The isekai craze does not seem to be fading away any time soon, and new anime series — many of which follow the recent trend to have very long and core-plot describing titles — that have been added to the Winter 2023 Anime Season are there to prove it. With some choices for avid fans of the genre or newcomers, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire stands out for some unique elements that catch the eye in a myriad of very similar titles.
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire is a series of light novels written by Hayaken and illustrated by Nagu, the serialization of which started in March 2019, on the user-generated novel publishing website, Shousetsuka ni Narou. The series was later acquired by Hobby Japan, and eight volumes of the light novels have been published since November 2019, under their HJ Bunko imprint. Also, since December 2019, a manga adaptation has been serialized on Hobby Japan’s Comic Fire website, with art by Moto Kuromura, and has been collected in four tankoubon volumes. J-Novel Club has licensed both the light novel and manga series in the United States. Furthermore, a two-episode anime adaptation was released in November 2022, on Comic Fire’s Twitter account. With this background, it comes as no surprise that Studio Comet is bringing a full series adaptation to life, set to debut in the Winter 2023 anime season.
What To Expect
The Japanese series' name tells much more about the lines that the story threads than its title in English. The original name, 英雄王、武を極めるため転生す ～そして、世界最強の見習い騎士♀～, which literally translates to “The Hero King, Reincarnated To Master Martial Arts – Thus Becoming The World’s Strongest Female Knight-In-Training”, focuses on the gender-bending, hinting at the strong point that can differentiate this new isekai anime series from many others. This is the story of a king that, on his deathbed, has the wish to be reborn in the future far after his death to be able to see what has become of his kingdom, and, when his wish is granted, he is reincarnated as a young woman, a lady who has to fight for the “right” to be a knight, which provides a lot of room for criticism on gender norms that should have been abolished from society a long time ago.
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire is directed by Naoyuki Kuzuya (Saiyuki Gaiden, Wild Adapter, Juuza Engi Engetsu Sangokuden), with scripts by Mitsutaka Hirota (Rent-A-Girlfriend, Edens Zero, Anime-Gataris). Reiichirou Oufuji is in charge of the character designs and the music is composed by Kenta Higashihji (Super Shiro, Pokémon The Movie: Secrets Of The Jungle).
The following trailer features the opening song, “Day1”, by Auo, featuring Win Morisaki, and the ending song, “Self Hug Big Love”, by Yui Nishio.
What Is Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire has what it takes to help with the deconstruction of gender roles. Since gender is a social construct, it is always very welcome to have more and more anime that defy these social constructs and defy long-established “traditional” gender norms. Many anime series and films use the gender-bending trope for fanservice — even if Your Name is a majestic work of art, both visually and in terms of compelling storytelling, unfortunately, this Shinkai’s masterpiece also embraces this overused and tiresome trope. While one cannot assume this new anime series will refrain from this use of fanservice, it can be seen from the synopsis, as it could be noticed in the very title in Japanese for the original series of light novels, that the focus is on the struggles of being a woman in a world that expresses favoritism for men just because they happened to be born as males.
After living a life devoted to serving his country and people, Inglis’ one wish to be free of a king’s burden and to train was actually heard! Reborn in the far future as a daughter to renowned knights, Inglis can now focus on mastering martial arts. A wish has been granted, and Inglis will be on the front lines fulfilling the dream of becoming the strongest knight.
Many academicians agree that shonen and shojo manga and anime tend to be way more intricate, human, philosophical, and mature than their “equivalent” American comics, but see the nefarious undertones of sexism and the over-sexualization of women and underage girls in these same works, as well as the pervasive theme of “men ought to be stronger than women”, which sum up how a lot of gender relations go in manga and anime. Hence, more and more anime series have been added to the recent seasonal line-ups that, if not completely deconstruct these insidious gender stereotypes, at the very least leave room for the viewers to question them.
Two examples of that are Romantic Killer and I’m A Villainess, So I’m Taming The Final Boss. Both are recent isekai anime series with female leads. While the latter fails to deconstruct the gender stereotypes, at least it challenges the norms, approaches the inequalities, and thus leaves the viewers with something to reminisce on. Romantic Killer, on the other hand, has garnered fans and appraisals for the way it subverts overused tropes, questions gender roles, approaches stalking toward a male character in a decent fashion, and has in Anzu Hoshino one of the best recent female leads in shonen isekai. If Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire will live up to the hype surrounding it, we will have to wait and see — but the wait will not be long.
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire will be a simulcast on Crunchyroll, to debut on January 9, 2023, JST.