Story: The story is simple it focuses on the sport of Kendo, Its a traditional sword style sport that originated in japan and uses primarily wooden bamboo swords in a two person or team duel format. We follow a group of student and there instructor who all attend the same highschool and are members of the kendo team and who we get to know there day to day training and comedic adventures.
Characthers: The characters are probably the series best feature as each one have there own distinctive personality and you can relate on a more real world level, we have the instructor Toraji ishida the almost broke but fair hearted teacher and as for member teams we have Tamaki the main female lead and kendo prodigy who is trying to learn the true meaning of the kendo sport as well as to establish real social connections, we have the Kirino the captain of the team the passionate leader and bumbling fool but with a heart of gold that acts as the teams moral compass, We have Miya the complete rookie who struggles with inner violent tendencies and her ability to win but has absolute loyalty and cherishes her love life with her boyfriend, We also have Sayako the person with the ever changing interest and hardship in managing her writing career but still makes time for kendo and than finally we got Satori the ever bumbling idiot and clutz who her struggles in her studies make you question if she will ever graduate but her kendo technqiues are so good it could be her hidden talent.
All of who are unique and offer an interesting variety in the cast and you just enjoy watching them together in all sort of comedic situations but also as the show progresses you see them grow and cope with there own difficulties and struggles for anyone of there years and learn to progress trough with the help of kendo.
Animation: This series as of time of writing is over 13 years old and it has somewhat aged when even compared to other titles that aired around that time but it is still fair, the action sequences in particular during the sporting combats are quite detailed and layered all it needs is a little upscale in BD and it should be fine but dvd quality is still good.
Sound: The opening and ending theme songs were both made by the very studio that produced with the primary voice cast voicing the songs and they really capture the feel of the sport by adding colorful beats and using traditional music in similair fashion to represent the traditional sport of kendo. The rest of the soundtrack is pretty standard just enough to keeps things going smoothly, i dont see any real note worth mention aside from these but soundtracks were not really the major thing for most anime productions anyway.
Enjoyment: Overall i found it very entertaining and it really gives u an insight into the sport of kendo which is not really that popular outside of japan but still has a world wide presence and it give u a good perspective about it, so much that even inspired me to at least give it a shot. The Comedy can be over the top sometimes but no more than the usual stuff and a little laughter is good for you, What i really liked tough is the atmosphere of competitive sporting and the development of the characters as they competited with other teams and individuals, i am sure anybody can at least find someone that might relate as the diverse cast of personalities make it more appeal. I recommend this to anyone who eighter has an interest in kendo, competitive sport or even just looking for a nice school comedy series. Give it a try and judge it for yourself
Hope this review was somewhat helpful :)
