The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy
The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy, shortened as Sematsuka is a Japanese light novel series written by Yū Shimizu and illustrated by Asagi Tōsaka. Media Factory has published sixteen volumes from May 2019 to October 2024 under their MF Bunko J imprint. The light novel is licensed in North America by Yen Press. A manga adaptation with art by Asuka Keigen was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine Monthly Shōnen Ace from November 2019 to February 2025. It was collected in ten volumes.
An anime television series adaptation directed by Hiroyuki Morita and produced by Passione aired from October to December 2023. Critic Neil Lumbard of Blu-ray.com gave the series a positive review for its art style, "fun energy" and Yuji Nomi's score, stating that "Studio Ghibli fans will want to check out the series."
Plot
A thousand years ago, the world was at war. Led by the Six Dark Lords, humanity as a whole was nearly led to the brink of extinction. However, humanity had hope in the form of the Six Heroes. With their power, the Six Dark Lords fell one by one until finally, only one remained. In the year 447 of the Holy Calendar, the Undead King, Leonis Death Magnus, also fell, but before his capital, Necrozoa, was conquered, he sealed his own body with a powerful barrier and cast a resurrection spell on himself. He declared that he will concede victory only this once, but he shall rise again in one thousand years to conquer humanity for that is the mission given to him by the Goddess of Rebellion.In the present time, a young girl named Riselia Ray Crystalia stumbled upon the ancient ruins of Leonis's mausoleum. Accidentally undoing the seal, Leonis awakens after his thousand-year slumber in the body of a ten-year-old human child. Mistaken to be a refugee of the Voids, Riselia takes Leonis into her care, and Leonis begins his mission to uncover what has happened to the world while he slept.
Characters
Main characters
;Leonis Death Magnus;Riselia Ray Crystalia
Seventh Assault Garden
;Regina Mercedes;Sakuya Sieglinde
;Elfiné Phillet
;Fenris Edelritz
Six Heroes
;Arakael DegradiosOther characters
;Roselia Ishtaris;Shary Shadow Assassin
;Blackus
Media
Light novels
The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy is written by Yū Shimizu and illustrated by Asagi Tōsaka. It was published in sixteen volumes by Media Factory from May 25, 2019 to October 15, 2024 under their MF Bunko J imprint. The light novel is licensed in North America by Yen Press.Manga
A manga adaptation with art by Asuka Keigen was serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Ace magazine from November 26, 2019 to February 26, 2025. Ten volumes were released from May 2020 to March 2025. At Sakura-Con 2022, Yen Press announced that they would also publish the manga in English.Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced on October 21, 2021. It is produced by Passione and directed by animator and lecturer Hiroyuki Morita, with series composition and episode screenplays by Kunihiko Okada and character designs handled by Takayuki Noguchi and Satsuki Hayasaka. The series aired from October 3 to December 19, 2023, on TV Tokyo and BS Fuji. The opening theme song is "1000-nen Ai" by Chiai Fujikawa, while the ending theme song is "Yururi" by Kaho, with their creditless versions being released through YouTube on October 24, 2023.The series was simulcast through Bilibili in Southeast Asia, while Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series outside of Asia.
Music
The series' score was composed by Yuji Nomi, who had previously collaborated with Morita for the 2002 film The Cat Returns and the 2007 series Bokurano. The soundtrack to the series was released on February 28 as part of the packaging for the series' 2nd volume Blu-ray release.; Track listing
Home media
The series was released by Nippon Columbia on Blu-ray in two volumes, the first on December 27, 2023 and the second on February 28, 2024. For the second volume, the soundtrack composed for the series by Yuji Nomi was included in the packaging.In the United States, the entire series was released on Blu-ray on August 13, 2024, with the sole extras being the credit-less intro and outro.
Reception
The first episode of the series received mixed reviews from Western critics.Neil Lumbard of Blu-ray.com gave the series a positive review, praising its "fun energy", art style and Yuji Nomi's score. He stated that due to the involvement of Nomi and director Hiroyuki Morita, "Studio Ghibli fans will want to check out the series."