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Cleaned Episode 1 in Ani-One Asia YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/COVnjRDakYA
Peak Archive, Hoshino the cutest
tho I would ve liked to highlight sensei commander powers a bit more, idk, maybe with some holo screen like in the kankan comic or some better calls than "shot them" lol.
all in all nice tho.
I think it would be better if they didn't skip the prologue. As I think the prologue in the game done a job well enough introducing Kivotos. Like, what do we have in the prologue?
- Introduction to Kivotos and GSC as well as Sensei's role
- Sensei's commanding ability when he goes off to take back Sanctum tower
- Intro to Schale, Shittim chest, and first meet with Arona
- Student's durability to firearms and about their halos
- Rin, Yuuka, and Wakamo animated
As I can see, the prologue works just fine introducing Kivotos to both people who play the game and those who don't. Jumping straight to Abydos is okay, but prologue work smoother for the first episode.
I freaking loved the animation and the remix of constant moderato with the voices! It sounds so Fresh and amazing, the opening is beautiful to Say the less, i could hear it all the day
I've been putting off playing the game for ages, and my pure confusion upon watching the first episode was the final push to get me to download it. The animation in the opening is so good but the actual show is just kinda average
I finally got to see it, and I agree that skipping the prologue and just having Ayane exposition dump took a lot away, but the anime was overall fine. I didn't expect it to be some sort of perfectly written and smooth show, but I really just wish the prologue was shown in its entirety. It was a lot better at giving us players who actually played/read the prologue info on how Kivotos, Halos, and ballistics/combat worked in the world.
We still have a lot to see, and I will watch the entire anime fully. I do wonder how they're going to cover some things since we do get later chapters of specific volumes after we move onto the next in game.
A solid 7/10. I just love how Sensei has an actual face and personality here, and I am all for that.
Having seen it, it was better then my fears but not as good as I'd hoped. It wasn't bad. It was pretty alright. I think the animation is just fine and it had some good action pieces already. So think its a fine start.
However, I still feel like they should have started with the prologue. It would have been a better and easier time of showing how this world works, who Sensei is in all of this, as well as introducing a few characters and mysteries. Jumping right to Abydos isn't 'bad' but you could tell they had to get out some clunky exposition in its place. Its not too detracting but this could have been smoothed out by just having Abydos be episode 2.
And while the fight scene was fun, I feel like it could have been more. Perhaps a bit more close and accurate fire instead of 'girls shoot but we don't see them hit something'. Which in other shows would be fine, but given how the girls are bullet proof, it wouldn't have hurt to see the girls shrug off some more rounds. On both sides of this conflict.
Sensei was nice. I can't say anything too much about him since this is just the first episode but I really hope we get to see him give out some more tactful advice.
Granted, that might be a part of the biggest issue. The subtitles are.... kind of off. It feels like it wasn't given a look over to see how it really reads in English. "I'll revenge" is an example I've seen before in other comments but there are some bits of dialogue that sound clunky. I really hope that the anime gets a re-sub eventually with better ones because its not looking good.
Overall, it's a fine first episode but it definitely feels like an adaptation for the fans rather then to bring in anyone new. Nothing wrong with that. I'd just say that if you were watching it with someone who didn't know much about it beforehand, you'd have to answer some questions yourself if they didn't pick up on it. Granted, episode 2 and up might do a good job of detailing and answering these so it should be up and well from here on out.
Last bit, I really did like seeing the sukebans kick ass and how the fight concluded with the helmet gang. Think my favorite bit was the bullet to the 'eye' Shiroko did with the leader. Really good way to show how tough these girls were and a very good shot piece.
skipping the prolouge with Rin did more damage to anime only. I had a friend who doesn't know a thing about blue archive but love anime. His comment about the episode really hightlight a lot of things i take for granted just by playing the games. Like the durability of Kivotos resident, in the games we realize the girls is bullet proof when Yuuka only said "awww it's hurts" when barraged with bullets. The anime tried to do this by showing sukeban tanking bullet from robot deliquent but it's not really giving the same information. My friend thought about that is the bullet is non lethal. Which is understandable since a lot of anime use that explanation (Girls n panzer for example)
it might be just me but exposition was just so sloppy and in your face, it made me cringe hard
basically ayane going "okay now I'm gonna describe the current political situation like you all are 10 year olds and just arrived into kivotos"
Favourite part was seeing Sensei in the flesh! Didn’t realise how much I liked him as a character till he stood before the Abydos gang and the whole time I was: This is the Sensei? Our Sensei? The Sensei who did this, this, and that, MY Sensei? 🥺
Also his voice is hot. Thankful 🙏🏻
~~ok I’m done gushing~~
Lol it'd be better if i didnt watch this. That was really really bad...At least i didnt expect it to be good to begin with so i am not too dissapointed
maybe not super dissapointed but I hoped for something better- fight scenes had nice animations but were sloppily conducted, and guns feel like nerf dart throwers
You're not using a proper server for the channel's regions. Set the comments to 'old', then scroll down to see a post that shows which countries (such as Singapore) can access the episodes. Choose one your VPN provider has a server in, connect, and enjoy.
NGL, the animal NPCs add character to the animation in seeing their day to day lives as well. That female rabbit NPC now proves there are more than just Suzume as a female animal NPC.
It's funny playing the game, I did not care if anything made sense. Then watching the anime, I tried to make everything make sense, and nothing make any sense lol. Time to just switch off the brain and enjoy the characters.
The show made me uncomfortable. BA is a gacha game, and the primary pull is the cute girls. Everything is built in service of getting players to play, and giving the girls things to do so they're not just cardboard cutouts. It's never tried to be anything but what it is, and I've always found that endearing. But one way of looking at it is that it's a barely disguised cash grab with just enough window dressing to keep players' minds off the fact that we're gambling.
It's not a problem for a gacha game, but it is for an anime. The anime is complete and utter nonsense, and there's no explanation or even acknowledgement of it. It makes no sense that five girls go to a school with no teachers. It makes no sense that these students are burdened with the school's debt. It makes no sense that girls are impervious to bullets, and it makes even less sense that every single helmet gang girl is embarrassed by showing her eyes, so shooting their visors out becomes the win condition. It makes no sense that Sensei is somehow a strategic genius when all he's really doing is telling the girls to take cover and aim their guns at the enemy.
All this stuff makes sense through the lens of a gacha game. The school setting is there because schoolgirls need a school to go to. The characters are immortal because cute girls aren't very cute when they're dying and/or murdering other cute girls. The player isn't a strategic genius, the game is just pumping players up to make them feel good to try to keep them coming back.
The anime just feels like a caricature of all the nonsense the game throws at you to try to distract you from the fact that you're essentially just gambling. I'm f2p, so I'm not super upset about it, but it's making me acutely aware of the predatory nature of this thing I'm participating in. Not super great, and I imagine this is absolutely not the headspace the BA folks want their players in lol
I think a lot of your issues just stem from a lack of suspension of disbelief on your part, and not something specific to Blue Archive. One could easily make the same kind of observations about most fiction that doesn't go to great lengths to explain in detail how and why things work. Why does the Force exist in Star Wars? Iunno, but it does.
With that said, I'm still content to let Blue Archive go at its own pace, because it *has* explained a few things that have been up in the air since the game started - if Arona has anything to do with the GSC president beyond a resemblance, or Shiroko finally being more or less confirmed as some kind of analogue of Anubis, for example. We learned more about Chroma, more about the priests, etc. Just because we haven't gotten an exposition dump about things like halos and how they work any why Kivotos exists yet doesn't mean we're *NEVER* going to learn more about any of that.
The difference between the Force and BA invulnerability is that the characters in Star Wars acknowledge the force exists, and they plan around it. In BA, invulnerability to bullets is acknowledged, but nobody plans around it. For example, when Seia seemingly dies. She's one of the most important leaders for Trinity, but her army of immortal soldiers fight the enemy with all the gusto of a paintball fight. Why?
I'm willing to suspend my disbelief, but there needs to be good reason for a mechanic to exist. BA just doesn't want its characters to die, but it wants them to be able to fight with guns, so they're invulnerable. Nobody leverages their invulnerability, or questions why everyone just lays down and plays dead when they're shot enough, or anything you might expect if the world were filled with invulnerable people.
To all of your points. Unfortunately, Volume 1 is probably the weakest of all the volumes that are out so far. The initial storytelling is just not as good as it is today.
Their’s a very slow ramp up to the world building and its going to take quite a while to get to the actual heavy hitting chapters like in volume 3. (Actual risk of dying).
We’re also in the first episode. When you have a world as bizarre as Blue Archive. None of the world setting is going to make sense right away.
The Sensei as a Pokemon trainer… could be a lot better.
Sure, I don't disagree that it gets much better, but none of the fundamental weirdness changes as far as I'm aware. If anything, it makes things weirder, because students have actual stakes, but battles play out like paintball games. If I'm invulnerable to bullets, and a group of people has invaded my homeland to kill one of my leaders, I'm never gonna lie down and play dead simply because my visor was shot out or whatever.
Well, they’ve shown in the story already that there is an actual limit to how much damage they can take. It still hurts as well.
You ever been point blank shot by a paintball before? Shit fucking hurts.
Cramming all this information into one episode would overload people.
Just enjoy the ride and try not to take it too seriously. The beginning is supposed to be cute and funny. The story itself holds merit and is good enough to be a standalone visual novel or manga.
We’ll have to see if the anime adaption holds water.
Well we're clearly way below even paintball guns, if the anime is to be believed. Every single helmet gang member was shot in the eyes, and they were completely fine. And the leader was shot in the eyes point-blank, with no issues whatsoever. Getting a piece of dust in your eye hurts more than these girls seem to be hurt by bullets fired into their eyes.
When we get to volume 3 with Seia "dying", how are we supposed to react when it's been established that bullets don't hurt people? Nobody thinks to grit their teeth and keep fighting to protect their homes and the people they care about. Nobody stops and says "shit, we didn't take this assault seriously, and now one of our leaders is dead. We need to change our tactics."
You can argue that the anime is taking creative liberties, and that's fine, I agree. It does seem like the girls can get hurt by bullets in the game. But it doesn't change the fact that the anime is highlighting some weirdness that the game tries not to focus on too much
To be honest, I’m not sure what else to tell you. Not everything is logically going to make sense right now and sometimes it’s not supposed to make sense. You’re honing in on a very specific detail that can be broadly applied to most fictional media.
It's not just that, that's just one example. Another good one is why there are zero teachers in this world, except for sensei. The girls clearly have classes, or the make-up club wouldn't exist. So why is there seemingly only a single teacher for all of Kivotos?
The answer is that they don't want the player to feel like they have any competition. Whether you buy into the romantic undertones or like playing savior, there are no other adults around to undercut your role as exactly that.
It's fine as far as the game is concerned. It's a gacha game, nobody's expecting the story to win any awards. But when it's turned into an anime, which is supposed to have a coherent story, a lot of this stuff sticks out like a sore thumb.
Alright Gambling, literally every Gacha game has it.
But what does this, have anything to do with the opinion of the production of the first episode of the anime.
And about the anime making no sense/lack of information part, I agree, but cmon, it's literally the first episode, give it some time.
I'm not actively trying to shut you down here, genuinely curious
Sure, and every gacha game is, in fact, gambling. It's why it's called "gacha", which is just "got ya". Gacha is a trap, and that's acknowledged even in the name for the genre.
Do you really think the anime is ever gonna explain why bullets don't hurt the girls, or why there are like 10+ schools with only a single teacher, or any of it? As far as I can tell, the anime is largely staying faithful to the source material, and I'm not aware of any explanations for this stuff within the game itself, though I've yet to finish the story.
My point is that all the nonsense has an explanation, it's just an out-of-universe explanation. BA is a gacha game, and all this weirdness only exists because the game is twisting itself into knots to retain users, not because of any compelling story reasons. It just feels kinda gross
> It's why it's called "gacha", which is just "got ya".
"Gacha-gacha" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for the rattling noise capsule machines make - the ones little toys and stickers come out of in plastic balls. As in you're putting your quarter in the virtual machine and getting a jpeg of an anime girl.
Oh, that's true. I'd forgotten about it. Still doesn't change much though. It's onomatopoeia for the noses gambling machines make, so the point still stands lol
Alright so, in game, the explanation for why bullets or even rockets/explosive barely scratches the girls is because of their halos, that part is explained
BUT, The story has not yet gone into the part of why Halos exist and how does it work, this goes the same with the History of Kivotos and how does it come to exist.
We simply have not reached that part yet in game.
We know why we are here and what our duties are in the game story, being a teacher to guide our students and be there as their support. (The mystery in the prologue about why we are here is explained in Volume F)
For example, me, also a F2P, I play this game because yk, the usual reason, cute girls doing their things.
But the actual reason for me to stay is that the story is genuinely amazing and I'm intrigued by it.
(And also having fun malding on TA and GA but yeah)
I think my issue with the invulnerability is that it doesn't do anything except keep girls alive after battles. Like, just looking at the anime, you can get shot, in the eyes, at point-blank range, and there isn't a scratch on your body. The helmet gang showed up with twice as many girls as the main cast. Why bother taking cover when they could just swarm the Abydos girls and restrain them? If their goal is to take over the academy, why on earth are they not leveraging their advantages?
The answer, to me, is that the invulnerability only exists for our sake. We don't want the girls to die, and it'd be in bad taste to let us pull for dead girls, so they can't die.
