- Mangaka : Bokuto Uno (Story) and Miyuki Ruria (Art)
- Publisher : YenPress
- Genre : Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, School Life, Supernatural
- Published : December 2020 - Ongoing
Spring arrives, signaling the arrival of a fresh batch of students at Kimberly Magic Academy to study and graduate as full-fledged mages. Oliver Horn, studious and skilled with the wand and the blade, and Nanao Hibiya, a samurai girl from the distant nation of Yamatsu. What fate will bring these two individuals together at Kimberly, where both see each other as comrades and rivals? But the academy houses countless dangers and secrets that even the faculties wouldn’t guarantee the students’ safeties.
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
So you arrived at Kimberly to learn the wonders of magic, and surely you will be bound to face problems directly or indirectly. That is what Kimberly is all about. Oh, we forgot to mention that the academy is built above a labyrinth, so be sure to go back to your dormitory at a particular time unless you want to explore the academy’s maze and hope that you will live for another day with your limbs and sanity intact. The light novel offers a magical experience as a student of Kimberly Magic Academy. You will meet and make new friends, learning the arts of magic, sword arts, and many other subjects. The story is written in a third-person view and leaning toward more on character development within the circle of Oliver Horn’s friendship.
1. Magical High School Experience
When you read the first few chapters, you will go this is similar to Harry Potter. Yes and no. The first day of celebration for the first-year students are identical indeed, but after that, it is a whole different world. You will experience the nature of magic spells, alchemy, managing resources, making new friends, having banter or fight with friends and classmates. In addition to that, there is a parade of monsters marching within the academy ground. What could go wrong?
Outside of the academy, there is a large field filled with talking flowers and trees that have the face of an elderly man. You read that right. Imagine getting bombshell by these talking flowers if you fail to make a joke. You wouldn’t want them as your first judge when it comes to entering the world of comedy. Many battle scenes showcase pure, raw physical swordsmanship and magic battles among mages or mages against magical beasts. None of them holds back at all, so death is imminent if one makes a slight mistake. The battle scenes are well written and easy to imagine how the characters take actions to situations.
2. Not the Kind of Academy You Should Enrol In
You know this is a magic academy, so expect magical beasts. Even if these beasts are under the academy’s jurisdictions, you probably would think they are harmless and tame. Not really. There is a risk of getting attacked by these creatures, so tread carefully. Other than these magical beasts, the academy is built on top of a labyrinth itself.
There is a rule set by the academy that students may choose how to live and how they would die. The creed of having the freedom to explore and learn the world's secrets as a mage makes much sense, but such creed will sometimes develop disturbing outcomes. As Kimberly students, not only do they have to worry about getting lost in the hallways and labyrinths, but they also have to defend themselves from their seniors as they somewhat become mad scientists and wants you to be their test subjects. No, thank you. Of course, there will always be a good and a bad side, that is where the president and prefects of the academy are there to ensure the students’ safety, but they won’t always be there for you.
3. Character Development
During the first initial reading, we thought this story would be all about Oliver Horn and Nanao Hibiya, but apparently, that is not the scope of the story. We have other characters in the circle, Katie, Guy (Not Might Guy from Naruto), Pete, and Michela.
In this volume, the central theme is the political differences of whether demi-humans should be treated equally as humans, and Katie, along with her parents, believes that demi-humans should be treated kindly. Think of this as an animal lover concept. There are oppositions within the academy who don’t treat this action kindly due to traditions, but you get where this is going.
So far, there are two moral lessons in this volume itself with mediums such as political differences and the value of life and pride. These views act as a bridge between characters to learn each other’s background and most of them can be pretty dark at some times. Whenever a small backstory or incidents occurs to the main characters, we can’t help but feel a special bond connecting between the characters and us.
4. Unexpected
Bokuto Uno, you successfully lure us to a problem and brings out unprecedented development of the story. Applause to you because wow, we don’t even know where to begin for this section. When we realize who, what and why all of these situations are happening, we thought back of clues your layout to the readers, and they are subtle. Keep up the excellent work. For the sake of potential readers of this volume, we won’t spoil it here.
Final Thoughts
Nanatsu no Maken ga Shiahi suru (Reign of the Seven Spellblades) is one of the light novel series we were hoping to get English translated due to the concepts and story. It gives a fun and enjoyable experience when it comes to magic academy along with a twist of the danger they added into the mix. The characters you meet along the story makes us feel there is something special between us, reminding us of how important friendship is in reality, and they shouldn’t be taken for granted. There always will be secrets and mysteries from this world, and they will still draw out your curiosity along with your drive to find the truth. If you want to read a light novel that is similar to Harry Potter that is mixed with dangers, mysteries and secrets, and character development and bonding, you might want to give this one a go. Which character is your favorite in this series, and why? Leave them down in the comments below.
Author: Nobodies17