Bus Gamer

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: BusGamer

Japanese: BUS GAMER

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 3

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Mar 15, 2008 to Mar 29, 2008

Premiered: Winter 2008

Broadcast: Saturdays at 02:30 (JST)

Producers: Square Enix, Frontier Works, Sotsu, Studio Izena

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: Anpro

Source: Manga

Genres: Action, Drama, Mystery

Theme: Strategy Game

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 23 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 6.48¹ (scored by 15,264 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #7322²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #4189

Members: 28,087

Favorites: 48

Available At

Official Site

Resources

AniDB

ANN

Synopsis

One day, Toki Mishiba receives a letter in the mail promising him a large sum of money if he participates in a game. Initially dismissing the message, Toki becomes intrigued and decides to sign up after noticing fine print that says players' safety will not be guaranteed. It is not long after that he meets Nobuto Nakajou and Kazuo Saitou—the teammates assigned to him in the "Business Game," also known as "Biz Game."

The members of the trio quickly form a shaky alliance and call themselves "No Name." Bound by nothing but their shared desire for an obscene amount of money, the three step into the dangerous world of the Biz Game, where they must fight against other teams over a data disk containing vital corporate secrets in order to advance and survive.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:

Bus Gamer, Bus Gamer

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Mishiba, Toki

Main

Suzumura, Kenichi
Japanese

Nakajou, Nobuto

Main

Suwabe, Junichi
Japanese

Saitou, Kazuo

Main

Takahashi, Hiroki
Japanese

Ichinomiya, Keiko

Supporting

Neya, Michiko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Oomori, Hiroyuki

Producer

Okamura, Takema

Producer

Fukao, Satoshi

Assistant Producer

Kuzuya, Naoyuki

Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"No Name" by Team 'AAA'

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Ending Theme

"Train" by Suzumura Ken'ichi (ep. 1), Junichi Suwabe (ep. 2), Hiroki Takahashi (ep.3),

Reviews

Jul 12, 2012

Risan07

Recommended

Bus Gamer, another series created by Kazuya Minekura. She is most famously known for creating the ever popular Saiyuki series, which I love with all my heart. I have wanted to dabble in the series ever since I found out about it, but I only got to it today. If I make a lot of comparisons to Saiyuki, I apologize, but since it's by the same creator I can't help but to compare the two series.

Story: 8/10
Even though the series was only three episodes long you cannot deny the premise of it. It's interesting, mysterious and guaranteed to be action packed. No episode is wasted ... with fillers, they get straight to the point whether it's introducing a character, or if they're on a mission. It follows your standard shonen plot, the opponents steadily get stronger and the locations become more interesting. They managed to stick a different fight in each episode which was appreciated. I do wish that there would have been more episodes so it can get more into the underlying plot, but then you must consider that this is an anime based on a pilot manga. Minekura continued the series in 2008, but I think her illness prevented her from getting into it (along with Saiyuki :( ). All in all the story did its job, it entertained me and had me wanting more. That being said, if you don't like anime with lackluster or loose endings then this probably isn't for you.

Art: 7/10
The art style is classic Minekura. It looks like Saiyuki or Wild Adapter and personally I love it. But Bus Gamer has something visually that Saiyuki or Wild Adapter doesn't have, rather unique looking characters. Now if you're a fan of hers then you'll probably know what I mean; every series she has ever created has pretty much the same looking characters from Saiyuki. It was pretty much her first series, except Just!! which debuted in 1995, so you're bound to find characters that look similar. However, most of the characters tend to look like Hakkai, Gojyo or Sanzo. There were only two exceptions; Hachi no Su and Bus Gamer. From hair style to color, Mishiba, Nakajou and Kazuo are slightly different looking from the Saiyuki boys; although if I had to make comparisons to the two series, I would say Toki is Sanzo, Nobuto is Gojyo, and Kazuo is Goku. I've seen some complain that the series looks like it was made in 2001 and it kind of looks cheap for the time it was made. The fact of the matter is, the pilot WAS released in 2001. However, I do not mind as much, because 2001 was when her art improved significantly. It's cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing than Gensoumaden Saiyuki, her first Saiyuki series. Bus Gamer gave way to Saiyuki Reload and more so I can appreciate it for that step foward in art, and personally if I had to choose between Minekura's art from 1997 and 2001 I would gladly choose 2001. Another welcome was the coloring, which seemed to have mellowed down from Saiyuki. It's not overly bright or overly bold; it fits with the atmosphere of the city while retaining that nostalgia from Saiyuki. I was disappointed with character consistency though, they looked rushed and choppy in some of the scenes, a problem which I thought they would have fixed from the Saiyuki anime. Another problem was the animation, although smoother than Saiyuki it was still stiff and rather behind the times compared to other anime of the time. Consistency and animation were the reasons I gave it a seven and nothing higher; but the art, despite it being lacking compared to other animes, is what got me hooked to Kazuya Minekura in the first place, which is why the score isn't lower.