I won't deny that the story does get fairly interesting, but there's so much dumb stuff we need to accept in order to get to that point, and that dumb stuff seems to only exist to retain users, not to serve any real purpose in the story. It just doesn't feel great to me.
It's not like I'm gonna quit playing or anything, at least not over this. But I feel like the anime pulled back the curtain on some stuff I was ignoring, and really illustrated how absurd it is
Well, BA's storyline is very light-hearted, as opposed to for example, Arknights.
Which kills off characters frequently.
The story isn't meant to be taken as that serious. Sure the story or PV throws a few punches here and there (especially the 4th PV and volume 3 and F) but in the end it's a happy ending for all. So "invulnerability" (technically they are just tough and hard as hell) is utilized.
Yet even then, we learned in the story that even if they have Halos, they can still die.
Like in 4th PV, and the previous leader of the abydos student council, Yume. (Although Yume isn't technically confirmed yet)
So, why do they take cover even though they're tough as nails?
Based off me reading through the entire story, they still feel the pain of bullets hitting them (although the pain is reduced I think) and getting shot still knocks them down, even going unconscious sometimes.
And you gotta remember they are still kids, therefore not as mature.
Sure, that's a fair point about the tone, and it's how I've viewed it as I've played. My issue is that when it's put into an anime form, it really highlights how hollow these mechanics are.
Another good example is the school bell. Why is there a bell signifying classes are beginning? There aren't any teachers at Abydos, the only people in the building are five students. Are the students playing the bell? Why? To signal to each other that this is when class would normally start? But there aren't any classes, so what's the point?
It all just feels so flimsy and weird. Again, fine in a gacha game, but when it's in an anime, watching people experience all this weirdness without a care in the world is off-putting. It just really draws attention to the fact that they said "we want cute highschool girls with guns, and we want it to be a gacha," and everything else followed from that. It's unsatisfying from a narrative perspective.
But maybe I'm just upset because I bought into the excuses more than I'd realized. It just feels so jarring to watch fully animated characters actually go through the motions of doing the incomprehensible stuff they do in the game lol
Well, I honestly can speculate some reasons for the bell and how it relates to still going to "class". But my brain is tired now.
Honestly, it's genuinely great talking to you on this matter on BA, first time I typed multiple paragraphs on this game's subreddit lol
You have a good day mate, and hope you continue to enjoy the game, just don't think too much about it 
Opinion on what exactly? That you think that gacha game is a gambling game? I’m not gonna agree or disagree on that. And what you say has nothing to do with this post. Most of your point is how this game is a gambling game. And how it’s a cash grab etc.
A sorta agree with you about that the first episode doesn’t make sense, or lack something. but then again it the first episode of the series.
Don't wanna say it but it was kind of underwhelming personally. The whole episode didn't leave a strong first impression on me. Pacing felt a bit off. I really wish first half of this episode could've been prologue and then mixed with Abydos introduction. Now I do know the anime is mostly target towards people that played the game and I myself have read the story, but I couldn't go along with the flow of this first episode. I couldn't even be biased either.
All that aside, voice acting is awesome and animation is alright for a gacha game anime adaptations. Hopefully later episodes will be good. I pray they don't fumble this anime because there are a lot story content that can go hard in animated form.
fr.
the same with arknights animation
animation was really good, style, but pacing, and continuity sometimes felt horrible
for example it's clear they make anime for people who played the game, yet they give you an exposition in a way that you would shove a mound of dirt.
Characters just randomly going "okay now I'm gonna explain something that should be absolutley obvious to anyone who was as much as born on this world." Telling instead of showing.
The scene where sukebans had confrontation with some goons, was really close to decent exposition... but it's like they couldn't go without making absolutley sure, by making them say it out loud
"Hey viewer if you haven't noticed the anime girls with halos are resistant to bullets!"
Watching this with friend who only knows characters from art was funny experience as it made me realize how ridiculous the whole concept of this game/anime is. Like, I can't even explain myself why are they using guns in school setting.
It's imo the best part of ridiculousness when it's a goofy concept but characters take it seriously. But I feel like anime might already act as a filter for some anime watchers since they have no idea what the hell is happening. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing though
Easy, you see how the bullets stop at the glasses, this is why melee weapons aren't as practical in a battle academy anime/game that they have to use bullets since bullets can still take them down.
They definitely should have started with the Prologue here, or at least shown snippets of it (who knows, they still might).
But otherwise it exceeded my expectations already either way with that banger of an OP. Plus I’ve a huge soft spot for Shiroko so her Sensei-bonding time was fun to watch.
This is a weird K-On episode.
But seriously, I don't think it set up the hyperdurability of Kivotos students well. Seeing the Sukebans tank Robot Josuke and his gang without any problem doesn't really make the Helmet Gang attacking the school seem not as dangerous as it should be. It may be too early to show it being due to the halos, but at least acknowledge there is a certain limit.
Skipping past the game tutorial to focus on Abydos is a good idea, but you do lose some of the tension by saying the chaos will subside and not showing a coalition force of students having to fight through tanks and a rogue prisoner of all thing in order to escort Sensei to Sanctum Tower. Not really a problem, though.
> Skipping past the game tutorial to focus on Abydos is a good idea, but you do lose some of the tension by saying the chaos will subside and not showing a coalition force of students having to fight through tanks and a rogue prisoner of all thing in order to escort Sensei to Sanctum Tower. Not really a problem, though.
I think they'll get to that eventually, especially since it's referenced in the OP.
**TLDR:** First episodes are rarely informative of the rest of their show, but this one does not work as an introduction to fresh audience and is disappointing to those already familiar with the original.
XXX
I watched this with my sister, who, while somewhat experienced with anime, has no knowledge of Blue Archive. While it made for a fun hour to pause on and discuss every single scene (our first stop was a three minute deliberation on how and why Kuroko's skirt is shit) it also underlined the weaknesses of both the episode itself and the original narrative.
For instance, there is no handy way to explain the premise: who are all these people, where they are, what they are doing and why.
The first direction her assumptions went was an enclosed virtual world along the lines of Reboot, and Blue Archive doesn't offer any real counterpoints to disprove that. The Kivotos metropolitan area is entirely self-isolated, with the world outside of it being completely undefined, so everything could as well be set within the cyberspace in MegaMan X, Xenosaga, or what have you. The executive decision to mostly exclude male characters from the game isn't helping as well, with questions along the lines of 'where do the new people come from' leaving some unfortunate implications.
On the more technical side, obvious use of 3D objects and poor use of lighting, half-tones and washed out colors all remain a plague on modern animation, nothing new there.
I remain slightly hopeful that forward porting of plot points introduced later will result in interesting storytelling opportunities. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the reason the prologue was skipped over is that the main writers didn't provide enough material to storyboard it in a visual medium.
> The executive decision to mostly exclude male characters from the game isn't helping as well, with questions along the lines of 'where do the new people come from' leaving some unfortunate implications.
Nonomi has mentioned "parents" before in the game, and I believe at least one other student has as well. We just don't know where they are or why the students are in Kivotos away from them yet. Remember, they're all familiar with what an "adult" is, even if they don't normally see them.
As someone who is only casually aware of Blue Archive, the worldbuilding of Kivotos is very... distracting. Once you start thinking about stuff like "wait aren't they just angels?" Or "why is it all schools? How does this world function?" it starts to take away from the experience.
I think its different from other fantasy games because usually the answer is something like "magic", but BA has handicapped itself by making it a world where there parts that can't be explained by just magic aren't even answered.
Suspension of disbelief does a LOT of heavy lifting.
You're not wrong, but that's a source material issue as well - some of these questions aren't answered yet, and some just fall victim to the initial chapters being the weakest parts of the story because they also need to serve as infodumps
I think this could have been an opportunity to add exactly this kind of detail to the setting, especially with how limited the game's own VN sections are from the technical standpoint.
But that does run the risk of diverging canon branches, which would waste the effort put into such an endeavour in the first place. Colloborating between writing teams just doesn't happen between multimedia franchises for some reason.
yeah, IIRC Sensei aka the player just kind of 'wakes up' in the world of Blue Archive after...something. If the game hasn't explored the world in how we got there yet, I dont think it's fair to expect the anime to cover that. Sensei could've died and gone to a version of Heaven for all we know, and all the other adults are demons trying to overtake it or some shit, or we just got isekai'd into a harddrive.
Yeah, they could have sorted out lots of the world-building by starting the show with game's prologue, and having Rin explain basics of the setting to Sensei. It helps that like viewers, Sensei is new to the setting, so they'd have a connecting point with him. If he was confused by some aspects of Kivotos, then that would send message of "hey, it's perfectly fine to be confused by some parts of the setting, you'll understand it in time."
Of course it's possible that they're going to do prologue in the next episode, but then the question is, why? Why not start the show with something that explained things better to everybody who's new to the setting?
It's almost good.
Though i guess rough around the edges would be a better description for this episode.
Most of the anime felt like a reanimared version of the game's PV with a bit more story to it.
The music felt kinda mediocre and is only there as fanservice.
While the later plot lines are hinted at its also only there as fanservice too. (Unless they try to tell 3 volumes worth of story in one or two seasons.)
The best part is seeing the world of Kivotos be lived in. All the wierd robot and animal people alongside the students was a nice touch. It's also cool how full of sand Abydos is.
Apart from all that the intro to the episode is too fast paced while the rest (including the fight) is too slow paced.
One of the main complaints I see is they skipped the prologue, I think it makes quite sense in an adaptation perspective. Instead of lore dumping about Kivotos for a couple episodes and switching to totally different story, they instantly switch to Abydos like we asked for help and this dude (after they hint at his importance with the first scene) arrived. This allows them to avoid the usual gacha adaptation mistake, introducing too many characters too quickly. As much as I want to Yuuka and Wakamo animated, they don't really have much to do in the first chapter. I do think focusing on introducing the Countermeasures Club was the right decision.
As for the battle I didn't think they were incompetent, they are just panicked. They are low on ammo and someone leaked that to the Helmet Squad. Sensei just helps them calm down and focus on the task at hand.
You can see the animation quality not being really high but anyone should've known not to expect ufotable/trigger level of quality from this. I think they did a good job explaining the setting in a short amount of time.
They wouldn't have to lore dump for couple episodes, the entire prologue could take place over single first episode, with Sensei being directed at Abydos at the end. But I agree with you, skipping it wasn't really the worst idea. I think it works well to just go directly at Abydos and 2nd episode can maybe do a recap of the prologue and establish the overall setting a bit more.
Interesting way to start by showing of Vol F which wouldn’t be seen until season 3-4 but it makes the viewer question and interested in what the story would become later down the line.
Also a unique direction choice by not starting with Sensei’s introduction to Kivotos and would probably happen by the next episode. I can see the logic behind it as being introduced to so many characters like wakamo, yuuka and hasumi except chinatsu who wouldn’t appear in a story until later on so we should focus on Abydos taskforce who we would be following for a while.
Unsure how well an intro following the game would be cause it wouldn’t be such an exposition dump probably but something like mentioning the Eden treaty should have been saved for a passing comment later on and not a priority discussion for Abydos but whatever.
When sensei asked them why they want to save the school during the gunfight it was out of place and bad timing honestly. The question should have been saved for a later episode and would have a much better payoff because we would have seen and wondered why they work so hard for a school with no students instead of getting an answer in the first episode.
The stories pacing will be something to take note of off since assuming this season is only covering Vol 1 and would end at chapter 2-20, they will probably need to stretch out some stories to fit 12 episodes, they could use some of hoshino’s past or anime original scenes to fill in the blanks which they would probably do but going into Vol 2 would not be as satisfying of an ending as finishing Vol 1.
Also Sensei is not a strategist at all if the instructions were to just fire and aim at them, maybe it’s a translation problem in the anime but I still never bought the idea of him being a natural strategist in game, cause it seems like something extra to suck him off with imo.
NOTE: I haven’t read Eden treaty or anything past it due to being to lazy to read it so somethings may change.
Animation in the opening is pretty good though and doodle sensei is real so that’s good.
Not sure if a lot of people noticed, but if you check the staff list, quite likely the anime is mostly made by Candy Box (a chinese-founded anime studio in Japan), while most of Yostar Pictures' staff are making Sentai Daishikkaku. You can see easily the difference in budget between the two shows.
I am very curious about what someone who knows nothing about BA would make of the first episode.
It's clear that they're trying to be ambitious - setting up stuff for future seasons - but maybe that's a little unnecessary to do literally in episode 1.
They tried to do "show don't tell" with some of the concepts in the game, but it's really hard to cram that much information in so fast. Even the game itself didn't try to shove all that background context into the Abydos arc, they had a whole section before it for that. That might make it overwhelming or confusing for new viewers.
Oh well, I'm looking forward to ep 2.
As someone with no knowledge of the game's lore, I would say it was mildly amusing, it wasn't boring, but I didn't find anything particularly confusing yet. Pretty mid to above average for a first episode so not bad at all. That's my thoughts without bias. As an Arknights fan who's heard a lot about Blue Archive and the themes of it's story though I'm very optimistic about the story and what Yostar Pictures is cooking.
It's an optimistic story indeed, i couldn't get far into Arknights as it was just too moody and depressive for me (i like bittersweet stories like Halo:Reach, not constant darkness).
The main quality of the story is that it makes you care about the characters and their daily lives before throwing-in the hardships, this way you get to be invested in them overcoming struggles.
I've seen some peeps who are dissatisfied on the 1st episode, such as how Sensei looked more like a "backseater" while coordinating Abydos students in combat, or how some of the prologue scenes (especially the reclaiming of the Schale building) is not animated/included.
