Reviews

The show is enjoyable, but his overall takes its time [in other words, a little slow]. That's not meant as criticism as I often like slower paced shows, just be aware that, despite being about kendo, this isn't a driving action series. It's more about the 5 girls, their teacher, and the 2 guys that are part of the high school kendo club. I especially like the fact that the characters, particularly the boys, are NOT the usual Anime stereotypes, and obvious "potential romantic connections" don't occur, which is good. I think there could've been a lot more character development, but it's still a good series and has several very memorable characters; which is more than I can say about a lot of shows. The show also is appealing because it avoids silly panty shot [fan service] type scenes and other irritating clichés, which keeps the story on track and free of irritating nonsense. .... The show definitely grows on you, and I found myself disappointed when I reached the final disc because I was looking forward to more, which means its pretty good. The animation is good. They obviously had a budget, but I'd say the animation doesn't suffer. .... Overall an interesting story and I recommend it. I also recommend another series [a personal favorite] "Princess Nine" which is also a particularly well done high school sports Anime series. If I had not seen Princess Nine I probably would not have watched Bamboo Blade; and I can see that the genre of sports Anime can produce very good shows, which is surprising, because the general idea sounds awfully boring to me. But I'm now looking forward to renting more sports Anime series.