Year: 2007

Status: Complete, Unlicensed

Subbed by: Huzzah and Doremi Fansubs

Bamboo Blade Official Site (Japanese)

Rating: Great

Kojirou, the kendo instructor at Muroe High, is forever broke. Barely having any money for food and necessities, Kojirou is desperate to make ends meet. An opportunity presents itself one night while amidst having dinner with his Senpai, the two agree on a bet to see whose all-female Kendo team is the strongest. If Kojirou wins, he gets a year long supply of free sushi. In pursuit of his free sushi, Kojirou finally takes the club seriously, and goes on a mission to recruit new members and revive the school’s run-down Kendo Club. Bamboo Blade is about a bunch of eccentric students under an equally unusual teacher who embark on a journey that makes them discover the joy of Kendo.

Bamboo Blade is a wonderful slice-of-life sport anime filled with comedy. It maintains its lightheartedness throughout the series and really makes you want to take up Kendo! While it begins with Kojirou’s bet being the primary storyline, it quickly changes to being more about the development of the characters themselves. Many of the Kendo matches can be quite absorbing as team Muroe get more and more skilled. As time passes, the Kendo team at Muroe becomes an endearing and close-knit bunch despite the oddities in their personalities. Overall, I loved watching Bamboo Blade and can’t wait to watch the remaining episodes. Its got the right mix of comedy, action, character development and slice-of-life feel to get away from the seriousness of life and just have a good laugh while identifying with the characters.

Check out:

History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi : Kenichi maintains the same humour as Bamboo Blade but focuses on the martial arts training of Kenichi rather than a team.

Overdrive : A heavy sports anime not quite as lighthearted as Bamboo Blade but still an intensely absorbing anime.

Year: 2007

Status: Ongoing

Subbed by: Toki Fansubs

Overdrive Official Site (Japanese)

Rating: Great

Review: Shinozaki Mikoto is the high school’s biggest loser. He is clumsy, is good at practically nothing and has no ambition in life. All of this soon changes when Mikoto is convinced by Fukazawa Yuki (the girl he has a crush on) to join the school’s Bicycle Club. With Yuki’s help, Mikoto learns to ride a bicycle (yes, he didn’t know how before this…) and joins the club. Mikoto finds himself swept away in the world of bicycle road-racing. Overdrive follows the story of Shinozaki Mikoto and how he pursues his dreams of becoming the world’s best cyclist.

I think what sets this anime apart from the rest is that its not all about sports. Although most of it has to do with Shinozaki’s passion for cycling, there is decent attention to how he develops as a person as well as his untold feelings for Yuki. My favourite part of the anime is how intense it gets with the races… that’s just amazing. I also liked how it differed from Suzuka since Mikoto cycles for the love of it rather than for a girl. Overdrive has a great storyline and is refreshingly different from most of the high school anime. Watch it!

If you like Overdrive, check out:

Suzuka : Another sports-based high school anime with a heavier emphasis on romance and relationships.

History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi : This one’s got a bit more humour than Overdrive and focusses more on martial arts training.

Bamboo Blade : A lighthearted anime revolving around the sport of Kendo and an all-female high school teams journey in pursuing Kendo.

Year: 2005

Status: Complete, Licensed by FUNimation

Suzuka Official Site (Japanese)

Suzuka Official Site (U.S)

Rating: Bearable

Review: Akitsuki Yamato has just moved to Tokyo from his rural home of Hiroshima to attend high school. He is living in his aunt’s bathhouse/dorm which actually happens to be all girls. On his way to his new home, Akitsuki noticed a girl practicing high jumps. He was instantly swept off his feet and falls for her. By a twist of fate, it turns that out that the girl, Asahina Suzuka, is Yamato’s next door neighbour. Unfortunately, the feeling between them is not mutual. Yamato is not discouraged and decides to join track and field to get closer to her. But high school life is never simple and unknown to Yamato, he has a secret admirer – Honoka-chan. The story progresses with a complex mix of love, romance and sadness for all the characters.

I have very mixed feelings about this anime. I am not going to dwell on the animation faults because frankly thats not what bothered me most about the story. What bothered me was that the main characters Yamato and Suzuka are not very likable in their characters (at least in my opinion…). Do I hate it? No – not really. But do I love it? Nope. It got emotional but not enough to set it apart. It had some depth but not enough to make it insightful. In other words, it can’t really be compared to animes like Honey and Clover. It’s still got something to it that sets it apart from anime and makes you keep wanna watching. If you’re bored, procrastinating on work – watch it. If you are looking for a solid storyline with emotional depth, save this for another day.

A high school sports based romance anime much better than this one: Overdrive

Emotional high school romances: Honey and Clover, Bokura Ga Ita, Lovely Complex, Peach Girl