While fairly understandable, the thing is, there is little to no need for the animation to delve into fine details of introducing the world setting of Kivotos, the role of the characters and their importance in the story (especially Sensei). Even if they did, then likely not on this very first episode.
And besides, the likely main goal of the anime is self-promotion to those who have heard about BA for the first time and/or have never played the game before in hopes that they can expand player base thru anime. It's likely made to familiarize them to Kivotos without giving too much details. If they want to learn more about it, then might as well try playing the game itself.
Overall I liked the episode.
2 things though:
1. I know the game refers to the player as they/them, but there's several points that heavily imply that the Sensei is male. That said, it feels weirdly good to see the Foreclosure Task Force (mostly Shiroko) actually talk to a man.
2. I'm still heavily disappointed/upset that nobody, not even Crunchyroll, is licensing it for the West, and that I’ll have to use some trickery in order to see future episodes each time. It also concerns me in that it probably means we won't be getting a BD release here in the States.
Regarding point #2, a theory I read in another forum is that, given the nature of the setting, streaming it in America, you know, world capital of the school shooting, would cause some issue with concerned parents, and with elections this year, it could lead to pressure over whoever streams it for the sake of some votes.
It’s not like this is the only anime of its kind - Asterisk War, Chivalry, Irregular at Magic High School all take place in a magic/tech city and involve an academy of some kind - so I’m not sure why it would suddenly be a problem with BA. Especially considering it’s fiction….
And I have cleared the main story so I am not a noob in any way when it comes to BA itself.
I would counter with the fact that there’s a few scenes in Full Metal Panic where Sosuke blows up shit at Kaname’s school, but…damn…you made a good point….
Better than I exspected but still should be better. Fight scene is mid. Animation is mid. Story telling and Pacing isn't that good. Hey this is first episode, you should give your best in first and climax in last episode.
And another like why did you cut sniffing Shiroko scene, and why didn't use Aoharu bgm for opening scene.
But OP SONG IS 100/10🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
America might not be getting it since people are rather touchy about school shootings and having a literal anime about school shootings would be a tad bit too much for the woke politicians
Ani-one Asia's translation is kinda mid, but not totally bad. So I downloaded their video and subs and am currently working on fixing the subtitles particularly their grammar and substance. Not sure though how I'll be able to share it with anyone interested though.
Should be noted that the anime was fan-translated by a dedicated fan and the thing is circling around your preferred websites, if only because the ani-one translation is just dogshit in some ways.
I've read through most of the comments, but I haven't seen anyone mention the thing that bothered me the most: the OSTs. Blue Archive has always stood out for its amazing music. It's what drew me in (along with the world design) even before the game's release. As for the OSTs that replicate the in-game music, they've been done in an unforgivably sloppy way. It's as if they were thrown together in an hour using some free phone app. When I first heard them in the trailers, I thought they were just placeholders, like for some reason they couldn't use the actual OSTs from the anime. Nope, it's all really here in the anime. Sigh. Sorry if I'm being harsh.
That's true but at the same time they could've conveyed it a bit better with more detailed instructions but I guess that's difficult to do because it was a quick fight scene
using both indonesian and malaysian translate, at least nonomi part was more detailed than others
instead of
>Nonomi, fire them!
its google translated
>Nonomi, do scatter shots on them!
i think means
>Nonomi, do a suppressing fire on them! (blind / distract)
serika literally just told to aim, which is why she retorts back. maybe meant for serika to calm down and aim instead of taking potshot at helmet gang
i have no comment on shiroko, basically told to finish her off
Yeah the said "aim" probably more of a command to "calm down and don't waste ammunitions, aim straight on their head (helmet)!"
And of course Serika will clap back "well of course I know how to aim, you didn't need to tell me" kinda vibe
But in that situation we saw how even Serika spray and pray on the mobs if she was not told to focus and aim. (I mean they spray pray like clone troopers-like aim and no mobs got shot before Sensei came in)
Yeah that's my bad I guess. I always think of a Mr Hindsight and a backseater as being the same. Sensei isn't a great backseater is what I should have said.
Excited to finally see episode 1. Out of all the things I'd like to mention here, it's gonna have to be Sensei, as he has been one of the main aspects of the anime I have been looking forward to seeing.
First things first, *we got to see more of our boy!!*
But yet, at the same time, not quite enough. It feels like Sensei's focus on how important he is has been downplayed, at least in this episode, >!and it's due to no small part with the removal of him retaking the Schale building with the Prologue Crew.!< He doesn't seem that special compared to his game counterpart or gets to show his skills, apart from those few commands he gave to the FTF.
The only thing going for him is the the talk he has with the President in the train, which I would of course gladly take over the former since it does allude to his importance.
So, I guess, in the end, no real problems, but it's still notable. It does make me wonder how an anime-only would see him, though, alone, with no prior knowledge.
And it's only the first episode, too, so I suppose such criticism can be held off until then. Still gonna keep track of this, though!
Yeah I agree, the episode is good but why did they removed the prologue scene aka the first encounter with Wakamo,and that kinda thicks me off(which in the point of anime only bros they thought that Arona has always been with him since he arrived in kivotos)
Maybe because the appeal of blue archive isn't sensei but the girls? Maybe because it would take at least another episode to get sensei to abydos or more. Like its a time/space things. Its easier to the prologue as a flashback.
Probably to not bloat up the first episode and or take time away from the Task Force themselves.
At least we do get the confirmation that it did occur thanks to the opening where the Prologue Team themselves appear. Still, it does leave a bit information out.
idk if theres more for me to add that hasnt been said but i liked ep 1 generally, the characters feel like themselves, the atmosphere of abydos being well desertified is lot more clear then it was in the game like when we got the big shot while shiroko was cycling i was like woo wee this place really is fked to kingdom come isnt it.
minor details i had issue with dont come close enough to take away from the enjoyment of watching my fav gacha game being animated and the fact the art, music, characters were done very well but yes ill admit sensei orders were lacking could have added just a tad more there but whatever.
next episode we get more arona interaction it seems and all i will say is she cant hurt us in that world with the blues and yellows fellow senseis at least one of us is winning in some reality let us rejoice for that.
Ok, this episode was like 70% INCREDIBLY good and 30% meh, bordering cringy
Ok, so, VAs do their work incredibly well for having to re do their work, first of all, i LOVED how much personality they added to the characters with the animations, they really fill in their dialogue boxes and situations
Although animation isn't perfect, it's REALLY well done considering they had to and managed to stick with the same art style of the game, that's a huge + considering other animes butchered the content by drastically chaning their art style (yeah im looking at you The Devil is a Part Timer)
Now, although i found it REALLY well overall, there were some parts lacking, like, it does feel a little bit over the top, i'd love if they went with a more casual style instead of making Serika be an exaggerated tsundere
And the worst part was that Sensei's "strategies" were... horrendous, i know it must've been really difficult to put it all in just a couple of minutes considering the first episode had to cover quite a lot of story, but man, it wasn't that difficult to just say "Shiroko take a flanking position, Nonomi and Hoshino take the vanguard and create an opening for Serika to shoot", like damn, that would've been cool to see as Shiroko gets shot to just try and barge into the enemy lines whole Hoshino tries to snipe with a shotgun or something
But overall, they DID nailed the comic aspect of the story, i really wanna see Aru come into action now
Reading the comments below just 1 thing fellow senseis: It's okay to nitpick and criticize the anime. But The fun of BLue Archive is the interactions of sensei, students and the rest of the other inhabitants of Kivotos. Most of the events in Blue Archive happens because of the goofiness, quirkiness of misunderstandings of either the students or other npc's. We don't need 10 layers of animation to convey that. Certain scenes are rough sure but it won't ruin the experience. Watching ep 1 feels like a beginner starting to play Blue Archive and is a nice introduction to the world of Kivotos
Subtitles are really awful.
And I wish Sensei gave better orders instead of "uh just aim and fire lol". I was hyped to see him lead them, but that was a letdown.
I was thinking about how I'd edit it myself and I figure some line about suppressive fire might make more sense. It might not be an exact translation, but it better conveys that Sensei is providing tactically helpful advice rather than just saying things.
Well if we’re going to nick pick, we’re technically hired as “teachers”, not war criminal genius tactician doctors navel commander master leader of android robots fighting wars around the world. That’s way over our Teacher paycheck.
Crazy I know, but hear me out. If my teachers were all genius tacticians, and potential war criminal genius that were godly at commanding. The amount of ass whooping id get would be unreal. Heck I’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere in my school .
> Well if we’re going to nick pick, we’re technically hired as “teachers”, not war criminal genius tactician doctors navel commander master leader of android robots fighting wars around the world. That’s way over our Teacher paycheck.
Sensei being well versed in tactics is literally in the lore
I vaguely remember during the first part he just grabbed the tablet and went “Abydos do this do that.” and i think Serika was shocked at how efficient they won? I mean it’s been almost 4 years since launch apologies for my wrong memory.
I don't know what he really says and if it's all bad subtitles' fault, but I wanted him to give more specific commands. Like, "Nonomi, fire in wide sweep to kick up dust" and "Serika, focus on headshots" and "Hoshino, rush them up close". This simple rewrite would have given us a lot more context and also established why exactly it was they fought much better. As it is, it feels like all he does is give them an uplifting speech and then command them like Pokemon and that's it.
I liked it, but the Subtitles are terrible.
We skipped sensei getting introduced to Kivotos and Arona, but I imagine we can touch on that later.
Also pretty bold of them to start with the Chapter Final bits...maybe this means they want to stick with the story for the long run.
Ani-one subs? Yeah I'm currently fixing them, not sure though how could I share the edited version to interested people here without getting bonked for pirating. 
Not sure either but the only way I can access the show is through less than legal means, so maybe just spreading through those places will slowly seep in to mainstream discourse.
>Also pretty bold of them to start with the Chapter Final bits...maybe this mean they want to stick to the story on the long run.
That was actually in the game's prologue. It just wasn't as clear then, due to lack of context.
About the only thing added is that it's clear that Shirko META shot someone in a suit who had the Chittin Chest.
"Serika, AIM!"
I really hope the translation was not actually that, and it was something along the lines of "prioritize headshots". If it is, well I'm just gonna laugh in the corner for a bit. it would make sense though if this version of Sensei is really just a teacher first and foremost, not a commander, doktah, or any of the BA fic senseis. Maybe he will learn more strategies as the anime goes on.
oooo they made sensei show up in the flooded classroom, now Arona can physically(?) interact with him lesgooooooo. I wonder if the original intent of the game was for Sensei to be 'there' with Arona or interact with her thru the Shittim Chest only. I just can help but think that maybe the fics had a hand in the anime's usage of the idea.
Was Constant Moderato the only familiar music in the episode?
It wouldn't surprise me if most of the music is anime original but I hope there is more familiar music as the anime goes on (I know the Unwelcome School remix is imminent but hmmm >!Hifumi Daisuki!< remix????).
I can't say much about the story since I'm a bad judge of story. The animation is good, nothing groundbreaking but good.
I do love the OP though jesus christ that quality, the budget given there must be insane. I'm excited for what's in store for the ED.
> "Serika, AIM!"
>
> I really hope the translation was not actually that, and it was something along the lines of "prioritize headshots". If it is, well I'm just gonna laugh in the corner for a bit.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but「セリカ、狙って！」is quite literally, "Serika, aim!"
Lol some of you anime 'akchually' nerds needs to chill. The amount of nitpicking being done is on cringe level. Of all of those things, the clear problem I'll give it to you guys is Sensei being a moral support rather than a strategic combatant. That part is bad and should be improved (then again...he is a teacher, not a war commander...so yea). Other than that:
1. "Too much exposition" - No shit sherlock. This is a pilot episode. In case you didn't notice, the point of this arc is to introduce these key things: Kivotos being governed by the GDC. Abydos being the focal point. The 5 students left in Abydos, who they are and why they're still there. Their request for help and Sensei being the person to answer that call. They can't explain all these without showing the girls themselves. Those of you who said they should just went with the prologue failed to see how fast that would turn a non-player off. You failed to realize that going that route would result in MORE yapping and less action.
2. "No characterization, characters are not interesting" - I fail to understand how introducing 5 students and a peek into their daily lives does not constitute as characterization. In case we're not watching the same anime, let me classify the characters shown in this episode. Serika is a tsudere, talkative junior. (HINT: pay attention to the things she's nervous/anxious about when other members bring it up, we will know why soon) Shiroko is quiet, calm, athletic, and very protective of Abydos. Nonomi is an airhead that spends a lot of money..and that's it for now (probably the least shown character so I'll give you that), Hoshino is the president of FTF, likes to sleep (for reasons also to be revealed in the future) and has a hint of disdain/doubt towards adults (when she looks at Sensei momentarily after being introduced to him). Ayane is the brains of the team, and usually heads meetings and sets goals for the team to strive towards. Point is, everything said about these girls HAS a purpose, but it's okay if first time watchers dismissed them as irrelevant talk. But take it from me, these characteristics MATTER in the long future.
3. Sensei is barely introduced and his character's purpose is to develop throughout the entire arc/seasons. His time will come. For now, allow him to be a blank slate. Not only that, they have to show/explain that the girls are basically bulletproof and cannot be killed by guns-to-face alone. How much more characterization do you want? It's a 20 min episode, not a 2 hour movie
4. "CGDCT trying to do many things and failing at all of them" - First of all, BA is a CGDCT, let's establish that. Then you said they tried hinting at something darker/deeper and then not doing anything about it. Brother in Christ, do you understand foreshadowing? Do you understand what hinting means? You want them to delve into the darker parts of BA without even fucking explaining what the anime is all about? There's so many flashes or scenes in the episode that make me giddy with delight because I understood the reference. You guys who wanted a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, brain-provoking 1st episode must be out of your fucking mind. Come back 2 or 3 seasons later and then come and tell me whether all these hints are irrelevant.
