Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. There’s nothing more disappointing than watching an anime you thought was going to be good only to see it disappoint. With bad anime you can at least get a good laugh at how bad it was, but when you watch an anime you thought was going to be good only to find out it sucks all you’re left with is disappointment and wasted time. There are a lot of disappointing anime out there and one of them is Seiken Tsukai no World Break. Also known as World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman, this was an anime that had a lot of hype built up around it only to leave the audience disappointed. Based off a light novel written by Akamitsu Awamura from 2012 to 2018, the series focuses on a bunch of high students who receive power from their past life and use these powers to protect the world. The whole idea was cool and could have led to an interesting anime. In 2015, the small studio Diomedea (Kantai Collection and Campione) took the novel and turned it into an anime. This was a busy year for the studio as this was just one of 5 animes they would go on to produce that year with only one of them receiving a passing grade and being seen as an okay anime. Spoilers, this isn’t the one. Let’s take a look at the disappointment that is Seiken Tsukai no World Break.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Hi no Ito Rin’ne no Gemini” by petit milady. I did not like this song at all. It’s very slow-paced, the sings just sound like wailing half the time, and it doesn’t match up well with the anime given it’s subject matter and what they want to accomplish.
The ending is “Magna Idea” by fortuna. This song was a little better than the opening, but still a song I really didn’t find myself going back to listen to all that much. If anything, I feel like this actually would have been a better opening.
Episodes 1-4
So the anime starts off on an epic note with our main character Moroha voiced by Kaito Ishikawa (Marcos from Terraformars) and a bunch of other students fighting a fucking dragon (now that’s how you start an anime). We than rewind the clock to half a year ago, it’s the entrance ceremony at Moroha’s school. In this school students are known as “saviors” who have awakened memories of their past lives and have special powers which they use to keep the world safe from monsters known as Metaphysicals. Now each student has one of two powers. The first one is Puranna, people who fight enemies with weapons and techniques from their bodies and the other is Kuroma people who use magic (so basically it’s warrior and mage class. Personally, I choose Puranna). At the ceremony, Moroha falls asleep and has visions of his past life where he single-handedly slaughtered an army in order to save some girl (well she is pretty). We see that everyone has left the ceremony (well this is awkward and embarrassing) and Moroha gets waken up by a headbutt courtesy of Satsuki the girl from Moroha’s dream. She’s voiced by Ayana Taketatsu (Éclair from Dog Days). She recognizes Moroha and begins to call him onii-sama saying that in the past they were brother and sister with Moroha being a knight and Satsuki being a princess. It’s also hinted that the two were in a taboo relationship (please no incest. I just got over The Irregular at a High School). As Satsuki is excited to finally be reunited with her brother they see another student who fell asleep during the ceremony and go to wake her up. This girl is Shizuno voiced by Aoi Yūki (Yuuki from SAO) who also has a thing for Moroha and kisses him (only 6 minutes and the guy already has two girls wanting him). They have their typical battle of the words between the girls and go to class where they’re all the same class (because the plot demands it). They then go to their first training class where Satsuki hoping to show off in front of Moroha and earn his praise gets into a fight with another student (you know there’s a quicker way to earning his praise right?). She fights him but loses and falls into a state of depression but gets over it thanks to the help of Shizuno who snaps her out of it in her own little way. Later on, Moroha challenges the student who defeated Satsuki to a duel (did I mention that Moroha doesn’t know how to use his powers yet?). As you would imagine he gets owned in front of Satuski and Shizuno but begins to remember his past, unleashes his powers which are both Puranna and Kuroma, and defeats the student with one shot before passing out to end the episode.
