Back to Kalendraf's Profile Kalendraf's Profile

This is a review of the Blu-ray version of "Queen's Blade: Beautiful Warriors" (Queen's Blade: Utsukushiki Toushitachi) released by Sentai Filmworks in 2014. It was viewed with English voice overs.

"Queen's Blade: Beautiful Warriors" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure with a very significant degree of ecchi content. The OVAs are essentially sequels to “Queen’s Blade: The Evil Eye”.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the Blu-ray packaging is listed as MA (so 17 and up), and this rating is merited. Scenes with female topless nudity occur frequently in every episode and during the end credits. In a few scenes, characters are fully nude, ... but no details are shown below the waist. Some episodes feature very suggestive poses or actions as well, but nothing overly graphic. The fantasy outfits that some of the females wear have little beyond the equivalent of thongs for their lower region, and copious amounts of skin are displayed often. There is combat violence in several episodes, but it isn't overly graphic.

Very brief history of the Queen's Blade characters:
When watching or reviewing Queen’s Blade, it's important to realize that this series did not take a traditional route from manga to anime. Queen's Blade started out as a series of game books and a popular line of PVC figures before that.

Story: 4/10
The show consists of 6 OVA episodes. While a few of the episodes are related by characters or events, each is essentially a stand-alone story that can be viewed separately. Each episode attempts to continue the storyline for a few of the characters from the original series. A few of them include unexpected pairings, some of which work out better than others. Brief cameos by a few characters occur as well.

A few of the events or actions don't seem to align well with the earlier series. For example, Claudette has somehow become queen, with virtually no explanation for why Leina abdicated the position. Also, Aldra has resumed the search for her sister, despite the revelation near the end of the prior series. However, most of the ensuing actions seems to make sense given where things left off.

Three of the episodes are somewhat related with Airi and the swamp witch serving as the main link between them. Melona is also featured in these, and Menace is included in one as well. The episode with Menace is the funniest of the set. It even found a way to tie-in the Queen's Blade line of PVC statues, which I found totally hilarious.

There's quite a bit of action in some of the episodes, but most of the battles end up being rather pointless and only seem to serve as excuses to show the girls in combat. The OVAs also try to ramp up the ecchi content even further, as if that is even possible. Overall, the series is primarily scenes with fan service, with some attempts to sprinkle in a weak story in between. Luckily, some of the character personalities and their journeys are interesting enough to help keep it watchable, even if there seems to be little to no plot.

Characters: 7/10
Some of what I wrote in my reviews of the prior series is still applicable for this:
The "Queens Blade" characters are among some of the most strikingly beautiful women to appear in anime. Although a few characters are younger, most of them appear to be adults, and the artwork and animation captures this very well. The outfits most of them wear are extremely skimpy, but most of these match the armors depicted in the original game books. As a result, I give them very high marks for staying true to the original source material.

Airi is featured in 3 episodes, and she eems to get the most screen time of any character as a result. While her tales are somewhat interesting, her incessant desire to resume serving the swamp witch becomes monotonous. Considering that she was finding contentment elsewhere, her sudden shift back toward villain seems contrived. By comparison, her fellow conspirators Melona and Menace each seem to follow more likely courses of action. Nanael appears in the last of these episodes with Airi and Melona, and she almost seems like part of the team. It might have been interesting to have Nanael become a fallen angel working alongside them during the prior series.

Leina is only shown for a few scenes in the first episode, and Claudette is shown for an even shorter span. Elina and Echidna get most of the time in the first episode. I'll admit I'm a fan of Echidna, so I may be a bit biased, but I found her actions and banter to once again be very well done. Elina's actions seems in-line with her prior portrayel as well. However, their scenes together are somewhat wasted by the contrived setup.

Nowa and Alleyne are given an episode, but I found their actions and portrayel to be a bit out of character. For example, why would elves from the forest be so skilled at beach volleyball, or swimming? Nyx is also included, but she doesn't have good chemistry with them, and she doesn't even provide comic relief this time around.

The final episode includes Tomoe and Aldra, and some of their interaction is interesting, but they too seem to lack much chemistry on screen.

Despite a few hiccups and odd pairings, the characters seemed fairly accurate in their portrayels, and the uniqueness of their personalities was still evident.

Art / Animation: 8/10
Compared to the prior Queen Blade series, the art was slightly weaker at times, but for the most part it was spot on. Another change was the increased emphasis on fan service and ecchi content. For those who like that, the art and animation seemed to be quite well done for those parts of each episode.

The fight scenes were well animated. Most of them are at least as good, and in a few cases perhaps even better than the battles shown in the prior series.

Sound / Voice: 8/10
The music, sound effects and voice quality was all quite good, and close to the standards set by the earlier Queens Blade series. The only problem I noticed were a couple spots where Melona's voice seemed to fade out a bit in the English dub

Enjoyment: 5/10
After being highly impressed by the prior Queen's Blade series, these 6 OVAs were a bit disappointing. It was still fun to see the characters in action, but the lack of a real story for most of the episodes was hard to overlook. While the prior series were able to convey an interesting story alongside significant degrees of fan service, the OVAs seem to push things too far. The result is a series that focuses too much on the ecchi content without giving enough attention to plot or character development.

Final verdict: 6/10
The series lacks much of a story or character development, and it primarily serves as extended fan service for several of the Queen's Blade characters. The quality of the art and animation is generally good, and fans of the Queen's Blade franchise will enjoy this. However, the extreme amount of ecchi content will likely be a turn-off for some viewers.

This is a review of the DVD version of the “Papillon Rose” TV series released by Maiden Japan in 2010. It was viewed with English subtitles. Note that the same DVD also includes the OVA “Lingerie Soldier Papillon Rose" which I have separately reviewed previously.

