There’s a lot of Isekai series that come out literally every season. It has become, perhaps, the most over saturated genre of anime. There’s at least 4 or so Isekai series each season, and typically more Isekai-like series on top of that. Point is, if you like a typical fantasy story about an overpowered main character with one defining character trait or ability, you’re in luck!

I fully admit to loving Isekai a lot. Even the worst Isekai is at least fun to laugh at. Occasionally, there’s one that’s so uninteresting it’s not even funny, but usually, I tend to watch most to all Isekais that come out. This is usually full of bland things that I somehow manage to find things to talk about, which you’ll see in a post soon. But this time, it’s different.

Every now and then an Isekai comes out that’s actually really good and makes the genre worth watching. Think the Shield Heroes and Reincarnated Slimes of the world. This season, that shockingly good anime is Reincarnated as a Sword, and it’s probably the most shocking of all of these.

You can usually tell right off the bat when an Isekai will stand out from the others. Shield Hero gives us the complete opposite of a strong hero beloved by all, and Slime gives us, well, a Slime and a story focused not on humanity, but monsters. Reincarnated as a Sword, at first glance, doesn’t have much. Guy dies, reincarnates as something dumb, the world is just like an RPG, events ensue. It’s nothing unique.

This is why I didn’t expect anything from the series. I wanted to watch it because a guy who’s a talking sword sounds kind of dumb ,and I thought it’d be funny despite how generic it is. And, it certainly is generic, it really is. If you’ve seen a generic Isekai, you know all the events that have unfolded to this point. So, why it this anime good? It’s actually really simple. It does the typical Isekai formula really well.

To start with, the art is pretty nice. It has smooth animations, really interesting physical skills and even a few magic ones to see, even if the skill system is nothing unique or done super well. That’s already a big plus, considering how…passable, a lot of these Isekai series end up looking. There are things the anime does that are much more important, though.

It takes the typical setting of strong character reincarnated as weird thing with one gimmick, but actually makes the characters interesting. I know, a novel idea for most Isekai these days. Teacher himself, our sword hero here, isn’t all that interesting by himself, beyond the fact that a talking, floating sword is a fairly unique thing to be reincarnated. It’s when his wielder, Fran, gets thrown into it that things become really good.

Fran is just a good setup for a character. She’s crapped on by the world, abused by people, alone, but still strong. She has a goal to do something that her race has never done, and she’ll endure anything to do it. You really want to root for her, both for how courageous and competent she is, but also how much she’s belittled and stepped on by the world. She’s a character you want to succeed for herself, but also to screw everyone else over.

My favorite part of the story is Fran and Teacher’s dynamic. Just the fact that Fran calls her sword Teacher, should tell you a thing or two. Fran has combat experience, but she needs to be taught. Teacher becomes her sword, imparts his skills onto her and teaches her how to fight and use them and become a warrior in general.

It creates this really interesting scenario where there is an overpowered main character, Teacher in this case, but with Fran at the helm they both become vulnerable. They are an incredibly strong duo and the first few episodes really hammer how amazing they are into you, but then Fran gets her hands cut off briefly, rightfully, terrified until she gets healed. Another big point is that neither of them are invincible.

Fran, as is mentioned a few times, is a young child. No matter how strong she is, she is mentally not as seasoned as someone with her skill should be, which will lead to many issues. Likewise, Teacher is able to be destroyed if he or Fran do not take proper precautions. It does the overpowered formula just right. They are incredibly strong. They’re exceptional, and we see that a lot, but we’re reminded, sometimes very suddenly, that they aren’t invincible. There’s suspense for once.

Reincarnated as a Sword is not unique in its story, setting, power system, magic, setup, enemies, or even plot and characters. But it handles each of them in a very good way. It understands that you can have badass characters without them being invincible, and that you can incorporate the skill system in an interesting way with the whole passing things to Fran part, which then sets up her whole naive child character given immense power suddenly thing.

It’s not the most unique Isekai you’ll find, probably not the best looking, funnest, saddest, or funniest one you’ll watch. In fact, it’s going to look very similar to many you’ve seen, except that Reincarnated as a Sword really knows how to use the pieces it has well. And I think that’s worth talking about.

Thank you very much for reading

You should definitely give this one the three episode test. It takes a bit to get going, but is good.