My family absolutely LOVED this anime, and I'm more than happy that people are enjoying it. That being said, I have some notable issues with Bofuri:
First I'd like to address the "This is like Sword Art Online but done RIGHT" comments. No, I do not think that is true at ALL. At it's core they have a similar premise about VRMMO's but most everything else about this anime is very different from SAO. While SAO was about the characters being trapped in a game and would die in real life if they died in-game (and after effects of the trauma), this is a lighthearted comedy show where the characters are playing at their own pace with no real-world risk. I get WHY people are comparing the two, but the whole story of both shows are very different.
This show is about Maple, a girl coerced into playing a VRMMORPG by her friend, and as the title suggests she just goes fully into defense. It's an interesting setup, but what ultimately comes of it is a character that virtually cannot be defeated since ya know....she maxed out her defense. The first episodes consist of Maple getting attacked and unharmed by many small creatures and ultimately defeating them since they would tire themselves out. Then as she gains more skill from the creatures she "defeats" she grows to be more and more powerful in-game. This is where my problems begin....
What is my problem you ask? Well to me, it seems our protagonist Maple is what I'd call an OP (Over-powered) Mary Sue type character. And I just did not like that at all. She grows in popularity throughout the series due to her being so OP, and it just continues to irk me because there's just NO WAY I can connect (or enjoy watching) someone who is having everything go so.....perfectly well. She is basically adored by EVERYONE in the game by the end of the show. Heck she is popular within the first three episodes due to her unusual way of becoming OP. I mean, Kirito from SAO was kind of a OP Gary Stu, but at least in that show we knew he had plenty of experience playing the game and learning all of its skills and secrets through hard work during beta-testing. Maple is the exact OPPOSITE of that. She goes in completely unprepared and inexperienced, and comes out pretty much as goddess of the game......
Maybe that was the point??? But it just does NOT work for me at all. Aside from the fact that I didn't like Maple or her development, I didn't really like any of the other characters any better. There's just nothing to them that I could relate to or find remotely interesting about them. They were just.....THERE.
Another pretty minor nitpick is how they would frequently show chat between players in the game, and they would scroll though it SO FAST that I couldn't read any of it without pausing several times! As a matter of fact, my parents spent several minutes trying to pause it just at the right time so they could read the millisecond-screened messages. They couldn't even read every message. I know what you're thinking: Why do you care so much? They don't really matter in the long run, and it's probably that way BECAUSE they didn't expect anyone to read them! Well, I'm the kind of guy that's always looking for the small details in media. I will frequently pause and rewind to make sure I didn't miss anything (perhaps that is partially my OCD to blame for that) so this kind of stuff will frustrate me to a point where I usually just end up rage-quitting. I don't know why they bothered throwing that stuff in there only for it to appear an accumulated total of 25 seconds throughout the whole show. Just.....AAAGGGHHH!!!
Credit where it's due, the animation is very vibrant and colorful and the voice acting is great as always (might recommend the sub over dub this time since there are some line alterations on Funimation's part cause they are apparently more **woke** than ever). But that is not enough to make up for the irritating flaws it has.
I'm still giving it a 6 cause I wouldn't call it a ""bad"" anime. Just an anime I didn't care for in the end. I recommend you see it for yourself and decide whether you like it or not. Considering most of the reviews are positive, this one will likely be (and stay) and outlier. It probably won't even be read by that many people.
Give it a go if you want. You'll probably get more out of Bofuri than I did. And that's great! I really am glad people are enjoying things I don't care for as much.
But Bofuri was ultimately swing-and-a-miss for me
First I'd like to address the "This is like Sword Art Online but done RIGHT" comments. No, I do not think that is true at ALL. At it's core they have a similar premise about VRMMO's but most everything else about this anime is very different from SAO. While SAO was about the characters being trapped in a game and would die in real life if they died in-game (and after effects of the trauma), this is a lighthearted comedy show where the characters are playing at their own pace with no real-world risk. I get WHY people are comparing the two, but the whole story of both shows are very different.
This show is about Maple, a girl coerced into playing a VRMMORPG by her friend, and as the title suggests she just goes fully into defense. It's an interesting setup, but what ultimately comes of it is a character that virtually cannot be defeated since ya know....she maxed out her defense. The first episodes consist of Maple getting attacked and unharmed by many small creatures and ultimately defeating them since they would tire themselves out. Then as she gains more skill from the creatures she "defeats" she grows to be more and more powerful in-game. This is where my problems begin....
What is my problem you ask? Well to me, it seems our protagonist Maple is what I'd call an OP (Over-powered) Mary Sue type character. And I just did not like that at all. She grows in popularity throughout the series due to her being so OP, and it just continues to irk me because there's just NO WAY I can connect (or enjoy watching) someone who is having everything go so.....perfectly well. She is basically adored by EVERYONE in the game by the end of the show. Heck she is popular within the first three episodes due to her unusual way of becoming OP. I mean, Kirito from SAO was kind of a OP Gary Stu, but at least in that show we knew he had plenty of experience playing the game and learning all of its skills and secrets through hard work during beta-testing. Maple is the exact OPPOSITE of that. She goes in completely unprepared and inexperienced, and comes out pretty much as goddess of the game......
Maybe that was the point??? But it just does NOT work for me at all. Aside from the fact that I didn't like Maple or her development, I didn't really like any of the other characters any better. There's just nothing to them that I could relate to or find remotely interesting about them. They were just.....THERE.
Another pretty minor nitpick is how they would frequently show chat between players in the game, and they would scroll though it SO FAST that I couldn't read any of it without pausing several times! As a matter of fact, my parents spent several minutes trying to pause it just at the right time so they could read the millisecond-screened messages. They couldn't even read every message. I know what you're thinking: Why do you care so much? They don't really matter in the long run, and it's probably that way BECAUSE they didn't expect anyone to read them! Well, I'm the kind of guy that's always looking for the small details in media. I will frequently pause and rewind to make sure I didn't miss anything (perhaps that is partially my OCD to blame for that) so this kind of stuff will frustrate me to a point where I usually just end up rage-quitting. I don't know why they bothered throwing that stuff in there only for it to appear an accumulated total of 25 seconds throughout the whole show. Just.....AAAGGGHHH!!!
Credit where it's due, the animation is very vibrant and colorful and the voice acting is great as always (might recommend the sub over dub this time since there are some line alterations on Funimation's part cause they are apparently more **woke** than ever). But that is not enough to make up for the irritating flaws it has.
I'm still giving it a 6 cause I wouldn't call it a ""bad"" anime. Just an anime I didn't care for in the end. I recommend you see it for yourself and decide whether you like it or not. Considering most of the reviews are positive, this one will likely be (and stay) and outlier. It probably won't even be read by that many people.
Give it a go if you want. You'll probably get more out of Bofuri than I did. And that's great! I really am glad people are enjoying things I don't care for as much.
But Bofuri was ultimately swing-and-a-miss for me