Reincarnated As A Sword - What We Know So Far

Japanese animation never shies away from a unique idea. For those curious as to the quality of service they would receive in the fast food industry from the literal devil, there's an anime for that. For those who felt that the high school ecosystem never featured enough male dominated harems, there's an anime for that. For those who demand food so finely crafted that it, uh, satisfies ... other urges, there's an anime for that. Tragically, the market is currently lacking an anime for those who crave sentient weaponry with a endearing penchant for aiding cat girl slaves on their quest to freedom. 

Dear reader, it's our great pleasure to say that such a void will soon be filled: Enter "Reincarnated as a Sword," also known by the hilariously excessive title "I Became the Sword by Transmigrating." Here's everything we know so far about the newest addition to the Isekai (person goes to a strange, new place — think "Alice in Wonderland") genre.

According to the recent trailer for "Reincarnated as a Sword," the series will drop on October 5, 2022. That's only weeks away! Unfortunately, that release only applies to Japanese audiences. Viewers of Tokyo MX, BS Asahi, and ABC TV will be able to enjoy the anime, as well as those who use the streaming service Abema. That might seem like a lot of ways to enjoy "Reincarnated as a Sword," and it is, but that's all across the pond from American viewers. 

The good news is that, according to CBR, Sentai Filmworks — one of the studios behind the anime — is licensing "Reincarnated as a Sword" outside of Asia. And yet, despite this, there's no official word of a dubbed, or even a subbed, version coming. Granted, such news could be announced any day now, or it could be months down the line, who knows. We don't. 

For those who are still sticking around after that mild bout of disappointment, let's talk about the cast and crew behind C2C's adaptation of "Reincarnated as a Sword" (it was a novel by Yuu Tanaka, first). The production was directed by Shinji Ishihira, and the scripts, character designs, and animation direction were all handled by Takahiro Nagano and Atsuki Saito. All music composition was lead by Yatsuhara Takahashi. 

The two main characters, Master and Fran (the sword and the cat girl, respectively), are voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki and Ai Kakuma. The voice cast also includes Ami Koshimizu, Wataru Hatano, Tetsu Inada, Rumi Okubo, and Shinpachi Tsuji. Again, as there is no news of a dub yet, there are no casting announcements for an English voice cast, but anticipate the eventual production to be cast through Funimation. 

While the base concept of a cat girl wielding a sentient sword is enough to get some viewers, let's dig into what audiences can expect from the story. Should "Reincarnated as a Sword" prove faithful to the novel, the series starts with a nameless protagonist getting plowed down by a motorized vehicle. As the title suggests, he gets reincarnated as a magical, sentient sword, who adopts the name Master, whereafter he's found by Fran, a cat girl imprisoned in the slave trade. Together, they quite literally carve her path towards freedom. 

The relationship between these two characters is one more of father and daughter, rather than romantic (a terrifying concept on its own), so it seems as if Master will be a guiding force for Fran as she becomes the hero of the anime. While that's sweet and good, brace for blood and gore, too — after all, one of the main characters is literally a weapon.