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

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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

One Piece (Anime)

One Piece (TV series). Toei Entertainment, 1999-present. English version released by Funimation Entertainment, 2007.

What’s it about?

Monkey D. Luffy ate a gum-gum fruit when he was younger, which gave his body such extreme elasticity; he is a nearly unbeatable pirate. Will this be enough for him to become the King of the Pirates?

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Right before he is executed, the King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, utters the location of the greatest treasure of all time.  The treasure is known as the “One Piece,” and it promises endless riches and success. Naturally, an arms race among pirates ensues, with an unlikely contender for the title of Pirate King--Monkey D. Luffy. Luffy, the hero of the show, doesn’t seem like a pirate at all. He’s not a villainous, ugly, lecherous, murderous thug, and looks like a lightweight. Despite his slight physique, however, he is a force to be reckoned with on the sea. This is because when he was a kid, he ate a gum- gum fruit, which transformed him into an elastic boy. His body is able to easily deflect (and inflict) harm. The first few episodes show him recruiting his oddball crew, dubbed the “Straw Hat Pirates.”

This anime is exciting and action packed. The humor is broad, and sometime slapstick. Some of the funniest aspects are due to character design and skilled animation. Monkey D. Luffy reminds me a bit of Peter Pan, with his bravado and exuberant personality and unexpected fighting abilities (and maybe also because there are pirates involved.) Like Peter Pan, he has a melancholy side when he remembers his childhood hero Shanks. His ubiquitous straw hat, in fact, belonged to Shanks, and when he nearly loses it, the viewer is drawn into a sometimes poignant flashback sequence that gives a lot of backstory information and adds complexity to Luffy’s character. This anime is a great one to recommend to tween boys; there is broad comedy, creative action sequences, likeable heroes, and despicable villains. Both the manga and anime can be appreciated by girls because of the quality and humor, but this is not an anime that will typically hook shojo fans.

Genre: Shonen, Action/adventure, Comedy

Interest level: Grades 5 - 9

Is there a manga?

Yes, the manga is currently has 64 volumes (in Japanese) and 59 volumes translated into English (volume 59 will be released in early December). And more One Piece is on the way!

Subjects: Pirates, Treasure, Exploration

Rating: TV-14 (this rating is unwarranted, from what I saw; there was very mild language and a scene where a character loses his arm. This scene wasn’t graphic, though).

Dub or Sub? The dub was pretty poor quality. During a recent anime club screening at my library, audience members were making fun of the dub, which featured some embarrassingly overacted scenes. Midway through the screening, I asked if the Japanese audio with subtitles would be preferred. Everyone voted yes! Please!! The subbed version was much better. Once the subs came on, the audience started laughing at the jokes, not the poor acting.

Series information:

If you’re a new fan, it’s going to take you awhile to catch up: there are over 500 episodes of One Piece to date.

Similar anime and manga titles:

Naruto

DragonBall Z

Bleach

Shaman King

Fruits Basket (Anime)

Fruits Basket. Studio DEEN production, 2001. English version released by Funimation Entertainment, 2002.

What’s it about?

Tohru Honda meets the Sohma family, and discovers their secret. The Sohmas are cursed, turning into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac when hugged by a member of the opposite sex.

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Tohru Honda has had it rough—she was recently orphaned and is living in a tent, which, unbeknownst to her, is on the property of the Sohma family. Although Tohru is still in high school, she has been supporting herself by working night janitorial jobs. When classmate Yuki (a handsome boy known as “Prince Yuki” to hordes of sighing teen girl groupies) and his older cousin 27-year-old Shigure Sohma discover her living situation, they invite her to stay in their large home. Tohru also meets their cousin Kyo, an irascible boy who sees himself as Yuki’s rival. Tohru discovers the Sohma secret: many Sohmas are cursed, turning into animals from the Chinese Zodiac whenever they are touched by a member of the opposite sex. When Tohru sees which animals Kyo (the cat) and Yuki (the rat) transform into, Kyo’s rage toward Yuki makes more sense. In Chinese zodiac legend, God invited all the animals to a banquet. Rat was a trickster, and told Cat the banquet was the next day. All the other animals made it to the banquet while Cat slumbered, and the first 12 animals to arrive became the animals of the zodiac.  As the story unfolds, Tohru realizes that this curse is no laughing matter—there is a darkness and cruelty to this family, one that affected Yuki and Kyo deeply. The specifics will be revealed later in the series, and are only hinted at in the first four episodes.

Although Fruits Basket is a popular anime, and one that is tween and teen friendly, it has a few flaws. The pacing is slow in the first episodes, which is unfortunate, because this sets the tone for viewer, who might not give the anime a chance after the first episode, which largely consists of Tohru’s backstory. It picks up when more characters are introduced, particularly Shigure, Kyo, and Kagura. When new Sohmas are introduced, the viewer is just as curious as Tohru—what zodiac animal are they? There is plenty of comedy, but this shojo anime is overall a supernatural romance, and appeals largely to girls. 

Genre: Supernatural romance, Fantasy, Comedy

Interest level:  Grades 5 and up

Rating:  TV-PG

Subjects: Chinese Zodiac, family relationships, high school, romance

Dub or Sub?

In this anime, the dub is weaker, although it is not terrible. There are decent English language voice actors (Laura Bailey does a great job), but some voice actors drove me nuts. If you don’t mind subtitles, watch this anime in Japanese.

Is it also a manga?

Fruits Basket is also a complete series of manga. There are 23 volumes, the last published in 2007. The manga is actually a bit better than the anime, which sometimes suffers pacing problems.  

Similar anime & manga titles:

Gakuen Alice

Vampire Knight

Fushigi Yugi

D.N. Angel

Ouran High School Host Club

Series information: 26 episodes in the anime