The Sacred Blacksmith

The Sacred Blacksmith, an anime from Manglobe based on a series of light novels by Isau Miura, began airing in October of 2009.

Cecily Cambell, a Knight Guard of the Independent Trade Cities of Housman, is new to her job of keeping the peace in the Heroic Fantasy world she inhabits. She soon meets Luke Ainsworth, an exceptionally skilled blacksmith who only makes katanas, along with his overly-cute Elfish apprentice Lisa. Circumstances soon conspire to reveal Luke has a very unusual and magical way of forging swords; a talent desired by the nearby empire, and that's not all. Demons appear in the Trade Cities along with swords that harness the powers of nature. All three are rooted in the recent Valbanill War, which might not be quite over yet....


Tropes used in The Sacred Blacksmith include:

Luke: You're sorry? You have a wardrobe malfunction and beat the crap out of me, and you expect sorry is gonna cut it?

  • Action Girl: Cecily in the light novels and manga.
  • A Father to His Men: Hannibal, the leader of the knights of Housman.
  • Amusing Injuries: Just look at Luke's face after being on the receiving end of Cecily's Megaton Punch (all due to Cecily's Clothing Damage).
  • Ancestral Weapon: of the Cambells, which breaks the first time Cecily tries to use it. Her quest is to fix it get Luke to forge another one.
  • Arms Dealer: Luke is actively avoiding getting into this business, and even leaders of Independent Trade Cities have a hard time pressing him into it.
  • Artificial Human: Poor Lisa.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Hannibal maybe around 60 years old but the man knows how to kick ass! As expected from a man who's a veteran of the Valbanill War.
    • Cecily in the manga and light novels. Rallying a group of knights and mercenaries against a large number of thieves with werewolves to victory? Awesome.
  • Badass: Cecily and Luke. Both of them know how to kick ass.
  • Badass Grandpa: Hannibal is the oldest character on the show (the only one who ultimately remains alive) and also the most badass.
  • Berserk Button: Do not tell Cecily you would like to purchase her friend Aria. Actually, just don't insult her friends in general.
    • Do not even try to say anything about Lisa being a "replacement" to Luke. While he may acknowledge it, but he will, at worst, give you a black eye.
    • But what really broke the camel's back was Siegfried raping Cecilly. This triggered a full-on Roaring Rampage of Revenge with a side of Tranquil Fury from Luke.
  • BFS: Used by Jack Stmdr to break Cecily's sword. It's quickly cut by Luke's katana.
    • Not so easily destroyed is the demon sword Claymore wielded by Doris, which exceeds the size of any normal sword by a fair amount.
  • Big Eater: Everyone. And then they make either Cecily, Luke or Mayor Housman pay all the bills.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Luke for Cecily. A lot. The very first scene in the anime is a Flash Forward to him rescuing her for the third time. Subverted in the manga and light novels, where Cecily decides that she's not gonna just stand there and let Luke have all the fun.
  • Breast Plate: Cecily's armor leaves nothing to the imagination, resembling nothing so much as a polished metal sports bra. Somewhat averted in that her fellow male knights have plating with similar coverage.
  • Clothing Damage: even Cecily's breastplate isn't immune.
  • Convection, Schmonvection
  • Cool Big Sis: Fio to Cecily. Cecily and Aria to Lisa.
  • Cool Sword: So many of them, but katanas trump them all.
  • Cowboy Cop: Deconstructed (at least in the manga). While Cecily is best swordfighter and posseses the single greatest weapon in the city her unreliability and temperament (trying to punch a diplomat from The Empire because he pissed you off? Not Cool) makes her unpopular with the rest of the Knights so she's viewed primarily as a Troubleshooter/thug by the city's Powers That Be -- with the exception of Hannibal, though he calls her out the most.
  • Curtains Match the Window: Cecily, with dark magenta hair and eyes.
  • Cute Bruiser: Charlotte's trio of bodyguards.
  • Dark Magical Girl: Charlotte (in the novels, but not at all in the anime.)
  • Deal with the Devil: The Demon Contracts which uses the "death song" engraved on the victims' heart (normally sung by their spirits upon their deaths) prematurely, killing them and combining their souls with the ambient magical energy from Valbanill to morph them into giant monsters.
    • Luke believes he created Lisa using one of these. Not quite. Apparently it's also possible for some people to use their death songs to create more benign forms of demon like Lisa (and presumably Aria).
  • Defeat Means Friendship: For Charlotte and her gang. Not so much for everyone else.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Ballock Knife? Really?
    • Truth in Television: The Ballock Knife (also known as the kidney knife) was an actual weapon used during Medieval Europe, deriving it's name from it's "unique" shape.
    • Specifically, the bollock dagger was a style of dagger especially popular in the British Isles, with a guard shaped like, basically, two balls (in the geometrical, as well as the colloquial, sense); it was also commonly worn in front, in a deliberately suggestive position. So, yeah. "Kidney dagger" is a later Victorian euphemism.
  • Dojikko: Lisa, who is shown in the ending credits tripping to the rhythm of the music.
  • Elemental Powers: Ice, Wind, Fire, Earth, Darkness, etc...
  • The Empire: Where Charlotte hails from.
  • Enforced Cold War: According to Siegfried, this is the reason why peace exists in the first place. The war was beyond horrific to the point of severely traumatizing entire nations which is why: A) they would do anything to avoid a war and B) Demon weapons are so lusted by everyone and their mothers. He might be lying, but still it makes a lot of sense in the setting.
  • Equippable Ally: Aria, who is capable of turning into a sword and human form, is this.
    • And every other Demon Sword capable of assuming human form for that matter.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: Lisa refused to stop talking about Cecily's breasts for the first two episodes.
    • This seems to have been picked up by Aria as well, who repeatedly sneaks into Cecily's bed to use them as pillows, declaring pointedly she wants to claim Cecily for herself.
  • Everyone Can See It: Everyone in the show is shipping Cecily/Luke except the two involved.
  • Eunuchs Are Evil: Siegfried.
  • Exotic Weapon Supremacy: No one in Housman except Luke can forge and use katanas. For that matter, not many people in the city have ever seen a katana.
  • Eye Scream: In the Manga, during a particularly brutal duel, Luke takes a blow to the head that causes his fake eye to pop out onto the floor, much to the horror of the nobles watching the fight.
  • Fallen Princess: Charlotte who is kicked out and even UnPersoned by her homeland.
  • The Federation: The Independent Trade Cities, including Housman.