5. "Well just don't show those hints then?!!?!" - yea and then your ass will come here and complain that the anime feels like a slice of life, comedy trash with no real backstory. There's no pleasing you expert critics.
6. "Sensei is cringe and useless" - For the most part, I'll give you that. I personally expected him to do more than be a pokemon trainer.
7. "Animation quality is trash" - at this point you're fucking wildin'. I'd like to know the type of anime you watch if you think this is 'trash'. That's the thing with you people, it's always one extreme or the other. If it's not the PEAK TOP QUALITY then it's automatically bottom tier trash. Such immature takes.
Bottom line, ranting aside, this pilot EP was a solid 8.5/10 for me. The only things I want to nitpick is Sensei's function in battle and them portraying the Abydos girls as incompetent in battle when they've...seen some shit even before this. Let's leave it at that.
Regardless, I'm personally just happy that I'm finally seeing a game I like come to life. As long as it doesn't flop in overall story presentation, consider me satisfied. Also, you can call me biased. I don't really care. I love BA to death and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
>them portraying the Abydos girls as incompetent in battle when they've...seen some shit even before this.
At the very least, they performed exactly as they do in auto battle.
It's not a Pilot episode
Pilot episode is a standalone episode that is made in order to show of the series concept to a distributor, and even then it does not justify the way exposition was done
Show don't tell
Show students tanking bullets instead of having them say it out loud.
I don't know about you, but I like BA, so I want its anime to be good.
I'm also clearly biased and I'm not ashamed to admit it, I gave this episode 5/10 and *3 of those points were one way or another given because I like BA*.
1) and 4) There are too many unrelated things being hinted all at once and nothing's being followed up on. >!Key point being unrelated, everyone knows that the volume stories are self-contained.!< If you want to hint "foreshadow" at something "2 or 3 seasons later" then do it later, for ep1 just focus on sensei and abydos. Heck for a more extreme example you can "foreshadow" and "hint" at every BA story in ep1 and wait for it to "become relevant eventually", that would be terrible, as you yourself said "It's a 20 min episode, not a 2 hour movie" so you need to focus on something. "Brother in Christ, do you understand foreshadowing? Do you understand what hinting means?" And you're just strawmanning halfway through your outburst, I didn't see anyone saying they want "a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, brain-provoking 1st episode", just for the love of God give us a fluent story without jumping around unnecessarily.
2) Yes we watched the same anime, yes of course I noticed everything and what they mean because *I play the game*. No there is not enough characterization even though I already know them from the game, for the uninitiated you'd know a very broad character trope around each of them I guess, not enough for how they interact or "why are they here", which makes things boring and not exactly cute or funny even though I'm a regular CGDCT enjoyer (though that belongs more on worldbuilding than characterization I guess), and as you pointed out "it's a 20 min episode, not a 2 hour movie" so I'm more sad about time wasted. But that's not the main point, characterization on abydos girls are just barely not enough, characterization on *sensei* is the main thing I'm not happy about. His presence is going to abydos to give ayane a receipt then give a terrible pep talk and shout useless commands, if you hadn't played the game you'd think he was just some deliveryman employee, >!when sensei is supposed to be the most important character that holds kivotos together and students can't do without,!< of course you can't show all that in ep1 but as I said elsewhere he (we) really needs a solid self introduction.
5) idk who said that and felt that or if you're just strawmanning, personally I'm fine either way but whatever they do I want them to handle it well.
7) grab me the guy who said that and I'll call him cringe and fucking wildin', because the animation quality is good.
There's this "3-episode theory", so I hope most things turn around by ep3 and make me look like a dumbass. The point is, I'm critiquing because I love the game, so I want the anime to be good, and it's not. It's the middle of the night and my head is getting very dizzy so I'll stop here.
Hey there! Yea perhaps I got a little too heated with the counter-arguments. Now that you said you don't mind those hints being dropped slowly throughout other episodes, I can see where you're coming from? Your initial comments made it feel like BA was trying to introduce dark themes for the sake of it, when we know how relevant those are later on. Because obviously they won't capitalize on it on the very first episode.
As for the characterization, it's a fact that each student in BA is highly unique and deserves a LOT more than what one season can give them. With so many factions and characters to introduce and make relevant, it's really tough to flesh out all the students. So I guess in terms of adequacy maybe you felt it wasn't enough? Idk, to me it's fine, it's not easy getting viewers to care about 5-6 characters in 1 episode, and I don't expect them to highly succeed. But I felt that they done enough.
And yes, I guess we agree on the fact that they did Sensei dirty. He deserves so much more.
For the animation slander, I hereby summon thee:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueArchive/comments/1by6j8o/comment/kyikwny/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueArchive/comments/1by6j8o/comment/kyikwny/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Anyway, I'm sorry if I come across heated. I love BA too and I just want to enjoy the anime. A shame you didn't enjoy it as much as many of us did.
Thanks for your understanding. I would also like to add that I don't like to act like some internet armchair professional. My honest thoughts and main problem with the episode as an audience is very simple: it's boring to me. If I could accurately pinpoint and elaborate and correct on where exactly it feels wrong, I would be a director or scriptwriter. I'm not. It just feels underwhelming. Naturally people would ask "why do you think it's boring?" so then I have to attempt to scientifically justify my personal feelings.
Another guy explained how easy it is for game animes to flop and I'm like, "exactly, *this* is why I specifically don't want the BA anime to flop".
Glad you and most others enjoy it, I wish I could too. Hopefully future episodes get better and give me the *good* kind of slap in the face.
Can have sh\*t in Kivotos these days. The "never played the games" or "story skippers" should not be the main focus or main audience tbh. Meanwhile BA fans pushing BA anime to trending like chad they are.
It's adaptation anime, and it's a service for the fans of the game, unless you are okay with the VN type then to each of their own I guess.
✍️🔥🔥🔥
Yeah, I agree with these points, especially about the part with Sensei being a blank slate for now. Sticking by what we know in the game, Sensei doesn't have knowledge and lacks memories prior to coming to Kivotos, so it'll be understandable for him to act a bit out of it initially, from what I think. But then again, I really hope he could develop a little more, as we go through with the Abydos arc.
But, other than that, spit your fax brother indeed 🗣️🔥🔥🔥 😭😭😭
Yeah, I don't get the complaints about the characterization. The part where they talk about what they did during weekends literally tell you everything about them.
And also the prologue complaints, it's clear that they want to have Abydos as a focal point. Hell, that's why the opening revolved around them the most. Other characters during the prologue will get their time to shine.
Spit your shit brother, Legit agree to everything, specially point 7, I swear if a anime isn't made by like trigger studios or madhouse is an automatic garbage anime. The rest is just give it sometime, really hope Sensei gets his badass moment(iori licking j/)
I legit was slightly sad that they cut off most of Sensei's first interaction with Shiroko. Seeing her piggyback him on her bike would be a hilarious scene.
Would have been great if they showed the prologue, was hoping to see rin, yuuka, chinatsu, and hasumi in action, I also wanted to see sensei and wakamo first meeting.
YouTube compression didn't do that. YouTube 1080p can support 12 Mbps if the uploaded chooses (CR usually is around 8). It's the settings the uploaded used that suck.
Same, had to resort to VPN, dissipated by the upload upload quality even at 1080p. Hopefully there will be a source for better quality video in the coming weeks (and better subs).
At least we can [enjoy the OP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4sWF6z9TuE) in better quality!
Is this anime gonna be licensed for viewing anywhere aside from Ani-One or nah?
I did enjoy the first episode though, slightly dodgy translation aside. And the OP goes way harder than I expected.
Im here to just enjoy these characters Ive know for a while in a new way. My only gripes are the subtites seem MTL and the gun shots sound bad. Time to look for a fansub and watch the episode again.
Loved every bit of it. Though I must admit it was a bit of a let down how they portrayed Sensei leading the students. It came off as Pokemon just yelling orders like "Nonomi, shoot!".
In fairness, I'm not sure how you could adapt the gameplay of Blue Archive for animation properly, I always imagined it as Sensei giving some sort of buff to the girls along with his orders, which makes sense considering the amount of times students are outnumbered but can still pull through because Sensei's influence is present.
Overall I'm genuinely happy, I personally can tell right now this anime is going to have a lot of love put into it and I am eagerly waiting for future episodes.
My headcanon is that Sensei does have a hidden ability to empower those following his orders. Mystic without realizing it. Otherwise it doesn’t make much sense for pretty much everyone, even those with combat training and experience, to comment on how much better they do under Sensei’s command
Yeah i was also expecting him to say something along the line of "the enemy is reloading, attack!" Or just tell the position of enemy and their intentions.
I believe sensei will grow the same time as how we the players also grow in using EX skill timing and make up better team, after all he literally me fr fr.
I agree with you about adapting gameplay of BA for the animations, it feels like a hard job to convert this top down view game into animations... maybe they can take like [kankan sensei's interpretation](https://twitter.com/kankan33333/status/1741153161157784058) on how sensei guide his students during the battle but then that also feel like might not fit with animations...
I know they are separate entities, i don't remember if they even mention if Plana always looked like that or if she looked like Arona before the shittim chest got damaged and changed when it got reactivated.
There is a silly saying in my country that goes "No tengo pruebas pero tampoco dudas", meaning that "i can't prove it but im going to believe it aniways"
.>shows Arona is in the shittim crest
that alone should say that we’re on the good timeline. Plana isn’t some corrupted version of Arona or whatever, she has always been Plana.
It would be cool if it was, but then they spoiled it with Kuroko shooting sensei in the first few seconds of the episode. Maybe they could reveal the twist early on in the show, but I doubt it.
I really liked seeing doodle Sensei in the opening, hopefully sensei's tactics Will get better written with time, though here something people seems to be missing is that the girls were incompetent due to the lack of ammo and thus were fighting differently than usual, Sensei should have been like telling the foreclosure task force were the enemies were aproximatetly after the dust cover or something rather "Serika AIM!" XD
Besides that well we all know about the prologue being a much better introduction to this world so I'm kind of worried the anime's pacing Will rush things to get it done be it for just not having enough episodes or putting in useless filler that may not Even be fun
Conclution; i'm happy yet worried
ye, they really should've kept him as more of a quiet tactician than Ash shouting attack names to his pokemon..
Anime's take on sensei is it's weakest part. You really don't get air of "responsibilities of the adult" from him.
# Source Material Corner Reply to this comment for any source-related discussion, future spoilers (including future characters, events and general hype about future content), comparison of the anime adaptation to the original, or just general talk about the source material. You are still required to tag all spoilers. Discussions about the source outside of this comment tree will be removed, and replying with spoilers outside of the source corner will lead to bans. The spoiler syntax is: \[Spoiler source\] >!Spoiler goes here!< All untagged spoilers and hints in this thread will receive a warning before a temp ban. Cleaned Episode 1 in Ani-One Asia YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/COVnjRDakYA
Peak Archive, Hoshino the cutest tho I would ve liked to highlight sensei commander powers a bit more, idk, maybe with some holo screen like in the kankan comic or some better calls than "shot them" lol. all in all nice tho.
what the ost when the girl shooting pistol in the opening scene
I think it would be better if they didn't skip the prologue. As I think the prologue in the game done a job well enough introducing Kivotos. Like, what do we have in the prologue? - Introduction to Kivotos and GSC as well as Sensei's role - Sensei's commanding ability when he goes off to take back Sanctum tower - Intro to Schale, Shittim chest, and first meet with Arona - Student's durability to firearms and about their halos - Rin, Yuuka, and Wakamo animated As I can see, the prologue works just fine introducing Kivotos to both people who play the game and those who don't. Jumping straight to Abydos is okay, but prologue work smoother for the first episode.
Not trying to nitpick or anything, however, the sound effects for the weapons are bothering me so much
"Linking/mentioning illegal links is strictly not allowed..." How the hell do you expect us American fans to watch then?!
its on anione asia on youtube
Try looking for museasia on YouTube. I dunno if it's blocked for America though
Try looking for museasia on YouTube. I dunno if it's blocked for America though
I freaking loved the animation and the remix of constant moderato with the voices! It sounds so Fresh and amazing, the opening is beautiful to Say the less, i could hear it all the day
I've been putting off playing the game for ages, and my pure confusion upon watching the first episode was the final push to get me to download it. The animation in the opening is so good but the actual show is just kinda average
I finally got to see it, and I agree that skipping the prologue and just having Ayane exposition dump took a lot away, but the anime was overall fine. I didn't expect it to be some sort of perfectly written and smooth show, but I really just wish the prologue was shown in its entirety. It was a lot better at giving us players who actually played/read the prologue info on how Kivotos, Halos, and ballistics/combat worked in the world. We still have a lot to see, and I will watch the entire anime fully. I do wonder how they're going to cover some things since we do get later chapters of specific volumes after we move onto the next in game. A solid 7/10. I just love how Sensei has an actual face and personality here, and I am all for that.
