(L) BlazBlue Alter Memory

[Tormenk]

Originally Posted by JiCi

Watched the final episode, and yeah... it was too much rushed...

Spoiler for Thoughts:

26 episodes for CT and then 26 episodes for CS would have been much better. Just for CS, they missed a truckload of segments, like when Bang, Tao, Carl and Platinum are inflitrating the NOL with the fights that issued during that part, when Litchi and Arakune fight, when Carl and Relius fight, when Valkenhayn fights Relius, when Makoto discovers the abandoned lab, when Lambda has to fight Nu, when Tager has to fight Lambda and so on and so one.

So yeah, Mori got his wish, but I feel like he couldn't tell the entire story.

Spoiler for game events:

How does Lambda get to fight Nu..?

Rachael's poke to Hakumen at the end about being unneeded feels like a meta message from the anime staff.

While I agreed there needed to be more episodes the game did suffer from bloated or filler events from the side cast as well. I was incredulous at episode two but realized that was the essence of Calamity Trigger if the secondary stuff were removed. Some focus on Ragna, Jin, Noel, Nu and even Rachael would have developed them and the story further.

BB AM was done okay~, not bad but not good either. It proves that every game adaptation will just be promo material for the actual game and rarely does it stand well as its own medium, which is kinda disappointing since even with it's confusing storyline it did have it's poignant and epic moments to stand out.

Maybe it's asking too much but certain moments were done better in the game materials like BBCSII's opening.

[JiCi]

Originally Posted by Tormenk

Spoiler for game events:

How does Lambda get to fight Nu..?

Spoiler for game events:

If I recall correctly, in CS, when Lambda is investigating the NOL building, Phantom and Hazama trap her inside of a magical black force field. Inside it, Nu-13 gets materialized from her memories. Upon defeating her, she breaks the force field, but thas to fight Unlimited Iron Tager, who got captured and physically reprogrammed to attack Lambda. I say "physically" because he's aware that he cannot control his movements. Tager gets back to normal after Lambda weakens him down.

[Triple_R]

Anime-only viewer here. I finished off BlazBlue late last night, and will share my thoughts on the full series today.

1. Highly entertaining, especially the last few episodes.

2. I do get some of the core elements of the final arc's plot, primarily anything that Terumi explained and/or was part of his plan. In addition to being an excellent villain, Terumi made a good exposition device (and Heaven knows this show needed that ).

3. Ragna was a pretty good lead protagonist when it was all said and done. Manly, rough around the edges, amusing in how perpetually pissed off he often seemed, but also with a heart of gold beneath it all.

4. The show's main weakness is that it felt like a highlight reel compression of a two-cour (or even longer) anime. While this might actually contribute to the show's highly entertaining nature, it also makes it hard to follow and make much sense out of.

5. Rachel's dig at Hakumen may indeed be a meta message from the anime staff. Ultimately, the show might have had too many characters for its own good. Some characters show up briefly, never to be seen again. Many characters are strictly on the periphery, pulling strings, never getting much involved in the action. A few characters like that are fine, but this show may have had too many, in the sense that some of the time allotted to these secondary characters perhaps could have been better spent fleshing out this world and explaining what exactly is going on and what exactly are the core motivations for the true central characters.


On the whole, BlazBlue was a very fun watch. But with the possible exception of Terumi's character, I doubt there's much I'll take from this show that'll stick with me. The climax, while fun, leaves some puzzling questions. Questions like... Was that big standoff at the end between Imperator's side and Ragna's side just mere grandstanding? How the hell did Makoto manage to survive what Terumi did to her? For "the Day of Ruin", shouldn't this seem worse than what it is?

If anybody wants to answer these questions in a spoiler space, or in a PM to me (if it involves BlazBlue source material yet to be adapted), I'd much appreciate it.

[Nitestorm]

Hakumen is my favorite character in the game, so I'm just disappointed he didn't get much screen time. The off screen conversation he was having with Rachel at the end was more dialogue than he had in all his on screen appearances.

Then again, it was only 12 episodes, so sacrifices had to be made and such.

Didn't any anime only viewers manage to figure out Hakumen's identity? They really didn't delve into it much, but some clues were given.

[Dawnstorm]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

Questions like... Was that big standoff at the end between Imperator's side and Ragna's side just mere grandstanding?

As far as Terumi is cornerned, probably. As far as the Imperator/Saya is concerned, probably not. Who knows what Phantom is thinking (her identity hasn't been revealed yet in the games available outside of Japan, but there are enough hints to leave little doubt.)

How the hell did Makoto manage to survive what Terumi did to her?

Anime original. Makoto isn't present in the game. My best guess is that she's just a tough nut to crack (the most physical fighting style of all the characters).

For "the Day of Ruin", shouldn't this seem worse than what it is?

Nothing changed yet. They just finished off the continuum shift. Look at it like this: eternal cycle of destruction via Ragna/Nu merger. --> Noel intervenes: events uncertain. --> Takamagahara gets eliminated, which leaves the fate of the world to a single observer: the "Master Unit"; but the Imperator is opposing the Master Unit, and without interference of Takamagahara, and they may have a plan to get rid of her (I assume a female because the name is "Amaterasu"). Once the world is unobserved it will run its course...