"Papillon Rose" is intended to be a comedic parody of magical girl series such as “Sailor Moon” and “Cutie Honey” with some ecchi content. The show includes some sci-fi and magic elements.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the DVD packaging is listed as MA (so 17 and up). However, this rating primarily applies to the OVA episode , and the content ... of the TV series is vastly tamer by comparison. The outfits worn by the lingerie soldiers are fairly skimpy. There are several combat scenes and some blood is shown, but most of the fights are relatively tame with no deaths. As a result, the TV series is more on par with PG or PG-13 content and would be suitable for young teens.

Brief history of Papillon Rose:
When watching or reviewing this title, it is important realize that the idea for “Papillon Rose” originated as a joke on a website. Growing fan interest in the title eventually led to the creation of the OVA in 2003, and then a TV series in 2006. There are no official novels or manga. A set of PVC figures were released by Milestone in 2007. The two versions correspond to the OVA and TV series

Story: 3/10
The TV series spans 6 episodes. While the original OVA was a raunchy send-up of the magical girl style, the TV series alters the formula, and it ends up making several mistakes in the process.

First, it guts the series of nearly all of the ecchi aspects of the original OVA besides the costumes worn by the lingerie soldiers. The TV series tries to make up for this by adding a bit more story content, but it winds up playing things too safe, and the result is a show that is terribly unfunny. For a show that is supposed to be a comedic parody, it utterly fails to be one.

Second, it skips ahead to a future time roughly one year after the events shown in the original OVA, and tries to bridge the gap in between through a few flashbacks that occur during the series. Unfortunately, this doesn't really do justice to the original OVA which left several loose ends, and leaves viewers to wonder why the creators opted to abandon the original OVA story line. Among the changes, the lingerie club has been converted to a maid cafe called New Papillon, and it appears to be managed by the same person that managed the former lingerie club. However, no explanation is ever provided for its conversion. Tsubomi works there, while the fellow lingerie fighters start out as customers before joining the staff. Unfortunately, the new story resorts to using a couple of the most over-used tropes imaginable. The lingerie soldiers have amnesia. Meanwhile, one of the other characters turns out to be the identical twin of a character from the OVA.

Furthermore, the raunchy yet ruthless enemies of the OVA are replaced by a new set of dull and inept alien sisters. They have arrived to attack earth, yet forgot to bring any weapons (or brains for that matter). As a result, they must resort to activating or creating hybrid UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animal) creatures to do their bidding. The hybrids are supposed to be funny, but the humor fails terribly for the western audience. Some of these might be more funny for Japanese viewers that understand some of the cultural references. In the end, the reason behind the aliens attack on Earth turns out to be rather inane.

Characters: 3/10
It's hard to believe that the 6-part series can actually have less interesting characters than those in the OVA, yet somehow the creators managed to pull that off. While Tsubomi is given a bit more background, the other lingerie fighters aren't given much extra detail. Anne's phone conversations suggest that she sleeps around, but none of that factors into the story. Shizuku is shown to be studious, and her past relationship to Tsubomi or Anne is left unexplored. Considering there were 6 episodes to work with, I expected to see a lot more background provided for them. Part of the problem is that the show opted to give them amnesia (how they contracted it is never explained), and it ends up spending way too much time in the first two episodes to deal with that. Meanwhile, the cat, Rama, has no real purpose here beyond helping to cure the amnesia.

The villains are overly bland, and they aren't really differentiated very well. A couple of other characters, like the mysterious men in black, turn out be more interesting than the main villains or the lingerie soldiers, but they have limited screen time. Overall, the characters in "Papillon Rose" seem rather generic and uninteresting. If not for their Lingerie outfits, the main heroines would be completely forgettable and indistinguishable from countless other anime characters.

Art / Animation: 6/10
The character art in "Papillon Rose" is a significant improvement over the OVA, though it's the only thing that is better. The characters looks are more modern than the OVA version. The animation is generally better too, but there are a few points in various episodes where the motion didn't seem as smooth. There were even a few spots in a couple episodes where the art seemed to revert to the older OVA style, possibly indicating that those scenes leveraged previously generated art from an unreleased OVA version.

Unfortunately, the transformation sequences in the TV series are generally worse than the OVA. The TV Series seems to re-use part of the Papillon Rose transformation scene from the OVA, but it censors it with extra roses. Meanwhile, the transformation scenes for Papillon Lily and Papillon Margaret are just static imges that appear to be censored with glowing white. Given the simplistic transformation imagery, the reason for the white censoring is unclear since they probably could have just shown Anne and Shizuku in their regular clothes and then their Lingerie outfits in a subsequent image instead.

Sound / Voice: 1/10
I'm usually rather forgiving on background music, and voice work, but the audio on this DVD is so poor that I have to give it a low rating. For example, there are some spots where ominous background music is included for a few seconds, but then it cuts out for a few seconds before they play it again. It's obvious that they simply copied a background music sample from somewhere and then dubbed it in over and over as opposed to creating custom music to fit the scene. In other spots, the voice for Shizuku/Papillon Margaret is completely missing. You can see her mouth moving, but the audio track is completely silent. Since English audio tracks aren't even included on the DVD, the poor quality of the original audio track is even apparent to someone not fluent in Japanese.

Enjoyment: 2/10
I rewatched this show for this review, and it was very hard to force myself to sit through it both times. The "Papillon Rose" TV series opted to strip out most of the ecchi content and juvenile humor found in the OVA, and tried to replace it with more story elements, but the result is boring and uninteresting. The attempts at humor fail badly, and its characters are uninspired and forgettable.

