RAKUDAI KISHI NO CAVALRY

DESCRIPTION

CAST

NOVEL ActionRakudai Kishi no Cavalry
MANGA ActionRakudai Kishi no Cavalry

REVIEWS

• 

  Goukeban

  75/100
  A lesson on not to judge a show by its generic light-novel face.

  As clichéd and by the number as Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry presents itself, it also seems to be an anime that challenges its own status constantly. By looking at its plot summary and art direction, you would be forgiven to toss this series along with the generic crap that piles the charts of every season. With that in mind, what could be then a valid reason to give this show the merit of a review?

  Well, I’m glad you asked, little voice in my head, let me explain.

  Story and Characters

  From any angle you look Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry (this one is quite the mouthful, I’m gonna call just Rakudai for short) is following the clichés of the Sorcery School genre so strictly it seems as if it has a checklist of the tropes required. We have:

  -the hardworking but underestimated protagonist who happens to be somewhat oblivious to girls affections;

  -the pink-haired upstart tsundere, largely known for being among the most talented and powerful on the student body;

  -the Imouto character, whose main purpose is to give the series its incest undertones;

  -the playfull and not-at-all subtle homosexual side-character who just so happens to be someone you should not underestimate;

  -the one-off enemy that is going to be discarded for the sake of raising the protagonist;

  -a setting based on a school with modern aesthetic, that teaches its students about the handling of magical abilities;

  -a tournament centered plot were the main characters bet their academic future and pride.

  Now, what makes Rakudai an interesting beast to tackle is how it seems to be at odds with its own clichéd nature. The series displays a weird brand of self-awareness where it doesn’t necessarily belittle or parodies such tropes, but seriously plays them to the best of its abilities. Mostly. You can see this manifested in how the characters are presented and treated, going back and forth between the predictable instances of their archetypes and legitimately thought-out character moments.

  Starting with the easier one, Ikki, the protagonist and Failed Knight of the translated title, who starts as an underdog but reveals to be actually pretty strong. Surprised? Neither am I. Granted, the series doesn’t make him simply a powerhouse for poorly established reasons or goes out of its way to avoid any kind of tension during battle, it shows him as a deeply hard-working individual who struggles against tough enemies, even showing that his strongest moves have their limitations, so a Kirito he isn’t, thankfully. In some instances the writing even makes fun of how quickly he becomes popular among his schoolmates. Personality-wise, he was given a sense of humour and empathy, enough to make him likeable and play well with the other figures.

  Following is Stella, the resident tsundere. Now, even being a staple of anime, the tsundere archetype is a tricky one to write. Doing it right, the tsundere can develop into a well-rounded and likeable figure, in the molds of Taiga or Meryl Strife. Doing it wrong though, the results add the potential extra-damage of being not only a poorly-written character but also an awful individual as a whole, ruining the chances of the audience connecting or growing to like the character.

  So how does Stella fair? Let’s take a look at the first episode before anything else: for once, after the obligatory accidental peeping scene, she is introduced in a comedic sequence so that it’s easier in get accustomed to her demeanor. Following that we’re shown her motivations for being in the story and the episode ends by displaying her kinder side towards the protagonist, while not in his presence mind you. Now, I think this is noteworthy effort, because far too often writers only worry about introducing the tsundere by her aggressive traits. Introducing Stella in this manner helps to understand that all the traits presented are natural sides of her personality that don’t conflict with each other. Later, when in her tsun-side, she acts more flustered than abrasive, making the transition to her dere-side natural.

  Now, one common practice to make the tsundere likeable to the audience is to give her a quirk, so what would it be for Stella? She’s horny. No, really, the majority of the initial sexual tension between her and Ikki comes from her desire for his body.
  --[Minor spoiler ahead}--
  This later takes a different form when their relationship develops and leads to their most interesting moments as a couple. Being Stella a more sexually forward individual than Ikki, the two have to work out their expectations in regards to the relationship, strengthening their bond and ultimately providing better understanding of where their morals lie on. All that aside, it's unexpectedly refreshing to see a light novel adaptation having teenagers deal with such a strong subject like sex in a tasteful manner.
  --[Minor spoiler end]—

  The Imouto in the series is also played in that strangely self-conscious manner. Usually this archetype is used to give incest undertones to the anime, here it’s not at all in undertones. She starts her role by kissing her brother in front of other classmates, openly declaring her love so that everyone can hear it and playfully talking about sleeping together. I realize this might be a problem to some, but as long as it doesn’t devolve into tasteless pandering I appreciate when a series cuts the bullshit and plays with a trope.

