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BTOOOM! Episode 1 Micro-Review

By on October 5, 2012

Minor Spoilers Ahead

We’ve seen this formula a few times already. You know, the one where a virtual game becomes deadly serious. The story follows Ryūta — a 22-year-old N.E.E.T. who spends all of his time in the virtual world. BTOOOM! takes the best players from a game of the same name (Ryūta is #10), places them on an island, and now they have to kill each other with special bombs. It’s Bomberman on crack and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

Madhouse is doing the animation so you know you’re in for a treat. Its art style is similar to the one found in High School of the Dead. It’s polished, but lacks the distracting over produced gloss of some of its peers.

Ryūta is beyond unlikable. He treats his mom like shit, acts like a big shot in the virtual world, but as soon as the game gets real he turns into a coward. Sigh, he’s like your average Xbox Live gamer (zing). He’ll change over time, but it’s hard to overlook the clichéd plot. We’ve seen this in Battle Royale, Deadman Wonderland, Mirai Nikki, Sword Art Online, etc. It’s an oppressive blood sport in a sea of oppressive blood sports.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this episode — BTOOOM! has some potential. I just need something besides the promise of more bloodshed to keep me watching. (Rating: 7/10)

Update 10/13/12: Do to time restraints I decided to drop BTOOOM! (Micro-Reviews). I’ll still watch the show, though, and if it gets better you can expect to see it on my Top 10 list come the end of the season.

I'm DeShaun Zollicoffer, and I approve this message/bio. "26-years-old, Proud Northeast Ohioan, a Gamer Without Loyalties, an Equal Opportunity Offender, Apple Evangelist, Apple Hater, Music Lover, Anime Junkie, Little Monster, Frequent Flyer, Dexter Fanatic, Title Case Addict, and Geek Revolt's Founder and Editorial Director."
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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000172099718 Dominic Hunter

    I read some of the manga for this one, upon hearing that it was getting an adaptation, and it seems a lot like (if you’ve ever heard of it) Battle Royal (if not, think Hunger Games with 10x violence), where there’s a lot of drama and psychological conflict between the bloodbaths.

    At the very least, it’s interesting, though I don’t know if that’s going to hold me for a whole season.

    • http://www.geekrevolt.com/ DeShaun Zollicoffer

      Same here, it really needs to bring something new to the table.