# Bladedance of Elementalers (精霊使いの剣舞)
**Bladedance of Elementalers** (精霊使いの剣舞), also known as *Blade Dance of the Elementalers*, is a Japanese light novel series written by Yū Shimizu.[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=9355&f=d9355-20140213-1048.pdf&r=2) Set in a fantasy world where only pure maidens may contract with spirits, its story follows Kamito Kazehaya, the only male elementalist, who becomes a contracted spirit to student Claire Rouge and enters the Blade Dance battle festival at Areishia Spirit Academy.[1](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/301302000682/) • [7](https://comic-walker.com/detail/KC_004555_S) • [5](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers) • [6](https://anilist.co/anime/20663/seirei-tsukai-no-blade-dance) • [3](https://theanimelist.net/anime/seireitsukai-no-blade-dance) The 20-volume series ran for over eight years, ending in March 2019, with cumulative sales passing 1 million copies by February 2014 and reaching 2 million as of May 2019.[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=9355&f=d9355-20140213-1048.pdf&r=2) • [8](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321704000178/) A 12-episode anime adaptation produced by TNK and directed by Tetsuya Yanagisawa was broadcast from July to September 2014, and [Sentai Filmworks](https://www.edgepedia.org/sentai-filmworks) acquired the North American license in June 2014.[3](https://theanimelist.net/anime/seireitsukai-no-blade-dance) • [4](https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/blogs/catalog/blade-dance-of-the-elementalers) • [5](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers) • [4](https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/blogs/catalog/blade-dance-of-the-elementalers)
The story is set in a fantasy world where only pure maidens may contract with spirits, and its protagonist, Kamito Kazehaya, is a male elementalist, an impossibility in that setting[1](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/301302000682/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Yū Shimizu (志瑞祐), who debuted in 2008 with *Yatte Kita yo, Druid-san!*, an honorable mention in the 4th MF Bunko J Light Novel Newcomer Award[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=9355&f=d9355-20140213-1048.pdf&r=2) |
| Anime | 12 episodes, produced by TNK, directed by Tetsuya Yanagisawa, broadcast July to September 2014[3](https://theanimelist.net/anime/seireitsukai-no-blade-dance) |
| Sales | Cumulative sales passed 1 million copies by February 2014 and reached 2 million as of May 2019[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=9355&f=d9355-20140213-1048.pdf&r=2) |
| English license | North American release under the title *Blade Dance of the Elementalers* by Sentai Filmworks, acquired in June 2014[4](https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/blogs/catalog/blade-dance-of-the-elementalers) • [5](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers) |
## Premise and story
In the world of the series, contracting with a spirit is a privilege reserved for pure maidens. Women who can summon spirits from Astral Zero, the world of spirits, and command their power are called elementalists[6](https://anilist.co/anime/20663/seirei-tsukai-no-blade-dance). Kamito Kazehaya is the only male with this ability. Through a chance accident he peeps at Claire Rouge, a student of Areishia Spirit Academy, while she bathes as part of a purification ceremony before forming a contract with a powerful sword spirit; the spirit ends up contracted to Kamito instead, and Claire demands that he take responsibility by becoming her contracted spirit[7](https://comic-walker.com/detail/KC_004555_S) • [5](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers).
At the academy, the headmaster Greyworth Ciel Mais admits Kamito in exchange for information about his former contracted spirit, Restia Ashdoll, and assigns him a second task: to form a team with the shrine princesses in training and win the Blade Dance, a battle festival two months away that crowns the strongest elementalist and grants its winner any single wish[6](https://anilist.co/anime/20663/seirei-tsukai-no-blade-dance) • [3](https://theanimelist.net/anime/seireitsukai-no-blade-dance). The story follows Kamito's team, which the short story collection names Team Scarlet, through the festival and into a wider conflict involving the holy nation and the legacy of the demon lord Suleiman[8](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321704000178/) • [9](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321802000566/).
## The light novel
The series ran for over eight years and was illustrated by three artists in sequence. Sakura Hanpen drew the first 13 volumes; when poor health forced a change, Yūji Nimura, the illustrator of *Leviathan of the Covenant*, took over from volume 14, and Shimesaba Kohada, the illustrator of *[Dragonar Academy](https://www.edgepedia.org/dragonar-academy)*, drew the final run from volume 17 through the conclusion[10](https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance). Volume 20, subtitled *Resonance Sacred Demon Sword* (共鳴の聖魔剣), brought the main story to a close in 2019[11](https://kumagaya-th.spec.ed.jp/wysiwyg/file/download/1/2291) • [12](https://nvl.yominoma.jp/details/1086).
