Blade & Soul is an anime adapted from a game from Korea. The anime, directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki and Hiroshi Takeuchi, was created at Gonzo’s studio in 13 episodes. The anime itself aired from April 3, 2014 to June 26, 2014, on several channels including TBS, HBC, RKB, MBS, CBC, TBS Channel 1, BS-TBS.

Title : Blade & Soul
Release Date : April 4, 2014
Episodes : 13
Duration : 24 Minutes per Eps
Genre : Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Martial Arts
Story Source : Game
Studio : Gonzo

Synopsis
Aruka is an assassin in the Sword Clan. He goes on a journey to find a woman named Jin Valel, who killed her master Hon. Jin is a demonic woman who can control Chaos Energy and kill without mercy. On his journey, Aruka meets three strange women, each of whom is an assassin who went against the wishes of his master and left the life of an assassin in his past.

Storyline
As I said above, this anime is adapted from a Korean online MMORPG game “Blade & Soul”. Indeed, almost all online games have been successfully turned into an anime story, one of which is the Blade & Soul anime. Although from the beginning the story did look rushed like a collection of game footage put together, even so I can’t deny that this anime has its own charm. The episodes are really painful, there are only 13, but after arriving at episode 11, it looks too long.

Character
For the character is not too interesting for me. The design seems old school and lacks workmanship. Moreover, those made-up oppai make me lazy to watch (pettan is justice, lol). However, Alka’s character is quite interesting in my opinion, her innocent and heartless personality when killing makes her look cool.

Art
I am attracted by the animation which is quite exciting. Especially when the owner of the inn dances, it’s like watching a 3D show, not an anime. Although it is less stable when in certain angles so that the image quality is not good, but for me, what is important when fighting is that the image quality must be good, because this is the main point of anime with the Martial Arts genre.

Ost
For sound, it’s good. BGM that is tense in the battle scene, BGM that is slow when the scene is sad, and so on is appropriate, and adds to the enjoyment of the story. For the Opening there is “Sayonara Usotsuki” (サヨナラ嘘ツキ?) by MimimemeMIMI which sounds pleasant to the ears and quite precious to collect. While the Ending section we can listen to “RAINBOW” by LEGO BIG MORL.

Overall
Storyline : 7 / 10
Character : 7 / 10
Art : 7.8 / 10
Ost : 8.5 / 10
Blade & Soul : 7.6 / 10

This anime is not recommended for those of you who want something entertaining after work. It’s different again if you are not easily bored and patient with characters who from beginning to end are mostly silent, this anime is the answer.