Final verdict: 3/10
Ultimately, the 6 episodes of the "Papillon Rose" TV series end up as nearly unwatchable dreck that never comes close to the zany yet watchable OVA. In fact, it seems like they should have just stuck with the original OVA formula and made more episodes of that instead. I originally rated this as a 4, but after rewatching it, I have reduced that to a 3 which still feels a bit generous. If you're interested in seeing Papillon Rose, just watch the OVA and don't bother with the 6 TV episodes.

This is a review of the DVD version of the “Lingerie Soldier Papillon Rose” OVA (Lingerie Senshi Papillon Rose) released by Maiden Japan in 2010. It was viewed with English subtitles. Note that the same DVD also includes the 6 episodes from the TV Series “Papillon Rose”. I will provide a separate review for those. This review is just for the single episode OVA.

"Lingerie Soldier Papillon Rose" is a comedic parody of magical girl series such as “Sailor Moon” and “Cutie Honey” with more ecchi content. The show includes some sci-fi and magic elements.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the ... DVD packaging is listed as MA (so 17 and up). The show includes some scenes with female topless nudity. There is an implied sex scene, but the characters are covered by a large bed sheet. Other scenes include some very suggestive adult-oriented behavior. The outfit worn by the main character is very skimpy. There is some profanity. Some combat situations occur, but they are mostly cartoon-style violence where no real harm seems to occur to anyone involved.

Brief history of Papillon Rose:
When watching or reviewing this title, it is important realize that the idea for “Papillon Rose” originated as a joke on a website. Growing fan interest in the title eventually led to the creation of the OVA in 2003, and then a TV series in 2006. There are no official novels or manga. A set of PVC figures were released by Milestone in 2007. The two versions correspond to the OVA and TV series

Story: 3/10
There is only 1 episode of the OVA and it’s only about 25 minutes long. The main character, Tsubomi is introduced along with her friend Anne, both of whom work at a Lingerie Club. Their age is not revealed, but it appears they are probably in their late teens. The manager of the club is shown briefly, and the girls’ interactions with him show that they have the upper hand. Tsubomi and Anne threaten him jokingly, and he seems to have little option but to accept their requests.

A mysterious figure, known only as “Dandy Lion”, encounters Tsubomi, and it is revealed that he has a special power to awaken the powers of the lingerie fighters…through sex. This seems like a setup for a hentai title, but the OVA refrains from showing much of their sexual encounter.

The show also introduces a set of enemies, including a female ruler, her 4 generals and some lackeys that cater to her every whim. One of the generals is sent to harvest human lifeforces, and she begins her attack near the club. Her orally powered, crotch-attacking weapon has obvious sexual connotations. Meanwhile, a talking cat named Rama finds Tsubomi, and after confirming her power by scent, he helps her activate her power to turn into Papillon Rose. The transformation scene is a parody of magical girl transformations. She even says “Cutie Honey” first before using the correct phrase. In combat, she ends up using a weapon that is basically a huge vibrator. Papillon Rose struggles in combat before Dandy Lion comes to the rescue.

Most of the ecchi content is intended for laughs, but much of it seems overly juvenile. The show ends rather abruptly before Dandy Lion has encountered any of the other lingerie fighters. The OVA seems like it was intended as the first of several episodes that would later feature the other generals before a final showdown with their leader. Unfortunately, that content doesn’t appear to have ever been completed. The 6 episodes from the TV series occur later with only a short attempt at bridging the gap in between.

Characters: 4/10
The relatively short duration leaves little time to explore characters. Most of the focus is on Tsubomi / Papillon Rose. Anne has very little screen time, though it is likely she would have been given more focus in subsequent OVA episodes if they had been produced. Both seem like very likable young women. Unfortunately, we don’t learn any background for either of them, their reasons for working at the club or their motivations.

Similarly, very little information is provided for Dandy Lion or Rama, other than the fact they are very close. The enemies seem paper thin with no reasons provided for their actions.

Art / Animation: 6/10
Considering that this title was produced in 2003, the art and animation looks even more dated than that, and seems to be more like styles from the mid-90s. Some of the sequences with Tsubomi / Papillon Rose such as her transformation scene or some with the rose motif seem better. Overall, the art isn’t bad, but it could have been much better.

Sound / Voice: 6/10
The intro song is ok. There is no option for English voice over, so I can’t rate that, or the Japanese voice acting. The remaining background music and sound effects were fine.

Enjoyment: 6/10
Overall, I find the OVA mildly entertaining yet disappointing. I would have liked to have seen further episodes of the OVA that introduced the other Lingerie fighters and to help explain things more. The juvenile humor is weak, but the crazy setup almost seems to work in a few spots.

Final verdict: 5/10
I re-watched it for this review, and I ended up lowering my original score by 1 (was 6, now 5). The art and animation seems even worse by today’s standards, and the limited story and short duration end up hurting the show significantly. If you want to see an ecchi parody of the magical girl style, it might be worth checking out, but other shows like “Shin Cutie Honey” OVAs do that better.

This is a review of the OVA specials included with the "Queen's Blade: The Evil Eye" (Queen's Blade:Gyokuza wo Tsugu Mono) Blu-ray release by Media Blasters in 2011. These were viewed with English sub-titles.

The OVAs included with "Queen's Blade: The Evil Eye" fall into the category of fantasy action adventure with a significant degree of comedy, ecchi content and fan service.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the Blu-ray packaging is listed as "16 AND OLDER" while some other sites including this one list it at 17+. Each OVA episode features female topless nudity, and some suggestive actions and situations. There is some minor violence, but it ... is mostly cartoon style with no significant harm.

