My first anime review and I have decided to review one that I have seen recently. Like my other reviews this will contain spoilers but I will keep it to a minimum.
This anime series is about a twenty two year old young man named Ryota Sakamoto who is one of the worlds top players in an online game called Btooom!. Btooom! is similar to first person shooters but instead of guns the players use various types of bombs to kill each other. Since he is really obsessed with this game, and because the only other thing he wants to do some day is become a game designer for the people for made Btooom!, he constantly shuts himself in his room and constantly plays the game. However he suddenly wakes up one day on an island with a crystal implanted in his hand and a pack of timer bombs. He soon finds out that he is not alone on this island and that the conditions here are eerily similar to Btooom! Forced to play the game in real life now we see him struggle to survive and meet up with characters who want to escape the island as much as him.
I really liked the story of Btooom and this might have to do with the fact that I am a gamer as well and I have not seen any other anime that is about a video game. However even if I was not I would still really like this because the story is so well thought out and the rules of the game so interesting to follow. Take the bombs for example; there are many types with their own strengths and weaknesses and I was always wondering what other types Ryota’s opponents could have before they show them.
This anime is really violent with some graphic scenes, contains some nudity and deals with a lot of dark themes like survival, murder, attempted rape etc. However it is not excessive in it’s use of these, there is a lot of character development and plot to go along with them.
As for the characters I think each and everyone are really thought out well; Ryota is a really great main character who I can almost relate to because you know we are both gamers (But I am not as obsessive as him). He starts out as someone who could care less about anyone else to someone who wishes to save as many people as he can on the island. Plus it is great to see a shut in use his experience in video games to survive a lot of dangerous situations.
The other characters are great as well such as the female lead Himiko who is more than just fan service. She has had some really bad experience with men (and I am talking really bad) so it is good to see her slowly trusting Ryota through the course of the series.
Another one that stood out is Kosuke Kira a fourteen year old murderer and rapist and also a top player on Btooom!. The reason I like him is because he is such an evil, remorseless opponent, I do not thing there is any redeeming qualities about him and that is what I think makes a good crazy antagonist! There are a lot of other characters on the island who each have their own motivates and skills and it is so awesome when they face each other.
Finally the animation is really damn good, I do not think there is a single part in the series that is low quality. As for the voice acting I have no complains and I was surprised that a lot of the characters, even the main ones, have VA that I have not heard of before.
Overall this is one hell of a great anime is I have to pick one think that lets it down is that there is no really ending so I hope there is a second season soon. I really recommend this to anyone except those who do not like really violent anime.
SCORE: 8/10
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