Alka is an assassin for the Clan of the Sword. She's on a journey to find the woman Jin Valel, who killed her master Hon without feeling—not unlike how Alka has learned to kill in her work as an assassin. On her journey, Alka encounters three strange women, each a great warrior in her own right and grapples with her slain master's wish that she leaves the life of an assassin behind.
(Source: ANN)
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
Stark700
When it comes to video game adaptations, there’s an incentive when it comes to please fans. Blade & Soul is a good example based off a game and one that failed to live up to any expectations. Based off a Korean MMORPG game produced by NC Soft, there’s a truckload of problems I find that didn’t do well when adapting such a genre. But really, Blade & Soul isn’t anything special especially when the main characters are generic to the core. It’s soulless per se. For starters, we get a fantasy setting with beautiful landscapes and the feeling that you’re actually in a fictional world. That’sthe initial impression the show first makes but it quickly loses its praise when we are introduced to its cast of characters – beautiful women wearing skimpy outfits. One such character is named Alka, with a very cold personality and a thirst for vengeance. From the beginning, we find out that she’s on a quest, to deliver vengeance as a way of revenge as result of someone that killed her master. Although the premise sounds promising, it derides itself with its setup when most of Alka’s persona is setup as solely being a warrior. As the titular character, she wields a dangerous blade along with a tattoo for a gimmick. And if that wasn’t cliché enough, she is hunted down as a bounty that countries has set up to claim her head on a plate.
Throughout the series, Alka suffers not just from characterization but also value, a sense that makes people underappreciate what she is doing. In the beginning, she is chased by some soldiers with guns (yes, guns in a series when blades are a prominent feature). But of course, she is able to avoid death with superhuman feats. While there’s nothing wrong with that, it all happens far too fast and makes the audience wonder what this purpose is. Really, a girl with a soulless personality wielding a blade and on a quest for vengeance should deliver more than just showing off her moves. The only hint we do get is some of the flashbacks we see between Alka and her master. Unfortunately, it feels subtle and lacking compassion because we don’t feel attached to their relationship. And speaking of relationships, Alka is on a sinking ship when it comes to forming one with any character. Literally, almost every character she meets during her quest dies. In retrospect, she is walking death flag that triggers your fate of doom.
As refined as the premise may be, the show feels less more of an adventure or quest but more like a cat and mouse game. From the first episode, it’s clear that many people want Alka’s head on a plate. Although she hunts Jin Varel (her master’s murderer), Alka becomes the hunted nearly every episode with pursuers. For a girl with such a cold personality, she doesn’t hesitate to defend herself and draws out meaningless fights. The action itself feels lifeless and solely seems to function as a way to show that Alka needs to survive in order to carry out her revenge. In short, Alka is a character that is hard to get attached to or sympathize about. In fact, many people in this show suffered more than she has so why does she get any more special acclaim?
The rest of the cast members doesn’t do much well with their characterization either. For instance, there’s Dan Roana who serves as the leader of the Pleasure Gang, a group that opposes the Palam Empire. While their motivations are different, its goal is the same as Alka; to carry out revenge for what they did in the past. Cliché as it sounds, the show also neglects any development as the premise of revenge is delivered with a lack of emotional attachment. Similarly, most characters seems to have mental breakdowns or suffered some sort of grim past. The key failure here is not just a lack of attachment the audience will feel distanced from but their characterization. Almost nothing is explained by some of the characters’ motivations and their stale influence towards Alka’s adventures is hardly memorable. Similarly, antagonists are generic with stereotypical inspirations and in general, a lack of focus in their persona. On the other hand, there’s some character development but not on Alka. Instead, they only come and then soon goes away like the wind as characters are killed by this show’s shenanigans.
As an adventurous series, the story is also plagued with weak direction and senseless action. There’s little purpose to what most of the characters do throughout each episode. For delivering a series about survival and revenge, there’s a lackluster development in any sense for Alka. It genuinely dismiss any sort of change with her character because her soulless personality. Even when the show tries to deliver some charisma such as Jin Hazuki’s bounty hunting ways, it ultimately fails to achieve its general purpose. It’s just the basic face value of the hunter and the hunted. Only the strongest survive and the weak perish. It’s generic and lacks melancholy from a series that could be potentially thought tearing. You won’t be shedding tears during Alka’s quest of revenge but rather confusion and despair, the action of shaking your head and wonder where this all goes to in the end. And speaking of endings, the show functions like a time bomb that explodes with destructive results, almost laughable by the conclusive episode.
The only hopes saving this show is its world concept and civilization. Its landscapes are beautiful and the world this show takes place in has a diverse population, especially in terms of races. Unfortunately, none of that really becomes a focus because the majority of the show focuses on Alka and her adventure. With a lack of world building and character dynamics, the only other noticeable feature I can say for this show would be the action. Because it adapts a serious tone with minimal comedy, the action can be a hit and miss. On some scenarios, it is honest with integrity and well-coordinated movements. The way Alka fights proves credibility of her worth and the violence itself is explicitly true to this show’s grim atmosphere. Otherwise, it can feel forceful and devoid of attractiveness when it feels repetitive. Some action scenes are also motivated by a lack of focus in its writing and to be honest, this show just fails to deliver its intentions. Hey, it even tries to do that with some terminology overview at the end of each episode. The key word here is ‘try’ because for whatever reason, they are usually left out from the main story. Shrug.
