Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru
Reign of the Seven Spellblades

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WARNING:
1) There will be light spoilers from Alderamin On The Sky Volume 1 or Episode 1-4.
2) This light novel is dark.

For anyone who does not know about the author, Bokuto Uno. He also wrote Alderamin On The Sky. I have already written a separate review on it, suspecting he is a Gundam fan when the series go into Turn A Gundam in Volume 12. I really enjoyed his writing, such as his plot twists and likeable characters. And therefore, I decided to pick his new work, Reign Of The Seven Spellblades. Before I go deeply into the review, I will share the aftermath of Alderamin ... On The Sky.

Last 5 paragraphs of Alderamin On The Sky Volume 14 Aftermath (credit goes to SkyTheWood for his translation):

… And after reminiscing about the after taste of this series, please
turn to the next page.

Starting from here will be a completely different story. I, Bokuto Uno,
who spent seven years to complete 《Alderamin》, will use the
confidence I have accumulated over these years to start a new story.

I’m certain that everyone who reads this far will be intrigued.

The settings of the story will be different, from the war torn world of
Sprites and Science, to a world of sword and sorcery filled with
supernatural and mysteries… However, since it’s a story I wrote, it’s
nature will still be the same.

Come── Let’s start a story about humans.

---- End of aftermath ----

Which means that this story is about humans~
My reaction in Volume 1: Nice illustrations! Garuda in a story about humans! :)

I will now explain the sypnosis of Reign Of The Seven Spellblades.

The story is set in Kimberly Magic Academy. Basically Hogwarts from Harry Potter, not those typical magical academy we see in light novels nowadays.

The male protagonist, Oliver Horn, enrolls into Kimberly for a reason that will be explained in the epilogue of Volume 1. When Oliver enrolls, he made new friends, Nanao, Guy, Pete, Katie and Michela.

However, Kimberly Magic Academy is different from most magic academy we see nowadays. The professors do not care if the students are injured or killed. The curriculums are dangerous. Students getting injured during practical lessons are a norm.

Like Harry Potter, the types of lessons includes alchemy, magical biology (griffin, succubus), magical engineering, curses, riding on a broomstick and even swordsmanship.

The school is dangerous at night. If the students are not in the dormitories, they might be tranported into the labyrinth. There is a labyrinth under the castle, which is dangerous filled with monsters. There are wyverns, dragons, skeletons in the labyrinth. In the labyrinth, there are older students dueling inside. Some of the older students capture younger students for human experimentation. Hence, first-year and second-year students are encouraged not visit the labyrinth. Prefects are patrolling at night to ensure younger students do not get trapped in the labyrinth.

Now to the characters, there are 6 major characters, just like Alderamin On The Sky:

Oliver Horn. Male protagonist of the series. He is a jack-of-all-trades, masters-of-none. Oliver does not specialise in anything, his intelligence makes up for his lack of specialty.

Hibiya Nanao. Female protagonist of the series. She is a samurai from Azia, fictional Japan. Nanao is a strong swordswoman and has high magic aptitude, but she is an airhead. Her intelligence is so bad that Oliver has to look out for her reckless and stupid actions. Nanao wants to duel with Oliver to the death. Nanao enrolled after being scouted by one of the professors.

Guy Greenword. Guy is from a magical farmer and knowledgeable about magical flora. Guy is the second airhead. Guy is the friendly guy in the group but does not get along with Katie. Quite similar to Ron from Harry Potter.

Pete Reston. Pete is born in a nonmagical family, kinda like Hermione from Harry Potter. Pete is a tsundere and a hardworking loner who vists the library regularly, similar to Hermione. >_>

Katie Aalto. Katie is from a foreign country and her parents are activists advocating for demi-humans rights. Has passion in magical biology. Katie personality is similar to Chamille from Alderamin, can be naive at times. Katie has a crush on Oliver.

Michela MacFarlane. Michela is a noble. Her father is a professor in Kimberly Magic Academy. He is also the one who scouted Nanao into Kimberly. Michela is similar to Yatotishino from Alderamin, excelling in everything.