I'm not sure about the details, or if I'm missing something. But you need to remember that they're already living in a postapocalyptic world. Takamagahara and Amaterasu keep the world going as it is, and one is down now.

[Dextro]

If anyone feels like they didn't understand the plot (and I didn't get much more out of this than what I already knew from the games ) you should know that Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend for the Vita is free on PS+ this month. Just in time for folks who found the show interesting to experience the full story :P

[Triple_R]

I want to thank everyone who has sent me answers and suggestions both here, and in PMs. It's given me a much-clearer idea of what's going on here.

I don't want my criticisms to sound too harsh. Ultimately, the fact that BlazBlue was highly entertaining was more important to me than whatever plot issues I may have had with it.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for final thoughts:

Sucked so bad, I'm... not that surprised. I kinda expected this by the first episode.
And despite being advertisement for a fighting game, 99% of the battles sucked. Animation in general sucked. I still can't forget that hilarious shot of Tsubaki stabbing Jin and their faces. Made a serious scene so so hilarious.
Animation sucks, story is for game fans(?), 3/10. I'll give it points because it was worth a laugh.

Anyways, it sucked. And if they made a Guilty Gear TV anime, it needs to stay away from this staff.

[Edo_Madara]

[IMG][/IMG]

[Master_Yoma]

They really tryed to hard in this way to many characters and not enough episodes just seem so rushed and the fight seem so short

5/10 needed at less 50eps to make it good

[shadow1296]

Originally Posted by Master_Yoma

They really tryed to hard in this way to many characters and not enough episodes just seem so rushed and the fight seem so short

5/10 needed at less 50eps to make it good

that's unrealistic for a game adaptation, at most they'll get is 26

[Preciize]

Glad I stuck it out with this series. The second half was much better compared to the first half.

I have a couple questions and wonder if anyone could be kind enough to answer them. For one, can anyone tell me if this is an original anime ending or if this ending follows the games? Two, has the story of the games been finished or is it still ongoing? From what I know, the latest release of the BlazBlue games was just a remake.

[Klashikari]

The series follow the ending of the second game, Continuum Shift.
That said, for some reason, many parts of the anime are original (and often out of character, no less).

I also have to correct you a bit:
-Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend is basically BBCS, but with a digest summary of Calamity Trigger (the very first game), while the same story content than the second game. It isn't a remake, but some sort of a V2.0 with additional content.

-Currently, only in Japan, we have Blazblue Chronophantasma which is the direct sequel of CS. That said, the story isn't finished with this.

[Preciize]

Originally Posted by Klashikari

The series follow the ending of the second game, Continuum Shift.
That said, for some reason, many parts of the anime are original (and often out of character, no less).

I also have to correct you a bit:
-Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend is basically BBCS, but with a digest summary of Calamity Trigger (the very first game), while the same story content than the second game. It isn't a remake, but some sort of a V2.0 with additional content.

-Currently, only in Japan, we have Blazblue Chronophantasma which is the direct sequel of CS. That said, the story isn't finished with this.

BlazBlue Chronophantasma doesn't come out till 2014 for North America, right? Anyways, glad the story is still ongoing. I've been thinking of buying the games and trying them out when I get chance. Thanks for the help.

[MeisterBabylon]

2 more games and hopefully we get the reduce-sized anime version.

[shadow1296]

[s07195]

I guess this episode's plot was really rushed... I couldn't stop cringing and pausing throughout the entire episode. At least the ending was set up nicely for Chronophantasma, though with even MORE characters, I fear even more characters will be sidelined. >.>

Tell me, are adaptations of fighting games really usually bad? I only about the Street Fighter movie.

[frodonk]

heh, I've been having fun with platinum the trinity in continuum shift.

Tell me, are adaptations of fighting games really usually bad? I only about the Street Fighter movie.

mostly yes from my experience, and also to all video games in general, because the plot is set up as an excuse to make every character appear and then fight each other. This is only true for game to anime adaptations, anime to game adaptations are a different matter.

[Fireminer]

Animation: Average, and sometime not up to the standard.

Plotline: Putting rocket booster on a horse. Which is dragging a fully-loaded container. 25 episodes would had been more sufficent.

Character: Beside Noel and Ragna (and to a lesser extend, Lambda and Tsubaki), most are more like cameo or second-tier with little or no development. Especiall Carl, Ada, Platinum and Valkenhyn - Only 5 minutes for 12 episodes?

Battle: Brought shame to the series. Really, Ragna only used Hell's Fang for once, just once? Or Hakumen never use Yukikaze? Especially Jin - they made him a pussy while ignored the fact that he could perfectly stand ground with Ragna.

Music: Yeah, too short/quiet and sometime unapropriate - Do you have to insert "Science Fiction" everytime Kokonoe had a few seconds on screen in episode 8?

Overall: 6.5 on 10. A lower series on the spectrum, even with fans of the game. Especially with fan of the game.

(Another minus for no JinXNoel moment, or at least a battle between two of them.)