Bamboo Blade (anime)

Bamboo Blade (Anime).  AIC A.S.T.A., 2007-2008. Licensed by Funimation Entertainment.

What’s it about?

Toraji Ishida (aka Kojirou) is a part-time high school teacher and kendo* instructor at Muroe High, and struggling to make ends meet. When his former senpai, Kenzaburo, who is also a high school kendo instructor, challenges Kojirou’s team, offering him a year’s supply of sushi from his father’s restaurant if his girl’s team can win--now all Kojirou has to do is recruit a team!  

*For readers unfamiliar with the term, kendo is a form of Japanese fencing, performed with a long bamboo blade, hence the title of the series

Find out more:

A part-time high school teacher and kendo coach, Kojirou, is struggling to scrape enough money together to have a decent meal. He jumps at the chance to win a whole year’s worth of meals at his friend’s father’s sushi restaurant. All he has to do is have his girl’s kendo team and beat his senpai’s team. Simple, right? Well, first Kojirou has to assemble a team. This proves to be difficult---in fact, at his first practice match against Kenzaburo’s team, he only has four girls, and tries to pass his best fencer, Tamaki, off as two different people. Kojirou eventually fields a full team of five with some formidable (and quirky!) fencers.

The character interactions are fun to watch, and quite funny. Dan, a short, plain-looking guy has a gorgeous girlfriend, Miyako (also known as Miya-Miya), so devoted to him that she rides around on a bike with a sidecar. In one episode, Miyako’s foot was injured, but she still rode the bike with Dan in the car despite extreme pain. Dan offered to help, but she knows his feet won’t reach the pedals. The fact that he offered to help, though, acted like the best painkiller in the world, and suddenly she power-pedaled her way back home. This character is rather two-sided, seeming extremely sweet and innocent at first (and always extremely devoted to Dan), but can be cruel and enjoys hitting people. When she is angry, she is depicted as being surrounded by a creepy black and purple aura.  This is a character-driven comedy, and quite hilarious, although no new ground is broken. The animation and backdrops are extremely well done, and the voice acting is also very good, especially in Japanese. Recommend this anime to fans of slice of life comedies and sports-themed anime. It appeals to both male and female audience, even though its target audience is male. 

Genre: Sports comedy, Slice of Life

Interest level: Grades 6 & up

Rating: TV-PG

Subjects: Kendo, High School, Sports, Teachers

Dub or Sub?

I’ve seen the first four episodes in English and thought the dub was decent, but I prefer the sub—the voice actors for Dan and Kojirou are hilarious!

Is it also a manga?

Yes, there are 10 volumes published in English, with the 11^th on its way in mid-December.

Similar anime & manga titles:

K-On!

School Rumble

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Ouran High School Host Club

Series information: The complete series is 26 episodes

Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time

Yee, Lisa. Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time. Scholastic, 2005. Paperback $5.99, ISBN-13 978-0-439-62248-6.

What’s it about?

Stanford Wong, star basketball player, in danger of failing the sixth grade and being off the team, must miss basketball camp, take summer school and endure the humiliation of his nemesis Millicent Min tutoring him.  

Find out more:

Stanford Wong is looking forward to going to a highly reputable basketball camp and being the only seventh grader to be on the A-team at school.  He feels that his life is over when his English teacher, Mr. Glick, tells him he will fail sixth grade if he doesn’t take English in summer school. As if this isn’t bad enough, Stanford must miss basketball camp to take summer school. He may even be off the basketball team if he doesn’t pass. Plus, his parents are fighting, his work-a-holic father is perpetually disappointed in him, and his beloved grandmother Yin-Yin is sent to a depressing nursing home. Could things be worse? Yes—Stanford must also suffer the indignity of being tutored by Millicent Min, a snotty eleven-year-old genius who is already taking college courses. He fears losing his friends and new girlfriend, Millicent’s friend Emily Ebers if they find out he is taking summer school. He and Millicent craft a lie that protects Stanford’s secret (that he struggle in school) and Millie’s secret (that she is a genius), but threatens their friendships with Emily.  

Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time is an accessible and funny book about a likeable under-achiever. It is not necessary to have read Millicent Min, Girl Genius to enjoy Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time, but it is hilarious to see how different the same events look to these very different protagonists. Stanford comes across as a bit of a jerk in from Millicent’s perspective, but he is far more sensitive than she imagines. He certainly doesn’t see himself as the handsome, popular big-shot he is portrayed as. Instead, Stanford always feels on edge about his social status, which wasn’t always good. He is secret stress-knitter. He watches Sesame Street with his taciturn friend Stretch (who is so self-conscious about his voice change that he never speaks.) At the same time, Stanford is a very talented athlete with a tight-knit group of friends (and a frenemy, the mean-spirited and trouble Digger).  This book may appeal more to boys, with its fart jokes and guy humor, but its humor and sensitive portrayal of Stanford will also appeal to girls.

Genre: Humor, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, Friendship Fiction

Reading level: 4^th grade 

Interest level: Grades 4-7

Subjects: School, Grades, Basketball, Family, Friends, Parental disapproval, Self-esteem, Popularity

Read-alikes:

Korman’s No More Dead Dogs

Series information:   

Millicent Min, Girl Genius

So Totally Emily Ebers