As a fantasy series, the production studio Gonzo focuses primarily on bringing this show’s world to life. And based on visuals, it does live up to its promise when it comes to artistic values and artwork. The world is decorated with thought provoking imagery and beautiful landscapes. Many of its structures also brings the feel of a fantasy to home. Character designs are also flamboyant and crafted to fit with the show’s premise. On the other hand, fan service is present throughout every episode whether it’s the camera angles, revealing outfits, or female character designs that makes them look more voluptuous than they should be. Oh and violence always become a centerpiece at every angle in the show so expect blood pouring like rice.
Soundtrack is hardly noticeable and the only time they seem to hold any promise is during action scenes when climatic events happen. The OST just seems to fade in the background with little emotional value because the way direction characters are drawn out. The cries and agony of despair can only be sympathized when we feel attached to the characters so most of their portrayals feels hollow. The scream of pain and despair feels empty with thoughtlessness. For Alka, her voice is hardly memorable as nearly every conversation she has with others feels monotonous and lacks feeling. The only credit I can give to the soundtrack would be the ED song for its symbolism, style (with the decorative dancing), and catchy tone. Otherwise, it’s nothing special.
Blade & Soul is a disappointment and a show that you should not come in with high expectations. What you get is an emotionless girl that I doubt anyone will feel attached to. Her quest feels hollow with little value besides to deliver her vengeance. Mindless entertainment is what you get from this show’s fragile story and incoherent developments. Forget the majority of the characters because none of them really stands out for more than an episode besides Alka. And while technical visual aspects saves the show from total destruction, it’s still hard to salvage from its own delivery. Such a shame too with a beautiful fantasy world at hand but everything that ultimately delivered is just a big ball of broken gadgets. Be aware.
DatDamnPR
**SPOILER WARNING** At first, this series seemed to be extremely intriguing. I liked the premise of the story, and the art/animation style is gorgeous. But unfortunately, for a majority of the series, that's the only thing that I could say positive. Alka is an assassin for the Clan of the Sword. She's on a journey to find Jin Varrel, who killed her master Hon. Jin is a demon-like woman who controls the Energy of Chaos and kills without feeling, which is similar to how Alka has learned to kill in her work as an assassin. On her journey, Alka meets three gorgeous, strange women, each a greatwarrior in her own right and grapples with her slain master's wish that she leave the life of an assassin behind.
Sounds promising right? This series has great potential. But, it develops far too slowly for me. The action, when it does show, is very exciting. But does not occur frequently enough. Like most series, there are flashbacks and back stories that are needed to be shown. Unfortunately, I feel as if it took way too much time, and deviated from the primary plot too often.
I feel as if the series relied too often on the bombshell beauties' looks to maintain the viewers attention. Yes, the female characters are gorgeous. But that can only take a series so far. That being said, the animation style used is outstanding. I thought the colors used really conveyed to the mood of each situation/episode. Same could be said of the music.
Overall, a wonderfully animated series with some great characters. Some great action. But far too much emphasis on the gorgeous (big breasted) characters looks.The series was very slow to develop, and was boring at times.
drethough
Blade and Soul seemed promising, but then it lied to you... STORY: If you don't already know, Blade and Soul is based off an MMORPG. The story is based around a girl named Alka, who belongs to the infamous Sword clan. A clan known for being extremely dangerous and are usually hired assassins. At first it seems like something promising, then the next episode disappoints you, and then the next and then the next. 5/10 ART: The art in this anime isn't something that should be talked about. As they only focused on the female characters and left all the male characters looking like an awful,half-ass, middle of class drawing. And of course the only thing that gets great detail are the boobs.
3/10
SOUND: Its your typical BGM for the anime. Nothing really stood out, especially the ending, which I found embarrassing to watch for reasons that I don't fully understand yet.
5/10
CHARACTER: The characters seemed promising, until everyone else besides the Main Character developed throughout the anime. Of course the only time the Main Character develops into a decent human being isn't until the end. But before that, she's your typical anime character who is full of nothing and has/shows any emotions. Then you got your side characters who are all over the place.
5/10
ENJOYMENT: Its not really much to watch, but its something to watch when you have nothing to watch.
5/10
OVERALL: 5/10
Larinel
The anime has supernatural dark theme and mainly focuses on woman with a little fanservice here and there. The protagonist is a woman named Aruka who is seeking revenge against Jin Valel the one that killed her master, while being haunted by bounty hunters at the same time. Plot (3/10): it was kind of disappointing that blade and soul didn't really have a solid plot, the episodes aren't connected to each other whatsoever, each one has its own events, characters and places, I found it to be very boring actually... I wouldn't recommend this anime if you're a fan of big/complicated plots. characters (4/10) : since femalesare the only ones who lead, there's total absence in characters variance, no originality, basically they all share the same looks, even personality except for Aruka who is the silent/dark type which is even more annoying because the main character is supposed to stand out, not stay silent for 3 consecutive episodes.
Graphics and sound (7/10): the thing that attracted to this anime is mainly the graphics, after watching the first episode you can tell that it has good animation, great battle scenes, the sounds were also beautiful and really matched the theme.
character development (6/10): the main character really changed a lot through the episodes, from a cold blooded assassin to someone with a human side, lost and confused, instead of becoming stronger, Aruka became weaker, I don't want to use the term "useless" but her presence in the anime just became annoying and you'd wish she reverted back to her old self.
in general, I had great hopes for this anime but it disappointed me, I wouldn't say it's bad, it's okay but just didn't live up to the expectations..
