Queen's Blade: Rurou no Senshi

Queen's Blade could certainly qualify for being a guilty pleasure anime. It knows what you're here for and it delivers on that front in virtually every episode. Nearly everything about Queen's Blade's premise is to facilitate placing the characters in compromising positions and sexualizing them for the audience's consumption, much to the degree that many outsiders looking in could easily write this off as just pure fanservice.

And yes, while those elements never change, it is possible to look beyond it at times and be able to observe some genuinely good bits of music, animation, and fight scenes. I won't make the claim that any one ... of these aspects make the anime fantastic, but I did find myself relating somewhat to a few characters and becoming invested in the more important battles that occur.

My only real gripe with this show is that it for it's first season almost exclusively introduces new characters and establishes plot points that won't be followed through until the second season. While the show is about the Queen's Blade tournament, the tournament itself does not matter much in the first season, as it is primarily about the main characters travelling to the capital where the event takes place.

I'd say give this one a shot if you enjoy the medieval fantasy genre and don't mind a little bit of eye-candy here and there.

Disclaimer : This review written with my personal opinion based on my experience from watching the show. I always appreciate all the works put into the show and the show itself. I wish no single person will be offended by any statement that i write below:


- Story 3/10 : Basically the story tells about some kind of "Battle Royale Game" with only girl to take part, the winner will become the Queen of the land and have the right to rule it. The concept itself is pretty interesting, but sure really need a lot work to do more. The progress is little to slow, lack ... of character development involved. By far the story is too much focused on 1V1 battle of the girls, seasoned with fan service of some massive oppai.

- Art 8/10 : I don't think I will complain about the art. I didn't really see things that hurt my eyes, in fact it freshen my eyes with lot of chikubi. There some lack of physics at some scenes, but I can go through it

- Sound 6/10 : I don't know how to score this TBH, but the effect and the BGM doesn't really stand out but also doesn't make things worse, so i give 6 for it.

- Character 7/10 : From the "looks", I would say the characters have good design (I only don't really like one girl from all the characters, but you can say it's my personal preferences). Each character also have good and unique personality, even they're just basic personality so you can tell which is good or not. But the main problem is the lack of character development. That makes it good but still far from great.

- Enjoyment 6/10 : If you are looking for some serious Fight/Fantasy show, so hold this away for a moment, and get back when you want to see show that is less serious. I might say this show is really good if you look for fan service entertainment. I watch this after some series of serious anime, so I don't feel bad.

- Overall 6/10 : The show is not bad, I believe you can still watch it with some enjoyment.

Please don't judge me, I was watching this at 2x speed while grinding FGO. I didn't actually think by the end I would get invested and enjoy it, yet here we are.

TL;Dr 3/10: Fan service, Big Bodacious Bouncy Babes Battling it out in a Battle Royale to be Queen. The only thing I saw of merit was the MC Leina's development towards the very end, but that's basically it. There is a mountain of things here that could be explored but isn't cuz the show is simply Silly Huge Badonkers fighting one another.

Artistic and Fun: 1/2
0 Artistic merit, I mean what do you expect ... from a show that is about Women Fighting where armor & clothes get conveniently ripped off to flash some racks. The Battle Royale and Character Journeys, as well as the existence of other races and higher beings could be interesting but none of it is explored cuz Badonkers is the focus.
However, the show can arguably be fun if you watch it on 2x speed. Echidna is hawt, Tomoe is precious and Leina evolving from a weakling to a contender is actually fun. That is if you haven't already dropped it or paid attention to anything besides the flashing.

Recommended: 0/2
I could never in my right mind recommend this to anyone. Please understand I only had this on as a sort of background junk to watch while I grind my gacha. If you want a battle royale that delves into the theme of Kingship where the winner will fulfill their wish and the main protagonist is also a Blonde Royalty voiced by Ayako Kawasumi, go watch Fate/Zero (To TM fans, yes I know. Now shush)

Narrative Consistency: 0/2
The plot is pretty much a battle Royale, but the show seems unable to even respect that. Usually if you lose in a battle royale you get disqualified, but that isn't the case here, a lot of the rules and restrictions aren't explained leaving us, the viewer, very confused and giving it a Deus Ex Machina feel. Considering this show messed up handling its core plot, which was so shallow its amazing how they managed to mess it up, you will frequently wonder why anything is happening. The only way anything made sense would be in hindsight from the ending, it's all in service to Leina's growth. However, I argue, Character growth is not a plotline. It is something that happens over the course of one. Simply removing the involvement of the Angels declaring a Queens Blade battle outside the Imperial Capital can nicely address that issue, this way the pilgrimage to the Capital for the selection is made meaningful as you will likely face many dangers and competition on the way. Only the strongest will survive and reach in time for the selection. So yeah, you will find yourself confused and frequently wonder what is happening, why is it happening, whats the point and why are you even watching this.

