The plot itself seems simple at first, but still original. People trapped on an island and must survive by killing each other. But, they can only use bombs. Kinda cool, okay. Typical action, right? Well, while I anticipated a relatively one-dimensional story, an intensive, almost Lord of the Flies-esque, scenario takes place. What happens to humans when their only obvious means for escape comes from the deaths of those around them: Survival of the fittest? Jungle Law? Or will they maybe, possibly, perhaps band together and overcome like an encouraging, believe-in-humanity story?
Btooom!delivers its plot realistically, which I think makes up one of the best points of this anime. This series is not good versus evil or right versus wrong, it's humanity versus itself. No one gets heroized. Ain't no superman fighting fires for justice in this show. It's an intense ride and, although only a few integral themes present themselves and therefore seemed to get rehashed often, just for the story itself, I'd totally recommend this show. And that's kinda rare these days, no?
The art came out pretty well, nothing special really to say about it. The character styles seemed somewhat original. The background art was great, though, if you care about that. By the way, not as much ecchi as you might think. Actually, in terms of legitimate fan-service, it's pretty much non-existent.
The soundtrack fit the show well. I skipped the opening and ending most of the time, though haha. The in-show tracks, though, sounded good, but not like amazing or masterful. It was good enough to be good enough.
Btooom! made some very good characters with individualized personalities. The writers developed the characters fairly well and they drive the story. If you watch Btooom!, you're watching for the characters and the interactions between them.
All in all, unexpectedly awesome anime. Watch it, it's definitely worth it.
