The very first moment I watched this series, I knew right away that I'd be in for a great ride, and if you're into the mecha, shounen and military action genreas, then Broken (Brake) Blade is the anime for you and you won't be disappointed.
I give the overall story a 7. Why? Here comes why.
The story had a great start, however, I think that it seriously lacked some elements that would make the story better. The story is pretty chronological, so the films don't jump between the past and present, besides some important flashbacks. We get some information about the main characters and their background, but I think the story would have scored higher if the viewer was fed with more information about the characters, the different nations, the different mechas. And I'm quite sure, and many will probably agree, that the anime would be much better and probably have higher ratings if one or two more films were made, as the anime ends too soon, or has an ending which is leaves a few questions unanswered.
Art gets a 10.
Great art. From the landscape, the charahcters, the cities, mechas and other various stuff makes the whole thing great. The landscape, where many of the epic battles are fought, is just great. Although it's a bit desert like, it's quite realistic with a lot of small and canyon like cracks to open plains. One thing about the character art is that all the crachters are... ehm.. normal. Yeah, Normal would be a fitting word, no anorexic looking charahters, they just fit and blend in perfectly. If we go to the mechas we see some epic machines in some epic battles. Just the way we see how these machines get battered, beaten, broken and torn is just epic.
Sound gets a 9.
In many animes the background music is more or less constantly on, thus no one really cares for it, or pays attention to it for that matter. This one is an exception. The background music in epic when it's turned on, and the epic music goes along with the epic battles. Simple as that. And the opening for the films was great. I also quite like how we hear the sounds of the different weapons, mechas and other transportation vehicles. Then comes the voice acting... Overall it was okay. Most of the characters had fitting voices and had the right intensity for the intense moments and the dramatic tune for the dramatic scenes. Except the main character which through out the whole show had the same dull voice.
Characters get a 6.
I don't think that I've ever given an anime less than 7 for their characters. Sad that this was the one who got less that 7. And the reason is the lack of character development. Althoguh the series just span over 6 films/episodes, we should have seen some considerably development from the main character Rygart, and I really think that there were some character who were more or less left out. I'd like too see some of the supportive character develop into something better. It isn't worth more than 6.
Enjoyment gets a 10.
And the reason for this is the "epicness". I genuinely enjoyed all the battles that were fought. This anime really is in the top when it comes to giving the viewer some great battle scenes. There is some minor humor, but the true enjoyment come from the many battles.
Overall I give the anime 8.
It's not the worst one neither the best. What gives it this high average is the art and enjoyment. If the makers of the anime would have put more time into the story and character development, we would have an anime which could compete with other major mecha anime.