At the start of episode 2 Moroha wakes up in the infirmary to the sight of a loli kissing him on the lips (call the cops). The sexy principal comes in (who likes to dress like a witch for some reason) and tells Moroha that it’s possible he’s had two past lives which is why he can use both Puranna and Kuroma. The next day Moroha and Shizuno are approached by their senpai who wants them to join the Strikers a reserved force that fights the Metaphysicals should the time arrive and in return for their service they get a lot of money (sign me up). Moroha joins as does Shizuno but Satsuki overhears the conversation (and by that I mean eavesdrops on them. Stop stalking him woman) and wants to join as well but she’s told she’s not good enough and requires more training. After that we get some filler with Shizuno in her own innocent way being mean to Satsuki and keeping her away from Moroha all while under the impression that she’s doing all of this for his benefit (right~). Moroha finally has enough of this and talks to Shizuno about her behavior telling her to stop it and smile more. He then goes to meet up with Satsuki where they walk home together and make an arrangement where they’ll call each other at least 3 times a week before bed (you bro-con and sis-con). The next day Satsuki goes to a mall to find Moroha a gift and she gets Shizuno to help her out (because believe it or not Shizuno is the only friend she has. With friends like her who needs enemies?). As they’re shopping the mall gets attacked by a hydra Metaphysical and Satsuki despite being scared springs into action to protect the citizens along with Shizuno. The two try to defeat the hydra but it’s too powerful for them to face and the Strikers aren’t gonna do anything because they’re not strong enough to beat it by themselves (bullshit). Moroha goes rogue and goes in to save Satsuki and Shizuno himself where he begins to remember his past with Shizuno and awakens to his Kuroma powers where he kills the hydra but in the process destroys the mall (scene here: https://youtu.be/AYZhRAsESMk, that’s coming out of your paycheck). The episode ends with Satsuki being allowed to join the Strikers (why? They suck. Bunch of cowards).
Episode 3 starts by letting us meet Edward Lampard one of the six heads of the white knight agency who’s in charge of the British branch and speaks excellent engrish. The six heads are said to be S rank Strikers the strongest of the strong called in to take out the most dangerous of Metaphysicals however they’re considered the country’s property and really have no will of their own. In fact they actually need permission to go out for a walk (man do they need permission to take a piss too?). In the episode, Edward was sent to spy on Moroha since he’s a prime candidate for S rank after defeating that Metaphysical last episode (man he’s becoming popular. Too bad it’s with engrish spies and girls with brother-complexes) but Edward isn’t really all that impressed with him and instead just plays his 3DS (nice advertisement Nintendo). As the episode goes on we also get introduced to a few more characters. For starters we find out that the loli from episode 2 is named Maya a relative of the principal who’s attending the school for special reasons and seems to have developed a crush on Moroha. We also get introduced to Shizuno’s older brother. . .Shizuno’s older brother (yeah, surprisingly he doesn’t name or at least one that I know of) who’s the president of the academy and wants Shizuno to stay close to Moroha as well as make him an S rank striker (well you’re just one controlling bastard aren’t you?). Throughout the episode we get a few cute Moroha and Shizuno moments as well as glimpses into their past where we see that Shizuno was a slave girl and Moroha was some ice mage who covered the world in ice and was imprisoned for it (where was this in history?). But somehow Moroha escaped, took Shizuno with him, she grew up (developing amazing breast) to become a dark mage that served and fell in love with him. After having dinner with Shizuno and her big brother, Moroha is being driven home when all of sudden he gets attacked by a female engrish speaking motorcyclist (geez I wonder who she works for?) but manages to be beat her and force her to retreat to end the episode.
Episode 4 starts off with Moroha returning to his dorm and finding out that Maya is his new roommate (this is so illegal I don’t know where to begin). For the rest of the episode Shizuno’s brother is forcing her to study abroad in England and Shizuno being restricted by her invisible chains goes along with it not telling Moroha or the others. Of course Moroha finds out about this, busts into Shizuno’s family mansion (like a boss), and tells them that he was the one that killed the Metaphysical making him the primary target for the S rank position saving Shizuno and Satsuki. He then asks Shizuno what she wants to do in life and she burst into tears claiming she wants to stay with Moroha now and forever (yes cry. Just like Sauron when I stole his contact lens, http://youtu.be/OB9ib7Wbh3Q?t=5s). He does the bridal carry with Shizuno and jumps out the second floor of the mansion where Maya and Satsuki are there to pick them up in the tiniest red corvette I’ve ever seen (all of sudden that Prince song comes to mind). Shizuno’s brother shocked about all this goes big brother on us and uses his positon of power to have Edward fight Moroha to get his sister back (Shizuno’s brother: I’ve spent years wrapping invisible chains around that girl’s mind, I will not lose another sister to another guy). So Edward catches up to them and he and Moroha have a fight in the mountains where at first Moroha is doing bad because he’s afraid of damaging the area (that’s actually a pretty good and noble reason to hold back). But Maya puts up a barrier in the area and Moroha starts fighting serious destroying Edward’s sword and forcing him to use his second dog tag which gives him knight armor that makes him invincible. However, Moroha won’t be stopped as he unleashes his ultimate attack on Edward and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the mountains (Edward was so stunned he lost all of his sanity). With this victory Edward gives up, Shizuno is allowed to stay in Japan, and Moroha is now a candidate for S rank.
