Review of BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.

This review will be spoiler-free. After finishing season 1 of My Next life as a villainess I was interested in similar 'wholesome' isekai as they put a nice twist on the sometimes repetitive wish-fulfillment type shows and Bofuri got recommended to me. I started with middling expectations but intrigued as to what the anime had in store as a character finding ways to win after having maxed out all of their in-game points on defense sounded like it would make for some excellent comedy. What I found the anime to actually be like is a bit of a different story. At first I really enjoyed themisadventures of Maple in this world and found her to be sufficiently adorable to continue watching. Maple's personality as a funny and adorable MC really holds the anime together as it goes on as a slice-of-life type isekai and we meet her friend Sally and eventually a whole host of characters to join her on her missions. The show just continues like that following our characters on a myriad of journeys in this fantasy world. I guess my biggest problem with the story is the lack of meat it has beyond the MC and it doesn't really try to make use of these other characters to create funny or cute situations using the existing premise. It seems to build up to exciting events that really fall flat. In some ways this show falls into the trap of other stories with overpowered protagonists: lack of narrative tension. With One Punch Man the tension comes internally as Saitama tries to grapple with where he wants to go in life now that he's the strongest there is. With Bofuri and shows with similar OP protagonists (Slime isekai) the tension disippates as the massive threat is dispatched quickly with minimal intervention by comrades. Aside from a few cool fights with and some early funny experiments with the premise the show isn't all that humorous and at times is a chore to get though episodes. The last few episodes in particular leave a lot to be desired. The biggest pro to the show is the dynamic between Maple and Sally who make an intriguing pair and I wish the show stuck to that and allowed Sally to play the 'serious' one to Maple's funny antics. The show overall is fine if you just want some wholesome fun just don't expect anything to keep you engaged or even something all that humorous.