Gotanon
Perhaps a thing of note is that Blade and Soul does not look nor feel like a video game (as one might have expected), just your standard fantasy fare with the magics, totally not loli/shota/furries and stuffs. Blade and Soul is essentially another Queen's Blade... You know, as in, lots of sword wielding thots and... stuffs. Though, it's nowhere near as sexually rampant as Queen's Blade. Instead, in it's place, Blade and Soul can manage to be more retarded. Whatever semblance of an actual story there may have been has surely been bastardized; but to what extent has it been butchered I wouldn't know. Andit seems like I will never know for certain either since NCsoft will never make an English release of the damn game. In any case, what we have here are heavy handed conflict and resolutions, and a plethora of awkward brief as well as irrelevant flashbacks (except perhaps the flashbacks we see between Alka and her master) that happen for something the show is entirely alien to. A thing called "emotion".
But that's not to say that Blade and Soul is particularly painful to watch. No, you'll be able to marathon this with relative ease. You will at least not feel like your mind is being relentlessly cut to tiny pieces by an utterly shat-upon pacing and heaps and mountains of contrivances. It still pretty much has every other problem that typically plagues a video-game anime-adaption, though.
Which now brings us to the characters. One loli, three or four shotas, a wannabee cutesy stubborn drunk girl who suddenly turns to psycho bitch and back, a lady bar owner whose not afraid to get her hands dirty and is supposed to play the wise old hag yet is nothing of the sort.... Ugh, why am I even trying? One of the bad guys is a muscle bound oaf that does nothing but grunt! Everyone here changes whatever semblance of a personality they have as the plot demands it, particularly in the case of the obnoxious drunk girl and bar owner to jarring effect. And especially in the case with our dear lead Alka, she plays the role of the done-to-death assassin. One whose apparently supposed to be cool precisely because she's humorless and cold to the point where she might as well be holding a giant poster sign saying, "Please ask me the following question: 'are you even human?', thanks!". Only in her case, someone else would clearly have to write even THAT for her. She may be likable only in the sense that she might one day stop injecting herself with fifteen-hundred different tranquilizers on a daily basis.
The only real positive thing that came out of this mess was the ending theme. Which, curiously enough, is in stark contrast to the content of the show. That is to say, it has a lot of flow and emotion to it. Whatever the story was aiming for at the end of each episode, "RAINBOW" by LEGO BIG MORL took that trash and turned it into something that might make you think you're actually getting emotionally invested in.
----
Not recommended. Unless you're in the mood to see nothing more than some boobs along with some silly sword action.
RazorRamona200
Bueno, muchachos another action josei pack anime has ended, so I'm not gonna fuck around, so with out any adieu, here are my ratings for each of this anime's category: Good 7. Story- I like the story where it revolves around an assassin who is trying to find her soul, now let's not forget that this anime's title "Blade and Soul" can be interpreted as an evil person who is trying to find redemption were it was more of a metaphor than a title, the plot may be good but not very good because the dramatic part didn't come along until the middle of part of theanime as a whole, also, there is that 13th episode which was more of a drag than anything else, but then again it can be ignored since the main climax was entertaining in the 12th episode. Also, I kinda like that the cast were josie that also gives this anime such uniqueness.
Art- I kinda like the way the character's were drawn, ok so it does have that moe thing on them but then again the way they were illustrated was a combination of hotness and elegant, though, Alka's attire may have that fanservice that the pirreos would howl for it can be forgiven.
Fair 6:
Sound- I don't have much to say as to the voices of the characters, in fact their voices do really match the roles that the character's portray, however, Alka, hummmm, I really do find it hard as to why she has to have this laconic woman whose action talk more that her words, though I like her, her being a woman with few words would be the reason why I have to give this category a 6.
Character- Alka, like I've said is a woman with few words, now the thing about her was that this anime revolves around her and with Jin Varrel who happens to be another woman with few words. Though, I like the way they fight and how Alka tries to search her soul, there are times that she just goes in circles, Jin Varrell's role on the other hand pretty much depends on her bitch Yu Ran. As for the other characters like Hazuki was more of a filler for Alka's hardships, Loana was more like a drunkard bimbo big bitch and Elle Karen, oh yes her character.....was more of a mystery than anything else but she was also a disappointment because we were made to think that she's gonna gets some payback on Alka for killing her man, but has a change of heart in the end, such action prompted me to give this category a 6.
Very Good 8.
Enjoyment- My enjoyment stems from the main character's quest to find her soul and that's all I have to say.
Overall- It was one very good anime, not bad for taking it from a Korean MMORPG, I guess when it come to making good anime Jap's don't have the monopoly and it goes to show that even if it was taken from a Korean MMORPG them Korean can make a good anime as well if they were given a chance.
Superiororca
Normally I don't bother with reviews, but the reviews I saw for Blade & Soul p**sed me off. They hardly do this anime justice, apparently Blade & Soul is based off a game, I've never played it and I don't intend to. This review isn't about the game but the anime and the anime was GOOD! Story (7/10): The general plot of the story is good, it's not to cliche. An assassin goes out for revenge against the person who killed her master. Stuff happens. Etc. Now I don't mean to spoil it or anything, but that's not the only plot for the anime. It beginswith her wanting revenge, but it ends up with her trying to find her own path.
