kidkonseptual

This was originally a post on my old anime blog, Moe Monster. Also, this was originally a recap on the finale (containing spoilers) as well as the following final impressions. 


Blade & Soul title screen.

I wanted to start this final impressions with an idea I had for a blog post. I do occasionally come up with a good idea sometimes. I was going to compose this really professional, almost technically written letter to NCsoft, the developer and publisher of Blade & Soul. It was going to outline everything about this series and why it was ineffective. More than a critique however, it was to be more of a proposal. Towards the end I was going to ask for a few million dollars to create a great anime based on their license.

My proposal to NCsoft.

The entire idea never came about, as it would require me to write creatively and I did enough of that in college. Seriously, who has time for that? I’m not so silly as to think I would even get a response, but a letter to a company would have been a clever way to write a finale review. Also it would point out that at the heart of this anime, there was a very real premise.

The story is based around a female swordsman named Alka. It’s a story of revenge not unlike entire genres of fiction, such as the spaghetti western, ronin samurai movies and wuxia wandering swordsman stories. I should take a moment to confess my complete adoration for all previous style of stories. There’s something about seeing a gunslinger in the old west, or a swordsman wandering around the countryside filled with ideas of justice and revenge.

The Wanderering Swordswoman series that could have been.

This is why the Blade & Soul original adaptation was so disheartening — they fucked up an incredibly simple premise. Here’s a rundown of some of the ingredients NCsoft & Gonzo used to cook up this puke-fest.

The characters are incredibly worthless, inane and really don’t make any sense whatsoever. The main character is incapable of expressing herself or feeling any emotion — by design! Ok, I’ve seen such characters before, but the creators doubled-down on the worthlessness creating a cast of supporting characters who contribute nothing to the story.

From the gun-toting Hasuki to Dan Roana, the leader of a gang of misfits, there’s no reason for these characters to even exist. They are less than one-dimensional, have no real stories of their own and as supporting characters — do not make the main character more interesting in any  possible way.

No reason for this character to exist.

Listen to me for a second. Don’t just read these words, but listen…when I say these characters are worthless, I really really mean it. They do absolutely nothing. They take up fictional air in a vapid animated landscape in a strikingly stupid 8th rate Japanese adaptation of a Korean massive multiplayer online game.

There are a few characters on the show that are actually interesting, but Blade & Soul murders them. So yeah, if you watch this, please don’t get attached to the few actual characters who seem like they have stuff going on. Wait, I did say there was a story here, right? So what happens on this show?

Well, without spoilers, the main character navigates the one square mile of the B&S world, looking for extract revenge on Jin Varrel, the villain in black. On her way, the protagonist meets several supporting characters and deals with the consequences of her shadowy past. That’s it.

Villain is even worse than main character.

The production of this series was as inconsistent in scope and volume, as the story was consistently boring and mind-rotting. Take the action scenes for example. They were quick, sharp, fluid and one of the best things about the show. Unfortunately, there’s very little action. I’ve seen more action in high school romance shows.

The 1980′s Saturday-morning cartoon animation and design — outside of the action — did nothing to lift this out it’s creative cesspool. The main characters, almost all female, are all drawn with gigantic breasts for no reason. However, as I mentioned in one of my weekly recaps, this was the un-sexiest show I’ve ever seen. It’s not just sex appeal or actual titillation, but there’s no flash on Blade & Soul. It has no pizzazz, panache, or je ne sais quoi if you will. It’s literally a long bland going through the motions empty robotic run on sentence of a series.

Elle Karen character design.

There’s nothing remarkably good or bad about the sound or audio contents. I’m fairly sure they spent a giant portion of their budget on the opening and ending sequences, which are pretty good. Too good if you know what I mean. The voice acting, is completely average and I felt somewhat bad for the seiyus having to read the shitty dialogue week in and week out. They get paid though, so don’t feel so bad.

Overall, Blade & Soul was among the worst things I have ever seen. It blatantly strived for sub-mediocrity and was successful on every level imaginable. I have way more respect for shows that strive to be something completely epic, only to have them wind up being a complete pieces of crap, than I do for this literal third of an effort.

I’m giving this series a poultry 1 out of 5 on my Kistune Scale, which is pretty generous. I have all the shows I’ve seen on Anime-Planet, if you want to get a sense of my ratings.

I should repeat this one final time. At the core of Blade & Soul was an old-time story, that the creators didn’t utilize effectively. It’s a shame, because the age old story of revenge and the thematic consequences of a lifetime of revenge can be gripping stuff. Unfortunately, it’s mentally-decapitating instead of captivating.

Thanks go out to the readers of my Blade & Soul reviews and I hope you enjoy the rest of your Spring season!

Warning! Please watch this show in moderation. Thank you.