Story: 2/10
There are 6 OVAs. Each is a short stand-alone episode approximately 3 minutes in duration. The setting is altered, with each of the characters now attending school instead of being involved in the Queen's Blade tournament. Compared to the 6 OVAs included with the previous series, these episodes to have even less plot and are even weaker in terms of character development, if that’s possible. Most of the attempts at humor fail to be funny. By the end, trying to fill 3 minutes each seemed to be too big of a task for the weak content here.

Characters: 7/10
More of the characters are included in this set of OVAs, but during their brief appearances, the viewer doesn’t get to see much from any of them.

Art / Animation: 6/10
The overall visual quality of the OVAs is satisfactory. The character art is similar to the original series, but the animation isn't as good.

Sound / Voice: 6/10
The music and sounds effects were fine. I can't judge the Japanese voice work, but they seemed ok. There was no English dub included.

Enjoyment: 4/10
The OVAs attempt to continue the comedic fan service episodes included with the prior series. When viewed from that perspective, they may pass for simple diversions. However, they don’t even seem to live up to the relatively low bar set by the prior set of OVAs. Anyone expecting more will be disappointed. They attempt to include a significant degree of ecchi content, but the effect and weak humor is not very good.

Final verdict: 5/10
These OVAs serve as little more than extra filler on the Blu-ray edition of "Queen's Blade: The Evil Eye". They depict the characters in an alternate setting, and attempt to provide additional fan service featuring various characters from the series. Unfortunately, even the ecchi content can’t overcome combined lack of a plot and failed attempts at humor.

This is a review of the Blu-ray version of "Queen's Blade: The Evil Eye" (Queen's Blade: Gyokuza wo Tsugu Mono) released by Media Blasters in 2011. It was viewed with English voice overs.

"Queen's Blade: The Evil Eye" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure with a significant degree of ecchi content. It is the sequel to “Queen’s Blade: The Exiled Virgin” (Queen’s Blade: Rurou no Senshi).

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the Blu-ray packaging is listed as "16 AND OLDER" while some other sites including this one list it at 17+. Scenes with female topless nudity occur in every episode. ... Some episodes feature very suggestive poses or actions as well, but nothing overly graphic. The fantasy outfits that some of the females wear have little beyond the equivalent of thongs for their lower region, and copious amounts of skin are displayed often. There is combat violence in several episodes, and some deaths occur, but it isn't overly graphic.

Very brief history of the Queen's Blade characters:
When watching or reviewing Queen’s Blade, it's important to realize that this series did not take a traditional route from manga to anime. Queen's Blade started out as a series of game books and a popular line of PVC figures before that.

Story: 7/10
The show spans 12 episodes. While the original series introduced the contestants and covered the events on the way to the tournament in the capital city of Gainos, this series focuses on the Queen’s Blade tournament and some other events transpiring simultaneously. The first episode is a bit of a throw-away, as it spends a significant amount of time re-explaining information from the original series, and then focuses on the women finding lodging in the city. However, after this, the action heats up quickly, and most episodes feature one or more Queen’s Blade battles. Some of the combats are a bit predictable, but there are several surprises along the way. The episodes also show some behind the scenes actions taken by various characters while fights are transpiring or during the downtime between the battles.

The story in “Queens Blade: The Evil Eye” is significantly better than the simple, sometimes thread-bare tale that formed the basis for the original series. There are some unexpected character developments along the way. Some characters that were enemies in the past are forced to team up, and in a couple of cases, allies become enemies. The banter between some of the characters is very well-done, and the interaction between some of the combatants is very entertaining.

Nanael has a different role, now being a contestant rather than some kind of referee. This role suits her much better, and allows her serve as more than just comedy relief. Instead, multiple characters provide bits of comedy during this series.

There are some weaknesses in the story. At one point, Echidna is identified as one of the remaining characters vying for the title, but then she suddenly seems to be forgotten. The only plausible explanation is that she pulled herself out of the tournament due to some of the events that affect her and another character, but this is not clarified. After seeming to be built up as one of the stronger competitors in the early episodes, her absence in the later episodes seems like a glaring oversight. In addition, the Swamp Witch is never shown, so we never get any more insight into the character that sent the trio of Airi, Melona and Menace to enter the battle.

Characters: 8/10
Some of what I wrote in my review of the first series is still applicable for this sequel:
The "Queens Blade" characters are among some of the most strikingly beautiful women to appear in anime. Although a few characters are younger, most of them appear to be adults, and the artwork and animation captures this very well. The outfits most of them wear are extremely skimpy, but most of these match the armors depicted in the original game books. As a result, I give them very high marks for staying true to the original source material.

Anyone that doesn't understand the reasons for fantasy-based outfits existing in a fantasy world should probably stay away. Please find a documentary on the history channel about period armors if that's what you're looking for. This isn't it.

The series introduces a few new characters, such as Aldra and Nyx. While Aldra is a potent villain, Nyx seems to serve little purpose beyond comedy relief, and being an early round loser in the tournament. I would have really liked to have seen Nyx developed more and not made into such a submissive character.

Some of the characters undergo significant changes from the first series. As mentioned, Nanael is now a contestant. Risty undergoes a drastic change and becomes a key character in the later episodes. Meanwhile, Airi and Melona also end up changing allegiances somewhat. Several other characters show varying degrees of character growth through the series. By the end, nearly all of them have undergone some measure of change, some much more significant than others.

The series still never explains why Airi is wearing a maid outfit, nor does it explain why a specter would bother to exert energy to cover herself in such an outfit, which is apparently what Airi does - when she gets weak, her clothes become transparent layer by layer.