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 a month has passed since the events of episode 4 and summer break is about to start (you know what that means. . .fanservice). Moroha and the Strikers are told by their captain and vice-captain (who is a very creepy lady. Throughout the whole episode she keeps constantly grabbing Moroha’s butt and trying to rape him. And I thought Satsuki lacked subtlety) that they’re going to the beach for summer training (you just wanna see girls in bikinis). During this trip Satsuki challenges her senpai Momo to a race in order to be Moroha’s partner in training exercises. Momo’s specialty is speed (she gives godlike footjobs) so she’s the only one who can train with Moroha and keep up with his pace (it’s also hinted she has a crush on him). As you would expect Satsuki keeps losing to her but she doesn’t give up and gets Moroha to train her how to be faster. That’s pretty much the episode right there. We get plenty of fanservice scenes, the creepy vice-captain trying to rape Moroha in every other scene, and we end the episode on a high note with Moroha and Shizuno sharing a moment together watching the fireworks (wow, she managed to upstage Satsuki in an episode where she was the main girl). Also, Shizuno’s brother is now totally okay with Shizuno going after Moroha and even tells her to go have a child or two (who are you and what did you do to Shizuno’s brother?).
Episode 6 opens up with the Six Heads. They’re talking about Moroha with half of them in favor of him becoming an S-rank but the other half not convinced with his skills because there’s no record of his victory (we had eye witnesses there on the scene and everything not to mention he beat Edward so bad he went insane what more proof do you need?). As their talking a giant Metaphysical appears in the ocean off the coast of Japan where Moroha and the others are having their camp (how convenient can you get? Also, I’m just gonna say it this Metaphysical is disgusting. Seriously the thing is 300 meters tall, it’s a flippin’ island with multiple faces, and it can release ugly moth like Metaphysicals to attack. How drunk was the artist who drew this thing?). They’re all told to stand down but of course they chose to fight it and protect the islands (kids do the darnest things). They work out a plan where they’ll lure it into the island with sound since it responds to sound the most, take out its legs immobilizing it, and Moroha with the help of the captain will deal the final blow. That’s pretty much the episode right there, everyone fighting this thing and the moths that come out of it (did I tell you how disgusting this thing is because it’s really disgusting?). The Metaphysical unleashes a sonic boom with its multiple faces weakening everyone accept for Moroha who remembers more from his past life (somebody ordered the deus ex machina?) and he jumps to the top of the beast (thank you for flying Air Moroha) and begins using his sword to carve out a huge spell circle which once completed obliterates the Metaphysical in an instant. With this victory the Six Heads agree that Moroha is S-rank material but they agree to put him on parole and have him live out his school life in peace for the next 3 years (after that he’s fucked but we’ll cross that bridge when the time comes).
In episode 7 we meet a new girl named Elena a bewitching silver-haired big-breasted beauty who comes from Russia and has transparent hair as we can see both of her eyes despite the fact that one side of her hair is covering one her eyes (in Soviet Russia eye covers hair). Elena quickly establishes how likable she is as a character by announcing to everyone that her goal is to date Moroha and she does it in a cute and funny way (if she keeps this up she might just pass over Shizuno). She wants to go on a date with Moroha and since both Satsuki and Shizuno are busy they can’t accompany them on their date or spy on them from the bushes. The next day Moroha and Elena have their date where she shows up wearing cat ears and tail as a way to appeal to the young Japanese boy (this would be so racist if it wasn’t so true. Also FYI Elena, this technique works on all boys). They have lunch at McDonalds (because nothing says romance like McDonalds), hit the arcade, a movie, and share a walk and talk in the park where Elena says she has a little brother back home who she cares for deeply (man they hit all the dating notes in this episode). Also, in the movies Elena tries to give Moroha a handjob (please let her be a permanent character she’s too much). While they both seem to have a good time we find out later that she’s actually a maneater a Savior who kills other Saviors and she’s been ordered to seduce Moroha and kill him when the time comes otherwise Russia will kill her little brother. Shizuno uses her family resources to do some research on Elena and learns who she really is. The two have a decent fight at night which ends in Shizuno’s defeat because of Elena’s all-powerful demon sword which can slash through anything and absorbs plana and mana of its victims. She gives Shizuno a warning telling her to stay out of the way but Shizuno refuses and the fight gets interrupted by a teacher.