Who do I recommend this light novel to?
1) Harry Potter fans. Kimberly is more similar to Hogwarts than most of the magic schools we see in recent anime / manga / light novel.
2) Made In Abyss fans. The labyrinth is as exciting to the one in Made In Abyss.
3) Full Metal Alchemist and Berserk fan. This light novel is dark.

Who do I not recommend this light novel to?
1) Young children. This light novel is too dark for young children. Read Harry Potter to them instead.
2) People who wants overpowered protagonists. None of the major characters are overpowered. Oliver gets heavily injured in fights.

My thoughts on it? I enjoyed it.

What I like:
1) Great plot twists. It is written by Bokuto Uno, so I am not surprised.
2) Likeable characters. Hopefully none of them gets killed off. A lot of characters have been killed off based on Volume 5.
3) Great worldbuilding. Combination of Harry Potter and Made In Abyss.
4) Beautiful illustrations. I will never pick up the manga after looking at the beautiful illustrations in the light novel.

What I dislike:
1) Fights can become too battle-shounen at times. Well, students get killed off in fights. There are students who can turn into werewolves.
2) Pacing can be slow at times. Especially between Volume 2 and Volume 4.
Overall, I have a lot of fun with it. I will continue reading this light novel and update this review. Hope that this review helps in deciding if you should pick up this light novel. :)

Very minor spoilers for the first book/first half of the anime, nothing you couldn't see coming thanks to the heavy foreshadowing used in both.


I jumped headfirst into the series after a certain twist while watching the anime, excited to see how the story builds on things from there, but was incredibly disappointed because it just... Doesn't.

Instead, afterwards we get a load of totally not quidditch, cringey magical sex ed and everyone being in love with the main character but no one making a move. That is, when we actually focus on the main characters at all. About half of each book focuses on barely related ... characters and their stories. At times it feels like someone accidentally spilt an anthology of short stories into the main books considering so much time is spent on them and almost none is spent on the more interesting and much more relevant characters or plot points, like the cousins of his family, the other people helping the MC, or even the main characters themselves. Ashbury's broomriding subplot is the most offensive example considering it barely connects to just one of the main characters and as far as I can tell had no actual impact on anything. It's almost like someone put a filler arc into the book considering how little it involves the main cast and the impact it has.

Having finished the eight translated books there still don't appear to be any answers to even the most basic questions the end of the first book poses, like why do these people work with and have the same goals as Oliver? It'd be nice to think it's a show don't tell thing, but nothing else in these books make me think the writer's capable of anything of the sort. Like, we're constantly told that most people in magical society are evil and cruel, but other than the mustache twirling bad guys no one we meet is actually like that. On top of that, everything else is overexplained, partly because new concepts are constantly being thrown in rather than using already established ones.
One good example of this is 'grave soil' and other similar techniques that are mentioned a lot early on but then almost never come up again. Instead we forget all about the fact that the MC's spent ages getting good with that kind of magic and has gone through brutal training to do so. No techniques or characters evolve or grow, instead we get timeskips and suddenly they can do things they couldn't do before and behave completely differently. Like, say, a certain bookworm turning into a yandere at one point and it never coming up again.

While reading through the first book which is as far as the anime's covered at time of writing, I couldn't help feeling that unlike in most adaptations, the anime's done a service to the books by cutting a lot of the unnecessary stuff away. I'd gone into the books hoping to find out more about the characters and the world, but instead I got things like characters explaining what just happened - right after that's been described. For example, 'Nanao turns and swings her sword' followed by someone going, "Did you see? Nanao swung her sword!" Except it's far worse because instead of a few words, each of those is paragraphs long instead.

When that's not happening, people are gushing about how cool the MC is or looking at their friends and realising for the 50th time that, wow, I have the strength to do things I wouldn't otherwise thanks to the people around me! Honestly, sometimes it feels like these characters wouldn't be able to make it the bathroom without the encouragement and support of multiple people, and by skipping so much gushing and internal monologue, the anime does a much better job of keeping things from getting bogged down.

I was tempted to drop the series multiple times, and the only reason it gets a score as high as 4 is because I was interested in seeing where it was going. But, looking back at it now, the answer was nowhere, and I really should have given up on it before getting as far as I did.

In Kimberly Magic Academy, nothing bad ever happens.

