elwin.bosco - 2015-06-16 05:18:22

All told, Bamboo Blade is a decent anime for turning your brain off to just enjoy the bright art style and general upbeat mood of a slice of life type anime. However, critically speaking it is not satisfactory.

First, as a kenshi myself, I was hoping an anime about kendo would be relatively accurate in terms of technique. This was not even close. The swings all look far too stiff, you can clearly hear footwork when you shouldn't, and their stances are too high. Very poor form, especially considering the focus of the show.

Next, the story and characters are all rather predictable. There was not one surprise the entire time, and all the characters were rote. You  could tell who each person was going to be within seconds of their introduction, and they stay exactly that way the entire length of the show.

Overall, I'd say it is an enjoyable anime if you don't have very high standards or expectations for it. If you're just getting into anime, and/or don't mind that it isn't a masterpiece for the ages, you might like it. If you expect accuracy in the way it depicts Kendo and a story to rival Legend of the Galactic Heroes, you will be disappointed.

shawn19 - 2013-07-01 02:00:43

The only thing that makes this show unique among legions of other school anime — the Kendo aspect — is terribly weak.Lazily abiding by the uninspired girl-laden light comedy formula, the main problem with Bamboo Blade is its superficiality. They never really delve into the Kendo fights or the club’s training. Cutting corners in production, you'll repetitively see characters "train" via nothing but overhead strikes. Over, and over, and over. Tournament matches are all skimmed over with the viewer limited as an observer rather than a vicarious participant: they barely let you in on what's going on in the fighter's head when they fight. The characters’ only battle thoughts are simpleminded fluff like "I have to win!" or "Just one more point!" Ultimately, the Kendo fights end up focusing on the trivial: which character won, which character lost, how one obviously feels good after winning or bad after losing, etc. Bland and juvenile.There’s quite a bit of team spirit and chemistry with Bamboo Blade’s characters as a whole. But individually, I was only interested in one character: Tamaki. She's sure to be a favorite, and definitely holds the show up; without her, I probably would've dropped the show. On the other hand, all male characters are ignored entirely. Like afterthoughts, the guys are just as superficial as this anime’s Kendo, so they barely care, and thus you barely care for them.The comedy in this anime was slightly above average: some pretty funny moments interspersed throughout, but I was bored for the most part.Overall, a thoroughly mediocre anime. There are some easy feel-good moments, so it's not too bad, but not very good either. Unless you're really loving it within the first few episodes, I honestly recommend dropping it. There are plenty of better shows out there that are more worth your time.5/10. Average.