Battle Spirits: Heroes

Although this series is a sequel to Brave, it is not cannonically in the same universe, and can be watched without prior knowledge of the game, nor viewing of another Battle spirits series. It follows a young boy nicknamed headband, as he aims for the championship. When I saw that it was the Battle spirits season with the lowest score (save for Double drive, which you can't watch anywhere in full), I can't say I wasn't dissapointed. Spoiler free. I'll start off by saying. My scores are 6 for the story (it's a basic tournament style competition that holds for the whole show. There are a few detours), 7 for the art (serviceable), 7 for sound (also serviceable), 9 for characters (they are admittedly gimmicky at times, but that's more for the comedy- I'll get into that), 9 for enjoyment (I enjoyed watching the card game, which is the only series of Battle spirits that did that to me) and 8 for overall (I would personally rate it closer to a 7, but that does not accurately represent the feelings I want to express in this review). It's a much more comedy focused show than the other Battle spirits, and it's also very slice of life. Its weird zany japanese comedy didn't work to me, but it didn't detract much from the show. Although I gave the story a 6, it was solid enough to carry the show (a sports show would be the same). Even though the show isn't believable by any stretch of the imagination, it is still the closest to real-life card battling a show I've seen had (with cardfight vanguard as it's closest competitor).

Battle Spirits Heroes is the first show where's its outright a sports anime. And that's really cool. Also the trope conventions you expect from Battle Spirits are broken here too, and it make Heroes a very interesting entry. With Hajime wanting to become the champion, we are taken on a very fun, comedic, and technical journey. Ever had a card game anime actually go through sequencing with you? Neither have I till this show. With the introduction of Burst as a mechanic, it makes sense. Yet also kind of funny cause Heroes is silly and much more trying to appeal to kids. There's a great cast, but ultimately besides Hajime, I want to talk about Tegamaru, the rival who is the first to play the same color as the MC. He is Vegeta done right, it's kind of insane. I really enjoyed Heroes, it's a nice relaxing time after going through the Dan Saga. We should have more sports themed hobbyani shows in general