Ranked #3488

Arcade Gamer Fubuki

Now I myself am a gamer, and have been one for a long time, so when I heard that there was an anime based on video games, I was so excited! Too bad it didn't turn out the way I expected.

Arcade Gamer Fubuki is probably one of the most odd anime titles out there, but not for the reasons you might be thinking. The story itself isn't weird, the characters in general aren't weird, the anime does have a story and makes sense over all. So why then do you find an anime title where a girl simply plays video games odd you may ask? Well its the whole way it executes these concepts that is weird.

Story 6/10
There really isn't much of a story to speak of, basically Fubuki takes on any opponent that dares challenge her in video games, and is known to be the best in town. But how she does it is just odd! Basically she has these sort of super panties (which is only used as a gimmick to give this title some unnecessary echii-ness) that gives her powers not only in gaming, but also in her physical speed, which also seems to give her elemental powers as well; like lightning and fire powers from her hands.......ummmmmmm...........yeahhhh. So in a nut shell, she activates these panties and gains gaming skills! Now I know that with comedy anime it's all based on laugh value, but seriously, what kind of time constraint were they under when they came up with THAT concept??? Not to mention we never even find out how she activates them in the first place, all we see is her closing her eyes and jumping in the air, and blamo.....she gots skills! To the stories credit though, Fubuki does get flash backs about her Dad, and does end up finding him in the end, though the scenes are pretty sparse over all. (until the last episode that is) My main problem with the story is that for a series that is suppose to be about video games and the player's skills, you would think that would be the main point to the title, seems simple enough and fresh, but no. Both of those concepts seem to take a back seat, as we only get minimal screen plays of games, and it seems that when it all comes down to it, the player with the bigger panties power up wins, and we don't actually get to see any real skills from the characters themselves. In fact, some viewers may leave with the feeling that the whole "video game" idea was just a passing thought with the creators. You could pretty much change this story to about anything and it wouldn't make any difference.

Sound: 6/10
Now I have to give kudos to the awesome j-pop opening and ending, the beats are pretty darn catchy......so much so that you may want to find them for your ipod. Can't say the same for the background music though, the fact that I can't even re-call any of it is enough to convince me of hoe unmemorable it was. The character voices were pretty well matched with each character I found.

Ar: 7/10
The art style for the title is actually pretty decent, while its not the most colorful or well detailed anime you'll see, it certainly does the job right. While over all you won't really see any real actual video game titles, (most are just look a likes to other video games such as: Pac-man, Dig-Dug etc) you will love the fact that you actually do get screen plays from the classic Sega game "Virtua Fighter." Along with "Fighter Maker" as well.

Characters: 5/10
The characters themselves are pretty bland, they do have distinct personalities to a point, but never go beyond that. Basically the way you see them in the first episode, is the way they will act the whole way through, with no real in depth-ness to them. I do relieve that this is a short OVA series, but they could have at least given us something to care about with them. As you might have guessed at this point, the character development is non-existent. As I was watching Fubuki go through some tough challenges, she never gave me any reason to actually care about her winning because the personalties were so cookie cutter basic.

Bottom Line: 6/10
Arcade Gamer Fubuki gets high points for concept here. The comedy it has to offer (while basic, with the exception of the whole video game theme) does an ok job of keeping you entertained. Viewers like myself who are expecting a great anime title about a gamer's life will be disappointed, because it over all felt more gimmicky. Still, it is an anime based around a video game idea, so if you're a gamer like me...you may want to give it a peek. read more