Blade Dance of Elementalers

tl;dr: A pretty great manga that mostly serves as build up for the story past where the manga ends, but the anime and light novel do the same but better. This is the manga adaptation for a light novel that’s also gotten an anime adaptation. I’ve already seen the anime adaptation as well as read the light novel past where this manga ends, and from that point of view I’d say that this is a decent enough adaptation. It manages to carry the strengths of the story reasonably well. The plot is pretty formulaic but it sets up most all of the characters their motivations prettywell while also providing decent background on the setting and building up a lot of mysteries that are going to be important in the future. The cast of characters are a bit cliche, but are implemented well, and while the action so far is a bit simplistic it is also implemented well. While it’s clear that there’s a lot more to the plot and that most aspects have only been barely touched on, the manga ends at a point that it feels is like a good break point. So, in and of itself it’s a solid enough manga. Still, this manga ends at the exact point that the anime does, and thus I feel there really isn’t much point to this manga. While the manga is a decent enough adaptation, the anime is somewhat better. The manga is missing a lot of small moments that add up in terms of showing off characters. Est for example, is pretty much a non-entity in the manga. And thus, while in and of itself the story is fine, as an adaptation it feels like it’s lacking a bit compared to the anime and light novel that do a better job. While the art in the manga is decent, the anime also has better art and pretty solid animation. So, if you’re looking for a visual medium, the anime is the way to go. And if you want a print medium the original source material, the light novel, would be the better choice. If you have a preference for manga above everything than that’s fine, as previously stated the manga is pretty good, but if you have to choose, the anime or light novel would be better picks. The only ones to whom I’d recommend this manga is for those that have already gone through the story in another medium and just want to go through this part of the story again in a different way, as in that case this is a really solid way of doing so.