Toraji Ishida, kendo instructor, has a problem. He’s made a wager with an old Sempai for a year’s worth of free sushi; all he has to do is get together a team of 5 girls who can beat his team in a kendo contest. The trouble is, Ishida’s kendo club isn’t exactly successful, in fact, he only has one member, the energetic kendo enthusiast Kirino Chiba. Ishida needs to find more members for his club quick!
Story:
When I first heard of Bamboo Blade, I was pretty skeptical about the show as I thought it would turn into a harem show like Love Hina only with kendo sticks. But I’m glad to say that my fears were unfounded, and that I was pleasantly surprised by this show. I’m not really sure how to classify this show, it is a mix of “slice of life”, comedy with a bit of kendo thrown in for good measure. But having said that it makes for a really good combination, giving Bamboo Blade a nice authentic feel to it.
I must really praise the creators of the Bamboo Blade series for not falling into the trap of adding to much romance and “powering up” to the series. The romance element in the show is kept to a bare minimum which was incredibly low and really surprised me. The same can be said about the sports aspects of Bamboo Blade, which wasn’t really emphasized during the course of the show.
Many of the matches weren’t shown, even some of the pivotal matches were over quickly without any of the characters pulling off some type of fantastic new finishing move. And no one really got much more powerful during the course of the show, rather they become more skillful kendo practitioners which made the show that more believable.
Characters:
Most of the appeal of the series comes from the shows characters them selfs. The character development in the show is really strong, so the show doesn’t really focus on just one character but rather the whole female kendo team. Yes we get to see characters like Tamaki grow and mature during the course of the show. But where Bamboo Blade’s strong point lies is in the fact, that we get to see the group as a whole mature and bond as a team.
Every person in this group is some sort of social misfit in there own way, but by practicing kendo they are able to come together and form a team. All the female members of the club plus the kendo instructor are interesting in their own unique ways, and I always looked forward to see what they will do next, and how they would interacts with each other inside and outside the group.
That being said even the side characters actually managed to get tied in to the plot of Bamboo Blade, with some of them even influencing the main story of Bamboo Blade itself. But the main focus stays on the Muroe HS’s kendo team as a whole. My favorite character in the show would be Tamaki Kawazoe her shy nature and sheer Otakuism, and obsession with the anime show called “Blade Bravers” made me want to just grab her and give her a big giant hug. LOL!
Animation:
In terms of the art work Bamboo Blade stays very faithful to the original Manga, I still prefer the Manga’s art work above that of the Anime, but I think that boils down to personal preference. But considering the effort and skill it takes, to move from one media format (Manga) to another (Anime) AIC A.S.T.A did a excellent job on the Bamboo Blade series.
The quality of the animation is also constant throughout the show, the occasional 3-D touches were nice and not overly used during the show, but if used too often the novelty quickly wears off. Luckily this is not the case with Bamboo Blade, it also used lots of bright colors which did not distract from the overall quality of the animation.
Sound:
The music is another strong point of the show, I really loved the random orchestral pieces that where thrown into the show whenever the random Blade Bravers appeared. Also the sounds the accompany the kendo fights are really authentic, as I have attended many kendo fights in the past and the sounds of the shinai hitting each other is as pretty damn close to the real thing as you will ever get.
Another thing to take note of is how the female Japanese voice actors “project” there voices during these fights. It is really hard to describe, the only way to experience is is by turning up the volume and listen to it yourself. The very first time I heard Tamaki scream during a kendo fight I totally freaked out. LOL!
Enjoyment:
I really enjoyed this show it had it all: action, comedy, drama and a hint of romance. (A really small hint but it is there.) Parodies and references are thrown in for good measure during the course of the show, not to mention Bamboo Blades ability to make fun of itself. If you are looking to waste a couple of hours being highly entertained then you will really enjoy Bamboo Blade.
http://larcho.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/ ... de-review/