The most important thing you must know about Sacred Blacksmith is that it's unfinished. Imagine if Druaga was cancelled after the 1st half (spoilers available). That is what we have here exactly. The big difference is, there was a good chance that Druaga were to continue, while here were apparently overtook the manga. Oops.

Although they had a lot of similarities, Sacred Blacksmith takes itself more seriously than Tower of Druaga, where we had whole gag episodes. Nothing like that was offered here, just plot unwounding like a spring (with the possible exception of the "Princess E." arc, if that). It is so serious, that I felt that Cecily's combat ability went up uncomfortably quickly. There was no half-joking side to it, like when Yui Hirasawa tuned without a tuner.

Although the plot was dynamic and seemed thought out, I am not sure it was watertight, even with subtitles. For example... If Lisa did everything herself, how did she get Luke's eye? I do not care much either way, and I am known to miss plot details, so this is not a big deal, but still.

Apropos plot and writing, watching SB might make one into a Joseph Campbell, with tropes spread evenly and openly. Nodame+Chiaki==Cecily+Luke, check. Tortured relationship with illegitimate children of the powerful, check (yes, I know that she was legit, but let's replace that with secondary children; remember Prince Chagnum?). Fortunately, I am immune to that silly tropes website which has gone to the toilet. And of course, once you think you recognize the trope, it is twisted just enough.

The art was quite decent, although I just could not pin it down to the studio. It almost looks like J.C.Staff, but... different. Not PIG, not KyotoAni. Too good for AIC (or Asta), A-1. NHK? A possibility, but too low-brow a show. Perrot? Xebec? Do they even exist. Too warm and handmade-looking for Sunrise, and not their style in general. Not Ufotable. I eventually looked it up just for blogging, and it turned out to be Manglobe. I did not see their wares before, and it was a positive first meeting.

On the other sides of art, SDB once wrote that "there was no top rotation fodder [in SB], because she wore armor all the time". A mistake, surely, since the soft fanservice was mostly delivered by Aria, with Cecily only getting into action for butt shots, being stripped, etc. {Update: Steven reconsiders.}

Now, do I want to see the other half, if it ever gets made? Certainly. Chances of that are close to zero though.