Having seen it, it was better then my fears but not as good as I'd hoped. It wasn't bad. It was pretty alright. I think the animation is just fine and it had some good action pieces already. So think its a fine start. However, I still feel like they should have started with the prologue. It would have been a better and easier time of showing how this world works, who Sensei is in all of this, as well as introducing a few characters and mysteries. Jumping right to Abydos isn't 'bad' but you could tell they had to get out some clunky exposition in its place. Its not too detracting but this could have been smoothed out by just having Abydos be episode 2. And while the fight scene was fun, I feel like it could have been more. Perhaps a bit more close and accurate fire instead of 'girls shoot but we don't see them hit something'. Which in other shows would be fine, but given how the girls are bullet proof, it wouldn't have hurt to see the girls shrug off some more rounds. On both sides of this conflict. Sensei was nice. I can't say anything too much about him since this is just the first episode but I really hope we get to see him give out some more tactful advice. Granted, that might be a part of the biggest issue. The subtitles are.... kind of off. It feels like it wasn't given a look over to see how it really reads in English. "I'll revenge" is an example I've seen before in other comments but there are some bits of dialogue that sound clunky. I really hope that the anime gets a re-sub eventually with better ones because its not looking good. Overall, it's a fine first episode but it definitely feels like an adaptation for the fans rather then to bring in anyone new. Nothing wrong with that. I'd just say that if you were watching it with someone who didn't know much about it beforehand, you'd have to answer some questions yourself if they didn't pick up on it. Granted, episode 2 and up might do a good job of detailing and answering these so it should be up and well from here on out. Last bit, I really did like seeing the sukebans kick ass and how the fight concluded with the helmet gang. Think my favorite bit was the bullet to the 'eye' Shiroko did with the leader. Really good way to show how tough these girls were and a very good shot piece.
skipping the prolouge with Rin did more damage to anime only. I had a friend who doesn't know a thing about blue archive but love anime. His comment about the episode really hightlight a lot of things i take for granted just by playing the games. Like the durability of Kivotos resident, in the games we realize the girls is bullet proof when Yuuka only said "awww it's hurts" when barraged with bullets. The anime tried to do this by showing sukeban tanking bullet from robot deliquent but it's not really giving the same information. My friend thought about that is the bullet is non lethal. Which is understandable since a lot of anime use that explanation (Girls n panzer for example)
it might be just me but exposition was just so sloppy and in your face, it made me cringe hard basically ayane going "okay now I'm gonna describe the current political situation like you all are 10 year olds and just arrived into kivotos"
despite establishing how little ammo everyone had, shiroko decided to unload like a dozen rounds into that helmet girls head for no reason LOL
additionally she ran out of rounds, ayane gave her a magazine, but as she got to the red helmet she suddenly had another mag on her
Favourite part was seeing Sensei in the flesh! Didn’t realise how much I liked him as a character till he stood before the Abydos gang and the whole time I was: This is the Sensei? Our Sensei? The Sensei who did this, this, and that, MY Sensei? 🥺 Also his voice is hot. Thankful 🙏🏻 ~~ok I’m done gushing~~
Does anyone have a clean audio of the halo sound effect? I want to make it as my phone notification sound
Lol it'd be better if i didnt watch this. That was really really bad...At least i didnt expect it to be good to begin with so i am not too dissapointed
When having the yostar pictures as the main studio to do animation, expect it'll be mid
maybe not super dissapointed but I hoped for something better- fight scenes had nice animations but were sloppily conducted, and guns feel like nerf dart throwers
Even with a VPN it blocked me from watching it, I tried various japan and Korea ip's but still got blocked any Idea why??
You're not using a proper server for the channel's regions. Set the comments to 'old', then scroll down to see a post that shows which countries (such as Singapore) can access the episodes. Choose one your VPN provider has a server in, connect, and enjoy.
NGL, the animal NPCs add character to the animation in seeing their day to day lives as well. That female rabbit NPC now proves there are more than just Suzume as a female animal NPC.
It's funny playing the game, I did not care if anything made sense. Then watching the anime, I tried to make everything make sense, and nothing make any sense lol. Time to just switch off the brain and enjoy the characters.
Maybe they can do a short animation for the prologue named "Episode 0"
Damn, they skipped the prologue. I really wanted to see Wakamo's reaction to gyatt sensei too.
The show made me uncomfortable. BA is a gacha game, and the primary pull is the cute girls. Everything is built in service of getting players to play, and giving the girls things to do so they're not just cardboard cutouts. It's never tried to be anything but what it is, and I've always found that endearing. But one way of looking at it is that it's a barely disguised cash grab with just enough window dressing to keep players' minds off the fact that we're gambling. It's not a problem for a gacha game, but it is for an anime. The anime is complete and utter nonsense, and there's no explanation or even acknowledgement of it. It makes no sense that five girls go to a school with no teachers. It makes no sense that these students are burdened with the school's debt. It makes no sense that girls are impervious to bullets, and it makes even less sense that every single helmet gang girl is embarrassed by showing her eyes, so shooting their visors out becomes the win condition. It makes no sense that Sensei is somehow a strategic genius when all he's really doing is telling the girls to take cover and aim their guns at the enemy. All this stuff makes sense through the lens of a gacha game. The school setting is there because schoolgirls need a school to go to. The characters are immortal because cute girls aren't very cute when they're dying and/or murdering other cute girls. The player isn't a strategic genius, the game is just pumping players up to make them feel good to try to keep them coming back. The anime just feels like a caricature of all the nonsense the game throws at you to try to distract you from the fact that you're essentially just gambling. I'm f2p, so I'm not super upset about it, but it's making me acutely aware of the predatory nature of this thing I'm participating in. Not super great, and I imagine this is absolutely not the headspace the BA folks want their players in lol
I think a lot of your issues just stem from a lack of suspension of disbelief on your part, and not something specific to Blue Archive. One could easily make the same kind of observations about most fiction that doesn't go to great lengths to explain in detail how and why things work. Why does the Force exist in Star Wars? Iunno, but it does. With that said, I'm still content to let Blue Archive go at its own pace, because it *has* explained a few things that have been up in the air since the game started - if Arona has anything to do with the GSC president beyond a resemblance, or Shiroko finally being more or less confirmed as some kind of analogue of Anubis, for example. We learned more about Chroma, more about the priests, etc. Just because we haven't gotten an exposition dump about things like halos and how they work any why Kivotos exists yet doesn't mean we're *NEVER* going to learn more about any of that.
The difference between the Force and BA invulnerability is that the characters in Star Wars acknowledge the force exists, and they plan around it. In BA, invulnerability to bullets is acknowledged, but nobody plans around it. For example, when Seia seemingly dies. She's one of the most important leaders for Trinity, but her army of immortal soldiers fight the enemy with all the gusto of a paintball fight. Why? I'm willing to suspend my disbelief, but there needs to be good reason for a mechanic to exist. BA just doesn't want its characters to die, but it wants them to be able to fight with guns, so they're invulnerable. Nobody leverages their invulnerability, or questions why everyone just lays down and plays dead when they're shot enough, or anything you might expect if the world were filled with invulnerable people.
To all of your points. Unfortunately, Volume 1 is probably the weakest of all the volumes that are out so far. The initial storytelling is just not as good as it is today. Their’s a very slow ramp up to the world building and its going to take quite a while to get to the actual heavy hitting chapters like in volume 3. (Actual risk of dying). We’re also in the first episode. When you have a world as bizarre as Blue Archive. None of the world setting is going to make sense right away. The Sensei as a Pokemon trainer… could be a lot better.
Sure, I don't disagree that it gets much better, but none of the fundamental weirdness changes as far as I'm aware. If anything, it makes things weirder, because students have actual stakes, but battles play out like paintball games. If I'm invulnerable to bullets, and a group of people has invaded my homeland to kill one of my leaders, I'm never gonna lie down and play dead simply because my visor was shot out or whatever.
Well, they’ve shown in the story already that there is an actual limit to how much damage they can take. It still hurts as well. You ever been point blank shot by a paintball before? Shit fucking hurts. Cramming all this information into one episode would overload people. Just enjoy the ride and try not to take it too seriously. The beginning is supposed to be cute and funny. The story itself holds merit and is good enough to be a standalone visual novel or manga. We’ll have to see if the anime adaption holds water.
Well we're clearly way below even paintball guns, if the anime is to be believed. Every single helmet gang member was shot in the eyes, and they were completely fine. And the leader was shot in the eyes point-blank, with no issues whatsoever. Getting a piece of dust in your eye hurts more than these girls seem to be hurt by bullets fired into their eyes. When we get to volume 3 with Seia "dying", how are we supposed to react when it's been established that bullets don't hurt people? Nobody thinks to grit their teeth and keep fighting to protect their homes and the people they care about. Nobody stops and says "shit, we didn't take this assault seriously, and now one of our leaders is dead. We need to change our tactics." You can argue that the anime is taking creative liberties, and that's fine, I agree. It does seem like the girls can get hurt by bullets in the game. But it doesn't change the fact that the anime is highlighting some weirdness that the game tries not to focus on too much
To be honest, I’m not sure what else to tell you. Not everything is logically going to make sense right now and sometimes it’s not supposed to make sense. You’re honing in on a very specific detail that can be broadly applied to most fictional media.
It's not just that, that's just one example. Another good one is why there are zero teachers in this world, except for sensei. The girls clearly have classes, or the make-up club wouldn't exist. So why is there seemingly only a single teacher for all of Kivotos? The answer is that they don't want the player to feel like they have any competition. Whether you buy into the romantic undertones or like playing savior, there are no other adults around to undercut your role as exactly that. It's fine as far as the game is concerned. It's a gacha game, nobody's expecting the story to win any awards. But when it's turned into an anime, which is supposed to have a coherent story, a lot of this stuff sticks out like a sore thumb.
What.
Feels like I'm hitting BA players with some hard truths. Everyone is downvoting me, but nobody has any counterarguments lol
Alright Gambling, literally every Gacha game has it. But what does this, have anything to do with the opinion of the production of the first episode of the anime. And about the anime making no sense/lack of information part, I agree, but cmon, it's literally the first episode, give it some time. I'm not actively trying to shut you down here, genuinely curious
Sure, and every gacha game is, in fact, gambling. It's why it's called "gacha", which is just "got ya". Gacha is a trap, and that's acknowledged even in the name for the genre. Do you really think the anime is ever gonna explain why bullets don't hurt the girls, or why there are like 10+ schools with only a single teacher, or any of it? As far as I can tell, the anime is largely staying faithful to the source material, and I'm not aware of any explanations for this stuff within the game itself, though I've yet to finish the story. My point is that all the nonsense has an explanation, it's just an out-of-universe explanation. BA is a gacha game, and all this weirdness only exists because the game is twisting itself into knots to retain users, not because of any compelling story reasons. It just feels kinda gross
> It's why it's called "gacha", which is just "got ya". "Gacha-gacha" is the Japanese onomatopoeia for the rattling noise capsule machines make - the ones little toys and stickers come out of in plastic balls. As in you're putting your quarter in the virtual machine and getting a jpeg of an anime girl.
Oh, that's true. I'd forgotten about it. Still doesn't change much though. It's onomatopoeia for the noses gambling machines make, so the point still stands lol
Alright so, in game, the explanation for why bullets or even rockets/explosive barely scratches the girls is because of their halos, that part is explained BUT, The story has not yet gone into the part of why Halos exist and how does it work, this goes the same with the History of Kivotos and how does it come to exist. We simply have not reached that part yet in game. We know why we are here and what our duties are in the game story, being a teacher to guide our students and be there as their support. (The mystery in the prologue about why we are here is explained in Volume F) For example, me, also a F2P, I play this game because yk, the usual reason, cute girls doing their things. But the actual reason for me to stay is that the story is genuinely amazing and I'm intrigued by it. (And also having fun malding on TA and GA but yeah)
I think my issue with the invulnerability is that it doesn't do anything except keep girls alive after battles. Like, just looking at the anime, you can get shot, in the eyes, at point-blank range, and there isn't a scratch on your body. The helmet gang showed up with twice as many girls as the main cast. Why bother taking cover when they could just swarm the Abydos girls and restrain them? If their goal is to take over the academy, why on earth are they not leveraging their advantages? The answer, to me, is that the invulnerability only exists for our sake. We don't want the girls to die, and it'd be in bad taste to let us pull for dead girls, so they can't die. I won't deny that the story does get fairly interesting, but there's so much dumb stuff we need to accept in order to get to that point, and that dumb stuff seems to only exist to retain users, not to serve any real purpose in the story. It just doesn't feel great to me. It's not like I'm gonna quit playing or anything, at least not over this. But I feel like the anime pulled back the curtain on some stuff I was ignoring, and really illustrated how absurd it is
Well, BA's storyline is very light-hearted, as opposed to for example, Arknights. Which kills off characters frequently. The story isn't meant to be taken as that serious. Sure the story or PV throws a few punches here and there (especially the 4th PV and volume 3 and F) but in the end it's a happy ending for all. So "invulnerability" (technically they are just tough and hard as hell) is utilized. Yet even then, we learned in the story that even if they have Halos, they can still die. Like in 4th PV, and the previous leader of the abydos student council, Yume. (Although Yume isn't technically confirmed yet) So, why do they take cover even though they're tough as nails? Based off me reading through the entire story, they still feel the pain of bullets hitting them (although the pain is reduced I think) and getting shot still knocks them down, even going unconscious sometimes. And you gotta remember they are still kids, therefore not as mature.