  • Giving Up the Ghost: Happens to Charlotte and her friends. First to Charlotte when the shock that a princess has to perform the tasks of a common servant and look the part, and then by her friends when Fio effortlessly knocks them out.
  • Glass Cannon: Penelope.
  • Glass Eye: Luke's left eye is fake. His real eye was used to create Lisa.
  • God Is Evil: Valbanill is apparently the only god mentioned, and is the source of the demons. In response, the humans are gathering Demon Swords, whose purpose is to "slay God".
  • Go Through Me: In the first episode, Cecily takes several blows for Luke after the ice demon breaks his katana. She continues guarding him while he forges a new one. She does this in the last episode, too... then uses the katana he forges for her to break a demon sword!
  • Gratuitous English: The Cambell motto "Guard, Save, Belive". It's probably meant to be that way, though. However, in a brief flashback in episode 8 the tombstone displays the motto as "Guard, Save, Believe. Off-Model, text edition?
  • H-game: In Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.
  • Heroic Fantasy: RPG tropes to the max.
  • Heroic BSOD: Cecily has a minor breakdown when she's told she needs to mercy kill a zombie. Her coworkers are less than impressed.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Yui Hirasawa is Lisa and also sings the ED theme. Also, Hatake Kakashi is Hugo Housma, Jiraya is August Arthur, Kuchiki Byakuya is Siegfried, Master Asia is Hannibal, and Accelerator is Luke.
  • Hot-Blooded: Cecily. The best swordfigther in the city who puts her best into everything and walks with honor, guts and determination. Too bad this has left her with poor self control and a lack of foresight, which impair her abilities in Politics, Diplomacy, Commerce and... normal human Interaction.
  • I Am Not a Gun: While Aria realizes that she can't fight her fate, she really, really relishes her times of peace. She's also grateful that in Cecily's hands she's used to protect people instead of slaughtering them.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Luke torments himself (creating a mental block that prevents him from finishing the Sacred Sword) believing his actions led to the death of his childhood friend Lisa (pronounced Leeza, not Leesa...). In fact, Lisa died protecting him against Valbanill, but by her own choice.
  • It Amused Me: Why else would Fio the Cambell maid force Charlotte and her bodyguards into maid uniforms and then make Cecily wear one as well?
  • Instant Runes
  • Jerkass: Luke.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Charlotte. Luke, to a much lesser degree of jerkiness.
  • Katanas Are Just Better: Played straight initially, when Luke manages to cut a giant claymore cleanly in half with his katana. Subverted later on in the same episode when Luke's katana is broken by an ice demon. Apparently all of the other blacksmiths in the city make their swords out of unfolded slabs of cast steel, so it's no wonder they're brittle.
    • This doesn't stop Lisa from gushing on the virtues of katana.
    • Also subverted in that the most powerful sword in the city, the 'demon sword' Aria, takes the form of an estoc.
      • At least that's because Luke's katana are magically enhanced and he tries not to cut armor or other weapons. Even Lisa admits that any sword can be broken by abuse and Luke actually tends to break his katana fairly frequently.
  • Magic A Is Magic A: To instantly turn tamahagane ores into katana, Luke has Lisa conjure some Instant Runes (by apparently tracing them with one eye), then recites the steps of forging a katana.
  • Man On Fire: And are reduced to ashes in no time, in great numbers.
  • Made of Iron: Cecily can absorb an insane amount of damage and be fine by the next day/week, when a normal warrior would be crippled for life if he was lucky. She also can bleed around 40 gallons in one go, apparently.
  • Meido: Inverted by Fio whose closer to the Almighty Janitor than the classical version of this trope. Then she makes Charlotte, her bodyguards, and Cecile dresses up as maids and do chores. They play it straighter.
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: Siegfried is one of these. He gets violent when Cecily tells him to shut up.
  • Nosebleed: This happens to Luke when Cecily's armor cracks and falls off, exposing her naked breasts.
  • Old Soldier: The veterans of Valbanill War. Some can adjust to peace, others not so much.
  • Panty Shot
  • Plucky Girl: Cecily. Though her anime incarnation lacks the manga version's skills, she certainly doesn't lack guts. She knew Jack Stmdr was an seasoned veteran but still challenged him to fulfill her duty as a knight. She didn't stop fighting until her sword broke.
  • Power Degeneration: A variation. Because their work involves shaping glowing, white-hot pieces of iron, most blacksmith develop damage to one (or both) of their eyes. Luke has recently started to lose the vision in his one reaming eye.
  • The Power of Love: Played with: Luke is convinced that lacks sufficient hatred to complete the Sacred Sword but it's the Power of Love that finally allows him to finish it ...kinda. He had already completed it but it took even more love to convince him he had succeeded.
  • Pretty Freeloader: Subverted. Charlotte and her bodyguards think they're going to be pretty freeloaders at the Cambell house until Cecily's maid Fio puts them to work. It's likely that Fio is also punishing them because they ganged up on Cecily and tried to steal Aria from her.
  • Razor Wind: Aria's magic sword power.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Averted (in the manga). Just when Siegfried's attack on Cecily looks like it will end in rape he tells her he hates her too much even if he were capable of doing it. It was intended as the icing on the cake in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown intended to break her spirit.
  • Red Shirt: In the anime at least, Cecily's fellow knight guards (all of whom are male) are about as competent as she is. Note that they all use the same kind of Western European sword; it seems this world runs on the principle of Katanas Are Just Better.
  • Replacement Goldfish: Subverted. Luke thinks he created Lisa in this way, but it turns out that the original Lisa was the one who did it, in order to give Luke someone to help him around the house.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Siegfried to Cecily, along with a brutal beatdown. He broke every bit of her entire psyche until he left her broken in a barn... because he didn't care enough to finish her.
  • Rock Steady: The power of Doris' demonic sword.
  • Share the Male Pain: In the manga, Cecily and her squad find a group of bandits... responding to nature's call. Cecily immediately shrieks "I'll cut them off!" and her men all cover their crotches.
  • She Cleans Up Nicely: Cecily, though she is initially mortified to be seen in a dress and then totally flummoxed when Luke compliments her on it.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Jack Stmdr.
  • Shout-Out: A rather ingenious nod, at least in the dub.