  Now and then, Rakudai has these strange moments that handle plot points in a way that could be classified as meta-humour, although this might be a dangerous statement to make. I say it can be seen as meta-humour because they play with expectations the viewer creates after having already seen similar situations. We’ve seen new characters end an episode talking about fighting the protagonist, so we expect them to be a future threat, not the punchline for a joke (which, you might notice, was a wasted opportunity for more effective build up, not gonna lie), and we’ve seen countless anime feature pool/beach episodes, so we expect them to have pointless fanservice and dumb hijinks, not legitimate character development.

  Around episode 6 you’ll probably notice that this series is more focused in interactions than in any on-going main conflict. While the interactions are nice to watch and even charming from time-to-time, it leads to one of the main problems with the series: it introduces characters that play their arc but might get forgotten in the long run. Some adversaries, for example, become throw-away characters and might as well be classified as filler. Being this only the first season, Rakudai might be trying to pull a “Index” and stack up in characters that become recurrent in the long run, which is a better option but comes with issues of its own.

  Presentation

  This I’d say is the anime’s most glaring weak-spot. Rakudai uses the style that is by now a given for light-novel adaptations of this genre, which in some instances can make the series indistinguishable from other titles: figures use futuristic-looking uniforms in white and black shades with minimal variant details, scenarios are mostly light colored, with the exception of battle stages, presented in dark tones of green and blue, powers are undetailed but given noticeable lighting, etc.

  The same goes for character design: Ikki is thin, has dark and spiky hair; the tsundere has pink hair tied in ponytails, large, soft and bouncy breasts (I won’t complain about that!); the Imouto is flat-chested and carries a uniformly bland color pallet; the supportive gay friend is fabulous. Being a Silver Link series, though, it’s nice to see it was done by the side of the studio that understands contrast, so we luckily don’t have a Chaos Dragon this time. Seriously, that show looked awful!

  On action sequences there are issues with framing: a lot of attention is given to the special powers, but they take too much of the scene, and adding it to the manner in which those sequences are cut, makes for somewhat disjointed and hard to follow action. On a plus side, when the focus is on character movement it’s very fluid and pleasant to look at, mainly during swordfights. Wow, here I go being boring again!

  The opening is interesting because the visuals have a slightly gritty vibe to them, but the song sounds not really upbeat, but energetic and stimulating, possibly to evoke a competitive thrill going into the anime. The ending is a slower, somber piece accompanied by some… enticing visuals. Can’t go wrong with that.

  Personal ramblings

  Rakudai Kishi no Calvary was a show that played constantly with my expectations. At many points it seemed like it was going into shit-territory with its setup, just to pull it back and make a fool of me by presenting a legitimate good and entertaining moment. I can say I had an equal amount of enjoyment from watching the show as well as I dissecting it.

  There are many factors that can make a work for me, but hardly ever break it. One that is fundamental to me and can easily do both are the characters. Bad characters can sink a series with good premise and waste solid potential, as well as good or even great characters can help a work with a tired premise to rise above mediocrity, even if it doesn’t mean becoming a landmark for its media, but just a solid piece of entertainment.

  The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” seems to be getting increasingly meaningless as it has become easier to spot a generic, effortless and vapid cash-grabs in the current anime scene, so it’s really pleasant to find once in a while a show that throws you for a loop and is worth looking at and analyzing.

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• 

  Azureal

  22/100
  Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry is a pretty but bland looking anime with a plot seemingly written by an edgy child.

