Japanese Title: Bouken Ou Beet (& Exelion)

 

Similar: Ragnarok

Sword Art Online

 

Watched in: Japanese

Genre: Battle Action Adventure

Length: 77 episodes (2 seasons)

 

Positives:

• Nothing

Against:

• Art is flat and lacklustre with a low frame rate.
• Battles are lame and empty, yet drawn out where yelling grants power.
• Ability casting sequences look ridiculous.
• Stupid characters with dumb names; protagonist in particular with a voice of poison to your eardrums.
• Opening sequences will fry your brain.
• Minimal effort in show’s creation.
• Lip-sync hardly matches the dialogue.
• Electricity freezes things?
• Too often, sound effects won’t match what is on screen.

You never imagine that a show with more than one season could be this bad. You think to yourself, at worst it will be so-so, something forgettable. Then Beet the Vandel Buster comes along ready to shatter all your notions about quality. This show is bad, atrocious even.

Where to start?

The plot: this is your typical battle anime. Protagonist Beet and his gang of Busters face Vandels (demons trying to rule the world), each encounter lasting several episodes before they repeat the process with a different enemy. Oh, there’s an EXP and levelling system from RPGs in this as well, though it doesn’t do anything of importance. Action is repetitive and formulaic: villain shows up to boast about how powerful he is, hero proves him wrong, but no, the villain has a trick that nearly kills the hero, then, oh wait, I shall yell to get super powerful. I win. Yes, yelling in this show makes you powerful. If tied down, no matter how tightly, yells will give Beet the strength to break free. You may think this is a power contrivance, but it’s a mercy compared to having to watch the ridiculous weapon summon animation for his idiotic sword every episode coupled with the static attack sequences – streaked background fights everywhere.

The overall story starts and ends with little more than defeat of some demon before they fight the next. It would at least be enjoyable if the fights were worth mention; however, they are so empty and without strategy that you long for Beet to just yell his way to victory. Unfortunately, you have to endure episode after episode of the same dragged out fight until you give in and just end your life right there. Ability power is inconsistent, as sometimes a skill will instant kill, where other times it just scratches creatures of similar power. Also, electricity freezes targets? And bullets don’t do what bullets do, as in, they don’t kill…or cause any real damage…and can be dodged by running at slower than human speeds… Forget about physics. When convenient, gravity seems non-existent, then it returns stronger than normal, when convenient, to make up for any earlier absence.

It doesn’t help that the characters are so unlikable to the point of irritation. There is Beet the brat who yells too much and somehow wins fights despite being the stupidest person alive. He gets one of the strongest Buster teams killed within the second episode and is rewarded with a Deus-ex Machina of no-consequence power for his ass-hattery. Expect to see plenty of cliché yelling-to-the-sky-with-closed-eyes moments from him – I think they are supposed to make you care about the character…I’m not sure…I just want him to burn.

The rest of his crew is as clichéd. Poala, his childhood friend, is your typical violent tsundere to Beet. Next, we have Milfa (I do not joke about these names), who is either old enough to match her physical stature, and thus a paedophile, or is an extremely sexualised early teen girl. And finally, to round off this band of banality is Kiss, a blonde boy who specialises in spellcasting and nothing of use. Again, not joking about the name. This doesn’t need to be said at this point, but if I must: There is no character development.

As much effort into the art as into the plot – flat, no depth, and the most you see is one-tone shading. It is hard to say if the sound design is worse or better than art. The voice work is lifeless or generic for most characters, except Beet, always the exception, who has quite possibly the worst voice in anime history. You know, I think we could mount a case for aural assault after hearing him. He couldn’t be any more obnoxious. No voice is skilled or suited to the role. That said, Beet is so atrocious that he eclipses them all with his awfulness. I don’t know if one should be thankful or horrified…

The ear murder doesn’t end there. After it is done yelling your eardrums into pulp, it tops it off with lip-syncing that only fits the dialogue half the time, and sound effects that don’t match the action on screen. When a man lifts a boulder, you hear the sound of a rope under strain…seriously, who didn’t notice that error? An energy attack hitting an insect carapace makes the sound of two clashing swords…I mean really, how…just, how? These errors happen far too often to pass as innocent mistakes.

If by this point I haven’t convinced you that this is a bad anime and you still want to watch it, then go right ahead. I won’t stop you; my conscience is clear now that you have been warned. Everything about Beet the Vandel Buster is atrocious. Stay away.

Art – Very Low

Lifeless art and too few frames leaves you thinking this was a waste of colour in this world. Half the time characters don’t even animate. Sliding across the screen is how it works these days, apparently.

Sound – Very Low

Voices to make your ears bleed. SFX chosen with a dartboard.

Story – Very Low

Repetitive battles filled with Deus-ex Machina moments and no development.

Overall Quality – Very Low

Recommendation: If you watch Beet the Vandel Buster, Beet will turn you into a drooling idiot before long. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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Awards: (hover mouse over each award to see descriptions; click award for more recipients)

Positive: None

Negative: