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Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru, or Reign of the Seven Spellblades, if you prefer, is a great show that takes its time to develop itself. As an adaptation of the LN given a runtime of 15 episodes, it did a pretty nice job at what it was trying to do. That being said, it wasn't able to be as indulgent as the LN but what it does provide is enough to satisfy what it does cover in the story without leaving too many things undeveloped. That being said, the "3 episode rule" many people follow does this show a disservice. The suggested minimum episode ... count for this show is 6 episodes. Watch that far and then make your decision, but it's definitely worth giving it a shot.

Each of the members in the main group have their strengths and weaknesses. This becomes apparent as the show goes on and they have to solve various problems that come up. Everyone relevant gets enough background and definition in a timely manner before they become relevant, providing the proper introductions in ways that feel fluid to the narrative and doesn't break it up too much.

The scenery and world leaves a lot to be discovered. There's a good amount of varied locations that the show visits despite being placed at a single academy. Many places get familiar, but not stale when returning to them multiple times throughout the duration of the show. It doesn't take long for the show to introduce one of the biggest reasons why there's so much for the students to explore, and leaves no doubts to them and the audience that exploration might be someone's downfall.

They aren't afraid to pit peers against each other, and they talk about the school's 20% rate of mages being "consumed by the spell" which is a nice of way of saying that someone died from magical circumstances. That's also not something they treat lightly, the show has a dark undertone to start and without getting into spoiler territory, it doesn't go away and makes sure it's known to be there. They try to cover it up with the day to day circumstances but it still lingers on the edge of perception.

The score is fantastic and at all times provides a proper atmosphere to the content being shown on the screen. Combat? Appropriately balanced brass and drums. Maybe some whirring strings in the mix. Minor mishap in class? Not overly dramatic yet still urgent flurry of notes. Day-to-day student interaction? Calm and collected background track. Both the opening and the ending songs are absolute perfection in musical composition for evoking the right feelings of wonder in both cases. Active curiosity and reflective pondering.

The animation of the show is very pretty. The characters are expressive, the choreography is well done, and the motions of characters feel fluid and dynamic. The colors blend nicely, things don't stick out unless they're meant to, yet nobody fades into the background outside of the nameless characters that are part of the background. Even the actions taken by things like brooms and plants sfeel fitting and real. With all the very beautiful animation to see, it's a shame that this didn't particularly carry over into some of the magic. The spellcasting itself is great, the magic circles that appear around the wands and such blend nicely and fit into the scenes where they're present. After the spell cast though, most elemental spells and other adjacent categories feel rather mundane to see. There's a lot of effects for more specialized spells and even some of the spells that aren't orientated around combat feel "magical" in their own ways, yet some of the more common spells used that are still magic to the audience and should feel magical, just don't. It's not a particularly major thing, but it is somewhat noticeable.

Unfortunately, on the more critical side, they did bite off a bit more than they could chew. 15 episodes was enough to get all they needed in, but it sits on the border of being too indulgent and not indulgent enough. This story is one that wants to be a 24 episode long haul so badly but it doesn't get that chance, and it's not often that a show ever comes out of the blue with that opportunity these days. Almost all of the shortcomings of Reign come from how the structural format of a show airing in 1 cour doesn't take well to the way a story like this wants to be paced and built up over time. If this show gets a season 2 then it will only benefit overall as it will have that time that it really wanted to shine.

Overall, the show is a lot of fun and a balancing act of dark tones and day-to-day life in the magic academy. There's a lot to love here but still something to be desired. That being said, the 15 episodes that we got are satisfying on their own while still allowing for a continuation in the future. It's worth giving it a shot if you're not one for reading, get to episode 6 and make the decision. If the show doesn't cut it, the LN doesn't have to follow the limitations the show has to deal with, and gets to be exactly what it wants to be.