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2011 Spring Cleaning Anime Challenge Review: Queen’s Blade
In 4 years’ time the competition that will decide who the next Queen shall be will start. The strongest warrior will continue to rule the country according to tradition and expand it. The contestants need only be older than 12 years. They need not be human, intelligent or even of that country. The rules for the tournament are simple: murder is allowed. Any weapon can be chosen. The winner is decided when one of the participants flees or can’t move anymore. Such event is broadcasted trough a crystal sphere by the court’s magic teacher to all population to see and enjoy.
Plot:
So the overall plot is straight forward: there is a tournament to determine who will rule the land every four years. The winner becomes the new queen and will rule the land as she sees fit. In the first half of the series, we are given the run down about this tournament but is never fully explained why it happens. In the second half, it is explained as to why the tournament was created in the first place, though this should have been sooner rather than later.
As a character driven show, the cast needs to be developed and not one-dimensional. Queen’s Blade for the most part does a good job of developing the cast. With Leina being the main character, she gets the most development throughout the show going from the, “I am not sure what I am doing this for,” character to the name that she is called in the show. While not everyone does get developed in Season 1 of Queen’s Blade the other members that do get some development do round out nicely and make the cast more likeable. Since this is a fighting tournament, everyone has a reason for taking part. With that in mind, those reasons are not above what you would expect from a fighting show. The standard clichéd reasons are there such as fighting to protect the nation, fighting for the ones I love, etc. We have heard these before, but they are not eye rolling bad. In a way, they do feel enjoyable to watch because you really do want to see them succeed.
What OtakuAnthony bought this week April 15th (anime and manga)
Queens Blade Blu-ray Complete Collection
Plot Synopsis: “In a land where a queen is chosen every few years solely by winning a tournament, there can be no short supply of formidable opponents. For one woman warrior however, an early defeat clearly shows her that she is lacking in experience though she may be bountiful in body.
Fortunately, while defeat could spell one’s doom, her life is saved by a powerful stranger. But unfortunately for this savior, less-than-pure motives and shrewd family members mean her reward is a prison cell. Her release is prompt when the unseasoned warrior she saved, tired of her current lifestyle of nobility, sets off to prove herself.”
Like a majority of my purchases, I rented this show back over the summer and while I enjoyed what I watched, I heard about the Blu-ray coming out and I wanted to wait until I could find it for a good price.
Queen’s Blade Blu Ray can be purchased at Right Stuf
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Gundam Wing Anime Legends Collection 2
Plot Synopsis: “Relena and Heero have come aboard the Libra in a last-ditch hope to talk some sense into Zechs, but he will not listen. Treize and his forces arrive, and Treize challenges Zechs to a one-on-one duel to decide the fate of the war, but Zechs refuses, having cast aside such notions as “honor” and “chivalry.”
Now the immense ships libra and Peacmillion are on a collision course with one another, and the resulting collision could destroy all life on Earth. It’s up to the Gundam pilots to put an end to the fighting in this, the final volumes of Gundam Wing!”
I ordered this back in February but it didn’t ship until this week. I am a huge Gundam fan and while I was icy to Gundam Wing at first I opened up to it.
Gundam Wing Anime Legends Collection 2 can be purchased at Right Stuf
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K-ON GN 2
Plot Synopsis: “It’s been almost a year since the girls of the pop-music club started jamming together, but the start of the new year is no time to look back on their journey – it’s time to recruit new members! Despite their inexperience, the girls’ passionate performance at the entrance ceremony impresses first-year Azusa, a budding guitar player who can’t wait to join. But she didn’t expect there to be so much tea drinking in the pop-music club. Or cosplaying… When do they get around to making music?!”
I finished reading the first voulme of the K-On manga the other day and I enjoyed what I read, so I went and ordered the 2nd volume of the manga series.
Otaku in Review Podcast – Fall 2010 Preview
The Fall season is almost upon us. In this episode, Scott & I take a look at the upcoming anime. Two of my favorite ecchi shows are getting second seasons, plus we’re finally seeing some new mecha shows, and a slice-of-life drama that sounds like it could have KEY potential. Hear our thoughts on each of them in this episode.
In the news, we cover recent happenings related to Valkyria Chronicles, K-ON!!, and Atlus. Miyazaki is nominated for another (well-deserved) award, Hayate the Combat Butler gets a live-action series that doesn’t look too promising, and FUNimation rescues the Disgaea anime that nobody likes (but I do).
Oh, and I make fun of Scott’s terrible pronunciation of “shoujo.”
As always, credit goes to Chartfag for the chart and info.
