Review of BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.
It's my first time writing a review so forgive for such a long review. Finally a Shounen VRMMO done good! I'm not gonna name-drop some other titles but you know who you are. This series made me love MMOs again! At first I thought this would just be full of nonsensical fanservice to the point where the anime tries too hard to meet its viewers' standards but fails horribly instead of delivering what they really intended to. Most of the scenes are enough to have me giggle from time to time and I just can't stop loving the main character more and more, though there arestill scenes in the anime where I, as a fellow gamer, think is absolutely absurd lol
Story (9/10):
Story-wise, the anime is pretty much a slice of life MMO. A newbie is introduced to a game where she ultimately falls in love with and becomes stupendously good at it. Her friend who roped her into the game is also a pretty good gamer (as she's shown to have trophies from her previous games). As most of the shounen series out there, the main character is like a beacon of light which attracts more and more people just by doing their normal thing (being a main character of a shounen anime lol). They then progress into multiple events into the game until to the point where they eventually form a guild with all her new friends. Their struggles to keep their guild's standing against other big established guilds in the end is actually pretty impressive. I used to be a guild master as well and they do think and act like you're in an actual PvP guild war so it's pretty nostalgic for me. The ending was satisfying enough for me but hey! second season confirmed now!!
Art (9/10):
Art and animation received good budget. Fighting scenes aren't rushed and the art brings about Maple's charm more and more. The colour palette they used for the whole anime is pretty generic but still they are able to bring out the beauty of the scenery whenever they discover a new place, especially that lovely everlasting-sunset beach Sally discovered. Was gonna throw an 8/10 but that specific scene just filled my heart with awe. I even actually dreamt of the same place and man it filled a dark black part of my heart.
Sound (8/10):
There really isn't something special about their OSTs. I'm not really a good person to judge sound since I mostly skip openings and endings to avoid potential spoilers so I'll just throw an 8. I like it when they add their background song whenever they accomplish something.
Character (9/10):
I'll be blunt, ALL OF THEM ARE LOVABLE! even the enemies are so lovable. They each have their own unique traits. The anime ended a bit abruptly for me so they didn't have enough time to really dig deep into each but with that little time, I've seen enough for me to actually understand them. I'll start with Maple and Sally, although Sally can be a bit too serious in times of competitions, you just cant stop enjoying watching them. They're pretty enthusiastic (I guess most of them are) and are just plainly enjoying the game. They also have that gamer trait where they can be a bit greedy with collecting mats. Gamers are hoarders and I'm also guilty for that. But that's actually Maple's strength, with all her hoarded skills, she can put a good set of combos and let Sally (the experienced gamer) plan their actions. Great combo. Mii chan is incredibly cute too! I love it how she shows great charisma when facing her underlings but shows frustration on her cute side whenever she's alone. Again, very nostalgic for me. I also like Payne as he shows honour with his battles like how a true knight should be. At first I thought he'd be into something suspicious as the anime always make him like so, but no, he's just a competitive player with a goal to be number one. -a true knight. All of them are nice :)
Enjoyment(10/10):
Again, I'll be a bit biased since I used to be in the same situation with some of the characters being a former guild master and all. I know it was hard carrying the responsibilities but man, this anime brought a lot of memories back and I enjoyed every last bit of it. I'm usually not satisfied with just plain cuteness fanservice or script comedy but this anime made me giggle a lot. The guild leader doing stupid things is pretty fun to watch haha. I guess it's my turn to the same for my members XD
Overall(10/10):
I drop my rare 10/10 rating for once again. I highly recommend this if you're into MMOs since there are a lot of things you'll relate to here. Sometimes I forget the reason I'm playing a game is to enjoy it because of the weight of responsibilities of a leader but this anime reminds me of what I should do. As expected of a gamer writer XD. I even forgot lunch just to finish the series. This anime made my day and I just can't wait till the next season arrives!
Thank you for making it this far!
Hope y'all just playing MMOs during the quarantine!
Flonne,