Luke: "No! That's not true! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

  • Single-Stroke Battle: Cecily versus Siegfried comes close, although it's actually four strokes total.
  • Skinship Grope: The Meido episode includes a Furo Scene where Charlotte and her Amazon Brigade take the chance to play with Cecily's Gag Boobs.
  • Forging Swords Is A Free Action: People will gladly hang about while Luke does his thing.
    • In all fairness though, he usually has Cecily keeping his opponents busy, or they're so stuck up they think it's fun to watch him struggle.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Cecily's second fight with Charlotte's handmaiden/bodyguards in the anime is basically a complete reversal of her first, with her first splitting them up and then soundly beating each one with tactics specifically designed to counter their abilities.
    • Hell, even the first fight (three against one and she held her own) showed she had improved. She takes her first level in the fight against the fire demon and keeps improving from there.
  • Tsundere: Luke.
    • Cecily as well. Type B though.
  • Unprovoked Pervert Payback for Luke, but satirized/ given a Take That.
  • Ultimate Blacksmith: Funny how this was among the last tropes to be added to this page, isn't?
  • The Unfair Sex: Cecily is often unfair to Luke though more from being too Hot-Blooded and impulsive for her own good than any malice. But she will verbally attack Luke without provocation (or information) because she can't handle her own feelings. And when she snarks about his sorest point (the death of his first love) before fleeing in tears Lisa insists that he be the one to apologize.
  • War Is Hell
  • When a Jerk Loves A Tsundere: Only question is, which one is which?
  • Where Are They Now? Epilogue: The final credits show the citizens rebuilding the city, Aria paying her respects at Elsa's Grave, and Charlotte and her Girl Posse returning to Housmman.
  • Women Are Wiser: invoked as Hypocritical Humor. Luke even asks Cecily why (despite all evidence) she feels qualified to give him advice about his relationship with Lisa. Her answer? "I'm a girl."
  • Wrecked Weapon: Happens twice in the first episode. And then said weapon crumbled to pieces by Episode 2.

Have we mentioned that Katanas Are Just Better?

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