Sound: 7/10
I don't have much to say about the sound, because it is pretty forgettable. It just blends into the background too much and it doesn't stand out. The only parts where I remembered where in the beginning when it showed the scenery and there was no dialogue to distract me. It just seemed like a cheap 90's action music soundtrack, no quirky banjo music or chilling character theme songs to capture my attention. The opening was fun to listen to and I actually sat through the opening each time to listen to it (something I never do). The ending was okay, but I didn't bother listening to it but once. Overall, it was okay.

Character: 7/10
While three episodes isn't enough to really get a feel for the characters I can say that they're pretty interesting. They're definitely more mellow versions of Sanzo, Gojyo and Goku though. Mishiba Toki is the "Main character", the story starts out pretty much from his point of view and it ends from his point of view. He is silent and rather unfriendly (such as Sanzo). his weapon of choice is himself as he had taken martial arts in the past. Despite his cold exterior he has his moments, from enjoying the salmon riceball to being caught off guard by Kazuo. Overall he's rather thoughtful even though he doesn't make it known. Nakajou Nobuto weapon of choice is a lead pipe, and he is often compared to Mishiba because he also appears to be a silent and unfriendly archetype. However, in my opinion he's rather different. He voices his opinions more, he's more firendly and easier to approach, he's the planner in the group. He's also cockier than the other two, blatantly stating in the beginning that he was stronger than them. He carries a smug expression and often complains about having to work with his partners; but underneath he cares about them, especially taking Kazuo under his wing. Saitou Kazuo is the comic relief in the series. His weapon of choice is-...well...he's pretty useless in a fight. He states in the beginning that his only talent was being healthy and boy is this true. He is mostly entrusted with the disks and told to hide, which he will gladly do in a heart beat. However that doesn't mean he doesn't come in handy now and then; when the others find themselves in a pinch he kind of comes through. He's naive, loud and friendly. He tries to get Mishiba and Nakajou to open up and constantly pesters them. He definitely doesn't fit with the other two, but that sure as heck doesn't stop him from trying! They're a funny group of guys and although not as in depth as Saiyuki, it probably would have grown if the series had been longer.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Yes, a 9/10. It was entertaining and it kept my interest from start to finish. It made me crack up when it was supposed to be funny, and kept me on my toes when it was supposed to. I wanted to learn more from these three but can never be satisfied (sigh). I loved especially how they snuck Saiyuki into show, that was great, showing that you can never escape product placement.

Now time for the Happy Panda and Sad Panda award; this is my little quirk where I point out the best and worst part in the anime and give them an "award".

Happy Panda goes to: The Story! Although short, it has room to expand and become something bigger

Sad Panda goes to: The music! It just wasn't anything special and it fizzled into the background; the opening was nice, but it wasn't enough.

Overall:
37/50
7.6/10= 8/10

The series is only an hour and a half total, so at least give it a try. It's a great short series if you just want to kill time or if you're looking for a quick fix in anime. If you're a Minekura fan, I would definitely recommend it.

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Feb 16, 2024

SgtSalamander

Mixed Feelings

Bus Gamer is a pretty unremarkable anime, and while there's technically more good than strictly bad here, there's still not that much to say in the first place. Beginning with the story, it's your usual death game fare, which weirdly enough doesn't have anything to do with busses. I thought heard them say 'biz game', as in business game, so that's probably just a funny mistranslation that never got corrected. Moving on from that however, the story is largely simple, but intriguing. It has solid pacing, moving you from one action scene to another with relative ease, and I personally enjoy the setup and inherent ...

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Jan 5, 2011

Eule

Not Recommended

I feel bad for this series just because it was cut so short! I mean it is not the best or worst of anything....though I do have to say everyone looks like dudes including the only female character. But I feel that if it got more then 3 episode that this anime would have been a really good one. Why? I can not see the ending. This can be a double edged sword though but first I'll explain what I mean by "I can't see the end."

Yes obviously at the end their all either going to have that 1 Billion yen or not, and since ...

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