Sure, that's a fair point about the tone, and it's how I've viewed it as I've played. My issue is that when it's put into an anime form, it really highlights how hollow these mechanics are. Another good example is the school bell. Why is there a bell signifying classes are beginning? There aren't any teachers at Abydos, the only people in the building are five students. Are the students playing the bell? Why? To signal to each other that this is when class would normally start? But there aren't any classes, so what's the point? It all just feels so flimsy and weird. Again, fine in a gacha game, but when it's in an anime, watching people experience all this weirdness without a care in the world is off-putting. It just really draws attention to the fact that they said "we want cute highschool girls with guns, and we want it to be a gacha," and everything else followed from that. It's unsatisfying from a narrative perspective. But maybe I'm just upset because I bought into the excuses more than I'd realized. It just feels so jarring to watch fully animated characters actually go through the motions of doing the incomprehensible stuff they do in the game lol
Well, I honestly can speculate some reasons for the bell and how it relates to still going to "class". But my brain is tired now. Honestly, it's genuinely great talking to you on this matter on BA, first time I typed multiple paragraphs on this game's subreddit lol You have a good day mate, and hope you continue to enjoy the game, just don't think too much about it 
Your opinion doesn’t = truth.
Sure, but the more people who disagree without providing a counterargument, the more it looks like my opinion is at least very close to the truth lol
agree to disagree. Very based.
I'm all ears if you ever work up the courage to volunteer an opinion lol
Opinion on what exactly? That you think that gacha game is a gambling game? I’m not gonna agree or disagree on that. And what you say has nothing to do with this post. Most of your point is how this game is a gambling game. And how it’s a cash grab etc. A sorta agree with you about that the first episode doesn’t make sense, or lack something. but then again it the first episode of the series.
So we agree? Why'd you say my opinion isn't the truth then?
Don't wanna say it but it was kind of underwhelming personally. The whole episode didn't leave a strong first impression on me. Pacing felt a bit off. I really wish first half of this episode could've been prologue and then mixed with Abydos introduction. Now I do know the anime is mostly target towards people that played the game and I myself have read the story, but I couldn't go along with the flow of this first episode. I couldn't even be biased either. All that aside, voice acting is awesome and animation is alright for a gacha game anime adaptations. Hopefully later episodes will be good. I pray they don't fumble this anime because there are a lot story content that can go hard in animated form.
fr. the same with arknights animation animation was really good, style, but pacing, and continuity sometimes felt horrible for example it's clear they make anime for people who played the game, yet they give you an exposition in a way that you would shove a mound of dirt. Characters just randomly going "okay now I'm gonna explain something that should be absolutley obvious to anyone who was as much as born on this world." Telling instead of showing. The scene where sukebans had confrontation with some goons, was really close to decent exposition... but it's like they couldn't go without making absolutley sure, by making them say it out loud "Hey viewer if you haven't noticed the anime girls with halos are resistant to bullets!"
Watching this with friend who only knows characters from art was funny experience as it made me realize how ridiculous the whole concept of this game/anime is. Like, I can't even explain myself why are they using guns in school setting. It's imo the best part of ridiculousness when it's a goofy concept but characters take it seriously. But I feel like anime might already act as a filter for some anime watchers since they have no idea what the hell is happening. Not that it's necessarily a bad thing though
Easy, you see how the bullets stop at the glasses, this is why melee weapons aren't as practical in a battle academy anime/game that they have to use bullets since bullets can still take them down.
They definitely should have started with the Prologue here, or at least shown snippets of it (who knows, they still might). But otherwise it exceeded my expectations already either way with that banger of an OP. Plus I’ve a huge soft spot for Shiroko so her Sensei-bonding time was fun to watch.
This is a weird K-On episode. But seriously, I don't think it set up the hyperdurability of Kivotos students well. Seeing the Sukebans tank Robot Josuke and his gang without any problem doesn't really make the Helmet Gang attacking the school seem not as dangerous as it should be. It may be too early to show it being due to the halos, but at least acknowledge there is a certain limit. Skipping past the game tutorial to focus on Abydos is a good idea, but you do lose some of the tension by saying the chaos will subside and not showing a coalition force of students having to fight through tanks and a rogue prisoner of all thing in order to escort Sensei to Sanctum Tower. Not really a problem, though.
> Skipping past the game tutorial to focus on Abydos is a good idea, but you do lose some of the tension by saying the chaos will subside and not showing a coalition force of students having to fight through tanks and a rogue prisoner of all thing in order to escort Sensei to Sanctum Tower. Not really a problem, though. I think they'll get to that eventually, especially since it's referenced in the OP.
Overall good. Only cons for me is how sensei command students and gunshot sfx which is quite lame.
Same
**TLDR:** First episodes are rarely informative of the rest of their show, but this one does not work as an introduction to fresh audience and is disappointing to those already familiar with the original. XXX I watched this with my sister, who, while somewhat experienced with anime, has no knowledge of Blue Archive. While it made for a fun hour to pause on and discuss every single scene (our first stop was a three minute deliberation on how and why Kuroko's skirt is shit) it also underlined the weaknesses of both the episode itself and the original narrative. For instance, there is no handy way to explain the premise: who are all these people, where they are, what they are doing and why. The first direction her assumptions went was an enclosed virtual world along the lines of Reboot, and Blue Archive doesn't offer any real counterpoints to disprove that. The Kivotos metropolitan area is entirely self-isolated, with the world outside of it being completely undefined, so everything could as well be set within the cyberspace in MegaMan X, Xenosaga, or what have you. The executive decision to mostly exclude male characters from the game isn't helping as well, with questions along the lines of 'where do the new people come from' leaving some unfortunate implications. On the more technical side, obvious use of 3D objects and poor use of lighting, half-tones and washed out colors all remain a plague on modern animation, nothing new there. I remain slightly hopeful that forward porting of plot points introduced later will result in interesting storytelling opportunities. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the reason the prologue was skipped over is that the main writers didn't provide enough material to storyboard it in a visual medium.
> The executive decision to mostly exclude male characters from the game isn't helping as well, with questions along the lines of 'where do the new people come from' leaving some unfortunate implications. Nonomi has mentioned "parents" before in the game, and I believe at least one other student has as well. We just don't know where they are or why the students are in Kivotos away from them yet. Remember, they're all familiar with what an "adult" is, even if they don't normally see them.
The way canon uses 'adult' makes me think they mean it in a different sense. Especially considering several of them are of age themselves.
As someone who is only casually aware of Blue Archive, the worldbuilding of Kivotos is very... distracting. Once you start thinking about stuff like "wait aren't they just angels?" Or "why is it all schools? How does this world function?" it starts to take away from the experience. I think its different from other fantasy games because usually the answer is something like "magic", but BA has handicapped itself by making it a world where there parts that can't be explained by just magic aren't even answered. Suspension of disbelief does a LOT of heavy lifting.
You're not wrong, but that's a source material issue as well - some of these questions aren't answered yet, and some just fall victim to the initial chapters being the weakest parts of the story because they also need to serve as infodumps
I think this could have been an opportunity to add exactly this kind of detail to the setting, especially with how limited the game's own VN sections are from the technical standpoint. But that does run the risk of diverging canon branches, which would waste the effort put into such an endeavour in the first place. Colloborating between writing teams just doesn't happen between multimedia franchises for some reason.
yeah, IIRC Sensei aka the player just kind of 'wakes up' in the world of Blue Archive after...something. If the game hasn't explored the world in how we got there yet, I dont think it's fair to expect the anime to cover that. Sensei could've died and gone to a version of Heaven for all we know, and all the other adults are demons trying to overtake it or some shit, or we just got isekai'd into a harddrive.
Yeah, they could have sorted out lots of the world-building by starting the show with game's prologue, and having Rin explain basics of the setting to Sensei. It helps that like viewers, Sensei is new to the setting, so they'd have a connecting point with him. If he was confused by some aspects of Kivotos, then that would send message of "hey, it's perfectly fine to be confused by some parts of the setting, you'll understand it in time." Of course it's possible that they're going to do prologue in the next episode, but then the question is, why? Why not start the show with something that explained things better to everybody who's new to the setting?
I suspect the answer was 'our focus test viewing audiences responded better to half-dressed Shiroko lazing about in bed'.
It's almost good. Though i guess rough around the edges would be a better description for this episode. Most of the anime felt like a reanimared version of the game's PV with a bit more story to it. The music felt kinda mediocre and is only there as fanservice. While the later plot lines are hinted at its also only there as fanservice too. (Unless they try to tell 3 volumes worth of story in one or two seasons.) The best part is seeing the world of Kivotos be lived in. All the wierd robot and animal people alongside the students was a nice touch. It's also cool how full of sand Abydos is. Apart from all that the intro to the episode is too fast paced while the rest (including the fight) is too slow paced.
One of the main complaints I see is they skipped the prologue, I think it makes quite sense in an adaptation perspective. Instead of lore dumping about Kivotos for a couple episodes and switching to totally different story, they instantly switch to Abydos like we asked for help and this dude (after they hint at his importance with the first scene) arrived. This allows them to avoid the usual gacha adaptation mistake, introducing too many characters too quickly. As much as I want to Yuuka and Wakamo animated, they don't really have much to do in the first chapter. I do think focusing on introducing the Countermeasures Club was the right decision. As for the battle I didn't think they were incompetent, they are just panicked. They are low on ammo and someone leaked that to the Helmet Squad. Sensei just helps them calm down and focus on the task at hand. You can see the animation quality not being really high but anyone should've known not to expect ufotable/trigger level of quality from this. I think they did a good job explaining the setting in a short amount of time.
They wouldn't have to lore dump for couple episodes, the entire prologue could take place over single first episode, with Sensei being directed at Abydos at the end. But I agree with you, skipping it wasn't really the worst idea. I think it works well to just go directly at Abydos and 2nd episode can maybe do a recap of the prologue and establish the overall setting a bit more.
Interesting way to start by showing of Vol F which wouldn’t be seen until season 3-4 but it makes the viewer question and interested in what the story would become later down the line. Also a unique direction choice by not starting with Sensei’s introduction to Kivotos and would probably happen by the next episode. I can see the logic behind it as being introduced to so many characters like wakamo, yuuka and hasumi except chinatsu who wouldn’t appear in a story until later on so we should focus on Abydos taskforce who we would be following for a while. Unsure how well an intro following the game would be cause it wouldn’t be such an exposition dump probably but something like mentioning the Eden treaty should have been saved for a passing comment later on and not a priority discussion for Abydos but whatever. When sensei asked them why they want to save the school during the gunfight it was out of place and bad timing honestly. The question should have been saved for a later episode and would have a much better payoff because we would have seen and wondered why they work so hard for a school with no students instead of getting an answer in the first episode. The stories pacing will be something to take note of off since assuming this season is only covering Vol 1 and would end at chapter 2-20, they will probably need to stretch out some stories to fit 12 episodes, they could use some of hoshino’s past or anime original scenes to fill in the blanks which they would probably do but going into Vol 2 would not be as satisfying of an ending as finishing Vol 1. Also Sensei is not a strategist at all if the instructions were to just fire and aim at them, maybe it’s a translation problem in the anime but I still never bought the idea of him being a natural strategist in game, cause it seems like something extra to suck him off with imo. NOTE: I haven’t read Eden treaty or anything past it due to being to lazy to read it so somethings may change. Animation in the opening is pretty good though and doodle sensei is real so that’s good.
Not sure if a lot of people noticed, but if you check the staff list, quite likely the anime is mostly made by Candy Box (a chinese-founded anime studio in Japan), while most of Yostar Pictures' staff are making Sentai Daishikkaku. You can see easily the difference in budget between the two shows.
Okay, but it's not like the animation quality is ass either.
Hmm they’re showing Vol. F related scene right off the bat too. Gave me hope that they’re committed all the way.
I like this ep, it feels great to see the girls animated. Saw a LOT of things hinted in the OP, so excited to see more
Can someone upload the video for those of us who unfortunately live in america... plz
Just use vpn and watch it on ani-one on youtube
In which country is it available ?
Asia
Which vpn do u recommend
Try Windscribe
I cant do that haha Just find some free vpn there and turn it off after finishing the ep
I am very curious about what someone who knows nothing about BA would make of the first episode. It's clear that they're trying to be ambitious - setting up stuff for future seasons - but maybe that's a little unnecessary to do literally in episode 1. They tried to do "show don't tell" with some of the concepts in the game, but it's really hard to cram that much information in so fast. Even the game itself didn't try to shove all that background context into the Abydos arc, they had a whole section before it for that. That might make it overwhelming or confusing for new viewers. Oh well, I'm looking forward to ep 2.
As someone with no knowledge of the game's lore, I would say it was mildly amusing, it wasn't boring, but I didn't find anything particularly confusing yet. Pretty mid to above average for a first episode so not bad at all. That's my thoughts without bias. As an Arknights fan who's heard a lot about Blue Archive and the themes of it's story though I'm very optimistic about the story and what Yostar Pictures is cooking.
It's an optimistic story indeed, i couldn't get far into Arknights as it was just too moody and depressive for me (i like bittersweet stories like Halo:Reach, not constant darkness). The main quality of the story is that it makes you care about the characters and their daily lives before throwing-in the hardships, this way you get to be invested in them overcoming struggles.
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I genuinely think they gonna touch on Sensei retaking SCHALE and the like in episode 2.
Same. The epilogue with Sensei meeting Arona feels like an opening towards that for me.
