Many things have been said about this anime since its inception. Scorn for its negligent fetishistic debauchery and unwillingness to give any damns what prudes both in and outside the anime community think about it. I always admire this approach when making an ecchi series fun and exciting to watch, at least in comedy form. When it comes to making it into a dramatic series that involves adventure and action, it can be very hit or miss. Unfortunately, they mostly fall into the latter category with a look back in history. Ecchi is typically a genre that people want to chill and laugh at while simultaneously aroused by the cute pantsu and sexy bodies of the show’s massive amount of cuties. You try to put this into a setting or situation that we’re supposed to take seriously, but that dynamic shift can adversely affect both aspects.
Does Queen’s Blade overcome this difficult task? For the most part, yes, it does. While the action side of things isn’t anything remarkable, the lewd situations the girls get themselves into are fun and gorgeous to look at. The ecchi parts predominate the action, which kind of sours the action side of things. Art-wise, the girls look great with nicely drawn curves, and all of them have nice colors that make them look distinct and unique from each other. Same with the animation both in the action sequences and outside of them. Although I would not say that it was great compared to anime with way bigger budgets than Queen’s Blade, it didn’t garner any disdain on my end.
And yes, certain ecchi scenes can be a bit excessive. Right from the first episode, we have a female antagonist that shoots acid milk from her nipples. If that sentence made you cringe from the mental image it gave you, then I don’t think you will want to provide Queen’s Blade a shot. Unless you want to watch it for the insane hilarity of it, which I think Queen’s Blade’s intention was. I mentioned before how this seemed like it was influenced by the tongue-in-cheek exploitation sword and sorcery films of the 80s. Those films, just like Queen’s Blade, were serious in tone for the most part, yet they had this sense of camp to them that felt charming to watch. When you watch Queen’s Blade from that context, it makes it a better viewing without feeling alienated on the purpose of its mix of ecchi and drama.
Now with all of that being said. There is a story that does tie all of these together. Everyone always jokes about how there is no story to Queen’s Blade. That is not necessarily the case. There is a story to the show. However, it is not told very well. The narrative is all over the place. There are plot points involving our main heroine, Leina, introduced in one episode that ends on a cliffhanger that is quickly forgotten about in the next episode and reintroduced around six or seven episodes in. Instead, they put her in other situations that had nothing to do with the previous because they had to introduce the other girls somehow. As a result, the narrative feels unfocused until the end when all the character plot points tie together, albeit in an anti-climatic way.
I will give Queen’s Blade credit that some of the stories are pretty interesting, Menace’s story, in particular, being a big highlight. While not particularly original, the lore itself was engaging for what it was. I can only hope that the next season can expand it more, including the character arcs that we’ve been shown. A few characters were not given enough screen time compared to others, but I will hold on to that criticism once I’ve gone through the rest of the seasons.
As the first impression of Queen’s Blade, this season does a decent job of showing you what you will be expecting from the series. If you want an engaging story that further explores “the Hero’s Journey” trope, this will be a disappointment for you. This was a nice bit of hedonistic escapism as a campy, action, lewd anime to have fun with. Queen’s Blade at least prides itself with more booty service than oppai, unlike other ecchi anime like it. That should account for something.
Grade: B-