  - I N T R O -
  I was looking for the next quick watch to help me relax from all of the great but tense anime I've been watching and I decided on Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry after seeing a few fun clips on YouTube. I wasn't left with a good taste in my mouth, not to say I didn't expect it... but it wasn't anywhere near to this extent, here's why :

  - S T O R Y -
  There are humans capable of using magical power to manifest their souls as weapons and they are called Blazers, and those who are recognized as such undergo training at academies to become Mage-Knights.
  Ikki Kurogane is an aspiring Mage-Knight, despite being considered the worst student at Hagun Academy as an F-ranked Blazer—the lowest rank possible.

  One morning, he accidentally stumbles upon Stella Vermillion, a visiting princess and A-ranked Blazer who has just enrolled at Hagun, in a state of undress. As a result, she challenges him to a duel where the loser will be the winner’s slave. It seems like a surefire win for Stella, but could there be more to Ikki than meets the eye?

  Of course there is something more to him, he's the protagonist of a Light Novel adaptation.
  The premise is insultingly generic and the story itself is no different. All of the LN clichés you could think of, it's like Rakudai hits them all on purpose.
  The pacing is too fast at moments and at some episodes it's non-existent.
  The writing feels extremely amateurish at more than a few points and the comedy is extremely forced.

  The battle scenes are handled alright, though they're nothing great. Two of the battles are well choreographed and do flow nicely, but that's far too few. Every other battle relies on absolute non-sense or Ikki's ability which is to use 100% of his power in one go, since humans can never bring out 100% of their power.
  Though this ability does not last long and serves as a victimization tool for the protagonist. The moment it's duration expires, Ikki collapses because he's tired to create the illusion he really struggled with the battle when he easily defeated his opponent with his plot convenient power.

  - C H A R A C T E R S -
  None of the characters are unique, Kurogane is nothing more than your typical bland self-insert present in plenty of Light Novels. He has no personality outside of constantly spewing his clichéd ideologies like ''Friends should never be hurt'', ''the truly strong ones are the people who have someone to protect'', etc.
  Other than him being a rather weak character, there's nothing much to say about him. His backstory is mildly interesting but it is nothing new.
  The main female lead, Stella, is a basic tsundere. They didn't go out of their way to flesh her out or make her a unique. She's just a waifu archetype and nothing more.
  In fact, every single female in this series is a waifu archetype, none of them are developed. They feel rather uninspired in terms of design.

  Whatever antagonists this anime has, he/she's nothing more than a one dimensional villain to make sure the MC looks cool infront of the girl. They don't really have much of a personality on their own.

  The show also tried to shamelessly force in incest, yes, it doesn't miss out a single clichéd Light Novel trope.
  His sister is in love with him, she's nothing more than a shallow character serving only as a love rival to the main female lead.
  Alongside her, we're introduced to another character, he happens to be male so of course in order to not get in the way of the harem he has ''a maiden's heart''.

  The main selling point of Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry is the fact that unlike many anime of that sort, the main characters do get in a relationship, that doesn't stop Kurogane from having his low-key ship moments with the other girls to tease the fans of course. Also, every single romantic interaction of theirs is extremely forced, the author felt the need to constantly remind the viewers/readers that the two MCs are in a relationship and that it's a big deal.

  - A R T & A N I M A T I O N -
  The art in Rakudai feels extremely bland and uninspired, you would have a hard time setting it apart from similar anime such as Kuusen Madoushi Kouhosei no Kyoukan or many other. There is no set atmosphere in it, it's just a regular city with a messy setting. It seems more technologically advanced in certain places but other locations feel just like a regular city building. Despite all of this, it does fit with the series and still does feel pretty at places.

  Art aside, the animation is actually good during the action scenes, it flows nicely but as I mentioned before, the battles themselves are not well choreographed, they feel like a slugfest of random attacks, only the very first battle had some kind of strategy involved but even then the animation still makes the action scenes enjoyable.

  - O V E R A L L -
  Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry is a terrible anime with pretty but uninspired visuals, bland cast and terrible writing that plays out like an amateurish fan-fiction written by an edgy 12 year old.

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• 

  biogundam

  62/100
  light novel bullshit done right

  Warning this review may contain spoilers.

