Directed by Hisashi Saitou, Anime, Cert. PG.

Release Date 24th January 2011.

Manga Entertainment follow up their November release of Bamboo Blade: Part 1 with the second half of the kendo comedy at the end of this month – and if you enjoyed the first 13 episodes you may as well stop reading now and add it to your ‘to buy’ list, as the show continues to be as silly, sweet and charming as ever.

Anyone left? Well, in case Bamboo Blade slipped under your anime radar, it’s a light-hearted sports show about a hard-up kendo instructor’s attempts to win a bet by assembling a champion all-girl team. And yes, all the standard trappings of sports movies – animated or otherwise – are here, right down to the Big Tournament finale.

Criticising the plot’s lack of originality misses the point, however. Bamboo Blade is fundamentally a slice-of-life series that stands or falls by the strength of its main characters, and fortunately the girls of the Muroe High kendo team – über-shy fighting prodigy Tamaki, energetic team captain Kirino, ditzy Azuma, drama queen Saya and the mildly psychotic Miyako – are more than up to the task.

While Kirino and Miyako both get to play major roles in advancing the story, the star of Bamboo Blade without doubt remains Tamaki, the naïve, pint-sized introvert with lightning fast reflexes and killer kendo instincts. Even if you consider yourself congenitally allergic to moe cutesiness, I challenge you not to find Tama-chan thoroughly adorable – especially as the events of Part 2 begin to draw her out of her shell. And, unlike the Hulk, you will like her when she’s angry…

As far as looks go, Bamboo Blade isn’t particularly spectacular, but it’s certainly good enough – the main characters are all given distinctive designs and the kendo scenes themselves are imbued with suitable sense of excitement and urgency, an atmosphere heightened by the taiko drumming score. It is also worth noting that Bamboo Blade is surprisingly light on fan service given the opportunities available.

Overall then, Bamboo Blade is well worth a try if you fancy a feel-good anime series laced with just the right amounts of humour, silliness, action and drama. Kudos to Manga Entertainment for bringing it to our shores; there is nothing wrong with ‘blockbuster’ titles such as Naruto, Bleach, Death Note et al, but it’s great to see smaller series such as Bamboo Blade make the cut as well.

David Axbey.

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