Bleach and Naruto Fanart

Anime Review: Sword Art Online

Back now with another anime review and this one is about an anime I have recently watched and one that I know is really popular; Sword Art Online. Now I know you are probably tired of reading this next part again but I have to say it; there will be SPOILERS, especially near the end as Iwant to go on a rant about a certain part of the anime.

The anime is about a young teenager named Kazuto Kirigaya (Bryce Papenbrook), also know as Kirito, an avid gamer of MMO games and has recently purchased the most recent and most popular game on the market; Sword Art Online. Unlike typical MMO games this put you right in the virtual world by providing the gamer with a special helmet which allows him to control his avatar in the fantasy world. Shortly after entering the game however Kirito and the thousands of other players are transported to the beginning area where the creator of the game Akihiko Kayaba (Marc Diraison) appears as a massive hooded figure. He tells them that all of the players have had their log out option removed and that they are trapped forever within this virtual world and that if you die he your real body dies. However there is a way to escape and that is by clearly the games one hundred floors each one becoming more and more difficult and having its own boss at the end. Even though Kirito is trapped in this world like thousands of others he has an advantage that only a few have; he is a Beta Tester (Beater), someone who has played the demo version of this game before its release meaning he has advanced knowledge of this world. Kirito puts this to good use and we follow his adventure of trying to reach to the hundredth floor.

Now I really like this story because like the anime Btooom! this is based on video games but unlike Btooom! the action and feel of this is more fantasy than realistic. This is shown with its typical MMO elements like monsters, guilds, item drops etc. Overall this kind of reminds me of my favourite RPG series Final Fantasy in some ways and that is a really good thing in my book. However one thing that did bug me in this however was the pacing of this anime because in between the episodes there are massive time skips, the players have even spent two years in the game before we reach episode ten out of this twenty five series and they also skip a lot of floors and boss battles as well. I know they could not show every floor and every boss but it is really off putting, a more detailed reason for this I will explain further down. Another thing I liked about it is how it tackles the theme of death so many times because unlike normal video games you cannot use another life, in this if a person dies they die for real.

As for the characters most are really great; the main character Kirito may be a bit of a loner because he does not join guilds but he opens up a lot as the series progresses and he is such a badass because of how good he is at this game. The main female lead, Asuna Yuuki (Cherami Leigh), is great as well because like Kirito she is one of the best players in Sword Art Online, even becoming second in command of the Knights of the Blood Oath, the most powerful guild there is. She is also Kirito main love interest eventually becoming his girlfriend and even his wife in the game. There are also plenty of others characters these two come across throughout the series, each with their own stories and skills and most I have found to be very likeable.

The animation is excellent throughout the series, I do not think there is a single time that I did not like it, and the battles are so well done; the movement is really fluid and fast paced. However as for the music there is really none that I found that stood out much. Not that I am saying that soundtrack is bad because it is really good and suits the settings and mood well.

IN DEPTH SPOILERS NOW

Now if I was to end this review here I would say something like ‘This is one of the most epic and unique ones I have seen and has instantly became one of my favourites’ unfortunately I won’t be saying that because after episode fourteen in this anime it take a massive turn for the worst. Episodes fourteen onwards introduces another antagonist, Nobuyuki Sugou (Todd Haberkorn), who is one of the worst anime characters there is. I find a good villain is someone who the audience can like as well but there is nothing like able about him at all, he just irritated me with his story, attitude and plan to marry Asuna. A very disappointing villain for the second half of the series which is a shame because he is voiced by one of my most favourite English voice actors. Another pain is Kirito’s cousin, Suguha Kirigaya, who is in love with him and is just really annoying about it; I just could not stand her at all.

Another thing that bugged me about the second half is that it is set in another MMO which has fairies, it looks like an interesting world but far just not as good as the Sword Art Online world. The reason they move to this world is that Kirito finds a way to beat the game in episode fourteen on floor eighty five and they have just beaten a floor boss that almost killed all of them. I was really excited to see what the other floors where like, their bosses and the ruby palace that was on the hundredth floor but NO they skip all of that so they can go somewhere else for the second half.

That is what I was going on about with the pacing of this anime; if it where up to me the two years they spent in Sword Art Online would take all of the twenty five episodes and the second half would not exist at all.

