English Dub Review: The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy “The Elf Hero”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Leonis and Riselia continue their search across the abandoned ruins of the 3rd Assault Garden, finding a bunch of ghosts of people who served Riselia’s family, along with her old house. Leonis also gives her a special dress that should boost her abilities. The rest of the platoon come across Arle Kirlesio, an elf swordsman who lived during Leonis’ time but was mysteriously sent to the present in order to defeat a goddess and trained under one of the six heroes that Leonis served with. She’s been injured by a Void Lord named Nefakess who then attacks Riselia, injuring her in what’s left of her old house.

OUR TAKE

We’re two episodes away from the end of the season but we are now adding a LOT of new elements to juggle with everything else. First off, we’ve apparently got ghosts that can just sort of hang around for however long they need to, though in this case they’re really just exposition devices. It’s not like Riselia learns anything from them that she wouldn’t have also learned from just wandering around the remains of her old home. Heck, if the people who worked for her father managed to hold onto their spirits for years, why couldn’t her family have stuck around the same way? Then there’s the introduction of another time traveling hero, Arle Kirlesio, who kicks off the episode arriving totally buck naked because OF COURSE she does. At least her arrival gives us reason to properly meet the bad guy for this arc, Nefakess, and gives the rest of the platoon something to do by tending to her wounds. Oh okay, I’ll mention one of them by name. Sakuya also gets to remind us that she’s the one with the sword and faces off against Arle, but makes clear that she would’ve lost if not for Arle’s injuries.

As for Nefakess, he says he’s a “Void Lord”, which certainly makes sense if he’s commanding a bunch of Voids, but is also the one seen last episode gathering Demon Swords for the giant goddess he works for. Does this mean he’s the source of the Voids who have shown up decades ago and are the source of problems for present day warriors? Can defeating him mean an end to fighting them or is he just someone proficient in controlling them? That’s hard to say right now and probably not going to be answered in the remaining two episodes, but who knows. Also, Leonis finally gives Riselia that one dress we’ve seen her wearing in the promo art and Opening, so I guess we’ll see that all come together either next episode or the finale. I’d say that was the culmination of her character arc but…well, maybe it is. Her being brought to the physical source of her anxieties and trauma is probably a good place for her to regain confidence in herself with her new power and get closure once and for all. So, hopefully we’ll get that and more in the remaining two episodes of The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy.