 | | ▪ | RELEASED BY: | | FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT | | | ▪ | ASPECT RATIO: | | 16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN | | | ▪ | AUDIO: | | ENGLISH DD 5.1 AND JAPANESE DD 2.0 | | | ▪ | RUNNING TIME: | | 325 MIN | | | ▪ | RATING: | | TV PG | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 01/19/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/17/2010 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | DAVEY C. JONES |
SYNOPSIS:
Having a fierce swordswoman like Tamaki at practice every day gives the girls of the Kendo club reason for hope, but this team still has a long way to go. Their sensei is one false move away from losing his job, the team’s facing a suspension, and even Tamaki is about to experience the bitter taste of defeat. So will the girls pick each other up and stick together as a team – or will they crumble under the pressure and go their separate ways? During his team’s darkest hour, it will be up to Toraji to inspire his warriors and teach Tamaki that sometimes, only a crushing loss can stoke the flames of competition. Contains episodes 14 to 26 on 2 DVDs in a hard shell box set.
REVIEW:
Toraji was first simply trying to get a meal in his belly by getting his kendo team up to snuff. Now this slacker of all slackers has to get his team of misfits to win or he’s out of a job and no longer has a roof over his head! But how can he pull it off? He has a reticent wee pint of a girl as his ace player, an enthusiastic captain who is good but no champion, an airhead, a girl dense enough that she thinks wearing glasses will make her smarter, and a pretty girl with a psycho killer streak. That’s his winning team and with them he hopes to pay his rent while he still can! It’s this simple: you watch Bamboo Blade for the fun and for the fan service. It jostles from being a sports genre with the girls competing in the latest tournament, to being a comedy. Their trip to training camp is a short one because they don’t have the funds so hold it at the school. There’s bonding bath time and pillow fights and yep, fan service too. In the second half of the series they pour on the drama when the team has to face some key losses. It happens slowly at first with Miya still getting unnerved by her female stalker, Kirino has home troubles weighing her down, and ditzy Saya actually gets focused worrying about Kirino. After some fancy footwork, the girls rally and despite many troubles manage to remain a solid team. That, however, changes. Before the show gets serious again, it has fun with Yuji taking Tama out on their first unofficial date – she just doesn’t realize it. Her fave group Blade Braver is there and she enters a trivia competition with a sharp rival. It won’t be the last she sees of Rin though. It turns out she’ll be staying over at her house! Soon this odd friendship/rivalry goes heavy into the rival side when their next tournament has them pitted against each other. It doesn’t go well for Muroe High. Miya has to face off against the foreign girl Carrie who is hot after Miya’s guy Dan. Then when Tama faces Rin…Tama loses! If losing weren’t bad enough, they return to the school only to be threatened with disbandment by the principal after that jerk Toyama and his buddy cause trouble. Through heartfelt pleas and Toyama getting a trouncing by a surprising opponent, the girls manage to stay in the game. But now without some missing members. Miya has disappeared and Tama has resigned! Without their strongest players the team doesn’t stand a chance and Toraji is looking at homelessness being his new status in life. Even Kirino is having a change of heart and considering losing this popsicle stand. It’s their friends to save the day when one talk heart-to-heart after another between the various members sees the missing ones returning for a second chance. Losing is a huge lesson for Tama. She took it hard but now it’s comeback time for all of them. The next round of competition has them meeting their recent opponents yet again, but this time with vastly different outcomes. Miya again faces Carrie with help from an unexpected corner and Tama faces off against a determined Rin. Can they do it? Can they win? And as far as Toraji is concerned – will he be able to keep his job? The show serves up a lot of laughs and sweet animation. The footwork is seriously fancy. The kendo details are interesting and the sports angle to the story is very much along the lines of your typical sports genre. The comedy and affection with the young girls is what sets it apart from the sports genre by being cute and funny as well as suspenseful. The final episode of the show offers a look ahead as they start a new year and the kendo club considers potential new members. The final scene ends on the introduction of a possible new rival, clearly leaving the anime open enough for a sequel down the road should they choose to do so.
EXTRAS:
Bonus goodies include trailers of other FUNimation titles, reverse cover art, and clean opening and ending animation.
IN SUMMARY:
More fun than you can shake a kendo sword at! |
