The time has come guys n’ gals! Anime REvisited is back with a new anime series for us to review; episode by episode! This time we’ve picked a series that honestly needs more love and doesn’t get the credit that it deserves! That series is Chivalry of a Failed Knight! Many fans know this to be an underrated gem with only one season – which is a crying shame compared to other series like it (like Asterisk War…yeaaah…). Hopefully we’ll get another season of this sometime in the future, of course for that to happen you gotta get enough people to talk about it – and even get the attention of the animation studio behind it as well. So, let’s get on with the review!

With this being the first episode we’re thrown into an alternate version of Japan, where individuals known as Blazers have the ability to draw weapons (mostly swords) from their own will. Basically they’re known as magical knights who are ranked based on skill, prowess, and magical abilities. One of the most prominent Blazers is a crimson haired princess known as Stella Vermillion (vermillion is an actual color by the way), as she is an A-Rank. At Hagun Academy a student by the name of Ikki Korugane narrates his story at the beginning of the episode about being the underdog and how the gifted are privileged while the ungifted get casts to the side in life. Right away I kinda knew that this was going to be a story about how the underdog protagonist goes against all odds and comes out on top – like a lot of characters we’re all familiar with that have that same mindset!

Ikki makes it back to his room after jogging to find an almost-naked Stella in his room. His response was to get naked himself so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. (We all know how this story ends! XP) Ikki’s then called into the office of the academy, to which the Headmaster calls in Stella so that he can apologize. Stella accepts but being the ‘spoiled’ princess that she is, demands that Ikki drops dead on his own sword. As the misunderstanding gets worse Stella swears that she’ll incinerate Ikki with her own fire, but to that he responds that he’s never seen a woman so beautiful before. Comedic embarrassment aside Ikki and Stella find out that they’re both living together – which was a shock to them. The Headmaster then suggested that the two of them fight each other in a mock battle to decide on how to handle the co-ed situation with the room.

An hour later Ikki and Stella meet face to face as they agree upon the terms of the battle. Ikki draws his sword from the power of his own will, which is a basic katana that is his primary weapon. Stella then draws her weapon as flames surround her, before a Claymore-type yellow-bladed sword appears. The two then fight each other as their swords clashed while a small audience is watching the action. During the battle Stella notices that Ikki has memorized her attack patterns and is using them against her. Before the battle ends Ikki uses his ultimate blade technique since no one ever taught him how to use it, as he focuses all of his power into one swing of his sword. He struck Stella with a final blow before passing out himself due to using all of his power, thus winning the mock battle.

Afterwards Stella returns to her and Ikki’s room and finds him sleeping; to which her sudden curiosity is sparked at the fact that his back is exposed, and she’s never seen a man’s back before. One can assume she’s never had a real boyfriend due to the restrictions of being a princess, and also the fact that she’s a celebrity in Japan, and her having a boyfriend means so much unwanted media and paparazzi coverage. After Ikki wakes up Stella tells him that she’ll be a little less mean to him after discovering how hard he had it growing up, and realizing that all he can rely on is hard work as opposed to pure talent. Afterwards Ikki jokes with Stella telling her that she still has to abide by the bet she made earlier, and though she gets mad and pouts at him due to what she thinks he might ask her to do, he shocks her and tells her that he just wants her to be his roommate – and wants to be closer to her as friends. Stella responds that she will be Ikki’s roommate, but she doesn’t want him to be close to her. (Although that might change later on down the line as the series progresses…)

So with this being an introductory episode, we’re treated to seeing a battle between the main characters of the series – with Ikki proving to Stella that he more than just an F-Rank knight. Right away on the first episode you don’t even have to wait to see what kind of skill Ikki has with his blade, and though he’s marked as an F-Rank in the academy, he shows Stella that he can go toe to toe with her despite him not having any good magical abilities. It’ll be interesting to see what Ikki’s like down the road, and what kind of relationship he’ll have with the Crimson Princess Stella Vermillion.

That’s all we’ve got for our Anime REvisisted review for now, and until next post, stay safe and continue to stay united! 🙂