I watched both seasons of Bubuki Buranki. Here are my thoughts:
My expectations going into this were rock bottom but surprisingly I enjoyed watching it. For those who don't know, this is a mecha-themed action show that is animated entirely in CG. I watched the Blu-rays, which might've been a bit more polished than what was presented to a seasonal viewer.
The plot is kind of a mess and it was sometimes confusing. There were some pacing issues; seemingly trivial things got more screentime than plot-critical events. There were also some questionable decisions, like introducing a bunch of new characters in a short period of time during the latter half of season one. That was probably especially bothersome for those watching the anime as it aired, as opposed to watching both seasons continuously. Another noteworthy thing is that the conflicts/fights rarely have any consequences for the party who loses, which kind of removes any feeling of suspense. The story is somewhat ridiculous at times, and I did not take it seriously. However, the show is sometimes fun to watch and the episodes usually passed quickly. Basically, "just shut your brain off, bro." Admittedly, a lot of loose ends in the plot get tied up during season two. Even beyond the overarching plot, there are a lot of character arcs that the show is constantly juggling. It gets messy at times, especially considering that most episodes spend a significant amount of time on action scenes as well.
The characters were okay, although a few were bland or annoying (looking at you, Kogane). There was adequate character development for the four main supporting characters, but a glaring lack of development for the bland MC. For context, the four supporting characters form the limbs of a mech and the MC is the torso ('heart'). I liked a lot of the antagonist/villain characters actually. There was tons of variety among the antagonist characters and a lot of them were entertaining when on screen. Unfortunately, this is in stark contrast to the zero-personality MC. Overall though, I liked the variety of personalities that were featured in this anime.
Voice acting was decent and there was a lot of variety among the cast. There were a handful of characters (mainly antagonists) who had notably unique voice work. The OST was okay and I liked the OP and ED songs. Felt myself singing along to the first OP. One stand-out aspect was the great sound effects (mainly related to mech function and movement).
Action scenes were pretty fun to watch. Both the human-on-human conflict and the mech fights. I think my favourite aspect of the series was the action scenes. They felt fresh and creative, and the CG allowed a lot of things I wouldn't expect from conventional anime. In addition to motion, the action scenes were very colourful. Aside from the mechs themselves, there were neat weapons and equipment.
Unfortunately, CG is a double-edged sword in that it really inhibits characters' facial expressions, which impairs dialogue-heavy scenes and dramatic moments. One thought I had was that the lack of facial expressions could be compensated for with more-emotional voice acting, but this wasn't discernably employed, in fact many characters are kind of deadpan. It would be interesting though if the use of CG in anime influenced decision making related to voice acting.
This anime has an experimental feel to it. It is surprisingly creative, especially for an action-focused mech show. It is unique from a technical perspective, as well as in terms of the characters and story. With better writing and direction, it could have been a great show. Even so, I don't regret watching it.
Overall rating: 6/10 It was flawed but it had a lot of fun moments and was easy to watch.
For those who like action and mecha shows, you might consider sampling this anime. It has problems but it also has some redeeming qualities. It seems underappreciated.
What did Zig Forums think of Bubuki Buranki?
Eli Lee
>mommy seals her best friends' JK body not to age, then sets her up with her son 10/10 plan
Nolan Ross
Never got to watch the 2nd half, but the first one had some surprisingly fun moments. Especially the one where the girl snaps immediately shouting 'Ill kill you', as she sees the hat guy pass through the wall.
Adam Perry
MIGIWA DID NOTHING WRONG
Liam Adams
The ending of season 1 was timed awkwardly in terms of the story
It was mildly popular when it was airing, so don't feel too bad.
Daniel Lewis
It was but I just wanted more, that's how it is with shows you enjoy. Honestly, I've found it great all around and the only problem I had with it was that S2 seemed a little bit rushed towards the end. The world teams never really got anywhere and Guy seemed to rush into the final boss role. Same with the mom's plan, it's revealed and comes true somewhat awkwardly fast. Overall, it's an 8/10 for me.
John Taylor
Same, it was pretty refreshing to see that the villain was right about the MC too.
Aaron Powell
The mother's 'death' could have been handled better
I'm still surprised at how they actually went and proved that the villain was right
Zachary Garcia
It had some nice ideas. I dont remember much about it but I wasnt bored. What is really unique about it was animation. I think the whole thing was in 3d but faces were animated like it was 2d? Im not really sure but it worked really well.
Nice writeout. Pretty much have have the same opinion as you do for this show. Pretty flawed but had its cool moments.
Isaac Hill
It's a mess from the very beginning. I had to rewatch episode 1 a few times cause I thought I speedwatched through something, but there's legit no explanation to what MC had been doing for the 10 years he spent in Japan, how he managed to survive or how he knew Kogane who's supposed to be his childhood friend. The bad guys from Reoko's group act cartoonishly evil until they are suddenly just misunderstood good guys fighting the true evil on the other side. Reoko's backstory was weird, too: she seemed like a normal person as a teen, but then she rampage through Japan on her robot just to get some infamy before she dies, and then she hated Migiwa for saving her ungrateful ass from her disease and from the angry mob. Migiwa also just abandoned Reoko in a country where everyone wanted her dead instead of taking her to the island where she'd be free and safe. Then MC is a wishy-washy generic nice guy/determined shonen protag who also wears stupid as fuck clothes. And the real big bad's motivation was fucking retarded. "Oh boohoo, we are special humans who can bond with space robots, we are a blight on humanity and must be erased" - like what the fuck, there are literally no downsides to using robots, what was that guy's problem. Reoko is great outside of the first half of her flashback, though. The fat American dude was pretty fun, too. Shame the British chick died.
