The Sacred Blacksmith: The Complete Series

In this 2009 Japanese TV series, derived from comics, the independent trading city of Housman suffers supernatural attacks that possibly signal the resumption of a dreadful magical war against a demon-god 44 years earlier. As a defensive gambit, Housman obtains a "demon sword of wind," which can materialize as a friendly (and scantily clad) woman named Aria. Having known so much bloodshed as a weapon, Aria reacts better to good-hearted and gentle masters than violent ones (a nice touch), and she winds up in the hands of Cecily, a young, slightly inept member of the Knight Guards, who has never killed anything. An initially meandering story arc (which improves as it goes along) combines several narrative threads featuring Cecily and Aria facing off against a wannabe princess bent on collecting all of the demon swords; monstrous agents of a sinister "man in black"; and the quasi-romantic bickering with Cecily's occasional rescuer, an orphaned young blacksmith named Luke, whose rare ability to forge magic swords make him crucial to the rising conflict. Some gratuitous nudity and breast jokes early on set a misleading tone for a saga that grows progressively more intricate and engrossing, eventually leading to surprising revelations about the true natures of the characters. Presented in a dual-language set, rated TV-MA, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)