Another reason I did not like it was how serious the second half was compared to the first; there may have been the threat of death if they died but it was really fun to watch. Examples of this was when Kirito meets Silica (Christine Marie Cabanos) a beast tamer and they try to find a way to resurrect her defeated pet dragon or when Kirito and Asuna go on their honeymoon and they help that guy fish a monster or when they have an adopted daughter. Sure it is not like I want the anime to be all warm and fuzzy but it had a light hearted tine the second half lack, I mean the last fight has Nobuyuki Sugou trying to kill Kirito with a knife in the real world, not exactly an epic last fight for something that is supposed to be a fantasy game anime.

In the end I was massively disappointed with how this anime ended, if it was just episodes one to fourteen I would have been happy but no it had to be longer and because it has those more episodes I can not even watch the first half anymore without being reminded of the second half. This is a real let down for me because the first half was SO GOOD and would have been really high on my list of favourite anime when I get round to making one. Overall all I can really only give this anime just over half in the score because I only like just over half of the story.

SCORE: 6/10 

Bleach Review: 556 – 558, Komamura vs. Bambietta

Been a while so I thought I would do another Bleach review, however I also thought instead of reviewing the chapters individually I would group them together. For example this reviews the chapters about the fight between Bambietta Basterbine and Sajin Komamura, so let’s get to it.

What happens in these chapters is that Komamura protects both Shinji and Momo from Bambietta’s attacks, who is in her Vollstandig form, with his new armour. Bambietta reveals that her letter stands for ‘The Explode’ (really obvious) but her ability is not just firing bombs; she fires out reshi that turns whatever it goes in to, in to a bomb that shortly explodes (this kind of reminds me of Gambit’s mutant power from the X – Men). Komamura however tanks all of it which destroys all of his armour and underneath reveals that he is now human! Komamura explains that he has undergone his clan’s Human Transformation Technique and then unleashes his Bankai; Kokjuo Tengen Myo’o – Dangai Joe, which has the giant shed it’s armour to reveal a skeletal body underneath.

With this new found power Komamura explains that he gut out his own heart to achieve it and that he and his Bankai are now immortal. He tanks every attack that Bambietta throws at him and then slices at her with Dangai Joe’s sword which backfires several of her reshi bombs causing them to explode. Shortly after this Komamura starts to change back in to a full wolf and collapses to the ground only to be picked up by Iba. As Bambietta lies on the ground, wondering how she could be the first to be defeated, her friends show up saying they want to help her which Bambietta begs them not to do. We get a last shot of Rukia and Renjo falling down from the royal palace and heading for the Soul Society.

First off I will just say that I loved this fight, Komamura has always been one of my favourite characters that I feel has never had a moment to shine in battle. This I feel mostly has to do with Kubo pitting him against opponents he can not win, a hollowfied Tosen and Aizen for example, but always thought he is a great character with an awesome Bankai. This was his moment in these chapters, Kubo finally gave him some new abilities and they were great; his human form really suits him and Dangai Joe looks so menacing. It surprised me that it is Bambietta who is one of the first to be defeated because I thought she would be one of the main Sternritters but it was a good surprise. I am also glad that we finally get more back story on Komamura, his clan and why they are wolves (Won’t spoiler that for you) because he has been long over due for one. Finally I really like how Kubo contrasts Komamura’s need for revenge with Tosen’s because even after all of this time since Tosen’s death the two are still connected with each other.

The art work throughout these chapters were top notch, the highlights being Dangai Joe, who I think Kubo put a lot of effort in to designing. I was glad whenever there was a panel of it and there is this one scene where it jumps towards Bambietta which was so cool. Another part I would like to point out is the cool designs of Rukia and Renji’s new costumes, just like Ichigo they have an Arabic theme going.

I only have two small complaints about this fight and that is I wished there could have been a bit more fighting between Komamura and Bambietta because Komamura used a lot of the pages explains his powers and having flashbacks with his grandfather. Another is that even thought I really like Renji and Rukia I do not like seeing them now, I want the fight with the Sternritter to focus on none of the main characters right now, for example I want to see the fights with Rose, Kensei and Shunsui. Ichigo, Rukia and Renji are going to be way more powerful now so I do not want them to enter the fights and take all the spot light and save everyone; I want the Sternritter to be annihilating the Soul Reapers.

In conclusion Komamura finally got the spotlight that he finally deserves and his fate at the end was confusing because I thought he was going to die. Solid fight that could have done with more action but Dangai Joe more than made up for it.

SCORE 8/10

I will most like review chapters in groups from now one and give them an overall score. They will be reviewed after full fights or major events.