Art / Animation: 8/10
Most of the characters, and animation are extremely well-done. The art seemed a bit weaker at times than the prior series, with slight variations to the character design, and at times, simpler animations. Most of the fight scenes are pretty well done, but too many of them end up with the “cloud of dust” situation where the climax of combat becomes masked by effects or objects that block our view of the characters. This is a cheap way to reduce the cost of animation, but it tends to leave the viewer unsatisfied.

Similar to the prior series, the angles often emphasize showing the female characters busts or butts. At times this can be distracting, but this is in the theme of the original game book art which tend to feature a lot of ecchi poses for the characters.

Sound / Voice: 9/10
The song during into credits is largely forgettable, but the rest of the audio is great. There are different versions of songs used during the end credits, and some of those are rather cute. The background music and sound effects during the episodes is good. The voice acting seems to have improved as well. I especially liked the English voice acting for Echidna and Claudette – the actresses for those do a fantastic job.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I was not sure if this would be able to live up to the quality of the first series, but it actually exceeded it. Between the improved story, some key changes to characters like Nanael and Risty, and some very entertaining scenes with intriguing characters like Echidna and Claudette, there was is a lot to enjoy here. At times, it seemed like the show might push the envelope on the ecchi content too far, yet it never crosses the line into something else. The result is a series that does a fantastic job of capturing the Queen’s Blade characters in all their glory.

Final verdict: 8/10
The high amount of ecchi content may be a turn-off for some viewers, which is unfortunate. Underneath all the eye candy lurks a very interesting and entertaining show. I’m amazed that the outlandish Queen’s Blade characters which first debuted in game books and then in PVC statues could become brought to life in such a highly watchable and enjoyable anime. This is a must see for fans of the Queen’s Blade franchise, and is worth seeing even for those that aren’t.

This is a review of the OVA specials included with the "Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin" (Queen's Blade: Rurou no Senshi) Blu-ray release by Media Blasters in 2011. These were viewed with English sub-titles.

The OVAs included with "Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin" fall into the category of fantasy action adventure with a significant degree of comedy, ecchi content and fan service.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the Blu-ray packaging is listed as "16 AND OLDER" while some other sites including this one list it at 17+. Each OVA episode features female topless nudity. There is some minor violence, but it is mostly ... cartoon style with no significant harm.

Story: 3/10
There are 6 OVAs. Each is a short stand-alone episode approximately 3 minutes in duration. The setting is altered, with each of the characters now attending school instead of being involved in the Queen's Blade tournament. Considering that the "Queen's Blade" series already includes a significant amount of ecchi content, it seems like the OVAs push the envelope even further, and feature even more of it in a limited time. Unfortunately, between the short duration and heavy focus on fan service, there is little time devoted to any sort of a story line, or character development. The OVAs have some comedic moments, albeit juvenile humor at times.

Characters: 8/10
The "Queens Blade" characters are among some of the most strikingly beautiful women to appear in anime, and the OVA generally upholds the artistic quality used in the series. Most of the characters are depicted in schoolgirl outfits during these OVA episodes. These outfits stray from the original character designs, but they are similar in spirit.

Only a few characters are included in the first few OVAs, with the villains Airi, Melona and Menace being featured in multiple episodes. The final OVA includes most of the cast as well as some additional characters that aren't introduced yet in the main series.

Art / Animation: 6/10
The overall visual quality of the OVAs is satisfactory. The character art is similar to the original series, but the animation isn't as good.

Sound / Voice: 6/10
The music and sounds effects were fine. I can't judge the Japanese voice work, but they seemed ok. There was no English dub included.

Enjoyment: 6/10
The OVAs are essentially comedic fan service episodes featuring the Queen's Blade characters. When viewed from that perspective, they are enjoyable diversions. Anyone expecting more will be disappointed. Their short duration plays in their favor, as it allows them to exploit their ecchi content for laughs without allowing them to push the envelope too far.

Final verdict: 6/10
The OVAs are a welcome inclusion on the blu-ray edition of "Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin". They depict the characters in an alternate setting and include some humorous situations. However, not all viewers may appreciate the large amounts of ecchi content they feature in their short run times. Fans of the Queen's Blade characters will likely appreciate these the most.

This is a review of the Blu-ray version of "Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin" (Queen's Blade: Rurou no Senshi) released by Media Blasters in 2011. It was viewed with English voice overs.

"Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure with a significant degree of ecchi content.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the Blu-ray packaging is listed as "16 AND OLDER" while some other sites including this one list it at 17+. Scenes with female topless nudity occur in every episode. The fantasy outfits that some of the females wear have little beyond the equivalent of thongs for their ... lower region, and copious amounts of skin are displayed often. There is combat violence in several episodes, and some deaths occur, but it isn't overly graphic.

Brief history of the Queen's Blade characters:
For those unfamiliar with their background, the Queen's Blade characters were originally introduced as playable fighters in a set of game books back in 2005. These books were based on the "Lost Worlds" combat system, and they were an instant hit among gamers and collectors. In 2006, a series of PVC statues for "Queen's Blade" were introduced by Megahouse, and these similarly became instant hits among collectors. Many of these featured "cast off" outfits which at the time was not a common feature of PVC figures. The popularity of this feature for PVC statues has grown considerably, in part due to the huge popularity of the "Queen's Blade" figures. Since then many additional figures have been produced by Megahouse and other companies. By 2007, the series made its debut in light novels and manga. In 2009, "Queen's Blade" was finally made into a TV series.

Thus, when watching or reviewing this, it's important to realize that this series did not take a traditional route from manga to anime. It started out as a game and a popular line of PVC figures before that.

