Customer Reviews

Bamboo Blade: Part 2

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 2004, the manga series "Bamboo Blade" by Masahiro Totsuka and Aguri Igarashi (illustrator) was released and featured in the Japanese seinen manga magazine Young Gangan. An anime adaptation was produced by AIC A.S.T.A. ("Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~", "Tentai Senshi Sunred", "Godannar") and was shown on TV Tokyo from October 2007 through April 2008.

The anime series is directed by Hisashi Saito (who worked on series such as "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Eureka Seven", "Bleach") and features a screenplay by Hideyuki Kurata (who created "Read or Die" and "Kamichu!"). Character designs are by Naoto Hosoda ("Jinki: Extend", "Nagasarete Airantou", "Shuffle! Memories") and 3D by Tatsuya Watanabe ("Fullmetal Alchemist: The Movie - Conqueror of Shamballa").

In November, the first half of the 26-episode anime series made its US debut with part 1 featuring the first 13-episodes in a 2-DVD collection courtesy of FUNimation Entertainment.

"Bamboo Blade" is about an economics teacher named Toraji Ishida who is also the coach of the Muroe high school Kendo team. Ishida is a low-paid teacher barely surviving from paycheck to paycheck and literally has to go through days without eating. It's so bad that the students end up sharing their food with him because they could tell that he's out of it because of the lack of food.

In the beginning, Sensei Ishida's intention was to bring in four more girls into the club and train them for competition in order to win a bet against his good friend, Sensei Ishibashi (who teaches and coaches two female high school kendo teams). Whoever wins the competition would ensure him a year's free sushi, all you can eat from his Ishibashi's fathers restaurant or if he loses, give up a trophy he won against him when they were younger.

For the most part, the first half of the series shows the team dynamics and the training his kendo students have put in. With long time member Kirino being the heart and soul of the team (and also the team captain), Ishida has the kendo prodigy named Tamaki Kawazoe on his team. The main concern that Ishida has for Tamaki is that she has never lost and has never been in that position before. To make things more interesting, as focused she is in every match, for some reason when the opponent does a high stance (holding the sword above the head), she freezes up for some reason.

Also, to make things worse for Sensei Ishida, his job is on the line after he was involved in a disturbance with a board member's next door neighbor. Now he has no choice but to make sure the team is prepared to win regionals and the only way he can do that is train them harder than ever before in a short amount of time. Will Sensei Ishida managed to train his team? Will they be ready for these upcoming major competitions?

The second half of "Bamboo Blade" continues to focus on team dynamics but also individual stories that continues the hilarious and fun storyline of the series but also becomes much more serious towards the latter end of the series.

"Bamboo Blade: Part 2' comes with episodes 14-26 on two DVD discs.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"Bamboo Blade" is presented in 16:9 and for the most part the animation is pretty cool as it integrates CG to the animation. Because of the fast pacing of the kendo, there is quite a bit of action in the series. Character designs are quite interesting as we see cool character designs and sometimes hilarious facial expressions. With the second half of the series, the series takes place in different settings. So, there is more scenery outside of the kendo dojo and the high school this time around. Also, with the series getting a bit more serious towards the latter end, I definitely enjoyed how the animation fit the mood of the series.

Audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound and Japanese Stereo. For the English dubbed track, the anime is front and center channel driven with certain sounds of the shinai (the wooden bamboo sticks) hitting each other and crowd ambiance to footsteps can be heard through the surround channels. English voice acting is actually very well-done! Japanese dialogue is front channel driven and is Dolby Digital stereo only but for those who have a modern home theater receiver can select stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Bamboo Blade: Part 2" comes with the clean opening and ending themes and FUNimation Entertainment trailers.

JUDGMENT CALL:

When it comes to sports related anime, I'm actually a big fan of it. May it be "Slam Dunk", "Big Windup", "Yawara", "Eyeshield 21', "Prince of Tennis", "Captain Tsubasa" to name a few... I've been a big fan of anime sports series especially if the anime focuses on characters that are underdogs and become high achievers.