  First impressions, so my first thoughts on this was ok this probably going to be the next generic light novel anime this season and the most part it kinda is.
  But the show dose something a little different that really took me off my guard.

  Story, 6/10

  So chivalry of a failed knight on the surface seems like the next generic light novel anime with a school and teens with super powers.
  But what I told that it does something a little different from the norm.
  "Oh really please explain"
  "Sure thing"

  So are story begins with the usual set up
  With are Main character lkki kurogane who is a Blazer and the blazer is basically this world version of people with super powers that uses magic.
  Ikki goes to a very prestigious school known as Hagun academy In order to be a Mage knight. But the problem with ikki is that he is ranked the weakest student at the school because of his low abilities when it comes to the magic and other things with him having the degrading nick name "the worst one" and basically treated like shit be most people around him.
  So after returning from his daily training who comes across a half naked girl named Stella vermillion who is a princess from a different country Who came here to study.
  So after trying to talk to the headmaster of the school
  The to of them decide to have a dual in order to sort things out where the looser is the winner slave for life.
  Which ends in the usual way with the main character completely beating her.
  While she is recovering from her fight she learns that her and ikki have a lot more in common than she first believed.
  Because she has also had a similar experience to what ikki has gone though but from the completely opposite side.
  and so begins there adventure of working together in order to rech there dreams.

  Which can be helped by entering the seven start sword art festival which is a inter school tournament which is student fighting each other between other schools.
  Which is done by the strongest students of each school. Which is also decided by a tournament of some sort.

  So the story is basically ikki and Stella fighting there way to the top of there school In order to get to this torment with them fighting opposition of the week
  and the usual shit in between.
  for example they fight some sort of terrorist group in one ep and in another part is where there basically doing regular school activities and some sort of romance that's going down.
  Which sounds pretty bare bones.

  But as you continue watching you start to notice.
  that not what it's all about.
  It is actually about an under dog story done right about the Main character and few others characters as they try to slowly change the system around them for the better.
  As they try to point out the flaws and hypocrisy of the system around them.
  Because in this society if you have low magic power your basically trash and people with high magic power can kind of do what they want.
  For an example of this we find out that ikki is part of a prestigious clan of magic knights. Who after finding out ikki condition basically ignore is existence and continue to try and stop him from becoming a magical knight and even when ikki left his home and managed to get into this school in order to become a magic knight by the skin of his teeth.
  Still unable to take part in classes because the kurogane clan basically got the school head master at the time to change the rules so he won't Be Able to past his classes.
  And for a whole year he was basically in a no win situation at his school.
  But though strong will and determination he continued to try and get stronger.
  But now an opportunity has presented its self.
  With the new headmaster that has told ikki that in order for him to become a magical knight and reach his dreams he must win the seven star sword festival for his school.
  And that is basically what the story is about.
  Which is quite interesting because I never expected something with actual deepth in a light novel anime.
  Basically this is a story that subverts all expectations when it comes to the generic light novel type story's.

  Now it nothing ground braking.
  But at the end of the day it kind of refreshing in a way that they decided to take it.
  Especially with the writing.
  Because it has a sort of self awareness to it.
  Which doesn't mean that's it good because it self awareness because it doesn't do much with it. But it has a sense of charm to.

  For example there is this one scene where ikki is telling Stella that is Little sister is going to be at school and she sied to him your not going to tell me that you guys aren't related by blood or something like that with him reply no we are related by blood and then she says ok that's fine.
  With that scene there basically saying yes we know what type of series this.

  Another thing that makes the story stand out from the norm.
  Is the fact that there is an romance that actually goes some where for a change.
  Because it nice to see the moan character pick a girl and stick with it.
  Plus they take seriously enough for you to by into it.

  Characters, 6/10

  The main character ikki actually has some sort of personality.
  But what Made him stand out for me for example was his determination to continue fighting against a system that for most of his life pretty much backed him into a corner. Because he didn't have much magical abilities.
  Like his personally is pretty much this.
  He is pretty much a calm and collected guys that is very noble at heart.
  Another thing that also stands out from him is that we are also showing that there things that will get to him.
  For example there is this one scene where he is so nervous about this fight with this one guy.
  Because of an encounter with this person in the past that really made him really struggle at first with his big fight with him at first intil they managed to up him get back into his normal state of mind.