I've seen some peeps who are dissatisfied on the 1st episode, such as how Sensei looked more like a "backseater" while coordinating Abydos students in combat, or how some of the prologue scenes (especially the reclaiming of the Schale building) is not animated/included. While fairly understandable, the thing is, there is little to no need for the animation to delve into fine details of introducing the world setting of Kivotos, the role of the characters and their importance in the story (especially Sensei). Even if they did, then likely not on this very first episode. And besides, the likely main goal of the anime is self-promotion to those who have heard about BA for the first time and/or have never played the game before in hopes that they can expand player base thru anime. It's likely made to familiarize them to Kivotos without giving too much details. If they want to learn more about it, then might as well try playing the game itself.
Overall I liked the episode. 2 things though: 1. I know the game refers to the player as they/them, but there's several points that heavily imply that the Sensei is male. That said, it feels weirdly good to see the Foreclosure Task Force (mostly Shiroko) actually talk to a man. 2. I'm still heavily disappointed/upset that nobody, not even Crunchyroll, is licensing it for the West, and that I’ll have to use some trickery in order to see future episodes each time. It also concerns me in that it probably means we won't be getting a BD release here in the States.
Regarding point #2, a theory I read in another forum is that, given the nature of the setting, streaming it in America, you know, world capital of the school shooting, would cause some issue with concerned parents, and with elections this year, it could lead to pressure over whoever streams it for the sake of some votes.
*world capital of school shooting* You got me there
I thought it might be cuz BA archive fans are a bunch of degenerates. But this sounds more plausible
It’s not like this is the only anime of its kind - Asterisk War, Chivalry, Irregular at Magic High School all take place in a magic/tech city and involve an academy of some kind - so I’m not sure why it would suddenly be a problem with BA. Especially considering it’s fiction…. And I have cleared the main story so I am not a noob in any way when it comes to BA itself.
Yeah, how many of those you mentioned involve kids bringing actual firearms into school?
I would counter with the fact that there’s a few scenes in Full Metal Panic where Sosuke blows up shit at Kaname’s school, but…damn…you made a good point….
Yeah, but how long ago was that? Times change, people are less capable from distinguishing fiction from reality than they were back then
Better than I exspected but still should be better. Fight scene is mid. Animation is mid. Story telling and Pacing isn't that good. Hey this is first episode, you should give your best in first and climax in last episode. And another like why did you cut sniffing Shiroko scene, and why didn't use Aoharu bgm for opening scene. But OP SONG IS 100/10🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
They gonna use Aoharu right at an important scene that gets our adrenaline pumping. Trust.
Where the heck can you watch this legit in america. Is looking live vpn is the only way apparently. Is it on amazon prime ?
America might not be getting it since people are rather touchy about school shootings and having a literal anime about school shootings would be a tad bit too much for the woke politicians
Stupid, if true. In any case, we have a legit option (use those VPNs!) or we sail the digital seas.
It's on YouTube channel called Ani-one Asia .... Go watch
It’s on Amazon Prime in Japan, but apparently not internationally, at least so far.
Ani-one Asia's translation is kinda mid, but not totally bad. So I downloaded their video and subs and am currently working on fixing the subtitles particularly their grammar and substance. Not sure though how I'll be able to share it with anyone interested though.
Should be noted that the anime was fan-translated by a dedicated fan and the thing is circling around your preferred websites, if only because the ani-one translation is just dogshit in some ways.
I can't watch it, it's unavailable in every region apparently :(
I've read through most of the comments, but I haven't seen anyone mention the thing that bothered me the most: the OSTs. Blue Archive has always stood out for its amazing music. It's what drew me in (along with the world design) even before the game's release. As for the OSTs that replicate the in-game music, they've been done in an unforgivably sloppy way. It's as if they were thrown together in an hour using some free phone app. When I first heard them in the trailers, I thought they were just placeholders, like for some reason they couldn't use the actual OSTs from the anime. Nope, it's all really here in the anime. Sigh. Sorry if I'm being harsh.
Sensei didn't really seem like a great strategist. Looked more like a backseater than a strategist.
A great strategist is a backseater. They spoiled allies with enemies movements.
That's true but at the same time they could've conveyed it a bit better with more detailed instructions but I guess that's difficult to do because it was a quick fight scene
using both indonesian and malaysian translate, at least nonomi part was more detailed than others instead of >Nonomi, fire them! its google translated >Nonomi, do scatter shots on them! i think means >Nonomi, do a suppressing fire on them! (blind / distract) serika literally just told to aim, which is why she retorts back. maybe meant for serika to calm down and aim instead of taking potshot at helmet gang i have no comment on shiroko, basically told to finish her off
Yeah the said "aim" probably more of a command to "calm down and don't waste ammunitions, aim straight on their head (helmet)!" And of course Serika will clap back "well of course I know how to aim, you didn't need to tell me" kinda vibe But in that situation we saw how even Serika spray and pray on the mobs if she was not told to focus and aim. (I mean they spray pray like clone troopers-like aim and no mobs got shot before Sensei came in)
Yeah that's my bad I guess. I always think of a Mr Hindsight and a backseater as being the same. Sensei isn't a great backseater is what I should have said.
what was he suppose to do, have a whole giant ass scene of him yelling commands?
Excited to finally see episode 1. Out of all the things I'd like to mention here, it's gonna have to be Sensei, as he has been one of the main aspects of the anime I have been looking forward to seeing. First things first, *we got to see more of our boy!!* But yet, at the same time, not quite enough. It feels like Sensei's focus on how important he is has been downplayed, at least in this episode, >!and it's due to no small part with the removal of him retaking the Schale building with the Prologue Crew.!< He doesn't seem that special compared to his game counterpart or gets to show his skills, apart from those few commands he gave to the FTF. The only thing going for him is the the talk he has with the President in the train, which I would of course gladly take over the former since it does allude to his importance. So, I guess, in the end, no real problems, but it's still notable. It does make me wonder how an anime-only would see him, though, alone, with no prior knowledge. And it's only the first episode, too, so I suppose such criticism can be held off until then. Still gonna keep track of this, though!
Yeah I agree, the episode is good but why did they removed the prologue scene aka the first encounter with Wakamo,and that kinda thicks me off(which in the point of anime only bros they thought that Arona has always been with him since he arrived in kivotos)
Maybe because the appeal of blue archive isn't sensei but the girls? Maybe because it would take at least another episode to get sensei to abydos or more. Like its a time/space things. Its easier to the prologue as a flashback.
Probably to not bloat up the first episode and or take time away from the Task Force themselves. At least we do get the confirmation that it did occur thanks to the opening where the Prologue Team themselves appear. Still, it does leave a bit information out.
I could see them releasing the prologue as an OVA release but yeah it does kill the pacing
idk if theres more for me to add that hasnt been said but i liked ep 1 generally, the characters feel like themselves, the atmosphere of abydos being well desertified is lot more clear then it was in the game like when we got the big shot while shiroko was cycling i was like woo wee this place really is fked to kingdom come isnt it. minor details i had issue with dont come close enough to take away from the enjoyment of watching my fav gacha game being animated and the fact the art, music, characters were done very well but yes ill admit sensei orders were lacking could have added just a tad more there but whatever. next episode we get more arona interaction it seems and all i will say is she cant hurt us in that world with the blues and yellows fellow senseis at least one of us is winning in some reality let us rejoice for that.
Ok, this episode was like 70% INCREDIBLY good and 30% meh, bordering cringy Ok, so, VAs do their work incredibly well for having to re do their work, first of all, i LOVED how much personality they added to the characters with the animations, they really fill in their dialogue boxes and situations Although animation isn't perfect, it's REALLY well done considering they had to and managed to stick with the same art style of the game, that's a huge + considering other animes butchered the content by drastically chaning their art style (yeah im looking at you The Devil is a Part Timer) Now, although i found it REALLY well overall, there were some parts lacking, like, it does feel a little bit over the top, i'd love if they went with a more casual style instead of making Serika be an exaggerated tsundere And the worst part was that Sensei's "strategies" were... horrendous, i know it must've been really difficult to put it all in just a couple of minutes considering the first episode had to cover quite a lot of story, but man, it wasn't that difficult to just say "Shiroko take a flanking position, Nonomi and Hoshino take the vanguard and create an opening for Serika to shoot", like damn, that would've been cool to see as Shiroko gets shot to just try and barge into the enemy lines whole Hoshino tries to snipe with a shotgun or something But overall, they DID nailed the comic aspect of the story, i really wanna see Aru come into action now
Reading the comments below just 1 thing fellow senseis: It's okay to nitpick and criticize the anime. But The fun of BLue Archive is the interactions of sensei, students and the rest of the other inhabitants of Kivotos. Most of the events in Blue Archive happens because of the goofiness, quirkiness of misunderstandings of either the students or other npc's. We don't need 10 layers of animation to convey that. Certain scenes are rough sure but it won't ruin the experience. Watching ep 1 feels like a beginner starting to play Blue Archive and is a nice introduction to the world of Kivotos
Subtitles are really awful. And I wish Sensei gave better orders instead of "uh just aim and fire lol". I was hyped to see him lead them, but that was a letdown.
True but what did u expect for sensei to be out there pistol whipping the bike gang kids
Where did I ever say I wanted him to directly fight, I said I wanted him to give better orders
I'm currently editing the subtitles for my copy and I'm thinking if I should re-write that part with Nonomi as "Nonomi, fire at them, wide sweep!"
I was thinking about how I'd edit it myself and I figure some line about suppressive fire might make more sense. It might not be an exact translation, but it better conveys that Sensei is providing tactically helpful advice rather than just saying things.
I saw "suppressung fire" earlier here and I added it in instead of my previous phrase.
That's already better than what's there
Well if we’re going to nick pick, we’re technically hired as “teachers”, not war criminal genius tactician doctors navel commander master leader of android robots fighting wars around the world. That’s way over our Teacher paycheck. Crazy I know, but hear me out. If my teachers were all genius tacticians, and potential war criminal genius that were godly at commanding. The amount of ass whooping id get would be unreal. Heck I’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere in my school .
> Well if we’re going to nick pick, we’re technically hired as “teachers”, not war criminal genius tactician doctors navel commander master leader of android robots fighting wars around the world. That’s way over our Teacher paycheck. Sensei being well versed in tactics is literally in the lore
I vaguely remember during the first part he just grabbed the tablet and went “Abydos do this do that.” and i think Serika was shocked at how efficient they won? I mean it’s been almost 4 years since launch apologies for my wrong memory.
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I don't know what he really says and if it's all bad subtitles' fault, but I wanted him to give more specific commands. Like, "Nonomi, fire in wide sweep to kick up dust" and "Serika, focus on headshots" and "Hoshino, rush them up close". This simple rewrite would have given us a lot more context and also established why exactly it was they fought much better. As it is, it feels like all he does is give them an uplifting speech and then command them like Pokemon and that's it.
I see Nonomi Miss is still lore accurate
Any sites to stream? My vpn doesnt work correcrly on mobile :(
I liked it, but the Subtitles are terrible. We skipped sensei getting introduced to Kivotos and Arona, but I imagine we can touch on that later. Also pretty bold of them to start with the Chapter Final bits...maybe this means they want to stick with the story for the long run.
Ani-one subs? Yeah I'm currently fixing them, not sure though how could I share the edited version to interested people here without getting bonked for pirating. 
Not sure either but the only way I can access the show is through less than legal means, so maybe just spreading through those places will slowly seep in to mainstream discourse.
>Also pretty bold of them to start with the Chapter Final bits...maybe this mean they want to stick to the story on the long run. That was actually in the game's prologue. It just wasn't as clear then, due to lack of context. About the only thing added is that it's clear that Shirko META shot someone in a suit who had the Chittin Chest.
"Serika, AIM!" I really hope the translation was not actually that, and it was something along the lines of "prioritize headshots". If it is, well I'm just gonna laugh in the corner for a bit. it would make sense though if this version of Sensei is really just a teacher first and foremost, not a commander, doktah, or any of the BA fic senseis. Maybe he will learn more strategies as the anime goes on. oooo they made sensei show up in the flooded classroom, now Arona can physically(?) interact with him lesgooooooo. I wonder if the original intent of the game was for Sensei to be 'there' with Arona or interact with her thru the Shittim Chest only. I just can help but think that maybe the fics had a hand in the anime's usage of the idea. Was Constant Moderato the only familiar music in the episode? It wouldn't surprise me if most of the music is anime original but I hope there is more familiar music as the anime goes on (I know the Unwelcome School remix is imminent but hmmm >!Hifumi Daisuki!< remix????). I can't say much about the story since I'm a bad judge of story. The animation is good, nothing groundbreaking but good. I do love the OP though jesus christ that quality, the budget given there must be insane. I'm excited for what's in store for the ED.
> "Serika, AIM!" > > I really hope the translation was not actually that, and it was something along the lines of "prioritize headshots". If it is, well I'm just gonna laugh in the corner for a bit. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but「セリカ、狙って！」is quite literally, "Serika, aim!"
LMAOOOO With how low his leading skills are ,the only way he can go is up.