Story: 5/10
The show spans 12 episodes. The central plot revolves around several beautiful warriors that are vying to win the Queen's Blade tournament in order to become the next queen. As the series unfolds, additional contestants are introduced, each with a different reason for trying to win. Each episode features one or more combat situations between contestants, or battles between a few of the more heroic characters and various villains. The story largely follows the path taken by Leina (aka Reina) Vance, but several other characters such as her sisters Claudette and Elina, the bandit Risty, the mercenary Echidna, the warrior priestess Tomoe, the assassin Shizuka, and the villains Melona, Menace and Airi are given significant screen time during the series.

Overall, the basic premise is quite simple, and while the lack of complexity is probably to be expected for a series based on a fighting game, this is one of the weaker aspects of the show.

What the series lacks in story, it somewhat makes up in it's character interaction and backstory. Although there isn't a lot of character development, the story does explore the history of some of the primary combatants, and it provides ample motives for them to be involved in the tournament. As a result, the conflicts between some of the opponents seem less forced than the showdowns that occur in some other anime that are based on episodic battles.

Characters: 9/10
The "Queens Blade" characters are among some of the most strikingly beautiful women to appear in anime. Although a few characters are younger, most of them appear to be adults, and the artwork and animation captures this very well. The outfits most of them wear are extremely skimpy, but most of these match the armors depicted in the original game books. As a result, I give them very high marks for staying true to the original source material.

For those who may not like this style, I will re-iterate what I wrote in another review -"Anyone that doesn't understand the reasons for fantasy-based outfits existing in a fantasy world should probably stay away. Please find a documentary on the history channel about period armors if that's what you're looking for. This isn't it."

Overall, each of the characters are rather unique, and most of them are fleshed out (pun intended) to provide their backstories and motivations. A few of the characters are very much over-the-top, but this also fits with their original game book style as well. For example, Melona is a essentially a shape-shifter with an unusual acid attack that takes the form of a bunny-eared bombshell. Echidna is skilled with her blades, but she also wears a very unusual lower "garment" - a real snake! These unusual and outlandish characters are a big part of what defines and sets the Queen's Blade setting apart from others, and the anime does a fantastic job of capturing them so vividly.

Regarding specific characters, Leina, Claudette, Risty, Echidna, Tomoe and Shizuka are featured in multiple episodes which allows for a deeper exploration of their motives and personalities. Other characters such as Elina, Melona, Menace and Airi are also featured in multiple episodes, but they don't seem to be given as much explanation. A few other characters like Nowa, Cattleya and Ymir only appear in a couple of episodes which doesn't allow for as much exploration of their backgrounds.

There are a couple of things I dislike about the characters in "Queen's Blade". One of them is Nanael, a hapless angel, who is supposed to initiate Queen's Blade matches. It seems like she was purely included for comic relief, and her inclusion was not necessary at all. I cringed at watching almost all of her scenes, and I really wished she wasn't included in this series. The second thing I disliked was the lack of explanation provided for Airi. Why is she dressed as a maid while all of the other characters wear outfits that are either armor or clothing fitting for their backgrounds? The anime offered a golden opportunity to explain her outfit but didn't. For these reasons, I can only give characters 9/10.

Art / Animation: 9/10
Most of the characters, and animation are extremely well-done. In the 2nd half of the series, there were a few spots where it looked like they took some short cuts in the artwork and it wasn't quite up to the standards set by the rest of the series. While most of the combat scenes are good, there are a few times where the animation seemed less fluid.

Many of the scenes feature angles that show off the characters breasts or butts, however, this is very much in the spirit of the character artwork featured in the original game books.

Sound / Voice: 7/10
The songs during the beginning and end credits are acceptable, but forgettable. For a series that is heavily focused on its imagery, the sound and voice work was generally good, if not great. The English voice covers were good for the most part, though I found Nanael to be annoying. However, that might be more due to the character than the voice actress. The male voice actor for Setora (Menace's scepter) was a riot. He must have had a lot of fun doing that part.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I was familiar with the Queen's Blade franchise due to the game books and statues. However, I had very low expectations for this series, and I was very doubtful that they would be able to turn it into a watchable anime. Thus, I was quite pleasantly surprised to see that this series turned out so well. It often takes me several viewing sessions to sit through a 12-episode series, but I liked this show so well that it only took me a couple nights to watch the whole series. This isn't any type of cerebral masterpiece, but the characters and combat is remarkably faithful to its game book source material.

Final verdict: 8/10
The copious amounts of skin may be a turn off for some viewers, and the overall story is rather basic. However, the creators should be applauded for taking the "Queen's Blade" material and turning it into a highly watchable and enjoyable anime. Unfortunately, the faithful recreation of the characters from the original "Queen's Blade" game books may be lost on many mainstream viewers who are unfamiliar with the franchise's origins. Ultimately, watching "Queen's Blade: The Exiled Virgin" is somewhat of a guilty pleasure and one which fans of the "Queen's Blade" franchise will likely enjoy the most.

This is a review of the Blu-ray version of "Blade & Soul" released by Sentai Filmworks in 2015. It was viewed with English voice overs.

"Blade & Soul" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating on the Blu-ray case is listed as MA (meaning 17+), though that rating may seems a bit too high. There is almost no nudity besides a couple of brief backside shots of unclothed females, and a couple of spots where using the player's freeze frame option may detect a bare breast or two. There is combat violence in several episodes, and some of the deaths ... or injuries seem a bit gruesome or disturbing, but it isn't overly graphic. As a result, this show would likely be suitable for teens 15 and up.

