Mushibugyo Anime review

Oh Mushibugyo, it's sorta like attack on titan with bugs. Oh alright that last sentence was really just so i could tag attack on titan in this post, but my analogy is...wrong, it's wrong. Okay Let's try again Mushibugyo is a 2013 shonen anime where a hundred years ago bugs appeared and killed everyone, who the hell cares, we all know what we came here for!  



Mushibugyo is...well hmmm. After trashing Freezing for its explicit idiotic and godamn annoying fan-service, I can't exactly go in here singing this anime's praises now can I? Except I can! As far as shonen anime go I gotta say, i enjoyed my time with Mushibugyo. It's not deep, it's not tactical, but it is plain, dumb fun.

Story- Story? In a shonen Anime?! You crack me up! Really though, plot in shonens is a rare beast. You have to go hunting in the wilds of obscure anime, and believe me it's a place that few venture. the other thing is that even if a shonnen anime has a good plot, the chances of it keeping it interesting to have the viewer keep watching the show are like hitting jackpot in a slot-machine, okay maybe not that bad, but still! this is because if any kind of shonen anime gets popular they become a 100+ affair. This may get a little of topic, but hear me out. Like a lot of anime fans, i don't have a lot of time to watch anime every week. So therefore, if I'm going to spend my time staring at a bright little screen watching something, it has to firstly, keep me entertained, and more importantly, not waste my time. Even in slice of life anime, more happens than in a shonen. Most shonen are 80% talking about an awesome super move, 5% actually doing it, and the rest being the characters acting surprised as metal clashing sounds appear as shocked faces fill the screen like bunch of sharks in a feeding frenzy. Many other anime do what these anime do in a much shorter time. Take Naruto for example. In the eight episodes it took for Sakura to defeat doll-face or whatever his name was, Attack on titan had already established characters, developed them, and finished two consecutive plot arcs, with another one half-way through. Not to say that Naruto's the exception. The same can be said about Bleach, Gintama, Reborn, definitely one-peice, and totally Case-Closed, which isn't even a shonen and has enough episodes to make an opera marathon look short.  So here we go with the actual review. The plot in a nutshell. Bugs fight humans. No-one knows where they came from. Humans fight back. The end. 

It's like jaws the anime!

When i say that this is only a flesh wound I really mean it.

Animation-Well if you're wearing sunglasses just so you can rip the off, while spouting something to do with mother and god, well you've come to the wrong place. Don't get me wrong Mushibugyo looks good, but not where it should excel, the fight scenes. Some are pretty awesome, where i really feel engaged with what is going on while others are just a bunch of streaked line clinging to a character's fist/katana/kamehameha, like it was a freaking magnet or something. Killing the first few insects was about as easy as beating Contra without losing a single life. Oh and yes, I am also talking about playing with your dick friend, who loves to jump on ahead of you. Later though, the protagonists are like freaking janitors, sweeping insects up left and right. Oh and really there is absolutely no need to worry when Tsukishima, the main character, takes a hit. More often then not he lies down surprised for a few minutes, takes a nap for a few minutes, keeps his eyes closed for a effect and then stands up again, like an asshole. Thanks for worrying about me guys! Though it seems as though taking katanas through the gut has become something of a regular routine, so I'm good. Now we get to the fanservice,  ho ho ho, I don't think it's that bad. No, i really don't. After seeing something like freezing, this looks like Mr. Smith goes to Washington. No, in all seriousness, the anime isn't that bad in terms of fanservice. Yes it has it, but believe me when I say that the manga is much, much worse. The fact of the matter, is that the fan-service is always lighthearted, and never detracts from the battle scenes or tense moments. Now some positive things. Yes i have positive things to say about this anime, my username is Posi for a reason. the backgrounds look stunning, and the alternate Edo is well realized. Oh and if i hadn't mentioned it before, not all the fight-scenes are bad. In fact, I gotta say, at some points I was tempted to run to the store buy some sunglasses and rip them off. One in particular was when a gigantic insect marched into town, leading to a battle of such scale, that my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time. Another plus for the animation is the character designs, they're all really interesting. They look cool. I mean the art style in general is unique, even with said flaws.

Try to argue with me I dare you

Sound-in terms of sound, the anime has a lot going for it. For one thing it mixes rock, standard OST, with traditional Japanese music! What a shock! I would show you said soundtrack, but apparently the anime is too unknown for anyone to upload it! The Openings are pretty good, and props given to them for an amazing second ending. Voice acting is good around the board, but standouts are Tsukishima and Koikawa.  Tsukishima how to describe him...Well hmm Picture the most polite hyperactive six-year old with the energy supply of a fusion reactor. I mean the guy's so freaking polite, you could forclose his house, punch him in the face, and maybe chop a few onions for good measure and his smile will continue to be as big the Grand Canyon. It seems like nowadays it's cool to have the cool detached antisocial types, who can't seem to get over the fact that their parents died, like twenty years ago. So to see a character that is a walking mexican jumping bean is a good change of pace. yes at first it seems he's going to be pretty damn annoying, but he grows on you. He's always so polite, always giving people the benefit of the doubt. Sorta like a certain another overpowered spiky haired individual.

Those eye-brows...

Characters-- Okay so i just realized that part of the paragraph above should've been here, but whatever. Anyhow, Tsukishima is so much fun. I mean i really enjoyed all of the scenes he was in, simply because he was so energetic. Something else that is really unique about him is that he's weak. He gets his ass kicked multiple times throughout the series. I mean I mean i'd call him punching bag except that somewhere along the line he becomes what every shonen character ever always becomes: Chuck Norris. It is fun to see his progression throughout the series, as he gradually becomes stronger and stronger, to the point where he can hold his own. Oh and he doesn't use the super shonen power-up that often, only about two times during the series. In fact unlike a lot of anime which hint at a character's latent BFG abilities, Tsukishima goes through most of the series without such hints. There are other characters, such as the girl with big breasts, the guy who likes disipline, the guy who cuts stuff up, and many more. Character development is present in this show, which was kind of surprising. I can't say more because of spoilers, but it's there.

So, it seemed like I criticized this anime a lot. That is true. However, I can't help but say that i enjoyed my time with this anime. I had a lot of fun. Though I can don my spectacles, top hat, and start swirling brandy while spouting things like "What an incredulous piece of garbage, i have absolutely no clue where this industry is headed, Plot hole Plot hole Plot hole" I don't want to. In the end anime is supposed to entertain, and Mushibugyo did. So this gets a recommendation from me!

As always likes, follows and stuff is always much appreciated! Thanks for reading and I'll see ya next time!