English Dub Review: The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy “The Stirrings of a Bitter Grudge”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Leonis awakes from a flashback of how he first became the Demon Lord and spends the day with Riselia on her day off, which mainly involves training and helping out at an orphanage. Meanwhile, Sakuya briefly runs into Blackus and a research team continues investigating some possible Void readings underwater. Some quakes begin as the creature emerges.

OUR TAKE

This is very much a lul in the plot between last week where Riselia got her Holy Sword and came to terms with her new vampire status AND next week, where we’ve at least got some Void fights coming and maybe some further appearance by that big dragon thing who knew Leonis from a thousand years ago. Speaking of Leonis, after a couple cold opens focusing on Riselia’s past, we finally get some insight into where our little devil really started. Well, not exactly the VERY start, as he spent awhile as one of seven heroes, but where he was turned on by civilians and began his second life as a villain. Seems that after the big battle he partook in, he stayed a true blue spotless hero who refused to indulge in more material things like bribes or aiming for a bigger status, which then made him a target if he couldn’t be won over. His trusting nature got the better of him and he was killed, or at least seemed to be, as an entity known as Roselia Ishtaris approached him with an offer, and the rest was history. His goal since gaining her power was to bring her back to the living world, but that obviously didn’t go well.

Aside from that, we pretty much just get to see characters in their daily lives. You might think that having some down time would feel more earned AFTER a big battle, as opposed to right before, but there you go. It does work well enough right now, as Leonis is still adjusting to his new life hundreds of years after his reign and no longer has the things he once fought for. Being among the people in this current era, especially children who were orphaned like he was in his original life, will likely lead to him regaining his heroic ideals to defend those less fortunate, as well as strengthen his bond with Riselia (which is gonna be SUPER FUN to keep typing alongside Roselia if those characters ever interact). Meanwhile, Riselia has now gotten a means to gain the fighting strength that she has been desperate for ever since her family was killed, and a sexy outfit on the way if the OP and promo art are to be believed. Also, Leonis’ maid got a part time job to pay for donuts. Isn’t that just the cutest?