Art (9/10): I LOVED the artwork! The fight scenes were done so well, boobs jiggled when they were supposed to, slow motion bullets ricocheting off stuff, sword swings, fire. It all looked beautiful. 'nough said.
Sound (6/10): To be honest, I'm not a good judge for sound. The OP and ED weren't annoying to watch and were quite enjoyable. But when it comes to sound, I don't tend to pay attention...
Character (8/10): The characters were really well, you can see how their personalities grow with time and they never act out of character. They're just great. I had quite a few "NOOOO!" dramatic moments
Enjoyment (8/10): The anime is actually quite enjoying. I was glued to my bed watching it, waiting to see what would happen next. I stared shocked, even whined about a few scenes because how they tore me up.
Overall (8/10): Overall the anime is definitely worth a watch if you're into intense, serious animes with good fight scenes and character development.
Yubu
Story 5.0/10 Blade & Soul was a good anime at all, didnt followed the original story of the game, but still a interesting story in general, but sometimes it was kind of confusing for what exacly the main character was looking for, and in the end i have to confess that was cliche , and i really had high hopes for the it because i like the game so far, writting was bad but the background history was still good, the battles was kind of nonsense but still fun at least for me, the end like i said was ok but it could be a lotbetter.
Art And Sound 5.0/10
I quite liked the anime art, was very good designs of the characters, but I didnt liked the point of the ecchi / Fanservice, let the warrior female characters naked, something I expected much more was the Scenarios and Landscapes, disappoint at this point! would be amazing if it had beautiful landscapes like the original MMORPG, the soundtrack was ok, good osts but it could be better, sometimes reminded me some historical asian movies.
Overall: 5,0
Poor writting and the background story was pretty and interesting, character progress was kind of poor with the art of the anime, if you dont have nothing to watch and dont want a deep action anime and you like the story of the Blade and soul, you should check it out, but dont expect too much from it.
Eradawn
To be honest, Blade and soul have good moments and alot of Bad moments. The bad ones surely overhelming in this anime but the character design and the style is very nice drawn and also animated, with exeptcion of Episode 10 this was the worst of all. Alka is beeing hunted by Jin Varrel ( Ingame name is Jeon Seon Yung) Yuran and Ga Gangte. this is not always the case of the entire anime in some Episodes we all thing it is the end because main antagonist died before the end. And then its turned into an unexcepted disaster. Overall it is hard to followand sometimes you wish just to stop the entire series. But the 3 end episodes saving this anime from breaking apart under its story. So I really hope it turns out good with the special ones.
WildNeptune
Blade and Soul is the latest game that is based on an actual MMORPG and not about people trapped in one. It mostly follows Alka, a mysterious swordswoman who is being hunted by the same people who murdered her master. As stated the story is essentially about how Alka is trying to find the person who killed her master while at the same time trying to stay alive. To make matters worse, Alka herself has a bounty on her and can be identified easily by a tattoo on her body, meaning everyone is out to get her. On her journey she meets both friends and foeas she tries to free both body and soul.
The story background, while standard, sounds decent as a journey of self discovery. It's very hard to talk about why this does not work in this anime without talking about the characters first.
Alka herself has almost no personality at all. She is extremely reserved and rarely speaks. Near the end she gets some development because the story picks up for sake of finishing it and by then the viewer doesn't care. No connection has been made to Alka (or any of the characters) so when something happens to them it's hard to be interested.
It might be not as bad if Alka was the only character without a gleaming personality. The entire cast is bland and one dimensional. It might be said the main villain (Jin Varel) is essentially an evil version of Alka. Also, a couple of major character Karen, and Roana have the same issues Alka has in her development. It comes to late, done too fast, makes little sense, and no connection is made by the viewer to the character. To top it all off, there are reoccurring side-characters that seem to have no purpose at all but to take up time in an episode.
Now we can get back to the story. For the first few episodes things are very loosely connected and Alka is simply getting put into a different situation where she has to solve a problem. In other words, it goes nowhere. However, later on the story takes over and huge changes in the characters take hold. It's almost like watching two different shows. On top of that in the latter half you wonder what the point of anything that happened in the first half was besides simply meeting the rest of the cast.
Finally, we get to something good. The animation is really good and Alka herself is nice to look at. The sound is decent too. Overall the production values of the anime are fairly high. Also, anyone expecting a fan-service anime is going to be disappointed.
Overall the anime just had no balance. It had some decent fight scenes but almost all the attempts at comedy are tired. It doesn't really develop any characters and the couple times it does is ruined by pacing and placement. The show tries to get you to feel emotional but again, too early or too late. It's not even a good show for the sake of watching anime girls with large breasts. The game might be better than this.