In episode 8 Shizuno tells Moroha that Elena is a Russian assassin here to kill him (in Soviet Russia you kill assassin). Despite knowing all of this Moroha just can’t leave Elena alone and since she’s injured from her fight with Shizuno, Moroha along with a few other students go to check on her, make her meals, and just keep her company (that is so heartwarming). After she’s all better she invites Moroha on a date with him and he accepts (knowing full well she’s trying to kill him. I would get mad at this but it’s clear he’s got this situation under control). They have their date outside a sports park where Elena strips (hey I didn’t know it was gonna be that kind of date) into her fighting attire (it’s still hot) and she attacks Moroha. At first Moroha has a tough time dealing with Elena’s sword but he quickly finds away pass it and has Elena on the ropes (I’m sure he would like to have her behind the trees but we’ll save that for later). At the entrance of the park Satsuki and an injured Shizuno arrive onto the scene to help Moroha but they get stopped by Sophie a senpai who’s actually an American spy (and she’s a stereotypical American female. Hot, busty, and blonde hair. However, she actually has tanned skin instead of white skin so. . .progress?). Satsuki takes on Sophie while Shizuno goes in and Satsuki manages to destroy Sophie’s weapon forcing her to stop fighting (she actually won a fight. There might just be hope for this girl yet). Back in the park Elena refuses to stop fighting until Shizuno tells her she doesn’t have a brother (well duh). Elena’s memories were altered into believing that she had a little brother so that the Russian branch could use her as their tool (wow, they’re making Russia look like assholes). With Elena heartbroken (everything is a lie) she gets possessed by an agent of Russia and Moroha performs an exorcist on her removing the agent and saving her life. The episode ends with Elena trying to leave secretly to face Russia but Moroha is there to stop her saying he’s going with her and even gets Edward to join him.
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 Moroha is in Russia (quite a long way from Japan eh Moroha? Be sure to dress warmly). He’s there to take on Russia’s Lightning Emperor and make the bitch pay for what she did to Elena (you hurt a member of his harem he fucks up your country). Angela, Edward’s assistant is there with Moroha to give him support but apparently he doesn’t need it as the guy is OP as hell in this episode. I mean it, he literally goes by train to every Russian city, finds one of the district representatives, and beats them with ease. To make him even more badass in this episode there’s one scene where Angela tries to tease him sexually and Moroha turns the tables on her and gets her all flustered (man Moroha you were cool before but damn man you are seriously on fire this episode). In the final moments of the episode Moroha fights 8 district representatives where one of them reveals a communication mirror which has the Lightning Emperor writing a spell to strike Moroha. Moroha pushes Angela out of harm’s way and takes the spell full force to end the episode.
At the start of episode 10 Moroha wakes up in the bed naked to the sight of Angela sleeping with him who is also naked (woohoo even in his sleep he gets some). We see in a flashback Angela carried Moroha to safety after the fight and used a healing magic to save his life which required her to be naked (why do all of these healing spells require the user to be naked? (Baron): Well if you must know it’s because- (Nitsuj): Rhetorical question). Thankfully, Moroha avoids the classic harem cliché and doesn’t panic or scream (Angela does the screaming and it is funny). After getting dressed they meet Katya one of the district representatives who’s on their side because she wants to save her friend Yuli who has been forced to work for the Lightning Emperor (Isis: This might just be the feminist in me but shouldn’t it be empress instead of emperor? (Nitsuj): Yeah you’re right. It should be empress instead of emperor. Way to be sexist Japan). Moroha finally reaches the Lightning Empress’ mansion where she summons lightning animals and soldiers to do her fighting (in Soviet Russia you strike lightning). When Moroha employs military tactics the empress uses military tactics as well and sends out her Saviors (who she forced to serve her) to fight him and her lightning army attacks the Saviors in the crossfire not caring about allies or enemies (bitch). When Moroha gets cornered and has no way out Angela and Katya come to save him and they’re not alone as Satsuki, Shizuno, and Elena have come to help him (you couldn’t stay at home huh ladies?). The rest of the Saviors (all of them mostly being big-breasted girls) side with Moroha (this has got to be the quickest I’ve seen a harem grow). Pissed about this mutiny the empress summons her ultimate creature a lightning giant a creature so powerful it can destroy a city in no time flat. None of their attacks seem to work on the giant but Moroha remembers his past (I give them credit, they haven’t used this as nearly as much as they could have) and recites a forbidden curse known as Ouroboros a spell that summons a huge flood of water that offers waterbending powers to Moroha. With this water, Moroha destroys the giant shocking the empress (scene here: https://youtu.be/VqX3HyuaHkI) and when he’s finally face to face with her she turns into a frightened child begging for her life admitting defeat and ready to cry (and to think everyone in Russia was afraid of you).
