KingArthur13th

If you've been watching anime regularly then maybe you've come across the great curse that befalls anime adaptations of popular video games. Most anime that have been based off of video games tend to be quite horrible but BlazBlue: Alter Memory really takes the cake.


Story: (15/50)
Seriously what the fuck? I guess BlazBlue's story line can only be followed by those who've played the video games but from what I see, those who have played the video game have abandoned ship a long time ago. In terms of story I guess it goes something like this: The main character Ragna is a wanted criminal and is seeking revenge against a man by the name of Yuki Terumi. Teumi also goes by the alias Hazama who is in control of the military like group called the NOL who are also looking for Ragna among many other criminals. Along the way we're introduced to a barrage of other characters whose stories intersect with one another but in the end, we're not entirely sure of where this story is going. I guess attempting to shove an entire video game franchise into 12 episodes was a really bad idea huh? Anyway, most of the anime is filled with talk and you would think since this series is based off of an action video game there would be lot of awesome fight scenes right? Wrong! The action is mediocre, short and quite boring which is being generous. The plot is like a desperate attempt at getting all of the side stories to converge in a manner similar to the video games but even attempting to do so was a horrible idea.


Animation: (6/10)
The animation is decent or maybe average for a 2013 anime but it certainly isn't anything exceptional. Nothing really to point out except that it's pretty bland. I guess the animation studio (Hoods Entertainment) decided to not give any real effort to the production. The few fight scenes that exist are better animated than the rest of the show but they're still nothing to be amazed by.

Music & Sound: (4/10)
The opening and ending songs are both great but the OST can be easily ignored. You'll easily forget that this series even has an actual soundtrack. The voice acting is actually decent in my opinion but then again almost all original voice acting in anime sounds good to me.


Characters: (12/20)
The characters are definitely BlazBlue's strong point as there is always someone to love here. It's always a fun time when Toa Kaka shows up, Racheal has an ojou sama like presence, Ragna is your typical hot headed protagonist and a slew of other characters that are each entertaining when they show up. A big problem though is the number of characters that show up for about five to ten minutes out of an episode and you wonder why were they even added into the series. Well those characters are more thought out in the video game series. Despite the number of characters that really had no place in this anime, Terumi is actually a pretty good villain. A cunning and sadistic individual who takes pleasure in destruction. I guess one could say seeing him cause pure mayhem and despair keeps me coming back to this train wreck.


Overall + Entertainment (37/90) + 3
This series will have a few decent moments here and there but that typically last for about 1/10 of each episode. Overall it pretty much sucks and like the majority of video games turned anime before it, BlazBlue: Alter Memory makes a mockery of the video game it was based off of.