Opening Songs
OP 1 - Identity (Mikio Sakai)
Ending Songs
ED 1 - Haramitsu Renge (Ali Project)
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Episodes: 12
Instead of "Asterisk" getting a second season, this was actually my pick to get a continuation. during the era of combat school harems last year, where this showed alongside "Asterisk" and "Anti-Magic 35th Test Platoon", almost everyone agrees that "Rakudai Kishi" takes the cake for being the best out of the 3. And I cannot agree more, "Rakudai Kishi No Cavalry" is simply one of the best combat school harems I have seen, let alone being the best one last year. Its focus on its main characters and relationship building is great enough for people to get invested in them, and honestly even though it has a semi-harem setting with all the girls surrounding the main character, the fact that it has an obvious romance going on is a nice change (kind of like Bakemonogatari, where Koyomi chooses Senjougahara as his girlfriend extremely early on in the story). I really enjoyed "Rakudai Kishi" at the end of the day, and its easy to see that many others do as well.
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| Another one for the waifu pool. |
The opening song is "Identity" by Mikio Sakai. For an action anime opening, I'd say that it doesn't fit that well. Sure, the black and dark colors fit for a very pretty opening animation, but I feel like the song itself is a little dull. The ending theme is "Haramitsu Renge" by Ali Project, folks that I haven't heard from in quite awhile. Fortunately, they haven't lost their touch "Haramitsu Renge" is pretty good and it certainly triumphs the opening theme IMO.
Rating: 8.0/10
Before heading into "Rakudai Kishi" you need to understand one thing. While there are plenty of girls surrounding our main protagonist, I'm not sure if it counts as a "harem", because right off the bat, the main character and main heroine get together as a couple. I mean yeah, spoiler alert (not really), I would compare it to the "Monogatari" series in a way. Anyway, because of this, the main character and main heroine quickly get put into the spotlight, they grow quickly as characters and as a couple, which is great. Since the show is only 12 episodes, these 2 are pretty much the characters you'll grow attached to the most. The fight scenes are good, but they aren't really the main focus of the show here, especially towards the end when things start to get a little bit rushed. Still, all in all, the show has a little bit of everything, and each part works together hand in hand to make the show work. At least Ikki isn't a totally idiotic, hopeless MC.
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| The teacher of my dreams. |
Kurogane Ikki is a young man borne into the prestigious Kurogane family, a family of proud and powerful warriors talented in the art of martial arts and magic. Sadly, Ikki is a flawed heir to the family as he is unable to use magic. Early in his life, his dad abandoned him to a life of failure and disdain, but Ikki never gave up in becoming a magic knight. He trained and trained, eventually he got into a school that trains said knights. He the only student ranked F, the lowest ranked student in the school, but being the worst has its perks. One day, foreign princess Stella Vermillion transfers to the school to take part in a tournament that will bring name to her family. She shares a room with Ikki, but will not accept him in her room. So the 2 have a duel because Stella can't stand the sight of Ikki, seeing as he's ranked F and she's one of the few A ranks, it can't be that bad, right? Well, its time for "The Worst" to show off how strong he is despite not being able to use ANY magic at all.
"Rakudai Kishi" is one of my favorites last year, its emphasis on its main characters really make it stand out among its oversaturated genre. There, I said it, there are too many high school "fighting" shows nowadays, but a really good one every now and then really helps.
