode. While it’s not enough to call it the best addition to the magic academy genre, I got some enjoyment from its formulaic narrative and characters. If it moves forward with a second season, I wouldn’t mind seeing what direction it’ll go based on its brief teases.