Story: 7/10
The show spans 13 episodes. The story was interesting, and it contained some twists I didn't expect. Some things were not well explained, and I suspect a few of those may be related to aspects of the game. The very first episode reminded me a bit of the setup for the Seven Samurai (or the later Magnificent Seven) where a village seeks to hire help to protect themselves. However, after convincing the main protagonist Alka, an emotionless female assassin, to help them, things quickly spiral out of control for the village. Alka is left wandering through most of the episodes, continually hunted. Some of the characters she meets have unexpected ties and the outcomes from those include some rather big and unexpected plot twists. By the end, the once emotionless Alka has undergone so many tests of will that she can't even stand to fight against her main opponent, who herself has undergone her own plot twist.

Across the first 12 episodes, the episodes shift from being mere adolescent titillation to much more serious content. By the end of the 12th episode, both the characters and the audience has undergone some serious mental angst. One prominent theme in several episodes is revenge, and how different people deal with it or try to exact it upon others. The mental torture that is exacted upon certain characters was devastating to watch. I also found some of the scenarios to be thought-provoking, without clear right/wrong answers.

The final 13th episode is largely a throw-away "beach" episode that seems to exist purely for fan service. It could have been left out entirely, and it seems more like an OVA rather than anything canon. It just seemed like an excuse to show some of the characters in even skimpier outfits, and it really didn’t fit into the rest of the series. Including it at the end also seemed to weaken the overall impact of the series.

Characters: 6/10
Visually, the female cast are beautifully illustrated. They also offer some serious eye candy since some of them tend to wear rather skimpy attire. Anyone that doesn't understand the reasons for fantasy-based outfits existing in a fantasy world should probably stay away. Please find a documentary on the history channel about period armors if that's what you're looking for. This isn't it. In addition, most of the female characters in this show are rather well-endowed, though by current anime standards and depending on specific genre, they aren't that unusual.

The main character, Alka, is a bit of an enigma. She is an ultra-skilled assassin, but utterly emotionless at the beginning. Through flashbacks and other revelations, we continually learn more about her past. Due to the events that transpire, her character undergoes profound mental changes in the last half of the series. I found it hard to like her as a cold-blooded emotionless killer, but I also felt sorry for some of the situations she ends up having to deal with.

Besides Alka, there are a trio of beautiful women that are featured prominently through the series. The proprietor Karen, the bounty hunter Hazuki and the bandit leader Roana. Each of them have different motives, but end up being tied in some way to Alka or her mission.
The main villain Jin Varel and her associates are featured in several episodes. Jin seems equally cold and emotionless to Alka.

A few other characters are also introduced such as a merchant who appears at different times or a girl saved from a village. None of the lesser characters are developed much in their limited screen time.

Art / Animation: 9/10
Most of the characters, scenery and animation are gorgeous. Even the end credits are spectacular featuring what seems like motion captured dancing since the animation is so smooth and fluid. While the female characters look great, the art for the male characters seems like an afterthought.

Sound / Voice: 8/10
The music during the intro and end credits is very good. The background music and sound effects were all effective. However, the voice acting for some of the characters such as Alka and Hazuki seemed a bit weak.

Enjoyment: 5/10
While the series is visually stunning, the emotionless natures of the main character Alka and the villain Jin Varel end up being anchors that prevent the series from lifting up to its full potential. The elements for a good story are here. With a different delivery and some changes for the main character and villain, it could have been much, much better.

Final Verdict: 7/10
While far from perfect, “Blade & Soul” is worth seeing at least once. The characters, animation and visuals are beautifully drawn and animated, and overall the story is intriguing and includes a few thought-provoking situations. However, the series never manages to rise to its full potential. For a show titled “Blade & Soul”, it seemed more “Blade” and little to no “Soul”.

This is a review of the DVD version of "Sacred Blacksmith" (Seiken no Blacksmith) released by Funimation in 2011. It was viewed with English voice overs.

"Sacred Blacksmith" falls into the category of fantasy action adventure with some minor elements of comedy.

Parental Advisory:
The age rating is listed as 17+. However, this is absurdly high - the show's content does not merit this high of an age rating. Two or three of the episodes include some very brief scenes with female topless nudity. There is combat violence in several episodes, but it isn't overly graphic. As a result, this show would ... likely be suitable for teens 13 and up.

Story: 7/10
The show is comprised of 12 episodes. During the episodes, several characters are introduced including the main protagonist Cecily, the blacksmith Luke, his assistant Lisa, and a few others from the city. Along the way, the world's history is revealed bit by bit. Without giving away too many spoilers, there was a previous war involving a demon and the repercussions of that are still being felt. Some of the main characters are directly related to the events of that war.

Much of it is fairly typical for a fantasy story, but there were a few interesting elements introduced related to the blacksmith and how he is able to magically craft weapons with his assistant. Some of the ultra-powerful demon swords can also take human form which is explored in a few episodes, but is never fully explained.

Near the middle of the series, a new set of characters are introduced almost out of the blue. At one moment they a supposed to enemies, and then suddenly they are allies, and the sudden shift doesn't make much sense. A few episodes later, they are whisked away. The few plot developments and pieces of information that are introduced by these characters could have easily been provided in other ways, and leaving these characters out of the series entirely would have led to a stronger series, and provided more time to focus on some of the other characters.

The series ends on a cliffhanger, which seems to indicate that a 2nd series was planned. However, I have found information about this, or when it might be released.

Characters: 5/10
Visually, many of characters in "Sacred Blacksmith" are more normal in size and appearance compared to those in other modern anime titles. Most of the females are especially demure, and the males aren't overly muscular.

The main character, Cecily Cambell is an overly inept knight. She is a very weak character to serve as the main protagonist, and this is a drag throughout the entire show. Through the series, some other characters make jokes the size of her bosom, but these fail to be humorous, partly because her breasts aren't really that big, at least not compared to characters in other modern anime. Her breasts are shown briefly in a couple of episodes in an apparent attempt at humor, but the scenes barely register on the funniness meter, and could have been left out.

