First impressions: Blade and Soul
It is time for a fight!
Wooooooooooo!! At last the new season of anime is here and you can look forward to the wave of first impression posts and with that I bring you Blade and soul or as I like to call it boobs and soul! I just hope it blows Maken-ki out of the water! Oh and spoilers a lot of side characters die LOL
———————————————
Kick ass chicks
Aruka does not play well with others.
Why so serious!?
Lately we have seen really strong female lead characters like Ryuuko from Kill la Kill, Ogura from Nobunagun and Kagari from Witch Craft Works! So what do these three have in common? For starters they are not afraid to let loose and go crazy during any fight, but what about the girls of Blade and Soul? Since they are based off a MMORPG which I have not played due to it not being translated into English yet but I do know that the game is focused on fighting so I assumed all of the girls would be bad-asses anyway and they certainly are because whoa! The first five minutes of the episode we see Aruka owning three random girls in a matter of minutes along with some huge dude named Ga Gante afterwards killing off some merchant? So yeah Blade and Soul definitely has the gore and action down; however when it comes to character interaction it really failed to keep my attention especially when we have a mindless robot of a main character! Yeah I get that she is the typical cold blooded assassin who is only motivated by revenge, but so was Ryuuko who was still able to TALK instead of being completely silent and yeah I know she did say a few words but I guess she will open up eventually after meeting the right people while on her quest for revenge. So should you watch this? Sure why not if you like good looking character designs, lots of blood and over the top action I say go for it and I kind of get the feeling that Blade and Soul will not be a hardcore ecchi series like Queens blade because it seems to be more focused on the action moments or can Gonzo blend both together like Kill la Kill? Then again we did get several low shots of Aruka’s butt throughout the episode and those tight outfits worn by Varel Jin and Ran Yu.
Extra boobs
DO NOT WANT!
Someone please turn the moonlight down.
To think this guy was proud of this moment…
That explains why the enemy wants your farm!
Preview
Moar boobs next time
About Foshizzel
Is huge anime fan from Florida! who loves to watch anime and also enjoys drawing and collecting pictures, my favorite genre of anime has to be Mecha, there is just something awesome about giant robots beating the crap out of each other! Other than that type of show, I love a good comedy or action series :D
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
The concept for this wasn’t bad, and a lot of the art was good. But the writing was so bad. So, so bad. Dialogue was really bad, exposition was really bad. It would seem like they would start trying to explain something, and then just quit. The flower thing, the butterfly thing, I know you don’t want to give up all the secrets in the first episode, but sheesh, explain SOMETHING.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
I can forgive them that. But the whole “we just pissed off the evil empire, let’s sit tight, they won’t retaliate, right?” No. They will. Prepare your defenses! What? No defenses? Oh, you have a kick ass bodyguard? Can she put out fires? No? adkjf;lskajdfl;asjkf;a
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
“Can she stop hundreds of archers?”
Yeah, the “Ha, we showed them we’re not going to sell!” when you don’t exactly have a higher authority than the people trying to buy you out is refusing the offer you can’t refuse.
“Nice village you got here. It’d be a… shame… if something happened to it.”
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
Darn! Didn’t think of that one did they?
-Archers-check!
-Crazy guy drinking strange liquids-check!
-Fire? Darn. This Aruka model does not come with a fire-fighting skill.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
I have to agree with you there Highway, the whole dialogue was just horrible. A lot of the conversations stopped halfway, and I’m like “… and?”
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Boobs and sausages is more apt.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 110 comments
well give saw ep.1 yea total whoa yea it’s more neck slash, slaughter village, revenge, etc.
all cause white hair female have a grudge with big bad empire yea 1st ep alone?!
well sure by time get to 3rd ep or 4th ep yea more to go on it.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1692 comments
Best thing about this show was the beautifully drawn women, who are women and not high school girls. Next best thing, some fairly good action sequences. Come to think of it, those are the only good things. As has been said, the writing is terrible and the main character so far is an object, not a person since she has zero personality. And oh, yes, mustn’t forget not one shred of originality.