Not much to say about episode 11. The others return to Japan except for Moroha who’s asked to stay in Russia to handle a Metaphysical that has appeared (and tend to his new harem in Russia). After that not much happens other than Maya sad that Moroha hasn’t come back yet so the girls throw a slumber party to cheer her up in Satsuki’s dorm room. After that, a powerful Metaphysical attacks Japan and it’s not just any Metaphysical it’s the Ancient Dragon said to be the strongest Metaphysical in existence (yet they know nothing about it). This Ancient Dragon is Moroha’s natural enemy as this is the same dragon who took everything away from Moroha in his past lives by killing both Satsuki and Shizuno for no apparent reason other than to piss Moroha off (you were jealous of his harem weren’t you?). The Strikers try to fight the dragon but we quickly see that the dragon is not only smart but it can use spells as well and dispel them (so this is the final boss of the anime? They couldn’t have picked a better boss?).
In the final episode the Ancient Dragon continues to toy with everyone waiting for Moroha to return (man you know you’re living the good life when a dragon comes to fuck with you). Moroha finally shows up where the dragon turns Satsuki and Shizuno into stone which causes Moroha to go berserk. Since spells don’t affect the dragon Moroha decides to slice the rune onto the dragon which while a good idea is also a bad idea as he plans on using a spell which will destroy the city (Tough luck. You steal a man’s harem everyone suffers. That’s how it works). As Satsuki and Shizuno are busy being stoned (as I’m sure some of you are as well) their past lives come and berate them for being weak and giving up. This gives them the power to break their stone prison and stop Moroha from completing his spell where they create a new spell which gives Moroha a huge sword and he uses it to destroy the dragon (I think I liked the first spell better). So Japan is safe, the school is demolished (alright early vacation), Moroha got his girls back and will continue to get more girls, and the whole school celebrates Moroha’s victory and return.
Final Thoughts
What did I just watch? Yeah, this anime is bad and I feel awful bashing on it because it started off on such a good note and had a lot of promise. The concept is good, students having past lives which grant them power is cool and an interesting concept. It reminds me of Avatar a little bit. The music was good, the animation decent but low-budget at times, and the fight scenes surprisingly enjoyable. But everything else is just bad. The story is rushed, and the characters are handled poorly. Moroha is a bland overpowered character who gets way too strong way too quickly. Satsuki is an annoying character, normally, I can handle characters like her but not here. Every time she’s on screen she’s either screaming, crying, or trying to get Moroha’s attention. Shizuno was slightly the more tolerable of the two female leads, but she really has no purpose outside of being the girl who makes Satsuki mad all the time. The relationship between the characters is rushed, it would have made more since for these guys to start off as friends and then slowly start to remember their past instead of just diving right into the romance factor of the characters.
Final Score
The final score for this anime is 4/10. An anime that had the potential to be good. Just like the Asterisk Wars it had all the right pieces to make for an interesting anime but it could never fit all those pieces together and we wound up with a disappointing anime just like Akashic Records which is way more complicated to talk about. Oh no!
(Shizuku): Woah!
*Shizuku comes flying out of the system*
(Shizuku): Man boss, you started a flame war. You should see that fire in the system.
(Nitsuj): Oh crap. Now, I gotta review that anime. You guys get that fire settled down while I get ready. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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