Emotional Highs: 1/2
Defined as moments that evoke strong emotion, be it Anger, Sadness, Happiness, Laughter or even Thought Provoking that can leave you speechless. United States of Smash, the unveiling of the master plan in FMAB and Okabe's Operation Arclight are good examples.
Minimum 3 moments = 2 points
Despite failing to service a plot (instead it services the fans lmao), Character growth is definitely present here. Leina's battle after her training arc was actually pretty fun imo. As someone who was cheering her on from the start, it was nice to see the MC finally blossom into something resembling a challenger. However, I'm really stretching over here to say this was an Emotional High. Considering the absolute hype that is Haikyuu, or the end of Vinland Saga, Operation Arclight from Steins;Gate. This is incredibly lukewarm, but I cannot say I myself didn't feel anything. So if I can feel it, means there exist others who might as well hence I feel this anime has earned this 1 point.

Bias: 1/2 (mentioned after the next 3 paras)

Queens Blade's Power and Magic System is incredibly shallow, it gets points for completeness like the first enemy having a limitation that was exploited. However aside from that it is bland, uninteresting and uninspired. Stuff happens cuz it happens, and there is extremely little information provided in understanding how powers function. Although, I do prefer this Limitation without Explanation System as opposed to a OP Can Do Literally Anything with a BS Explanation System (think OP MC kun with a harem) they are still both equally bad and I cannot accept such a terrible Magic System.

The core complication is the Battle Royale Tournament to determine the next Queen: Queens Blade. The show touches on many things that merit a deep dive such as the idea that the strong take what they want rightfully: Law of the Jungle. The idea of one having Responsibilities from birth they need to live up to: Birthright. The idea of forging ones place in the world when you are a hybrid of two races: Mixed Race Identity, and of course the theme of what is in the name (it's male counterpart is more fitting) What Does it Mean to be a King? Is overwhelming strength the only perquisite? Where does Wisdom, Kindness and Duty come in? The idea of a King is something that truly fascinates me since it is the oldest and one of the most prevalent means of ruling for Mankind until we had Democracy in the modern era. However, sadly this show explores literally none of these.
The sad part is there are alot more themes here that I haven't even mentioned and I know I'm not mistaken when a show full of bouncy badonkers can casually mention "Separation of Church and State" as part of National Policy. This anime has tons of deep themes ripe for potential, but it squanders all of them by being utterly shallow and not exploring them at all. Its utter disrespect since the show kicks you in the face saying "What did you expect from a show literally about tits"

Queens Blade has its own World with its own histories, nations, traditions, factions, phenomenon, races and cultures. From the Oriental Nation where Tomoe comes from, to the more standard European one where Leina hails from. The Elves in their forest, the Dwarves in their Mountains, and while sadly most of this is just set dressing for the main show (Big Hooters) it isn't irrelevant. The Elf council making their decision based on Racial Prejudice, The Dwarves getting involved because the Humans were out producing their market with cheaper less quality goods instead, The Orient facing rampant corruption in their nations administration, the existence of Angels and Demons down to the fact that Queens Blade was a Divine mandate. This all tells us of a world lived in, and sadly this anime barely does anything to explore this world. Instead once again rushing ahead to flash some racks on screen.

My biases: Magic Systems, Idealogue and History

Magic Systems: Any system with strict (Hard) or implied (Soft) restrictions of what it's capable of qualifies as a Magic System for the purposes of this Review. Be it FMAB's Law of Equivalent Exchange, Steins;Gate's World Lines or Dr Stone's Science

History: Real world History or World Building and Lore based History. Re Zero and Overlord have vibrant Worlds with their own fleshed out History, Races, Relations, Politics and Factionalism. Bonus points for Natural Phenomenon Unique to their worlds. Whereas Youjo Senki / Saga of Tanya the Evil takes direct inspiration from WW1.

Idealogue: Deep and Thought Provoking takes on contemporary or otherwise archaic matters. Be it Intangible stuff like Justice and Meaning of Life, or something achievable like being the Best at X and the ramifications of being so. My favorite is the Idea of being a King, and the concept of a King in general.


Conclusion: 3/10
This anime is wasted potential, a shallow caricature who's prime operating directive is "Boobies"
The show is unable to remain consistent with its complications, it refuses to respect any of the themes it mentions, it keeps churning out episode after episode of sludge that is mostly tits flashing left and right.
However, if you by some Herculean merit decide to look past the fan service. You will be left with nothing but disappointment at how much of a wasted potential this show truly is. This show is a very good example of how damaging fan service can be to a story, I'd like to believe the person who wrote the plot truly had something in mind but maybe I am giving this show too much credit and maybe all these deep things are red herrings there to give you a pretty pathetic attempt at an illusion of depth that all really exists to act as a backdrop for big bouncy boobs battling each other.
The only thing off merit in this entire mess is the main characters development at the end, which isn't exactly impressive. I'm just saying its the "only thing that's good"