Lord_Rutsah
Each anime has its own notable points. Bleach has music, Naruto has a good story, One Piece has the moronic fanbase and Blade&Soul has one of the most memorable character developements ever. If you can't stand uselessly long analysis just read the first 2 paragraphs. Before I start going into a very extensive review of the aforementioned lets throw down the basics. Blade&Soul originates from a chinese medieval fantasy MMORPG. The basic plot is that the Param empire has taken control of everything and groups rebel against their oppressors. That said the anime never clarifies if Param are actually bad guys. Or rather, itnever shows the rebels being the good guys. Both sides are corrupt, with drugs, whoring, thieving and murder being pretty common. Keep in mind that I haven't played the MMO so I'm not sure if things are relayed correctly, but the anime version left me a pretty good impression. Our protagonist is Alka, an emotionless (way more on that later) killing machine fighting the Param Empire to avenge the murder of her teacher that she was framed for.
Regarding the technical stuff the animation is stunning, in very high resolution and with very good combat depiction. The fights instead of being typical shounen fights (aka throw a punch, take 5 seconds to show the reactions and another 10 seconds to explain what you just did) are fast paced and with no more dialogue exchanges than needed. In fact people who talk during fights tend to die, pretty horribly at that. Also keep in mind that there's a lot of blood and considering the amounts of cleavage shown the anime easily gets a 13+ (by Japan's standards). The music on the other hand is forgettable and the voice acting fitting but nothing extraordinary.
Now for the show's highlight: Alka, the protagonist. When we first meet her, and in fact for the majority of the anime's episodes, Alka displays no emotion whatsoever. She is a cold calculating killing machine with no regrets for what she does and no purpose other than "getting revenge". "Getting revenge" might be Alka's own words for it but I have my doubts about that. Revenge as a feeling is something brought fourth from hatred and Alka is completely incapable of feeling anything, let alone a strong emotion like that. In the anime we will often see her get injured but she never gets angry at her attacker. She will of course fight to defend herself but she will display no signs of happiness upon her success. In other words it's not revenge that moves her. A sense of justice maybe? No, Alka has no morals or a code that she follows, I doubt she even understands the concept of justice to begin with. No, I believe the real reason Alka is trying to find the people who murdered her master is because she doesn't know what else to do with her life. (Spoilers) That is also proved by the fact that after she does get her "revenge" she shows no satisfaction, but just sits arounds until a friend tells her to follow her and she complies. Like a program, after she has completed her initial task she doesn't know what to do, so she just goes on standby waiting for someone else to input the next purpose of her life.
Alka wasn't a person who became a killing machine, but rather the opposite. In the anime it is often mentioned that she is not exactly human to begin with but a monster, but I never understood if they were referring to her cold indifference to the mayhem around her, or a really monsterous background. But despite me naming her machine the viewer will propably see her in another way, especially after 2 or 3 episodes. I found myself considering Alka a child more often than not. Her appearance is definitely adult, no question about that, but unlike the rest of the equally gifted cast Alka just doesn't come out to the viewer as a woman but as a girl. It's not that she is stupid but rather that like a child she has yet to understand how emotions work. Throughout the series the viewer will experience two things. One, that he will start paying very close attention to Alka's behaviour, trying to find clues as to how the girl thinks through even the most mundane of things (like the way she walks in a city). At that point kudos to the animators for paying attention to little details like that. The second is that you will propably feel guilt for craving for the moments when Alka is under intense pain, because screams, widening of the eye etc etc are reactions you don't often see in her apathetic face. (Either that or I'm sick in the head... I have no problem with that.)
Heavy Spoilers: After Alka does get her revenge and she witnesses the death of another student of her master she does start feeling sadness, though the change is still subtle. And as she slowly acquires emotions Alka also comes to the realisation that "killing is bad". Still she manages to push that thought aside and maintain her expersionlessness until a busty-blonde tavern owner invites herto work at her tavern. Alka, having no other purpose at the moment immediatly complies and begins to work for the busty-blonde. Said busty-blonde had appeared numerous times before in the anime, continuously bumping unto Alka and saving her when she needed saving. You could say she was the show's Urahara. The busty Urahara (god, a terrible image just crossed my mind...) introduces Alka to another employee, also a former assassin. The employee immediatly empathises with Alka and tries to befriend her, which Alka greatly appreciates and finally lets herself become a bit more "alive".
One night the busty-blonde calls Alka to her private room, where she tells her a story about how she was in love once and her husband was brutally murdered by an assassin. The blonde shows an already-nervous Alka a portrait of her husband and Alka realises in horror that she was the one who had killed him. The blond suddenly appears way more cruel than the character we had been used to saving the day. She tells a fastly-panicking Alka that the reason she kept her alive was so that she could have her revenge. While Alka was emotionless she wasn't worth taking revenge on, so the bar owner kept helping Alka develop feelings (throughout the series the viewer had the impression that the proprietress was acting out of kindness, that's a big twist to the story). Alka goes trembling back to her room where she's met by the other former assassin. At this point keep in mind that the girl is experiencing fear and guilt for the first time. She has no idea how to react to them, and up till now hasn't even felt anything strongly positive that could balance out what she's going through. The employee finds Alka covering herself with the blanket and trembling (believe me, adorable scene) so she comforts her. The girl (and at this point she's definitely a "girl" and not a "woman") is immediatly calmed by the presense of a friend and actually begs the employee not to leave (she wanted to make some tea to help calm down Alka). The employee leaves anyway promising to be back soon. As time passes the girl starts looking for her and finds her dead outside the building. The blonde is standing on the sideways and whispers to Alka that all murderers will eventually get what's coming to them.
