Forum - View topicREVIEW: Blood Blockade Battlefront
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DontmesswithKarma
Posts: 491 |
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In my opinion this series was simply the best (nanananana) anime of the year. However, what made it the best in my eyes are for reasons that I know the majority hated it for.
Art/Animation - Its BONES, 'nuff said. Animation was fluid, art was fantastic. It was vibrant and the battle animation was simply outstanding. Story - I loved what BONES did with this. Now this is where my opinions diverge from the majority. I'm a manga fan. They rushed, however, they didn't cut a single thing from what they adapted, which impressed me. The manga is crazy and over the top. This ultra-fast pacing not only allowed plenty of rewatch value, but also fit the craziness of the series, which is one of my major complaints with many adaptations today, they don't adapt at a pace that suits the overall feeling of the series. The anime original storyline however I want to talk about..... It was fantastic. From episode 1 they made it clear anime original was coming, it fit in so naturally too. The anime original content added the emotion that the manga lacked, and the original characters (white and Black) were stand-outs of the show. How the manga content complimented the anime original and vice versa was extremely impressive in my eyes. Music - Fast, fun and crazy. Funnily enough though, its the King of Despair's whistle that I found to be the best of the music department, the placement and usage of it sent chills. The opening was fantastic, as was expected of Bump of Chicken, and the ending was a massive surprise, and easily is going head to head with K-Return of Kings' ed as best ed of the year (my opinion) Overall - Direction - 10 Story - 9.0 (-0.5 for the only okay-ish ending and -0.5 for WHERE IS MY S2 ANNOUNCMENT?! Kinda obvious BONES) Art - 9.5 Animation - 10 (I am an absolute sucker for crazy, in your face animation that's not afraid to get messy to be incredibly smooth. Fight between Klaus and Despair was so wonderfully animated I've watched it near 7 times, even though it was so short.) Music - 10 Pacing - 10 (as I said, barely anybody agree's with me on this. But if this was done any slower, I wouldn't continue it, or if I did, end up buying it) In the end - 9.8. This is what I watch anime for. Adaptations that are anime before adaptations, anime that know's what it is and is shaped around that, that's beautifully animated, directed and scored. BONES, you've got my approval. Keep up the fantastic work |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11364 |
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Wow, those are just brilliant! That's the sort of extra that would get me to spring for a premium edition. Thanks for posting that. |
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rheiders
 Posts: 1137 Location: Colorful Colorado :) |
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Why yes, a completely different reviewer with completely different tastes and opinions. Amazing how different people like different things, huh? Incidentally, I definitely agree more with Hope than Nick here xD I thought the ending was worth every second of wait and more, super fun and interesting to watch and brought the show together thematically in a stronger way than I could have ever hoped for. It's actually weaseled its way into my top anime of all time since then; I really loved it. I also thought Nightow and Matsumoto's styles worked together really well (as a fan of both creators) and look forward to any work they do together in the future. And of course I look forward to any work Matsumoto does in general! Give her more shows!! |
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Angel M Cazares
 Posts: 5424 Location: Iscandar |
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I am unfamiliar with the manga, but I suspected that the anime original content had combined beautifully with the content in the manga. The other neat thing about how this anime adaptation was handled is that if we never get a sequel (heaven forbid), we have a first anime season with a solid story and a well defined purpose.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11364 |
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I agree so hard.  I think I don't even know for sure what people mean when they talk about pacing (I think you're using it as I do). To me, pacing is how the story being told in the anime flows, whether the narrative is rushed or dragged out in places to fit episode times and get what story they're going to tell done in the episodes allotted. But I get the impression that when most people here talk about pacing they mean how many manga/novel chapters were adapted into each episode, regardless of how that works or doesn't work for the anime itself.
It seems like an anime can flow beautifully from start to finish, but if "too many" or "not enough" chapters contributed to each episode, people start complaining about pacing. That makes no sense to me. I guess to me it seems like there needs to be another word for the chapters/episode rate besides pacing. That's why reading the above comment was really nice - hearing from someone who appreciates an anime for being its own beast rather than just a moving copy of the source material. |
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Nyron
Posts: 161 |
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It was a pretty bad adaption. Amazing presentation and OP/ED, but the director shoehorned their own story into a series with characters that were already great.
Black and White were not "standouts", they were superfluous and awful and had no place in the story at all. It's because of them that a majority of characterization for all of the actual characters were left out. Steven, Chain, Brody&Hammer, KK, Zed and Gilbert are all fantastic characters but we received 0 content for them in the anime. Their arcs, chapters and scenes were left out to make room for 10 minutes of bolted-on Black and White each episode, and then the ending was 100% about them. Even Klaus barely got any real time devoted to him. Zapp and Leo got the most adapted content, and even Zapp's main story with his master was jerked around and turned into a side story so Black could do nonsense at a carnival or some crap. In a series with an ensemble cast, and a bunch of great villains like Aligula and Femt, Black was not needed. If they really needed content, they could have given some of those characters, who have panel little time in the manga, a bigger role. The series also does not lack emotional content. This is the guy who wrote Trigun, which had some of the most gripping and dramatic showdowns I've ever read. When the author wants there to be emotional content, it will be there. The series is a slice-of-life superhero series, not Kyosougiga, which was mediocre as ****. If anyone really liked this show, I'd suggest picking up the manga from Dark Horse. The anime adapted like 20% of it. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 1827 |
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This series really saved Bones just by looking at the sales. From what I can gather, it only adapted the first manga volumes and added White and Black. There could be a second season.
