Tama’s lost a match for the first time in her life. And with this loss, she’s lost the will to
take up the sword again. What good is
practicing Kendo if you cant always win?
Everyone’s at their lowest point and they’ve got one final shot to make
things better. This team has been
through a lot together, but they’ve never been through this kind of badness before. The future is at stake for several members
and they’ll need each other more than ever before to pull off the biggest
miracle their club has ever known. One
chapter in the history of the Muroe High Kendo Team is about to end, and
another is about to begin.
Im just gonna come out and say it, this is easily one of
my favorite finales of any Anime EVER!!!
Everything got resolved, everyone found a solution,
everyone found their groove again. I’m
actually a pretty big fan of stories where the heroes hit a low point in their
journey’s. Yeah it sucks to seem them in such despair. But I know that’s just going to make the come
back all the more exciting and worth it.
Seeing Muroe come together as a team on all fronts was excellent: Tama
went to Ishibashi and Kojiro for help; Azuma stepped up to Miya and told her to
get her act together; Saya declared her eternal friendship to Kirino (a shipper
fans dream) and Donnie proved himself against one of the douche Kendo bullies
that nearly got the club disbanded. It
was such a good feeling to see the team back together after the turmoil of the
last few episodes. The family was
reunited.
Then it was time to settle all scores. Miya won against Carrie, TWICE (and Rami
finally came in handy for once. Oh and
Little Carrie with two swords is too adorable).
Donnie managed to score a point on Yuji, its almost hard to forget how
much progress Donnie himself has made this series. He was such a shy dude back
in the beginning and he never wanted to practice Kendo. Low and behold, he’s become more than just
the comic relief/support system. But of
course, the one match everyone was looking forward to was the rematch between
Tama and Rin. It was a whole new match
this time. No longer scared off by the
high stance, Tama was pretty evenly matched with Rin. What I liked best about this match wasn’t really
the fighting but the realization Tama had during it. Everyone at the tournament, besides her
sensei and teammates, loves Kendo and it fueled her love for it as well. It was a beautiful feeling that I think I understand
pretty well from a convention goers point of view. It was a good fight and easily the most feel
good moment of the series. It’s why I hold
the finale in such high regard.
Though if I did have to sound a little negative, the
final episode could have been merged in with Episode 25. I don’t think we needed to see Iwasa and
Toyama’s younger siblings, especially Shinobou who was kind of a brat. This could have been a post credits sequence
really, showing the start of the next chapter for Muroe High’s team. As far as I know there is no second season of
Bamboo Blade. So the tease of new blood
and Yoshikawa taking over as advisor is kind of unfair (btw when did she and
Ishibashi hook up? That’s gonna be one
good looking kid). Still, the team is
continuing on and Tama’s friendship with Rin is stronger than ever. The two of them witnessing their roles in the
Blade Braver movie was cute. Ok so maybe
the last episode had a lot of merit to it after all. I couldn’t ask for more from this finale.
So, my final thoughts?
Bamboo Blade is a great mix of slice of life with action added in for
fun. The cast is diverse and fun, the
lessons are ones that will stick with you, the comedy is really freaking
funny. And Tama, well what haven’t I said
about her I haven’t said already. If I made
up a set of Anime Expendables, Tama would be on board for sure…God only knows
how many guys she could cut down with a real sword. Some of the supporting cast was hit and miss,
especially those who had no real purpose until the end like Rami. Rin Suzuki and the Machido Girls were fun and
friendly rivals I wish we’d seen more of throughout the series. And there were a couple of story arcs I think
lasted too long (the search for Azuma).
At the end of the day, I love this series and it’s fun to pop in every
once in a while for relaxation and background noise. Kendo is a sport anyone who’s an Anime fan
can fall for. And these girls make it
look so awesome.
The final score is an
8.5/10
Well that series is done.
Next week we head back into the mecha realm. Brace yourself for the second coming of
Evangelion…or rather the series I think is actually a little better than
Eva. The much overlooked mecha classic,
Rahxephon, starts next week on the Anime Corner.
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