Review of BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.
In a world where VRMMO began taking over in the anime community, one series rises to the top through it’s unique charm and an idea so insane that it actually worked. No one would have thought that a main character with so much power could still lead an anime to such great lengths; however, BOFURI broke that idea this time around. Take realism out of the equation because there’s nothing realistic about this anime. Instead, you can have a cute, yet broken main character who gets through her life in the game through her clumsiness and extreme luck. Unique story & concept: With a fast-paced story tohelp drive the energetic and quirky nature of the main character, there’s not much time for the audience to actually breathe. Episode after episode, the main cast is either training or competing in some sort of event showing off the new skills and abilities of everyone, especially the powerhouse herself: Maple. To top it all off, none of this happened to Maple by sheer skill or intellect but rather her insane luck aiding her in each of her encounters.
“The best offense is a good defense.” This statement proved to be true for Maple as the story progressed and her power grew along with it. Despite fighting against strongest foes in combat power, her skills and defense was enough to crush her competition along with their hopes of ever beating her. Normally, a main character that has unmatchable power would look like a poorly written character; though, Maple’s charm is how oblivious she is to the luck around her and her fun personality. She’s not some boring OP character with little to no character development. Maple actually learns from her mistakes and grows as fighter despite her appearing to be an airhead.
Fantastic art:
The animators of this show have shown us time and time again how great they are with a simple animation software. Each new environment always looks clean and well-drawn, and the fights are no different. There wasn’t a single fight where the audience would be left wondering “Are they saving their animation for later?”. Actually, it was easy to tell that each fight had a lot of effort poured into it from just living the experience by simply watching the anime. Finally, the use of CG really put the animation over the top compared to any other anime. It was fairly difficult to piece together which parts were CG and which parts weren’t making transitions between the two animation techniques smooth and crisp.
Great soundtrack:
The entire soundtrack for this anime was done well. Each OST fit well with the given scenes and overall sounded great. I could pick out a couple that I’d listen to on repeat because of how great they sounded. Not only the OSTs, the OP and ED were both equally as amazing to listen to. If anything, the OP has become one of my favorite songs.
Fun & lovable characters:
Along with everything else, the characters in BOFURI were done incredibly well. All of the characters had moments in the spotlight and showed off a bit of what made them different from the rest. I found it especially impressive that the leader of the Flame Emperors had a very vulnerable side shown on screen. It broke the standard mold that any opposing ‘boss’ or ‘leader’ didn’t have a glaring quirk about themselves that made them particularly unique.
Never-ending entertainment:
There are plenty of comedic moments in BOFURI that have really hit hard when they come up in the show. Watching Maple’s guild come together is pretty entertaining to watch because their personalities really gel with one another. Additionally, watching how the other major guilds worked with one-another was fun to watch. Each main group of characters played off each other amazingly well and provided a lot of enjoyment throughout the show.
Final thoughts:
BOFURI was an anime I wasn’t expecting to get this season, especially since it was announced as an VRMMO related anime; however, the journey these characters went through was fast-paced and entertaining to watch. The episodes went by in a flash and left me wanting more. This anime crushed my expectations and will probably sit high in my rankings for quite a while. [9/10]