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jymmy
 Posts: 1244 |
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I found myself agreeing with this review a lot, though not quite as strongly at points. The overall package was attractive, style and setting excellent, good OP and great ED, but I wasn't blown away by each of the episodes' stories, and I wasn't amazed by the characters or interactions in general. That said, I haven't got around to watching the last episode yet, so I'm interested to see if I feel similarly about it to how Nick did.
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Hmph!
 Posts: 26 |
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Remember when that certain reviewer also specifically wrote an article to tell everyone that BBB is the best Spring's anime because it's cool (it has many references and shout-outs!), it's cute (the monkey is so adowable!), and it's clever (it has some hearts and all that crap!), even though the series had just reached its 6th episode at that moment, Pepperidge Farm remembers. |
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Random 21
 Posts: 198 Location: Nottingham, United Kingdom |
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Also remember when ANN was comprised of different reviewers, all with their own different opinions on shows, and were not forced to all agree to the same thing? Pepperidge farm remembe- Oh wait, I don't need to remember that, because it's still the case.
I for one still agree with that "certain reviewer", BBB is still not only my personal favorite anime of the year, but one of my favorite anime period at this point. The soundtrack, art and direction (Thanks again, Rie Matsumoto) I felt was top notch the whole way through, the anime original content with Black and White was very strong, very consistent with the tone of the rest of the show and didn't feel shoehorned in to me. I can still agree that it isn't flawless, the underutilisation of many of the characters was very disappointing (I need more chain  ), and the ending wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be, even if I put most of that down to hype.
Either way, this is a great review, whether I agree or not aside. I can definitely get why a lot of people were lukewarm on the show, but I still loved it from start to finish. But hey, if Noragami and Show by Rock can get sequels, I have no doubt BBB will as well. Just hoping it's soon. |
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Divineking
 Posts: 1293 |
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Nice review, even I didn't find as many problems with the show as he did. Also wanted to chime in and say that the people going on about a "certain reviewer" and going "see I told you it wasn't THAT great" are being childish. Please stop.
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Blood Blockade Battlefront was a waste. It was a waste of talent, it was a waste of story, it was a waste of potential, and just the kind of anime that makes my blood boil, because it should have, could have been one of the greatest anime ever made, and instead it was mired in mediocrity from the get-go.
The atmosphere of this series is nothing short of brilliant, and every detail put into the city and its denizens brings it to life. There's so much that could have been done with this atmosphere, and it was the most impressive part of the show. Watching all these wacked-out, off-beat and bizarre creatures living side-by-side with ordinary people (what few there were), going about their lives, doing ordinary things and fantastical things alike, this could have been a brilliant episodic, Space Dandy-type vignette series. But no. It wasted it. The episodes threw everything they could at the wall, but most of them ultimately failed. There was always two or three excellent ideas and scenarios in an episode, but by the end, they faltered under the weight of their own ambition, and a lack of follow-through in the writing. You'd get this great scenario, like the hamburger-eating amnesia alien, but then there'd always been one scene too many, or something would fall out of place, or the premise would wear out after it was half done. The Black and White stuff was entirely superflous and often got in the way of the other scenarios. And that, combined with the clip episode and the long wait for the final episode makes this, to me, the new Wolf's Rain. In other words, something that had everything going for it but it's lousy execution. |
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Sahmbahdeh
Posts: 712 |
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I agree more or less entirely with the review. I think BBB is a really good show with some big flaws. For a show with an ensemble cast, they really didn't do a whole lot with most of their characters. While they were all surface-level stylish and cool, that's where the characterization for most of them stopped.
Also, the pacing was really shoddy. So much stuff was crammed into each episode it barely gave the audience time to digest what was actually happening, or why it mattered. There was little time for introspection, or character development, and I think that really hamstrung the show's presentation overall. This show really should have been two cours, to let its characters have room to develop and spread the story out a bit. One was far too little. In addition, I couldn't help but feel that, as the series went on, the story didn't amount to much. Each individual episode was highly enjoyable, but they never meant much in the grand scheme of the show. There was a lot to this show I liked, though. The Black and White parts were actually really good, I thought, and added an emotional layer to the show that I feel would have been absent otherwise. It also added a sense of continuity and a sense of importance to the proceedings that I also feel would have been sorely lacking had they not been involved. I think they could have been integrated a bit more smoothly, though. Also, the animation and art was really good, the music was great and eclectic, standing as among the best of the year. Also, I wish more anime could do this show's sheer stylish energy half as well. The character's names, character designs, and the abilities and concept for a lot of the characters were incredibly entertaining as well. It also has a high rewatch value. Overall, the pros outweigh the cons significantly in my mind, so I give the show an overall rating of B+. |
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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Well, different strokes for different folks, i suppose. I loved this show, especially the crazy episodic stuff and i too don#t really get all the complaints about pacing.
The Black & White storyline was fine and occassionally touching but i would have easily exchanged it for more about Klaus & Co. But well, it's definitely in my top 5 list for "anime of the year". I'd give it a straight A but B is still a pretty good grade, so all the "this finally put a certain reviewer in her place" by some folks is pretty silly. 
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Hmph!
Posts: 26 |
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Just so you know, I was quite taken aback back then when that certain reviewer shamelessly tried to promote her favourite anime as the best Spring anime. Sure, its fun, hilarious, cool and stylish, and action packed but I can't ignore that for most of the part, it's too episodic with no sense of continuity (except Black and White's little arc), most of the casts are underdeveloped and barely given screentimes, and although I don't have a problem with the pacing, I still think that it's too brisk for the viewers to digest. All these usually left me feeling empty at the end of each episode but YMMV, of course
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