  Stella also has some sort of personality as well.
  At first she seems like a basic tsudare character type.
  But like ikki there is more the Meets the eye with her and I am not saying she deep or anything like that. Because she isn't.
  But she a pretty interesting back story which is quite relateble and her dynamic with ikki more than makes up for it.
  Also she never felt like the carbon copy of what a tsudare is.

  On the topic on there dynamic they have very close blond which eventually becomes love which at times a little rushed but very genuine.
  Another thing which made there romance interesting as the fact that out of the both of them she is the more sexually promiscuous.
  which is something you don't see that often because generally it the male partner that is more of the pervert.
  For an example. There is this one scene where they are in a log cabin in the woods and they are basically resting inside and both of them are basically half naked well you know hormones and the mood being set she asks ikki if he wants to have sex with her. Of course he turns it down because he is more of a traditionalist when it comes to matters of a sexual nature while Stella is not.
  Which was quite interesting.

  Now I am going to go more in depth about to more characters because I believe that these to especially at the moment of doing this review need to be addressed.

  So i am going to talk about is ikki little sister first.
  Shizuku who has a massive brother complex.
  I know some of you are oh my god here we go again.
  But unlike some shows that do this kind of trope mostly for comedy or fan serive in my experience. Which it kind of is but that's beside the point.
  There is an actual good reason why she is like that.
  Because she was probably one of the few members of ikki family that didn't treat him like shit. And when she found out about what her family members where doing to him she basically hates her family minus for brother and decides that she will become the subtitle for the love that he never received from his family. And has no problem show casing this is because I. One scene where it's the first time she had meet ikki in about 4 years she pushes him to the ground and kisses him in front of a large group of people and talks about her feels to her brother.
  Even though it kind of shallow they at lest have some sort of context to why she is like that.

  Another character I want to talk about in a bit of detail is Alice.
  Who is basically a transgender or transsexual person (and don't quote me on this because I get confused on which on is which because I don't really care and plus I kind of forget the difference between trans- sexual and trans- gender people)
  And in most cases of anime I have seen with these kinds of character they are generally used as some sort of joke which when I think about it is kind of insulting
  To people who are like that and to the character them selfs.
  Because they could have been interesting if taking seriously enough.
  But Alice on the other hand is actually taken seriously for the most part which was also somethings I didn't expect from this kind of story.
  And for the most he was quite the interesting character to watch.

  Now for the side characters that where for the most pretty average for the most part
  Most of them are pretty one note.
  Some of them where a bit more interesting than other that.
  Nothing else really noteworthy.

  Art, 7/10

  The animation was very well done.
  All the back ground also like very nice.
  They also have a very bright colors scheme.
  Which actually changes when there some serious shit going down.
  Because when characters are feeling depressed or there a lot of tension in the scene.
  The world becomes red , black, gray and sometimes there some blue in there to.
  They also like to use expressive animation when the come to what the characters are generally feeling.
  There is also some very good fight choreography.

  It has a very generic style to it.

  The character designs are basically your run of the mill light novel designs.

  Sound, 6/10

  The quite enjoyed listening to bouts the opening song and ending song.

  Because it kind of got my attention and it has a nice beat to it.

  The ost was on point most of the time but nothing really standing out that much.

  But I think that the op and end song are worth a quick listen.

  Enjoyment, 6/10

  So when it came to this anime what I enjoyed.
  Is that it took the basic light novel formula and put actual effort Into it.
  And it was refreshing and quite endearing.
  Even though it had quite a few generic shit that kinds of bothered me it actually never felt like that. I also found this to be a good time passer as well.

  Overall. 6/10

  So if your are new to anime or just starting to dive into more titles then check this show out because it's a very good entry level show.

  But if your a veteran of anime or you think light novels is the cancer of anime then probably stay away.

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