Sales grew steadily across the run. The publisher reported that the series had surpassed 1 million cumulative copies by February 2014, before the anime aired, and 2 million by May 2019[2](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=9355&f=d9355-20140213-1048.pdf&r=2). A complete 21-volume omnibus e-book edition collects the entire run[13](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321907000819/).
## Manga adaptation
Two manga versions appeared in *Monthly Comic Alive*. A second adaptation by Hyōju Issei started in the September 2012 issue and ran until the March 2017 issue, collected in six tankōbon volumes; the Kadokawa online store lists volume 1 at 576 yen (released 20 February 2013) and volume 6 at 605 yen (released 23 March 2017)[14](https://store.kadokawa.co.jp/shop/series/series00076901?sort=sp). This second manga covers the Areishia Spirit Academy arc, corresponding to light novel volumes 1 through 3[5](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers).
## Anime adaptation
The adaptation covers the events of light novel volumes 1 to 3[10](https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance).
Sentai Filmworks acquired the North American license in June 2014 and released the series as *Blade Dance of the Elementalers*[5](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers) • [4](https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/blogs/catalog/blade-dance-of-the-elementalers). Japanese fans also received supporting media: an internet radio program, *Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance Hōsō〈Blera ji〉*, streamed weekly on HiBiKi Radio Station from 1 July to 14 October 2014 with voice actresses Ibuki Kido and Sao Ōnishi as personalities, a drama CD was released by Frontier Works on 28 November 2018, and a character song unit born from the anime, Nī Sokkususu, released an ending single arranged around the song "KN33SOXXX" on 23 July 2014[15](https://bladedance.tv/news/index_2.html).
## What changed after the anime
The anime covers only the opening three volumes of a 20-volume story, so viewers who finished the show in 2014 had seen only the academy arc of a much longer plot. Later volumes move from the academy festival into world-scale events: volume 18, *Imperial Capital Retrival* (帝都奪還), reveals the truth of a thousand years earlier through Kamito's meeting with the spirit Iris, destroys the Demon Lord's tomb, and brings war to the Ordesia Empire[9](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321802000566/). The published series ended in March 2019 with volume 20 and a short story collection, *Seirei Butōsai*, issued in October 2017[8](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321704000178/).
## References
1. [「精霊使いの剣舞 1」志瑞祐, KADOKAWA](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/301302000682/)
2. [gooyaAd × MF文庫J official interview page press release (13 February 2014)](https://prtimes.jp/a/?c=9355&f=d9355-20140213-1048.pdf&r=2)
3. [Seireitsukai no Blade Dance, TheAnimeList](https://theanimelist.net/anime/seireitsukai-no-blade-dance)
4. [Blade Dance of the Elementalers, Sentai catalog](https://www.sentaifilmworks.com/blogs/catalog/blade-dance-of-the-elementalers)
5. [Bladedance of Elementalers, Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance Wiki (Fandom)](https://bladedance.fandom.com/wiki/Bladedance_of_Elementalers)
6. [Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance, AniList](https://anilist.co/anime/20663/seirei-tsukai-no-blade-dance)
7. [〖第1話〗精霊使いの剣舞, カドコミ (Comic Walker)](https://comic-walker.com/detail/KC_004555_S)
8. [「精霊使いの剣舞 精霊舞踏祭」志瑞祐, KADOKAWA](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321704000178/)
9. [「精霊使いの剣舞18 帝都奪還」志瑞祐, KADOKAWA](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321802000566/)
10. [Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance, Baka-Tsuki](https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance)
11. [熊谷高 reading list, MF文庫J volume 20 entry](https://kumagaya-th.spec.ed.jp/wysiwyg/file/download/1/2291)
12. [精霊使いの剣舞（志瑞祐）情報一覧, よみのま novel](https://nvl.yominoma.jp/details/1086)
13. [「〖合本版〗精霊使いの剣舞 全21巻」志瑞祐, KADOKAWA](https://www.kadokawa.co.jp/product/321907000819/)
14. [シリーズで選ぶ｜精霊使いの剣舞, カドスト KADOKAWA online store](https://store.kadokawa.co.jp/shop/series/series00076901?sort=sp)
15. [最新情報, TVアニメ『精霊使いの剣舞』公式サイト](https://bladedance.tv/news/index_2.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Graphic, illustrated, and Asian-format fiction › Light novels and web novels › Isekai works and format*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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