So, I was wondering how an anime series based on kendo would be. I've learned and even practiced kendo (for a very short time) and mainly because it is a very discipline-based sport (and for some friends its part of their lifestyle), for those on the outside, an anime based on kendo can be seen as boring or quite technical. But "Bamboo Blade" is nowhere near boring, in fact...once you start watching it...you'll find the series to be quite fun and quite addicting!

For the most part, the series is definitely created to be anime friendly for those not familiar with the sport (or for those who despise sports anime) by including pretty girls who have their own interesting personal character traits, add in a lot of humor, girls (and a few guys) training in kendo and what you get it is a fun anime series known as"Bamboo Blade". And I think it's quite appropriate since there are many anime fans who are so against sports-related anime series, "Bamboo Blade" is one of those few anime series that won't bore them.

Sure the anime series has its share of cute girls, hijinks and craziness but what about those who are fans of kendo, what can they get from "Bamboo Blade"? Well, the series does feature the training of kendo, the action scenes of kendo and also the spirit of kendo. The anime features some of the technical aspects of the sport but for the most part, the for the anime series to be quite fun and enjoyable for non-kendo/non-sports fans, the series is not dominated by it. It's a character-driven anime series and for the most part, its made to be entertaining.

Overall, every episode of "Bamboo Blade" has been quite entertaining and fun. I found myself laughing and just really enjoying this anime series a lot. So, don't let the kendo theme scare you, "Bamboo Blade" is not your typical sports anime series. It's about friendship, teamwork and also adversity. In fact, after watching the complete series, I have to say that "Bamboo Blade" has made it into my top 10 favorite anime series of 2009. The series just gets better and better and definitely enjoyed the series and how they ended it. I just hope that there are plans to continue the series!

"Bamboo Blade" is definitely a series worth checking out! I highly recommend picking up both parts of the series and trust me, you'll be hooked!

Firstly I am in Australia. I have no issues with region 1 disks as I have a multi region player.
Having waited a for short time from first looking up the costs, the US price dropped in just over 2 months from $60.00 a part set to around $33.00 a Part Set so having patience was worth it.! literally.
I bought both parts with delivery costs for AU$ 87.50. That is great because a singe part set here will cost AU$50+ So I am pleased to get both parts for the price I did. I think it would have been silly just to buy Part 1 without part 2.

Now as for the Animé itself, Bamboo Blade has become one of my favourites.

Several reviewers have covered bamboo blade story and package brilliantly, it really is very good. I am surprised I liked it so much but it really is a good mix of comedy, action and drama.
The adverts say they are fighting for Sushi! well its a lot deeper than that!
You can relate to all the characters easily, their goals, ambitions, fears and their ups and downs! love them or hate them as appropriate!! and even the bad guys come good in the end :)
There is also a great review at Animé News Network worth reading if your want more detailed information about the series.

It is worth noting many new animé made in the last year or so are not actually very good, it was refreshing to find something wholesome and entertaining among the junk!

Although made in 2007, Part 1 only came to DVD in late 2009, and the part 2 DVD's were released this year.

Do get this, both parts, all episodes, and enjoy a very good story for all the family. Its hard to find something that's suitable for everybody these days.

I rate it 5 stars and excellent viewing. (my view of course!!)

This was a delightful surprise. Make no mistake, while most of the cast is female, this has all of the sensibilities of a shonen sports anime. It has a wonderful sense of humor, with the capacity to be serious at times without being melodramatic (a lesson many other anime series need to learn). Most notably, BB manages to avoid the pitfall many other series with all-female protaganists fall into: needless fan-service. None of the girls are paraded around as lolicon bait for pathetic male fans, as in garbage shows like Burst Angel. They all have personalities and charm. I would show this to any young girl otaku, as something high empowering. I highly recommend this sleeper gem.

Its awesome, and perfect! The product came in fast and was a very good price! This saved me alot of trouble because I couldn't find part two anywhere only a full boxset and I already had part one.