And so we arrive to my favourite part of the anime. "Mental Breakdown" What's really wonderful about this is that it doesn't last 5 minutes like the typical emo phase most shounen protagonists go through, but rather the rest of the series! After running away (and I do mean running) from the tavern Alka keeps realising just how many people she has killed and for the first time in her life is afraid of death herself. The shock of seeing herself murdered doesn't make things better and she considers herself responsible for it (which she kinda is). Alka keeps moving... No, the girl keeps "running" from place to place, struggling to escape her guilt and her increasing fear. At some point she even hallucinates from the terror. Let it be clear to the reader that this is a HUGE difference from before. Whereas Alka was a fearless killing machine at the start she is now a crying girl trembling. As the girl keeps moving from place to place she keeps finding graveyards mostly filled by her and her despair keeps mounting. This also starts to affect her combat skills. Alka, apart from being dead-tired due to lack of sleep and taking care of herself, keeps freezing in the middle of the fight. It is never explained why but I assume that it is either the thought that she fills more graves or the fear that she may actually die, or a combination of both, earning her more wounds and terryfing her further in a loop.
In the end, half-crazed and completely weakened the girl runs to a snow forest, trying to get away from civilization and her victims' graves. She stays for a while (in a semi-insane state, now almost completely unable to use her weapons and way too wounded) in the house of an elder couple who welcome her as if she was their child (the father does seem enraged at her at times). At some point she realises that she had killed their daughter and tries to escape panicked. This is a great scene because it shows to her that practically "there is no escape" from her sins, which she realises all too well. The husband tries to shoot Alka but instead misses and kills his wife. Alka freezes in place watching (these were the people that had saved her from certain death and welcomed her to their home). The husband (looking at the girl) puts the shotgun in his mouth and shoots, leaving the girl with the corpses of the people who had taken care of her in the middle of a cold snowfield.
Now the anime does bring fourth a question repeatedly that is basically the axis around which the anime moves. "When is it right to kill someone?" It is never clarified if Alka was on the wrong when she was working as an assassin. Certainly she caused a lot of pain and propably left a lot of women widows, a lot of children orphaned. But it was her job and many of the people she killed were truly corrupt. In the end Alka doesn't find the solution either, but just kinda skips over the part.
Epilogue:
I love the series. Not because of the combat, the animation, of how gifted all the females are, the depiction of corruption or even the plot twists, but because of huge the change of our protagonist is, from a machine with no human emotions to a broken girl with no hope. That said I do have some complaints: One the most notable male cast member is the ape of the Param, whose name I can't even remember. Two: There are no flat girls, as a class A lolicon I cannot accept that. Three: The ending. Unfortunately they had to ruin it, and instead of ending the anime with a broken Alka the girl is saved by the busty-blonde (who found revenge bitter after all) in the last half of the final episode. Honestly I could do without that. Fourth: You never understand the story of the villain, or tha nature of the evil magic Param uses. Yeah I get that she's a tortured soul like Alka but... Who the f$"£ is she? Anyway, ignoring those (and they can be pretty easily ignored) I definitely suggest watching this if you're a fan of action or if you're looking for some food for thought.
SirRabbit
Watch this if you enjoy a good artwork of anime, however don't expect too much from this anime in terms of story and character development. The story seems like they cut it way too short and the fights are so quick and ends way too fast which both are a bit of a disappointing side. However, if anyone doesn't mind a poor story and loves good female assets bouncing around, they would enjoy this anime though. I give this a fair score due to the good artwork, else i would even give it slightly lower than a fair score. Enjoy if you are watching =)
NeuroTypicalCure
Everyone has their thoughts about what makes a good anime. For me the best anime are the ones who have philosophy lessons hidden behind the story. That's why I like this anime even though it has obvious flaws elsewhere. If you are not aware, most stories have a message underneath, whether the writer does this consciously or not I don't know. I believe this one tackles the meaning of life, or at least it tries to. You have Aruka going through different stages in her life, from the emotionless robot who simply follows a code to someone who through suffering and pain grows into a balanced human being. I saybalanced here, since it pushes the acceptance of all emotions, even the bad ones. This is more or less the philosophy that the pleasure gang is about.
It goes through the acceptance of your dark side and your dark past too, as well as accepting death.
With revenge, I don't think a lot of people will have understood this but if you take revenge you are only taking away from the world, the person who you inflict revenge on is just like you, a traveler finding their own path. You can't really fix them but they may have a purpose later on in life, Aruka actually realizes her mistakes of killing people, not everyone does but they have plenty of opportunities to determine this for themselves, even if they continue their "wrong" path they still create lessons for other people.
I think the first tragic death (with the guy who was trying to get rid of towns who farmed the spirits) showed how selfish someone can be in pushing their own morality upon others, so even if you think something is wrong, you should let other people realize this for themselves so they make up their own moral code.
By taking this philosophy you're kind of letting suffering happen, in a world like this it's the strong ones who survive, and that's how evolution makes sure we stay a robust species.
TLDR: make up your own code, and let others do the same
Thanks for coming to my ted talk, have a good whatever the fuck you're doing :)
Cedwick
First of all I would like to say that I was really excited about this one because we all know the Blade & Soul (game) is a big hit. But then it failed me... Story: 3/10 The story overall is blurry and I don't think it's really interesting. To be honest I just finished watching the anime for the sake of finishing it. The episodes I think did not fit together to tell the story continuously, I think in general it's poorly made. Even the ending was so dull. Art: 5/10 It was so pretentious. The characters when closed up are very defined but once it's not you'll seehow everything sucks, it seems as if the characters are drawn by someone who doesn't even draw manga or whatever. I only did notice these changes come the latter part of the series tho, at first I think it's not there but after some episodes I dunno maybe the animators got bored or something.
