Avalon: Sengoku Basara Review

No I do not have any good pics for this spot so this will have to do.

This anime is full of over-the-top fighting comparable to Dragon Ball Z and some epic moments that remind somewhat of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Not saying its as good as Tengen, but it’s not bad either.

I wrote that sentence a few months ago not long after I finished the anime so I assume I knew what I was talking about then because right now I can’t remember anything quite as epic as I make it sound, but the anime isn’t fresh in my mind now like it was then so…you’ll have to decide for yourselves. The fighting ISN’T bad though so don’t let this little comment deter you or anything.

Animation – 8/10
I can’t give this a bad score just because the fighting is great. Whether it’s the simple humanly possible sword fights or the epic glowing fighting aura flying through the sky fights, the animation is very well done. Those epic fights were a real treat and watching all the people get knocked away at the point of impact of certain attacks was very entertaining.

Like so:

Art-style – 7/10
It’s hard for me to give a better score when all the females in the anime are pretty ugly while the guys look normal. Nothing bad and the effects are done well and backgrounds are most of the time nice.

Sound – 8/10
I did sorta like the opening even though I listened to it only like 2 or 3 times. What was great was the voice acting. Whether it was screaming or simple talking they managed to do an excellent job. The evil guys definitely sounded evil and during battles the emotions were excellent. Some of the guys were just freaks and their voices show it fantastically. I also liked the music they chose for some of those epic moments in the anime.

Story – 7/10
Now I know absolutely nothing about Japan’s history so I have no idea what really happened in the events that this anime is supposed to be showing…very loosely showing. Of course they had to change things for the anime because when they make the bad guy out to be a demon from hell I kinda doubt that is a real-life event.
This anime is about the warring states of Japan…sometime in the past when different warlords were trying to defeat each other to rule Japan. Then a super powerful warlord known as the demon king, Oda Nobunaga, starts completely kicking everyones ass so everyone else forms a temporary alliance to kick his ass.

Characters – 7.5/10
The main characters seem to be Sanada Yukimura from the Takeda clan and Date Masamune, the leader of the Date clan. Of course there are others, but these 2 are the focus and they are fun. They both kick ass and hearing Masamune throw out random lines of attempted English is fun. Yukimura is very dedicated to his leader and the leader of the Takeda clan, Takeda Shingen. They’re interactions are very intertaining because they seem to enjoy getting as close to each other as possible and screaming each others names at each other, that or you often get Takeda punching Yukimura across the room and all the way outside. Not the greatest characters, but they get the job done.

Enjoyment – 7/10
This score is slightly lower because I’ve never been a big fan of these type of war animes. Utawarerumono being a good example. I will still watch them because they can be good, but they are not my favorite. The over-the-top fighting was very enjoyable however and the main characters were likable so this anime was easier to watch.

Overall – 7/10
I can only give this anime an average score. It definitely wasn’t bad, but like I mentioned above I’m not really into this type of anime. I will still recommend it to anyone who likes action though and if you do like this kind of anime then go for it. I don’t regret watching this either so obviously it did some things right.

~ by Avalon on September 4, 2009.