Product Details

• Actors: Cherami Leigh, Ian Sinclair
• Directors: Tyler Walker
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese, English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Funimation Prod
• DVD Release Date: November 24, 2009
• Run Time: 358 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002MXZYFO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #168,603 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The shojo (girl's) sports series Bamboo Blade (2007) begins with perpetually broke part-time Muroe High School coach Toraji Ashida making a bet with an old school chum: if he can assemble a winning girl's kendo (Japanese fencing) team, he'll get a year's free dinners at a sushi restaurant. Ashida-sensei's motives may be less than altruistic, but he manages to recruit a few promising candidates. The wildcard in his hand is diminutive Tamaki Kawazoe, who's grown up in her family's dojo and is a likely candidate for a national title. Tama-chan loves "Super Sword Squadron Blade Bravers," a sci-fi anime spoof. By playing on her desire to emulate the champions of justice in the series, Ashida gets her to join the team, knowing her skill and speed will inspire the other girls. The filmmakers seem to be aiming for an athletic Azumanga Daioh, but the characters fail to emerge as strong individuals. Newby Miya-Miya alternately throws tantrums and snuggles with her hubbard squash-shaped boyfriend; team captain Ishida gurgles with excitement and makes fun of the coach. Tama-chan suggests the adorable prodigy Chiyo in Azumanga, but she's too quiet and withdrawn to be very interesting. Bamboo Blade may appeal to sports-minded adolescent girls--clearly its target audience--but it lacks the élan needed to win a wider viewership. (Rated TV PG: violence, minor risqué humor, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

(1. The Broom and a Champion of Justice, 2. The Blade Bravers and Boxed Lunch, 3. Black and Blue, 4. Pink and Blue, 5. Muroe High and Machido High, 6. Tamaki Kawazoe and the Tardy Bureiba, 7. Sushi and Minced Meat Cutlets, 8. Tama and Her Part-time Work, 9. Kojirou and the Crossroads of Fate, 10. Miyazaki Miyako's Melancholy and the First Tournament, 11. Animation and Dreams, 12. Azuma's Circumstances and Mei's Circumstances, 13. Teachers and Pupils)

Product Description

BAMBOO BLADE PART 1 - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lighthearted Fun Meets Martial Arts Action, November 12, 2009

By 

ONENEO (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bamboo Blade: Part 1 (DVD)

Bamboo Blade Part 1 is a shining example of east meets west culture in the anime medium. The concepts, the menus, the atmospheres and even the humor are undeniably Japanese and yet thanks to FUNimation, American viewers are given the opportunity to take and apply domestic sensibilities to the universal themes within.

Coming in at a total runtime of 325 minutes, Bamboo Blade Part 1 consists of the first thirteen episodes of the show spread across a pair of discs (housed in a standard sized DVD case). The show wears an appropriate TV PG rating due to animated violence and a bit of light adult-oriented dialog.

Language options are standard sub and dub fair, which means the viewer has the option of running the original Japanese dialog vocal track (stereo) or an English dub (Dolby 5.1 Surround) and the choice of displaying English subtitles under either track.

Extras are unfortunately quite slim in this collection and include textless songs and a crop of FUNimation trailers on the second disc.

The story goes something like this: Kendo instructor Toraji is a bit of hack who, aside from running a pretty poor after school club, is so broke that he can't afford to eat. As fate would have it, a friendly rival of his happens to be jealous of Toraji's earlier accomplishments in the sport and lays down a bet (really more of a competition) with some interesting stakes: Should Toraji's team be defeated, he is to hand over his prized Kendo trophy but should they be victorious, it's a full year of free food at his favorite eatery. The gurgling in Toraji's empty gut accepts the challenge before his brain has a chance to consider the odds.

Enter big-eyed, small-mouthed Tamaki; a slightly depressed pint-sized high school girl with lightening fast reflexes and a love for anime that keeps her a slave to the TV set. With the right kind of persuasion, Toraji hopes to convince Tamaki to trade in her remote control for a Kendo sword (hence the title, Bamboo Blade) in effort to increase his chances of not only holding onto his trophy but gaining a year of hot dinners on the house. Hey, the man is starving after all!

What he comes up with is a team of five young ladies each of which boasts a different colored hair do and skill set. Toraji's training methods need improving nearly as badly as the girls do themselves but where there's a will there's a way.

In presentation the program makes a habit of never taking itself too seriously and in many instances the lighthearted humor works without going over the top. There is an underlying sense of competition/ rivalry as after all, the core of the story does revolve around a Kendo tournament, but it's never quite a plot device that drives a dedicated shonen title either. Rather high school high jinks, cute girls and a bit of drama make up the foreground here with martial arts training and fight sequences offering the backdrop.

Both language options are pretty tight with the original Japanese dialog work edging out the English dub. Not to discredit FUNimation and their impeccable scripting/ acting of late, the fact is that Bamboo Blade is precisely the type of property that the Japanese cast just absolutely excels in mastering. The jokes are a bit more fluid, the zaniness a bit less forced and the timing a bit more natural.

In all Bamboo Blade Part 1 represents a fun little tale with some cool action sequences and lovable cast just rife with teenage camaraderie, competition, and rivalry. The entire show consists of 26-episodes that ran in Japan from 2007-2008 and it look as though FUNimation will be brining out the second (and final) collection to North American markets soon.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars would be 5 star but ..., February 1, 2010

By 

Micawber "Micawber" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bamboo Blade: Part 1 (DVD)

There are a couple of things that prevent me from rating this at 5 stars. First is the changes from the great animation of the original opening sequence, I've seen the raws, to a rather trite collage Second, if you own some video players, it will load, but not play. I also have this problem with newer Paramount and Sony. If funimation continues, they have lost a primary market customer. I own a Spectroniq home theater system, which performs wonderfully for almost all dvds, including those with regional encoding. It plays great on my older Samsung, but I am restricted to the tv speakers with it. After that, I rented Part 2, and it plays the same. Save your money if you have problems with Sony, or Paramount disks. The anime itself is great, if not for the aforementioned issues, it would merit 5 stars.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars please get this series this is one of the best animes ever!, May 6, 2010

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Bamboo Blade: Part 1 (DVD)

this is wonderful I found out about this series on [...] and as soon as I saw it I knew I was going to be hooked to the series. it has every thing a true anime fan could ask for.buetiful girls fighting it out in a cool jappanise sport and more.I garantee you will not be disappointed.(if you are an anime fan that is)