Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post. Hope you all are safe from the COVID-19 and having a great day. I thought this was another Mirai Nikki clone but man, this is some good stuff. SPOILERS FOR EPISODE ONE AHEAD. SPOILERS.
The story is about a NEET Sakomoto Ryouta living with his mother Yukie. Being a good gamer since he spends all his time playing games, Sakomoto is the top player in Japan and one of the top ten players in the entire world. Unlike most battle royale games, Btooom! works a different way, instead of guns, the players are given bombs of different types to use as they see fit for the game. One day Sakomoto finds himself in a jungle, with a chip implanted in his right hand and having no memory of how he got there. He finds that all he has is a pouch and his bag, the pouch containing bombs used in BTOOOM! Sakomoto soon finds out that he is on an island and that other people are with him on the island who are using different kinds of bombs all used in the BTOOOM! game. Now having to fight against opponents in a real life game of BTOOOM!, Sakomoto needs to finds out how he got the island and why he was selected while making alliances and dealing with treachery in a game where the only way to go home is to kill.
The characters introduced to us are wide and well written with every character having a good backstory and motivations for why they want to go home while also having the darkness within them that sent them to the island in the first place. Our NEET dropout Sakomoto Ryouta is the main character and one whom you’ll either love at first glance and be a fan throughout or you’ll hate him first and then become his fan as you see him progress in game. Yes he is a barely likeable character at first but as he grows he becomes much more likable not to mention his battle genius is something that will leave you in awe. There’s Himiko who shares a previous connection with Sakomoto from BTOOOM! and considers that she has come to the island due to her sin, her character arc is all about forgiveness of the self which is not discussed much (Maybe it will in the manga, I’ll have to see). There’s Taira who is anxious and afraid of being left behind, Kira (not the Death Note one) who is a psychopath and really dangerous. The show only focuses on few characters with most dying fairly early on but everyone gets a nice backstory and that’s amazing.
The anime shines in its combat no questions asked. The sheer intensity of every battle, the strategies, the lies and deception will all make you sit at the edge of your seat. Even though I thought that combat would be boring due to the use of only bombs but the way the different bombs are used by different people in creative ways is amazing to watch. There’s nice music as well because the opening and ending is something you won’t skip, there’s also this great sense of mystery about what is truly going on and while it gets lost sometimes in the character relationships and action, it’s always a major plot point and very well done.
The anime is really about survival, would you kill others if it meant survival ? or would you stick to your morals even at the cost of your own life ? That is what Btooom is about in a broad sense, while there are people like Sakomoto who play the game anyway hoping that they’re fighting against the ‘bad guys’ he too needs to decide between morals and survival at a point in the story, there’s also others who want to stick to morals but end up killing anyway because they have to survive, they succumb to their baser human instinct. The lesson that you can pull from this is that its easy to have morals when it’s not hard and everything is easy sailing but when things get tough and you have to make the choice, we must learn to not give in to despair and compromise our morals like Sakomoto did at the end of the anime. ‘We train ourselves in times of peace so that we can be sane in the times of war’ is a simple quote to sum it up.
The finale is amazingly well done, it’s a nice battle where strategies and wits come into play but the real reason that it is so hard hitting is that its emotional, (I won’t spoil anything more with my big mouth). It’s a nice finale that leaves you craving for more which actually applies to the entire 12 episode anime which means that I’ most likely going to jump into the manga so, stay on the lookout for a manga review post.
Rap section:
NEET Sakomoto playing games all damn day,
When asked to get a job he just says stay away,
He’s been a leech too long now he has to pay,
Now in the real world this game he has to play.
Ain’t no normal game you gotta use bombs,
You gotta play the game even if you got qualms,
Doesn’t matter who it is commner or crime dons,
You have to kill people with the bombs in your palms.
Sakomoto making friends tryna get out alive,
Teaming up with others just to survive,
Trapped too far out no help’s gonna arrive,
Now forced to kill will he choose or decline.
People are traitors he can’t just assume,
Who’s friend and who’s foe the doubt us gonna consume,
And if he makes the wrong choice he’s destined for doom,
Welcome to the game this is called BTOOOM!
So that is it for this post guys hope you got some value from this. Thank you guys for reading to the end hit me up on Instagram and Twitter with your thoughts and if you have any ideas on what I should write about. Stay safe from the COVID-19. Thank you again and I’ll see you all next week.
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