The opening, "Identity" by Mikio Sakai, is an absolutely fantastic and uplifting theme about beating back the jeering crowd and making a name for yourself. The OP itself is also done in a minimalistic art style that primarily uses only black, white, and red, and is beautifully animated as well.
Ikki's leitmotif, "Worst One", is a beautiful melody that not only fits Ikki's character so well but also makes the scenes where he kicks ass more awesome.
Fandom Rivalry: With The Asterisk War because of their similarities to the plot and characters, and that they're also light novel adaptations that aired during the same season, even though Asterisk was first published in 2012 before Chivalry was published one year later. However, Chivalry after episode 4 proved itself to be more than just a generic light novel adaptation while Asterisk was exactly what people expected it to be. Considering how surprisingly unique Chivalry ended up being it should come as no surprise that most of its fans don't like Asterisk. Adding more fuel to this fire is the fact Asterisk managed to get a second season while Chivalry sits with just one. In addition, the light novels of Asterisk are localized in English by Yen Press while the light novels of Chivalry remained as No Export for You for years afterward (presently available in English). Fans of Chivalry feel cheated that Asterisk is getting more attention despite its more mixed reception.
Tsukikage is often called "Prime Minister 8-ball" for his crystal ball device that can see the past and future.
Harsher in Hindsight: Itsuki's abusive treatment of Ikki becomes even worse when you realize that Itsuki himself was abused by his own father as a child.
I Knew It!: When Sentai Filmworks released their February 2017 newsletter, many guessed that the series would be given a home video release with an English dub since Sentai usually announces the releases four months in advance. They were right.
Ikki comes from the prestigious clan of White Mage Knights known as the Kurogane clan. He is called the "Worst One" due to his F-Rank. In his childhood, he was horribly abused by other people, especially the power-hungry Mamoru Akaza. Ignored by his father, Ikki runs away from home but even then, he was encountered by his great-grandfather which resulted in Ikki regain confidence. He also studies on an academy known as Hagun Academy as a repeater due to his low rank due to his weak Blazer skills despite their great power. But even then, Ikki was actually mocked by some of the people in school due to his inferior rank. But that's just a tip of the iceberg. When he fought against one of the top students in Hagun Academy, Kirihara Shizuya, Ikki was constantly tortured several times thanks to Shizuya shooting arrows to give him a painful death. later Akaza tried many ways to torment or even murder Ikki such as sending a mercenary to murder him or scandalize his relationship between him and Stella. The latter succeeding in Ikki getting falsely imprisoned and was tortured for days by forcing him to fight the selection matches which resulted in Ikki having sleep deprivation. Not helping matter is that his stepfather, Itsuki Kurogane, didn't acknowledge him and said to Ikki that it's better on to do nothing because of Ikki's lack of talent which resulted in him losing any hope. But even then, he suddenly regains the hope thanks to Stella and his friends at the end of the day and then manages to win the festival.
Y(u)uri Oreki was born with a weak constitution and vomited a liter of blood each day since childhood, requiring her to keep spare liters of blood for transfusion. She cares a lot about her students and wants them to try their hardest in the matches to qualify for the Seven Star Sword Art Festival; even at the cost of her overworking herself to the point of spitting up blood or experiencing seizures. During his admission into Hagun Academy, Yuuri was able to fight against Ikki wielding her cutlass and using her innate power, which lets her share her own pain with others. Her illness, combined with her lack of administrative clout, kept her from doing anything about the teachers that mistreated him.
Ayase Ayatsuji is the daughter of her family dojo's owner. He trained her from childhood until he became ill. One day, a blazer nicknamed the Sword Eater defeated her father, hospitalizing him and taking over the dojo. Wanting to reclaim it, she sparred against Ikki in swordsmanship. Ikki fixed her stance as she was mimicking her father, making her slashes faster than before. Ayase also has the power to worsen the wounds that she opens, and a technique that leaves scars in the atmosphere, letting her create a vacuum blade as soon as the person comes close. Upon learning that Ikki's her next opponent, she faked attempting suicide to get Ikki to save her by using Ittou Shura, which he can only use once daily, while also setting traps before the match, all out of desperation to fight the Sword Eater. But, in the end, she lost to Ikki who forgave her and won back her families' dojo for them.
Jerkass Woobie: Yui Tatara. Since Social Services Does Not Exist in the world setting, there is no way on Earth she could have become a decent person. Her family "tradition" going back three generations has its children raised to be assassins by putting their lives in constant peril starting at the age of three. It's so bad, she doesn't see anything "good or evil" about it. It's just something to do.
Moral Event Horizon: Reisen Hiraga's puppeteer turns Mikoto Tsuruya into a puppet by attaching his device to her brain, and then gleefully threatens to turn her into a vegetable if Stella continues struggling.
When Stella gets angry with Ikki about the earlier incident regarding the room, she proceeds to attack him with her fire magic. Fortunately for Ikki, him complimenting her beauty causes her to get red-faced (and in the anime set off the fire sprinklers).
Shizuku gives off frightening Yandere vibes in her very first appearance, only for her and Stella to throw childish insults at each other and destroy the classroom (or in the anime, the hallway) as a result of their quarrel. Afterwards, they're both anti-climactically put under house arrest in the light novel and manga. In the anime, they're punished with cleaning all 27 of the school's female restrooms. Once Kurono is out of earshot, they immediately go back to insulting each other.
The Woobie: Poor Ikki. He was ignored by his family to the point that he ran away from them to follow his dream of becoming a magical knight. And when he manages to become one, they immediately turn their attention towards destroying his life and reputation that he worked so hard for, as well as poisoning him in hopes that he'd die in combat and be a load off of their backs. And things just try their hardest to get worse after that. One character outright considers him to be targeted by the heavens for seemingly no reason at all.
, is an absolutely fantastic and uplifting theme about beating back the jeering crowd and making a name for yourself. The OP itself is also done in a minimalistic art style that primarily uses only black, white, and red, and is beautifully animated as well.