All that said, for now I’ll stick around for the beautiful women. And the boobs and butts.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
Fitting for a MMORPG MC, I guess? Then again similar complains was made for Yuu Narukami of P4tA and look at how that turn out.
We shall see if she develop into a proper character by the end of it.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Not a bad start at all for a show I first believed its only strong point would be fanservice and that it was nailed down with a seemingly weak plot. The serious tone from the episode alone is enough to convince me to be a little more patient and it already blows Maken-ki out of the water, without any effort!
This is a good thing, Fosh! Strong female characters that can hold their own are the best! It’s something we should get a lot more often. If there was a show where both the male and female lead are able to take care of themselves before pairing up and continue to be so during, that would instantly get points in my book.
I can’t really put any blame on Alka for being silent. She was most likely raised from a child to be an assassin, to carry out orders without question and not have a say in anything. Back then, most like her weren’t even considered as people but as a means to an end. Even if she’s “relieved” from her duty now, she can’t be expected to just kick the habit by being talkative and speaking her mind right off the bat. That will take some time.
I guess it does have something going for it as I’ve seen Blade and Soul has already become a recommendation on MAL for anyone who liked Claymore, which was an epic and brutal series that also had a white haired female lead consumed with a burning desire for revenge. Not to mention both said series are Gonzo’s productions, using the same animation style. If I had to make recommendations for any shows similar to the previously two mentioned for certain elements, it would be Witchblade and Burst Angel, two more of Gonzo’s productions that have strong female leads.
The only bothersome thing is the choice of subs. While for some the name of the protagonist is “Aruka”, the subs from the episode I downloaded have the name as “Alka”. Just like the differences between “Sio” and “Shio” for Nobunagun.
So for now, yeah, I’ll keep watching.
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I’m not sure whether I like it or. I do like how there’s strong female characters everywhere. Aruka is strong though. Like overly strong. No one can stop her despite her seeming to be “normal”(as in doesn’t have uber super powers).
When she cut her hair though, that one random long piece bothers me. XD
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
My only real complain abt B&S EP1 is: NOOOOOOO Aruka why must you cut your ady perfect long hair!?
Other than that, nothing much to complain except maybe weird flag CG. Decent OP visuals and song. Will give it a few episodes.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
One thing I don’t understand is why people are so flustered when a female character’s hair is cut. Personally, it doesn’t make much of an impact or does much to change the person in general because in my honest opinion, a girl can look good with either long or short hair. Like Monogatari’s Hitagi Senjougahara. And Alka did leave enough for a narrow ponytail.
POWUH: Meta Resident and Werewolf Chaser with 1270 comments
I admit, its partly my preference for long hair females and I think long hair suits her better. Though when the haircut is done well and look fine I won’t complain which is most of the time.
Btw, there are times where a character completely change their character (for the better mostly) the moment they cut their hair off like Luke from Tales of the Abyss.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Cutting of hair is frequently symbolic of a lot of things. Taking care of long hair and growing it out is a long-term investment, one that is undone in mere moments, and irreversible without that investment again. Long hair is generally considered prettier on women, and it’s a fairly common thing for women trying to attract men to keep their hair long… and then cut it soon after becoming a couple. The other ‘reason’ women frequently cut their hair is to make a break with the past (See Chinami Oka), like if they get dumped.
I would say that the change in character isn’t because of cutting hair, but that cutting hair is symbolic of the change in character.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Because having long hair takes lots of time and effort. Girls can and do appreciate long hair. And generally short hair isn’t considered as feminine. So going from long –> short is a bit of a shock-factor and going against cultural norms.
POWUH: Meta Resident with 1557 comments
Having said that ^
I felt the whole hair-cutting thing was so irrelevant (and an indication of the poor directing). It felt like they just decided to throw it in there, just because they could.