Sound: 7/10
I think they did an okay job with the voice actors, they suit the characters well. I also like the ending song with the Proprietress dancing.
Character: 4/10
The characters are blurry at start and didn't even grow as a character at least for me. Except for the Proprietress, I like her characters and storyline. Besides her I think all the characters are poorly conceptualized. I also did not like how the antagonists don't really have something inside them that makes them act the way they are acting, it's just too vague.
Enjoyment: 2/10
If you're a fan of watching an anime with all the boobies bouncing around then maybe you'll enjoy this. I won't rewatch this one, it's a waste of time.
Overall: 4.2
It was a disappointment for me to watch this anime of the game that I wanted to play so much for a very long time. Even the gif(s) I made for this anime suck.
pedoropedoro
Though I do see why people don't think such fondly of Blade and Soul, I do think it's unappreciated. Since this is an adaptation of a game, the makers probably chose to focus on the characters than the war. While I do see the show lacked on the world building department, on characters development department was top notch, specially on the MC. Aruka started as an empty character, moving only by the desire to kill her master's killer. And that wasn't for revenge, at least, due to her lack of emotions, it seemed that way to me. But during the course of the story, her evolve at aslow but extremely well built pace. The other characters also had great development, Karen in particular.
But, it all culminates on the end, when someone ask her what she was doing and Aruka answered "living".
The story could be seen as an unique genre of it's own. Almost like a Action Fantasy slice of life.
I'll say again. I do see why people complain about Blade and Soul, but if you watch thinking about the characters and how they evolve with each chapter, maybe people would appreciate more. Or perhaps this is only wishful thinking.
camay1997
So I was looking for something along the lines of "hot chicks with swords" and stumbled upon Blade & Soul. I wasn’t disappointed. The action was clever and exciting. The characters were well thought out and interesting. The visuals were a treat to look at. It delivered what it offered and I’m glad I watched it. But I do have one complaint I wish to address to pad this review. The character of Hazuki is poor designed and overused to virtually no effect. I feel the show could’ve done without her. Some may dislike this show because of all the T & A and that’sfine. Personally I felt the story and action were engaging enough to ignore the fan service and just enjoy the show.
Kalendraf
This is a review of the Blu-ray version of "Blade & Soul" released by Sentai Filmworks in 2015. It was viewed with English voice overs. "Blade & Soul" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure. Parental Advisory: The age rating on the Blu-ray case is listed as MA (meaning 17+), though that rating may seems a bit too high. There is almost no nudity besides a couple of brief backside shots of unclothed females, and a couple of spots where using the player's freeze frame option may detect a bare breast or two. There is combat violence in several episodes, and some of the deathsor injuries seem a bit gruesome or disturbing, but it isn't overly graphic. As a result, this show would likely be suitable for teens 15 and up.
Story: 7/10
The show spans 13 episodes. The story was interesting, and it contained some twists I didn't expect. Some things were not well explained, and I suspect a few of those may be related to aspects of the game. The very first episode reminded me a bit of the setup for the Seven Samurai (or the later Magnificent Seven) where a village seeks to hire help to protect themselves. However, after convincing the main protagonist Alka, an emotionless female assassin, to help them, things quickly spiral out of control for the village. Alka is left wandering through most of the episodes, continually hunted. Some of the characters she meets have unexpected ties and the outcomes from those include some rather big and unexpected plot twists. By the end, the once emotionless Alka has undergone so many tests of will that she can't even stand to fight against her main opponent, who herself has undergone her own plot twist.
Across the first 12 episodes, the episodes shift from being mere adolescent titillation to much more serious content. By the end of the 12th episode, both the characters and the audience has undergone some serious mental angst. One prominent theme in several episodes is revenge, and how different people deal with it or try to exact it upon others. The mental torture that is exacted upon certain characters was devastating to watch. I also found some of the scenarios to be thought-provoking, without clear right/wrong answers.
The final 13th episode is largely a throw-away "beach" episode that seems to exist purely for fan service. It could have been left out entirely, and it seems more like an OVA rather than anything canon. It just seemed like an excuse to show some of the characters in even skimpier outfits, and it really didn’t fit into the rest of the series. Including it at the end also seemed to weaken the overall impact of the series.
Characters: 6/10
Visually, the female cast are beautifully illustrated. They also offer some serious eye candy since some of them tend to wear rather skimpy attire. Anyone that doesn't understand the reasons for fantasy-based outfits existing in a fantasy world should probably stay away. Please find a documentary on the history channel about period armors if that's what you're looking for. This isn't it. In addition, most of the female characters in this show are rather well-endowed, though by current anime standards and depending on specific genre, they aren't that unusual.
The main character, Alka, is a bit of an enigma. She is an ultra-skilled assassin, but utterly emotionless at the beginning. Through flashbacks and other revelations, we continually learn more about her past. Due to the events that transpire, her character undergoes profound mental changes in the last half of the series. I found it hard to like her as a cold-blooded emotionless killer, but I also felt sorry for some of the situations she ends up having to deal with.
