Samurai fight against insects with superpowers.
Many people (myself included) largely dismissed this series at first glance. It looked like a standard shounen fighting show: boy fights monsters, gains powers, makes friends. The only difference being, of course, that the opponents are even dumber than usual. This first impression was largely correct: Mushibugyo is a shounen fighting show to its core, complete even with the yelling out of attack names.
But what it does, it does very well. It has more heart to it than most shounen fighting shows. Calling out the move names actually makes sense in this series because the characters are all idiots. I say that in the most charitable sense of the word. Plus, Mushibugyo has one of the best anime romances in years. Anime romances tend to be awful so that isn’t saying much, but I’ll still throw that out there.
I typically hate shounen fighting shows, but this one I recommend.
- Storytelling – B – Well paced, good interspersal of comedy, knows where the story is headed, good romance.
- Voice – A – The art style takes some getting used to but once you do it is both memorable and likable.
- Characters – C – Not complex by any means, but consistent and memorable.
- Attention Grab – B – Usually fighting leaves me bored, but not in Mushibugyo. The fights don’t last too long and end before they get stale.
- Production – B – Interesting style but it’s nice when you get used to it.
- Overall – B
Recommendations – Katanagatari, Nurarihyon no Mago
The “B” ist well deserved! It was one of my favourite series last season.
Best thing for me was the art, in particular the colour schemes and the patterns (e.g. in the background during the second opening sequence). I’m not sure why I love those lurid, flashy colours so much; I guess it’s the combination in each picture. In any case, I didn’t expect a shounen series to be such an aesthetic pleasure. The music was good, as well.
As you say, the storytelling was pretty good and it never became boring. The only moments where I felt slightly bored was during the recap ep. in the middle. I particularly loved the somewhat trippy parts, like the buried town in ep. 8 or the illusions in the second half.
My favourite character was Hibachi. The romance between Jinbei und Kuroageha (the “servant”) was sweet. However, I felt somewhat sorry for Oharu who suffers frequent boob grabbing w/o having a chance in terms of romance. Not very considerate of Jinbei to treat her like that!
The art is great. I was a bit turned off by it at first but it grew on me.
I just skipped the recap episode. 🙂
Yeah, I feel bad for Oharu, but he’s better off with the servant. I’m sure she’ll have no trouble finding someone else. Hibachi was one of my favorites as well.
A totally righteous and pure hearted protagonist.
An earnest and kind love interest.
Lots of battles with flashy moves which came out of nowhere.
Heroic themed all the time.
Yup, an shounen battle anime at it’s purest form.
Usually I would think of such a textbook show as boring, but not Mushibugyou.
Other than well paced and well told story, the art has definitely played an important role here. The visuals of every episode are really pleasing to the eyes. Highly recommended.
Oh yeah, the OP and ED songs are great. Usually I only searched for Shin-S and Nipponsei as keywords, so I almost missed them. Thank goodness there are still seeders left.
Exactly. When you describe the components it sounds boring and kind of dumb. But when you watch it it doesn’t feel that way at all.
seriously, good romance? hmmm… i never saw it that way but maybe it’s because i never really decided to move forward after the first half of the series… gotta get back to this one and see how it goes then.
The romance doesn’t start until the halfway point.