A little review of BlazBlue: Alter Memory since I finished it last week! I wrote a little review on MAL, but figured to expand/write it here as well. I think overall, it's about a 6.5/10. I don't think it's the worst anime ever, but I also don't think it's stunning. I remember going in seeing lots of comments being harsher on it than I think it was. I think the score is definitely lower if you have no prior knowledge of the series, and probably makes it seem like a jumbled, unexplained mess (I'd estimate probably a 3/10 if you've never engaged in any BlazBlue games/know the vague storyline prior.).
I'll start with the positives. The animation overall is decent-- not stunning, but I'll get to the faults later. It was nice to see a fully
animated version of the first 2 games. I really found seeing Ragna all in bandages was kind of cute lol. I liked how they kept the music
and what I'm assuming are the same VAs [I played the game with Japanese audio, and I watched the anime subbed, so that's what I'm refering to].
The main story progression was fine-- it covered the first 2 game's "True" storyline decently. It hit the main points. Also, I really liked
the opening and ending songs.
However, now I'll embark on the negatives. Some of the animation angles got strange, like even beyond your normal "Here's 1 stretch frame that looked
strange." I think it misses the fun of the game, but it could be argued it's a fault of it being a 12-episode anime. The fun of the game for me
is touching on the infinite possibilities of the BlazBlue universe. Not touching on those other individual possibilities and storylines makes
characters, who while they may not be the "main" [Ragna, Noel, Jin, Hazama in the 2nd game], are still equally as important in their choices.
Without showing backstories and other routes, it makes everyones motivations for things unclear unless you have that knowledge backing it up.
I sadly think the anime shows a very hollow view of what makes BlazBlue special and unique in it's storytelling... However I was kind of happy
that a certain character I'm not fond of [because of how they're written, I like their design] was not featured heavily.
This section is incredibly self-indulgent and does not weigh on my score but... Man there were some really good Hazama moments.
I kept annoying my friend and gf with images whenever he showed up. The egg scene I think was really a highlight to the whole anime,
and it was just fun to watch. I got very giddy seeing him and it was definitely the standout thing to me lol.
I also liked them showing some Makoto/Noel things... Even if it wasn't for pairing purposes, those two together make me happy.
As a conclusion, again I don't think it's an anime for people who've never engaged with the first 2 games at least. I think it's fun as
supplemental material to those games, but definitely not something I'd rewatch alone, honestly (Unlike the games, which even though I'm
not done with the series, I'm happy to replay.) I don't regret watching it though, and something about the excitement of watching it
kind of dwindled by the end.
10:39pm .. .. // 8.16.2023