Besides Alka, there are a trio of beautiful women that are featured prominently through the series. The proprietor Karen, the bounty hunter Hazuki and the bandit leader Roana. Each of them have different motives, but end up being tied in some way to Alka or her mission.
The main villain Jin Varel and her associates are featured in several episodes. Jin seems equally cold and emotionless to Alka.
A few other characters are also introduced such as a merchant who appears at different times or a girl saved from a village. None of the lesser characters are developed much in their limited screen time.
Art / Animation: 9/10
Most of the characters, scenery and animation are gorgeous. Even the end credits are spectacular featuring what seems like motion captured dancing since the animation is so smooth and fluid. While the female characters look great, the art for the male characters seems like an afterthought.
Sound / Voice: 8/10
The music during the intro and end credits is very good. The background music and sound effects were all effective. However, the voice acting for some of the characters such as Alka and Hazuki seemed a bit weak.
Enjoyment: 5/10
While the series is visually stunning, the emotionless natures of the main character Alka and the villain Jin Varel end up being anchors that prevent the series from lifting up to its full potential. The elements for a good story are here. With a different delivery and some changes for the main character and villain, it could have been much, much better.
Final Verdict: 7/10
While far from perfect, “Blade & Soul” is worth seeing at least once. The characters, animation and visuals are beautifully drawn and animated, and overall the story is intriguing and includes a few thought-provoking situations. However, the series never manages to rise to its full potential. For a show titled “Blade & Soul”, it seemed more “Blade” and little to no “Soul”.
phogue
I'm going to get my biggest praise out of the way now: The ending credits kick ass! Seriously, you have to watch at least that once. The animation and song are both absolutely fantastic, and I literally (and I mean it in its denotational sense) ignored the attractive woman doing the fan dance in favor of the effects surrounding the fan and her. Now to serious stuff: The characters are sort of well rounded and generally likable, but still hit on some of the tropes, namely being emotionally dead inside and lo-and-behold therein lies all your problems. Oh, and let's not forget that you have to havesomething to protect as well.
The animation is solid throughout the whole series except for one episode for about 1.5 minutes where it looks like the heroes are riding past a background painted on plywood.
One of the big problems is that very few things are fully explained, namely the Impurity stuff. So sometimes you have to burn it for incense, other times you have to boil it and drink the resulting water, other times all it does is cause hallucinations, sometimes it blows people up, sometimes makes a shockwave, sometimes it makes you strong, and sometimes it's just a pretty "poison" that noone properly explains. That's world-building spackle, kinda like how the Force can do whatever it needs to in Star Wars.
The plot's a little all over the place, and the lack of continuity makes it harder to engage in watching. If I were forced to watch it again (I hate re-watching or re-reading anything), I would do it at about one episode a day, because nothing about the ending of the previous episode really pushes me onto the next.
Another thing that's worth noting is that the ecchi is entirely arbitrary. There's no reason there couldn't have been more important male characters, the female characters couldn't have dressed in a more, either western fantasy or traditional anime, style and it would have sacrificed nothing. The last episode in particular was really the only ecchi episode, but I would say it was a fair palate cleanser after all the death, sadness, etc. from the story proper.
I do like that the female characters are strong (for most of the series), but when protagonist du jour discovers feelings again, she's essentially incapacitated for four episodes, and it get's really dull. However, I think that that leads me to my final point:
There might be some reference to the story of Buddha. After getting her emotions, Alka finally 'sees' the old, the sick, and the dead. Though I think the argument falls apart a bit when she goes on about actually living instead of being an ascetic.
Final verdict: Sure, go ahead and watch it. I'm sure you'd think it's around a 6 or 7 too. It was good for me just because I was running out of things to read and watch when I got home at night.
PrinceOfDamned
Ok so first off its not ment to be a really damn good anime, its more like the best mmorpg trailer ever. The story follows the one from the game but theres alot thats cut from it, even some of the charecters are missing. And since they dont want to spoil the fun of the story in the game, the anime has a different ending from it. The story itself is pretty meh. The main charecter seeks vengence for the death of his master and thats about it. The visuals and the combat in both the anime and the game are awesome, its worth to see/play it justfor that.
So to fill the role of your charecter we have Aluka/Alka, a walking goddess of beauty and ownage... much like Mikasa per say.
To sum it up she has a bit of superpowers that she'll rarely use but is mostly a well trained assassin from the sword clan.
The sword clan is the OP guild of ninja assassin that for some reason get dominated by 3 people. Watching the anime alone would give you no explanation how the hell does that happen BUT the game does.
So thoes 3 black dressed people attack the clan so they can get The Sword of Whatever-its-name-was and kill all of the students. Thats untill THE MASTER rages and wipes the floor with them, BUT they get to the last student ... You (Alka). Thretening the master that they'll kill his last student and his clan will be no more unless he surrenders and gives up The sword of epic domination.
And so he does... they get the sword, kill the master and kick you (Alka) from the cliffs into the sea. And thats how the story begins.
The anime itself is pretty straight forward: she seeks vengence, kills people, meets some friends along the way, kills more people, boss fight.
There is some backstory to back it up buuuut meh, its still worth to watch just for the fights and the well done animation.
And if you want to know the full story, well then... prepare for 30 hrs of game time ;D
