Ranked #505

Bamboo Blade

Ever wonder what its like to be in a Kendo club? Well certainly most of us would answer "no" to that one, but after watching Bamboo Blade it just might make you more interested in this old time tradition! As this series does it very well!

Story: 7/10
Pretty straight forward for the most part, basically it starts up with a struggling Kendo instructor and his team leader trying to get others into Kendo, as their club has little to no members at present. As the story progresses they meet/get new club members and then begin a road down to the final tournament to keep the instructor from losing his job after a misunderstanding with the school principle's wife. Now while the story remains very linear in this aspect, it doesn't just strictly stick to the whole "Kendo" idea, there are some nice scenes that have the girls struggling with daily life, whether it be confronting old rivals, watching a live action movie, meeting up with long time friends, to just trying to get that one part time job to earn up for a certain anime DVD collector's set that one of them wants. These play out more as sub plots on the side though, while the girls themselves make their way up the Kendo ladder. (sorry, but there is no actual love story in this anime, with the exception of one couple that already are an item from the get go) Which brings us to the Kendo itself, the series does a pretty fair job of explaining all the strategies and ropes of the sport, and never comes off as a gimmick with the whole "Kendo" tag. The first beginning episodes are good for giving decent enough back story on most of the main characters, so you never really feel like they tossed someone in the story just for the heck of it! While this is a comedy anime to be sure, it also contains quite a bit of sincere and touching moments as well between the characters, perhaps even more so than the actual comedy bits, which can also be seen as a negative depending on your perception. The biggest draw back overall, is both its linear plot twist fee storyline and slow pacing. There were times where I just wanted them to get on with it already. Despite this being an all female cast for the most part, I did find it interesting that there was no echhi factors in this title whatsoever. Which is great for viewers out there who are tired of having the usual all female cast that are strictly there for the fan service.

There shouldn't be anything that viewers will find offensive, aside from occasional language and mild violence. (the action is all done in a professional and respected manner, and not over the top)

Artwork: 8/10
Pretty good for the most part, all characters and environments are drawn with good detail and personality. While its not the best looking series out there, it does animate it well enough to catch your attention and not come off as an over kill. I personally found some of the overall color schemes to be a bit on the bland side though, but the great and versatile character design and facial expressions make up for it quite nicely!

Soundtrack: 8/10
The music itself is good! The opening and closing themes are nice and lively, that will fill you with a sense of happiness! The background music on the other hand is pretty much this one soft violin style track, that plays during most of the series. (most of the time on the touching or heavy thought parts) Its good, just not great in the variety department as its pretty much the only real track you'll hear. Now the character's voices are awesome! From the happy and playful Kirino, to the solitary feel of Tamaki. All the voices are varied and add a distinctness to them all, and not one of them you will find annoying.

Characters: 10/10
Truly the heart of the series, Bamboo Blade has some of the best character chemistry that I have seen in a long time. All of them know how to compliment eachother well, and never come off as a cliche. For example: My favorite characters were Miyako (a heart throb that has two personalities) and Dan (a short geeky guy). They are actually a couple, Miyako simply melts whenever she sees him, but acts out more aggressively when around anyone else. Its just little touches like that which make Bamboo Blade so enjoyable! While the characters do a great job to make you laugh, please keep in mind that they don't do it over the top. (well for the most part anyway) Most of the time they'll just get this wacky look to them, and simply make you laugh with their facial expressions! They all grow very close to one another as the story progresses, and by the end you will truly feel the friendship that they all share.

Bottom Line: 9/10
Bamboo Blade is a great title, but unfortunately I can't recommend it to all viewers, especially if you like plot twists and a fast paced nonlinear storyline, as this title has none of those. But if your looking for a fun (and sometimes moving) anime with great character chemistry and amusing anecdotes. Then Bamboo Blade hits the mark just right! read more

Girls with Wooden Swords

Man, what a ride. Bamboo Blade has it all; comedy, drama, romance, all rolled up into one. By making fun of itself at random places and with the help of very fabulous characters, this show rises from its shoddy animation to join the elite group of anime this season that deserves your time.

I should get the not-so-good things out of the way first. The animation is pretty bad. No, not like Musashi Gundoh bad, but repeated animation, laziness supreme kind of bad. Up until the last two episodes, the same kendo swings from episode one get repeated over and over, with only the costumes changed. The backgrounds are nice watercolor pastels, but sometimes the characters look very funky. It`s hard to believe and oxymoronic that this show actually airs in HD.

But looking beyond the badness of the animation, Bamboo Blade is golden. The characters are a riot. Their voice actresses fit them perfectly. My favorite character out of the entire bunch is Kirino, with her happy-go-lucky attitude and her beautiful relationship with Saya, the hilarious redhead. Seriously, every time Saya opens her mouth, her voice cracks me up so much that I am left on the floor laughing. Kudos to her voice actress for providing her with such an amazing voice. The other characters also pad the show with relevant humor. You have acorn head/pimp Dan, his gay buddy Yuuji, the master kendo practitioner Tamaki, the klutz Azuma, the bipolar Miyako, and their failure of a teacher, Kojirou. As added bonus and hilarity, Kojirou is voiced by the ever-so-manly Kamina from Gurren Lagann, with all the same intonations and vocal gestures. It`s great.

The plot starts off as a standard shounen tournament fest, but midway through the anime branches off from the manga. Unlike most cases which this happens (cough cough Naruto filler hell), the director took very interesting directions in the plot. New characters that are just as cool as the original manga ones appear. Plot points are generally well paced and the comedy is well timed too.

The music is another strong point, with epic orchestral pieces to hot-blooded insert songs. I love the songs that play when the random Bravers appear, and I also love the clack clack sounds of the Kendo fights. I wasn`t very interested in Kendo before watching Bamboo Blade, but now I check out matches on Youtube. They`re even more intense than the anime itself.

Tamaki is sometimes too strong to the point of boredom, but Bamboo Blade always find ways to not fall too deep into that trap. Parodies and references are abundant. Facepalms, sweat marks, falling down in unison, everything`s there. You will definitely laugh at some point while watching, with the sudden bouts of unexpected humor.

The force of lesbian tendencies is strong with this one. Don`t miss it. read more