Luke, the blacksmith, and his assistant, Lisa, are more intriguing characters. Some of the key plot developments relate to these characters. I would have liked to have seen them involved in more scenes instead of Cecily.

The main antagonist seems overly cliché. He's presented as a mysterious figure in a black cloak, before his real identity is uncovered. However, it was really obvious from the beginning who it was for those paying attention. The lack of originality of this character is a bit of let-down, as are his motives.

Other characters are introduced such as guards and key members of the city government, but they don't get much screen time. Rounding out the characters are a couple of living weapons one of which gets a fair bit of screen time, but not enough to fully explain their background.

Art / Animation: 7/10
The animation in "Sacred Blacksmith" was good overall, but not spectacular. It seemed to use a lot of recycled art through the series. For example, scenes of the city show an ominous, yet never-changing volcano apparently spewing a large ash cloud over the city. This erupting volcano is never mentioned or explained. I liked the blacksmith's magic weapon forging scene, but that too was essentially recycled a few times with few or no changes in later episodes.

Some of the character designs are a bit basic but nice, and thankfully they were not as over-the-top as some characters found in other modern anime. The outfits evoked a fantasy atmosphere, and their style had a simple elegance. I found Aria's outfit to be quite lovely and rather fitting for her wind-nature.

A few of the combat scenes were enjoyable to watch, and they seemed to capture elements of the action rather well.

Sound / Voice: 7/10
The soundtrack and background music used an orchestral piece which was quite good. Other sound effects, such as during the combat scenes, were fine. The English voice acting seemed ok.

Enjoyment: 4/10
While I enjoyed parts of this show, it really wasn't that enjoyable to watch it. At times, it seemed like the story could be quite good, and it had the potential to set things up for a serious fantasy adventure, but then it would shift gears and try to inject comedic elements that didn't really work. A big part of that problem is due to the main character Cecily - her ineptness more or less forces her to be used as comedy relief for many of her scenes. It's like trying to inject a character from “Slayers” into “Record of Lodoss War” - the results are predictably bad.

Final Verdict: 6/10
I really wanted to like this show. It had a cool fantasy setting with a very interesting backstory, some enjoyable combat scenes, and a few characters that were intriguing like the blacksmith. However, the unimaginative villain, the sudden introduction of extra characters, and the focus on Cecily end up derailing this story, never allowing it to climb out of mediocrity.

This is a review of the DVD version of "Cleopatra DC" released by Media Blasters in 2002. It was viewed with English subtitles.

"Cleopatra" falls into the category of action with some sci-fi elements mixed in.

Parental Guidance:
There are a few very brief scenes with female semi-nudity. The dialog includes some profanity. There is also a significant amount of violence, but nothing graphic. Overall, the content is roughly on par with what one might see in a typical summer action movie rated PG or PG-13.

Story: 7/10
The series includes three episodes, the last of which is almost as long as the first two combined. ... All of the episodes are quite good, and they are able to stand on their own and be viewed separately. In each, the main story revolves around the actions of Cleopatra (Cleo) Corns, who is the leader of a powerful financial group known the Corns Group.

Several of the scenes are located in the U.S. while others occur in different regions of the world. Given that so many anime works tend to be based in Japan, this is a refreshing change, and it would be nice to see more stories set in other parts of the world.

As the plots unfold, there are a lot of action sequences, some of which reminded me of scenes from some successful 80’s action films. In addition, there are elements of spy thrillers and some interesting sci-fi plot devices sprinkled in along the way. At various points, Cleo seems a lot like a female version of James Bond but without any romantic interests thrown into the mix.

Characters: 6/10
Cleo is charming and sexy, and she seems to be quite capable in combat as well. However, she seems rather non-plausible as the leader of a huge organization like the Corns group, even if it may be her birthright. She is a bit naïve at times, which reinforces her youth and inexperience. Overall, she is a very likeable character, despite a few flaws.

One of the more prominently featured supporting characters is Suen. As Cleo’s personal assistant, her wisdom helps provide somewhat of a counter to Cleo’s brashness and naivety in various scenes. Unfortunately, this character is not explored much further, which seems like a bit of a missed opportunity.

Other supporting characters and villains are fairly well done. Some of them appear in each episode, which helps develop and strengthen their impact.

Art / Animation: 4/10
The art and animation are the weakest part of “Cleopatra DC”. Starting with the character designs, some of the faces seem a bit odd, sometimes uneven, and at the very least, rather outdated. In particular, the noses seem problematic from various angles. Another oddity is that Suen’s hair covers one eye, yet the eye shows through. While this isn’t the only anime character to have this style, it’s simply unnecessary, and a better approach would be to cover the eye completely or change the hairstyle to allow it to be seen.

Meanwhile, the animation is generally fluid. However, it tends to look very dated by today’s standards.

Sound / Voice: 6/10
Soundtrack and background music and is good. Sound effects were generally good. I can’t judge the voice work since I don’t speak Japanese and that was the only audio option available.

Enjoyment: 6/10
Between its story, action scenes and characters, “Cleopatra DC” strikes a good balance making for an enjoyable watch.

Other info:
The “Cleopatra DC” DVD is very sparse. It only has one language option (Japanese with English subtitles), and virtually no other extras beyond a couple of previews. I don’t generally consider the other DVD contents when judging an anime, but in this case, the lack of additional contents is somewhat glaring and hard to overlook.

Final Verdict: 6/10
For anyone looking for an action anime, and that is willing to overlook the somewhat dated animation and character designs, “Cleopatra DC” is a decent option to consider. Despite the relatively short length, the three episodes pack a lot of action.