So let's hop onboard our broomsticks, pick up our wands and athames, and have a fun magical adventure with Oliver Horn and friends. In the school, we learn how to brew potions, fire spells, and wave a sword. Purely for defence, of course. Let's explore the halls of the academy and discover various fantasy environments and magical beasts. Maybe there is even time for broomstick games and cordial sparring. If you are ever in need of aid, you can rely on the kindhearted people of the academy. The mages' friendship is truly inseparable.







...Well, none of the characters ... are radically evil at their core. That part is true. They do not commit evil deeds for the sake of evil itself. They commit outrageous atrocities, but their path to them is believable and sympathetic. In fact, they work tirelessly for the benefit of their loved ones, mankind, or all sapient beings. All for their deeply held beliefs, for their sense of justice, for the society they envision.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. True darkness is not cutting down hordes of evil demons. It is the dawning realization that you will end up killing people you genuinely like.

"How much simpler things would be if they were all easily detested."

Reign of the seven spellblades is a light novel series that piqued my interest when the anime adaptation was first announced. As a kid I have always loved harry potter, and this was one of the few magic school stories that was similar to it. While it is far from perfect, I can confidently say that reign of the seven spellblades is the light novel that I have had the most fun with.

What stands out the most about this light novel is its worldbuilding. The story is set in the magical school of Kimberly, a place that is known for its rigorous training but also ... danger, as many students are killed or 'consumed by the spell' every year. We follow the protagonist Oliver as he meets new friends and uncovers the many dark secrets in the world of magic. While some of the early chapters might seem a bit slow, it is absolutely necessary for establishing the setting and tone of the school. All of this pays off, as the ending of volume 1 reveals the protagonist's true intentions, and truly begins the story. Unlike many other magic stories, Nanatsuma has many unique things to its world. There is the inclusion of sword arts and spellblades which adds a layer to its combat and magic, the many layers of the labyrinth beneath the school, and even the existence of gnostic hunters and interdimensional invasions in the outside world. All of these topics are slowly explored throughout the story, urging me to continue reading and delve deeper into its world.

As mentioned before, the story has a darker tone, which I really enjoy. Both students and teachers are not afraid to hold back during fights, as the existence of healing spells means that as long as they're not dead, everything is fine. Having students die in the labyrinth while researching magic is not an uncommon thing, and is even encouraged in the magic world as it helps push forward the development of magic. This philosophy allows many crazy battles to happen that normally wouldn't be allowed in schools.

The story does have your occasional light novel ecchi moments, but at the same time it is handled in quite a nice way. The concept of sex and sexuality in the magic world is viewed very differently, with many seeing it as a way to enhance their mana or to make their bloodline stronger, which helps the author discuss about lots of topics without making it too weird. Another weakness of the story would be that there are many characters, which could make it hard to properly develop them at the same time. However, the light novel is far from finished and the characters have only reached their third year, so there is still plenty of time for them to grow more.

If you want to jump into a vast world of magic, filled with many mysteries and many layers to its lore, reign of the seven spellblades is the story that will make you keep wanting for more. With the current state of the story, I cannot wait to see how the story continues.

Ignore typos..

Story : 5~6

The story here is pretty solid at some parts but otherwise convoluted and boring. We have the whole animal rights vs old school storyline which is quite interesting. Normally I would have found it horrible but some plot twists made it alright. The whole noble vs commoner thing is not approached in a very creative manner but is still solid. The main issue is that they spend 90% of the first two books helping this one girl with all of her problems due to her mindset. Aside from her the mc has the most interesting storyline by far and carries, ... unfortunately, he has like 15 pages of content.

Art : 6

The art is your generic LN art. The mc and fl characters are good designs, the rest of them not so much.

Character : 4

MC has the best character and is interesting. Fl has an interesting character but gets not a lot of spotlight.. Katie's character is surprisingly annoying. Develops from being silly to naive. Guy has no change at all, and the author just randomly makes the glasses kid a reversi. sure he changed but as far as im considered he didn't develop at all.

Enjoyment: 7

I actually enjoyed this because of the mc and fl, otherwise, for me it was all throwaway. still good work by the author if some issues are rectified it can certainly improve.

Overall: 6 --> 8

Overall good enough to read, I only mildly regret it. If the author really improves it could become a 8 in the future