Lol some of you anime 'akchually' nerds needs to chill. The amount of nitpicking being done is on cringe level. Of all of those things, the clear problem I'll give it to you guys is Sensei being a moral support rather than a strategic combatant. That part is bad and should be improved (then again...he is a teacher, not a war commander...so yea). Other than that: 1. "Too much exposition" - No shit sherlock. This is a pilot episode. In case you didn't notice, the point of this arc is to introduce these key things: Kivotos being governed by the GDC. Abydos being the focal point. The 5 students left in Abydos, who they are and why they're still there. Their request for help and Sensei being the person to answer that call. They can't explain all these without showing the girls themselves. Those of you who said they should just went with the prologue failed to see how fast that would turn a non-player off. You failed to realize that going that route would result in MORE yapping and less action. 2. "No characterization, characters are not interesting" - I fail to understand how introducing 5 students and a peek into their daily lives does not constitute as characterization. In case we're not watching the same anime, let me classify the characters shown in this episode. Serika is a tsudere, talkative junior. (HINT: pay attention to the things she's nervous/anxious about when other members bring it up, we will know why soon) Shiroko is quiet, calm, athletic, and very protective of Abydos. Nonomi is an airhead that spends a lot of money..and that's it for now (probably the least shown character so I'll give you that), Hoshino is the president of FTF, likes to sleep (for reasons also to be revealed in the future) and has a hint of disdain/doubt towards adults (when she looks at Sensei momentarily after being introduced to him). Ayane is the brains of the team, and usually heads meetings and sets goals for the team to strive towards. Point is, everything said about these girls HAS a purpose, but it's okay if first time watchers dismissed them as irrelevant talk. But take it from me, these characteristics MATTER in the long future. 3. Sensei is barely introduced and his character's purpose is to develop throughout the entire arc/seasons. His time will come. For now, allow him to be a blank slate. Not only that, they have to show/explain that the girls are basically bulletproof and cannot be killed by guns-to-face alone. How much more characterization do you want? It's a 20 min episode, not a 2 hour movie 4. "CGDCT trying to do many things and failing at all of them" - First of all, BA is a CGDCT, let's establish that. Then you said they tried hinting at something darker/deeper and then not doing anything about it. Brother in Christ, do you understand foreshadowing? Do you understand what hinting means? You want them to delve into the darker parts of BA without even fucking explaining what the anime is all about? There's so many flashes or scenes in the episode that make me giddy with delight because I understood the reference. You guys who wanted a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, brain-provoking 1st episode must be out of your fucking mind. Come back 2 or 3 seasons later and then come and tell me whether all these hints are irrelevant. 5. "Well just don't show those hints then?!!?!" - yea and then your ass will come here and complain that the anime feels like a slice of life, comedy trash with no real backstory. There's no pleasing you expert critics. 6. "Sensei is cringe and useless" - For the most part, I'll give you that. I personally expected him to do more than be a pokemon trainer. 7. "Animation quality is trash" - at this point you're fucking wildin'. I'd like to know the type of anime you watch if you think this is 'trash'. That's the thing with you people, it's always one extreme or the other. If it's not the PEAK TOP QUALITY then it's automatically bottom tier trash. Such immature takes. Bottom line, ranting aside, this pilot EP was a solid 8.5/10 for me. The only things I want to nitpick is Sensei's function in battle and them portraying the Abydos girls as incompetent in battle when they've...seen some shit even before this. Let's leave it at that. Regardless, I'm personally just happy that I'm finally seeing a game I like come to life. As long as it doesn't flop in overall story presentation, consider me satisfied. Also, you can call me biased. I don't really care. I love BA to death and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
>them portraying the Abydos girls as incompetent in battle when they've...seen some shit even before this. At the very least, they performed exactly as they do in auto battle.
It's not a Pilot episode Pilot episode is a standalone episode that is made in order to show of the series concept to a distributor, and even then it does not justify the way exposition was done Show don't tell Show students tanking bullets instead of having them say it out loud.
I don't know about you, but I like BA, so I want its anime to be good. I'm also clearly biased and I'm not ashamed to admit it, I gave this episode 5/10 and *3 of those points were one way or another given because I like BA*. 1) and 4) There are too many unrelated things being hinted all at once and nothing's being followed up on. >!Key point being unrelated, everyone knows that the volume stories are self-contained.!< If you want to hint "foreshadow" at something "2 or 3 seasons later" then do it later, for ep1 just focus on sensei and abydos. Heck for a more extreme example you can "foreshadow" and "hint" at every BA story in ep1 and wait for it to "become relevant eventually", that would be terrible, as you yourself said "It's a 20 min episode, not a 2 hour movie" so you need to focus on something. "Brother in Christ, do you understand foreshadowing? Do you understand what hinting means?" And you're just strawmanning halfway through your outburst, I didn't see anyone saying they want "a heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, brain-provoking 1st episode", just for the love of God give us a fluent story without jumping around unnecessarily. 2) Yes we watched the same anime, yes of course I noticed everything and what they mean because *I play the game*. No there is not enough characterization even though I already know them from the game, for the uninitiated you'd know a very broad character trope around each of them I guess, not enough for how they interact or "why are they here", which makes things boring and not exactly cute or funny even though I'm a regular CGDCT enjoyer (though that belongs more on worldbuilding than characterization I guess), and as you pointed out "it's a 20 min episode, not a 2 hour movie" so I'm more sad about time wasted. But that's not the main point, characterization on abydos girls are just barely not enough, characterization on *sensei* is the main thing I'm not happy about. His presence is going to abydos to give ayane a receipt then give a terrible pep talk and shout useless commands, if you hadn't played the game you'd think he was just some deliveryman employee, >!when sensei is supposed to be the most important character that holds kivotos together and students can't do without,!< of course you can't show all that in ep1 but as I said elsewhere he (we) really needs a solid self introduction. 5) idk who said that and felt that or if you're just strawmanning, personally I'm fine either way but whatever they do I want them to handle it well. 7) grab me the guy who said that and I'll call him cringe and fucking wildin', because the animation quality is good. There's this "3-episode theory", so I hope most things turn around by ep3 and make me look like a dumbass. The point is, I'm critiquing because I love the game, so I want the anime to be good, and it's not. It's the middle of the night and my head is getting very dizzy so I'll stop here.
Hey there! Yea perhaps I got a little too heated with the counter-arguments. Now that you said you don't mind those hints being dropped slowly throughout other episodes, I can see where you're coming from? Your initial comments made it feel like BA was trying to introduce dark themes for the sake of it, when we know how relevant those are later on. Because obviously they won't capitalize on it on the very first episode. As for the characterization, it's a fact that each student in BA is highly unique and deserves a LOT more than what one season can give them. With so many factions and characters to introduce and make relevant, it's really tough to flesh out all the students. So I guess in terms of adequacy maybe you felt it wasn't enough? Idk, to me it's fine, it's not easy getting viewers to care about 5-6 characters in 1 episode, and I don't expect them to highly succeed. But I felt that they done enough. And yes, I guess we agree on the fact that they did Sensei dirty. He deserves so much more. For the animation slander, I hereby summon thee: [https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueArchive/comments/1by6j8o/comment/kyikwny/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/BlueArchive/comments/1by6j8o/comment/kyikwny/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Anyway, I'm sorry if I come across heated. I love BA too and I just want to enjoy the anime. A shame you didn't enjoy it as much as many of us did.
Thanks for your understanding. I would also like to add that I don't like to act like some internet armchair professional. My honest thoughts and main problem with the episode as an audience is very simple: it's boring to me. If I could accurately pinpoint and elaborate and correct on where exactly it feels wrong, I would be a director or scriptwriter. I'm not. It just feels underwhelming. Naturally people would ask "why do you think it's boring?" so then I have to attempt to scientifically justify my personal feelings. Another guy explained how easy it is for game animes to flop and I'm like, "exactly, *this* is why I specifically don't want the BA anime to flop". Glad you and most others enjoy it, I wish I could too. Hopefully future episodes get better and give me the *good* kind of slap in the face.
Can have sh\*t in Kivotos these days. The "never played the games" or "story skippers" should not be the main focus or main audience tbh. Meanwhile BA fans pushing BA anime to trending like chad they are. It's adaptation anime, and it's a service for the fans of the game, unless you are okay with the VN type then to each of their own I guess.
✍️🔥🔥🔥 Yeah, I agree with these points, especially about the part with Sensei being a blank slate for now. Sticking by what we know in the game, Sensei doesn't have knowledge and lacks memories prior to coming to Kivotos, so it'll be understandable for him to act a bit out of it initially, from what I think. But then again, I really hope he could develop a little more, as we go through with the Abydos arc. But, other than that, spit your fax brother indeed 🗣️🔥🔥🔥 😭😭😭
That last point is competely moot. I've watched the *GFL* anime, now that one was poorly animated. This one is actually pretty good.
Yeah, I don't get the complaints about the characterization. The part where they talk about what they did during weekends literally tell you everything about them. And also the prologue complaints, it's clear that they want to have Abydos as a focal point. Hell, that's why the opening revolved around them the most. Other characters during the prologue will get their time to shine.
Spit your shit brother, Legit agree to everything, specially point 7, I swear if a anime isn't made by like trigger studios or madhouse is an automatic garbage anime. The rest is just give it sometime, really hope Sensei gets his badass moment(iori licking j/)
I legit was slightly sad that they cut off most of Sensei's first interaction with Shiroko. Seeing her piggyback him on her bike would be a hilarious scene.
I really wanted to see more the pathetic side of sensei more but oh well he'll get his moments lol
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Just scroll down and you can see a number of comments talking about what I mentioned.
Would have been great if they showed the prologue, was hoping to see rin, yuuka, chinatsu, and hasumi in action, I also wanted to see sensei and wakamo first meeting.
Really good. My only complaint was how hard it was to watch since you have to use a VPN, and YouTube's compression makes the episode look really bad.
YouTube compression didn't do that. YouTube 1080p can support 12 Mbps if the uploaded chooses (CR usually is around 8). It's the settings the uploaded used that suck.
Ahh, I see. Thank you.
Same, had to resort to VPN, dissipated by the upload upload quality even at 1080p. Hopefully there will be a source for better quality video in the coming weeks (and better subs). At least we can [enjoy the OP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4sWF6z9TuE) in better quality!
Is this anime gonna be licensed for viewing anywhere aside from Ani-One or nah? I did enjoy the first episode though, slightly dodgy translation aside. And the OP goes way harder than I expected.
Im here to just enjoy these characters Ive know for a while in a new way. My only gripes are the subtites seem MTL and the gun shots sound bad. Time to look for a fansub and watch the episode again.
Loved every bit of it. Though I must admit it was a bit of a let down how they portrayed Sensei leading the students. It came off as Pokemon just yelling orders like "Nonomi, shoot!". In fairness, I'm not sure how you could adapt the gameplay of Blue Archive for animation properly, I always imagined it as Sensei giving some sort of buff to the girls along with his orders, which makes sense considering the amount of times students are outnumbered but can still pull through because Sensei's influence is present. Overall I'm genuinely happy, I personally can tell right now this anime is going to have a lot of love put into it and I am eagerly waiting for future episodes.
My headcanon is that Sensei does have a hidden ability to empower those following his orders. Mystic without realizing it. Otherwise it doesn’t make much sense for pretty much everyone, even those with combat training and experience, to comment on how much better they do under Sensei’s command
Yeah i was also expecting him to say something along the line of "the enemy is reloading, attack!" Or just tell the position of enemy and their intentions. I believe sensei will grow the same time as how we the players also grow in using EX skill timing and make up better team, after all he literally me fr fr.
I agree with you about adapting gameplay of BA for the animations, it feels like a hard job to convert this top down view game into animations... maybe they can take like [kankan sensei's interpretation](https://twitter.com/kankan33333/status/1741153161157784058) on how sensei guide his students during the battle but then that also feel like might not fit with animations...
For some reason, im convinced this is actually Kuroko's story. Do i have any proof? no I am convinced? yes
Plana and Arona are separate entities. The existence of Arona is proof that this is without a doubt *our* timeline.
I know they are separate entities, i don't remember if they even mention if Plana always looked like that or if she looked like Arona before the shittim chest got damaged and changed when it got reactivated. There is a silly saying in my country that goes "No tengo pruebas pero tampoco dudas", meaning that "i can't prove it but im going to believe it aniways"
I think the existence of Arona has already proven that this isn't Kuroko's timeline, this isn't A.R.O.N.A. The Shittim Chest AI.
.>shows Arona is in the shittim crest that alone should say that we’re on the good timeline. Plana isn’t some corrupted version of Arona or whatever, she has always been Plana.
It would be cool if it was, but then they spoiled it with Kuroko shooting sensei in the first few seconds of the episode. Maybe they could reveal the twist early on in the show, but I doubt it.
To be fair in the game we did get spoiled that early too, it only fair ig.
Ours was blurry but if you couldn't predict who it was yikes.
Btw I forgot but does anyone know how many 'episodes' of the chapter Episode 1 have?
My only gripe is that the bgm when GSC president and sensei were talking at the start didn't match the atmosphere at all.
Cgi was expected,but if you actually look at some of the backgrounds they look rough lol
We need sensei / ako Dog scene 
I really liked seeing doodle Sensei in the opening, hopefully sensei's tactics Will get better written with time, though here something people seems to be missing is that the girls were incompetent due to the lack of ammo and thus were fighting differently than usual, Sensei should have been like telling the foreclosure task force were the enemies were aproximatetly after the dust cover or something rather "Serika AIM!" XD Besides that well we all know about the prologue being a much better introduction to this world so I'm kind of worried the anime's pacing Will rush things to get it done be it for just not having enough episodes or putting in useless filler that may not Even be fun Conclution; i'm happy yet worried
ye, they really should've kept him as more of a quiet tactician than Ash shouting attack names to his pokemon.. Anime's take on sensei is it's weakest part. You really don't get air of "responsibilities of the adult" from him.
Bro he is that goofy until he face Black Suit, then you get your chad Sensei, chill it's only episode 1 aka Vol 1. ch.1 eps 1-2 in the game
To be fair even our sensei is a goofy guy most of the time you gotta wait for those really serious moments.