REVIEW: ‘Reincarnated as a Sword,’ Episode 10 – “The Totally Unfair Spider Traps”

Reincarnated as a Sword Episode 10 continues Fran, Amanda, and the adventurer crew’s expedition into the challenging spider dungeon to assess their skills. However, what was expected to be another common action-packed episode turned out to be an odd mix of educational and thrilling. 

As the expedition begins, we see Fran and Amanda getting friendlier despite recently having a deadly duel. As they walk in, Amanda informs Fran about the Dungeon’s past and how it was once a bustling point where the adventurer’s gathered to challenge the hurdles and monsters that come with it. Unfortunately, while it was eventually defeated, it cost many lives and orphaned children, many of whom found solace in Amanda’s orphanage, which explains why she has a soft spot for children. Of course, that’s all we get to know about Amanda or the Dungeon and the world in this episode because, as we’ve already established, the anime prefers to focus more on action than character backgrounds and depth. 

Surprisingly, we learn more about the world’s magic and combat system, which was previously only touched on. The episode covers Arts, which are combat moves an individual can train to have, and Skills, which are usually unique “divine gifts from the gods” that are different for each character, like a trap disabling skill or a location tracking skill. Then there’s magic, which is self-explanatory and includes the Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind elements. However, what I found amusing about this system is that people had to do frankly absurd things to acquire and strengthen their magic skills. These supposedly include eating dirt to get earth magic, bathing a lot and drinking a lot of water for water magic, running through the wind naked to get wind magic, and maybe even burning yourself for fire magic. While this system sort of makes sense, I still found the explanation amusing and the reasoning borderline idiotic.

Then there’s Compound Magic like ice, thunder, and wood, which are combinations of two base magic. Certain characters and races have affinities for these, like how an elf can use Wood Magic, presumably because they live near trees, but almost no one can use more than two types of Magic or the magic monsters use. Except, of course, Fran, who’s special because she’s the protagonist and has a magic talking sword that can acquire and use seemingly every type of skill and magic. Overall, the first half of the episode felt like an elaborate, drawn-out class which I didn’t care too much for, especially as everything explained follows a similar structure in every fantasy isekai and video game. I also think all the information would have been more appreciated in an earlier episode and not so close to the end of the season. After the lesson, the crew continues their expedition while the dungeon progressively becomes tougher, leading to a climactic conclusion to the episode.

All in all, while Reincarnated as a Sword Episode 10 served some purpose, I found it quite drab and look forward to the next episode as it hints that viewers may see what Fran is capable of without the sword.

Reincarnated as a Sword Episode 10 is streaming now on HIDIVE.