Bamboo Blade

The most popular (aka common) type of animes of the past year has most definitely been school comedy anime with a female cast. And this one is no exception. Thankfully they put emphasis on what matters most character chemistry.




As you should already know it's a comedy about a high school kendo club, mainly consisting of (SPOILER AHEAD!) a group of girls. It all sounds like standard fare from here, and it is. The kids get involved in crazy hijinks, make silly jokes, and even have a decent amout of action in show such as this. After watching the first couple episodes, you'll most likely have ... a feeling if you are going to enjoy the show since the same style of jokes makes their rounds. Sometimes, its even as if they know they're making an uninspired anime and actually puts in gags and jokes that are very cliche` for the genre but leaves minor (and unique) twists for the viewers to laugh. Honestly, I think their jokes get off so well not only because of their 'semi' unique approach to joke telling, but the characters are just perfect for this show.

Like all the other great comedy (and sports) shows before it, this show puts an emphasis on the character chemistry and development. This is where the show shines the most. It's just like how they intentionally make jokes about the the comedy genre its almost looks as if they intentionally mixed the character types around to create their own uniqueness. For example there's a smart looking that is really stupid, a clumsy girl that actually has good orginizational skills, and even a really loud quiet type. Good luck finding out who im talking about, but all the main characters are like that and its one main part why the comedy feels so fresh and unique. It almost feels like they all have double personalities. But the one person that really distracted me the from the others the most is quite easliy Tamaki-chan. She definitely steals the show in my eyes. Usually the show stealing characters arent the main character (Yuki, Osaka, etc) but that isn't the case here. She is the main reason why i kept watching this show. Hirohashi Ryou did a perfect job for her voice because there is no other way to do Tamaki's voice. There are other parts of greatness in this anime but I wont spoil the show any further.

Another good point of the show is how surprisingly good the artwork is in this show for a comedy show. There are various locations that you will see throughout the show, and each are shown with such vibrant color. The backgrounds are pretty detailed, you'll see alot of particle effects, reflections, and sunbeams throughout the show. And the characters are all drawn in the typical super cute borderline sexy style which is usual for a show in this type. Of course, the emphasis was more on the females than the males and you can tell because the all the men (with one exception) all look virtually the same. Another thing, is get used to their eyes as that is what you'll be seeing for the most part.

Sound effects are nothing to be super enthusiastic about. All thought the sound is very well done, once you've heard any high school anime you've heard them all pretty much. With the exception of the yelling and screaming from all the cute girls (extra points from me). They even have the girls singing the opening and ending theme song just like all the others in this genre. Well when you have cute voiced seiyu's use them as much as possible i guess. There is one uinque and hilarious sound but you wont hear it till around episode 20. Trust me when I tell you that it will have you on the floor laughing.

There are so many fun and memorable instances in this show it's hard not to give this a perfect score. They sure did do everything right in making this "slice of life, high schoo, comedy, sports" show different from all the others. But this does follow the same formula as all the other current releases (lots of girls + comedic situations + singing seiyus). Fortunately this is one of the better ones.

I started with the (ongoing) Bamboo Blade manga, so my review of the anime comes from that perspective.

All of the enjoyment of the show comes from the characters and the fights. Although that might make it sound like a shonen series, it certainly is not, but it dances on that line between shonen and seinen very well. Ostensibly about a kendo instructor and his struggles with a high school club, it's really about a young kendo prodigy named Tamaki who matures into a young woman through the course of the series.

The series is short on plot, and since this was my first real sports anime ... I'm not really used to that . They basically go from one tournament to another, with lots of training in between and little drama. It didn't have much to draw from, since the manga is also weak in this respect.

The art and sound are passable, the fight scenes are well done, but some reuse of material towards the end becomes conspicuous. I'm not crazy about the opening or ending, and I really don't like Tama's voice, which sounds way too young even for that character.

The characters obviously make the show, and all the girls are distinct and likable. It does a very good job of developing each personality, and is very patient introducing them.There's even a happy couple in the mix, which seems rather rare in anime these days.

Overall, a light anime with cute characters, it should leave you feeling happy after each viewing.

Favorite Character: Dan the Man
Crushing on: Saya
Favorite Episode: 22
Favorite Song: Track #19 Yugure

Hate to be that guy, but I think this show is absolutely overrated. Why is the score so high?

Is it funny? No, not in particular, I can't recall actually laughing once throughout the entire 26 episodes—maybe at best a smirk?

Are the characters really all the great? No, they aren't that in depth, and many of them are naively annoying!.

Is the action superb? Far from it. I doubt kendo in real life would even be very enjoyable to watch. This isn't a real sword fight... It is with sticks.

The one romance in the show, they blatantly ... make fun of because it is so absurd.

But what took the cake for me to rate this abysmal waste of time so poorly? Episode 23. That episode sums up the worthlessness of these characters.

This epsiode involves delinquents that never show up and end up potentially damaging the club. They are bullies and terrible people, yet these fools contemplate protecting them!?!? WHY!?! I cannot understand this ignorant, naive notion. THEY WEREN'T EVEN THERE FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR, YET STILL CONSIDERED PART OF THE TEAM?!!? HOW????? This show was not great until this episode, but this absolutely RUINED any small trace of passable this anime had left. Naive characters are NOT cute, they are ANNOYING—and this is a PRIME example of it.

Also, Tamaka getting mad at him for taking the tall stance to get her practicing better against it.... And she says "I don't appreciate the joke..." WOW, be grateful Yuji is trying to help you with something you suck at!

AND the way the "sensei" talks all low and slow IS SO GD ANNOYING!

This anime panders to weak emotional strings, with a naive attempt, and an annoying cast of characters.

Bottom-line: if you don't like sappy, unnecessarily long-drawn out animes—then don't watch this.