Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes

The story of this anime begins with a kingdom where the queen was blamed to start a coup d'etat against the kingdom after the death of king (her husband). So the first prince of the kingdom Yaiba accuses her for it. Meanwhile she sends away her second son tsurugi with the help of an android striker who knows to play battle spirit game well. So this is the epilogue. This series is about playing battle spirits card game and the most powerful players are those with "sword eyes" . There are 6 sword eyes (white, red, purple, yellow, green and blue), those who have the sword symbol in right eye represent light and to have it in left eye meant to be of dark forces. Now the entire series progresses for the aim of attaining a sword which will appear when all the 12 (light side 6 + dark side 6). Art: Upto today's animation standards. Clear in outlines etc. Music : There is no opening song. Characters: Except Yaiba, that is first son of the queen none were strong characters. Yaiba shown to be strong while taking decisions for the kingdom. He was unshakable to the kingdom struggles but he always looked after his people safety. Whenever there is a disturbance in the environment, yaiba through public broadcasting assured people that there is nothing for them to be afraid of. He never shown to suppress his people. Drawbacks of the series: 1. Characterization is poor. 2. Battle Spirits game time depletes its effect on viewers when it is combined with the aftermath story. 3. The three seers are just for comedy. They are not at all powerful. 4. Sword eyes light side characters except haqua, all others get defeated easily. Especially the ninja is so comedic. Overall enjoyment. It made me feel like it is waste of time. Battle spirits series has its worst sequel. I am making these comments only after watching its sequel too.

I'll just start by saying: Please do not watch the opening of this show before the show itself, as it spoils the sword eyes. Given that the one place to watch the show is on youtube, and the uploader didn't put in the opening (due to copyright), that shouldn't be a big problem unless you search for it. This series is about battle spirits yet again, but this time, the spirits don't originate from Grand Rolo; it's not connected to Dan/Brave. The show is very plot focused, and has a lot of characters (the quote unquote 12 sword eyes, plus quite a few others). Story: 9. This is a two parter show, that got separated for... no real reason, I assume. I'd give the story of this part a 9; it establishes the world well, the plot, the conflict, the events.. Since I'm not going to write a review for the second part, let me say that it doesn't worsen, but since it focuses more on the conclusion of the story, there aren't many more interesting ideas or locations that are brought (8/10). Art: Good, 7/10. Sound: No clue. The OP isn't bad, I don't remember the ED, the ending of the show has no music (copyright), and I forgot about the normal soudtrack, so I assume it's okay. Character: I'd give an 8. There are too many characters for all of them to develop, but the show tries, and to me, succeeds. The MC, Yaiba (altough he doesn't develop as a character, he develops to the viewer), the purple sword eyes, the yellow sword eyes of darkness, the white and green sword eyes of light.. Most of those I listed are characters that I think are well executed. Enjoyment: There's one thing that really annoyed me from the show, and brings my enjoyment to a 9, and my total score to an 8 (as opposed to a 10 and 9 respectively). That's the stakes. In a card game anime, you need stakes for each card game, or else it all feels pointless. Here, (slight spoilers for one of the first 10 episodes), they sometimes establish the stake, but, for good reasons, make the protagonists lose. However, due to the stakes being too high, they just back out of it. The way it's executed isn't bad, but it's something that I really don't respect. This happens more than once. All in all, I'd give it a solid 8. I'd recommend to anyone who would like adventure and an intriguing story, and who likes card games. FYI, the card game aspect is explained at the beggining of the show, and you should be able to get the hang of it. In fact, it introduces the game better than it's predecessors (Toppa, Dan, Brave and Heroes).

This review is for both entries on MAL Sword Eyes + Gekitouden since its all one anime really. Battle Spirits Sword Eyes is an epic fantasy card game anime. No frills, even the gameplay doesn't necessarily add anything new, the gimmick for the season is Braves but they're legendary swords now, not creatures who become weapons. Its more about accumulative effects. Be it additional power or additional color. Oh I guess the battling on surfboards part is really cool compared to most of the series and card game anime being stationary. No Yugioh 5ds business though, just occasional action of moving around the field and/or riding alongside the Spirit for the attack. Just an excuse for cool visuals. This is just really good comfort kids anime. Nothing about the plot is unpredictable, but its so well executed. And sometimes you need that. 12 chosen with a sword insignia in their eyes who each wield a Sword Brave card, 6 light and 6 darkness. Poor village boy red, rich ruler boy white. Two brothers torn by fate. Yet gather the 12 together for ultimate power. Who will that ultimate power land on, light or darkness? But it's also a story about a boy and his robot, the relationship between Tsurugi and his protector Bringer as they travel see the world and find the other Swod Eyes of Light and battle whatever Sword Eyes of Darkness is great. Back to how well done this show is, as you can see at a base level we have 12 characters in focus, and I was delighted to see no one is squandered. All 12 of the hero and villain side are utilized perfectly throughout the show, especially as what light and darkness truly means for the land of Legendia. See? The name of the country is Legendia. There's such fun childrens fantasy energy to this series. And sometimes thats all you need. Lets get the dream I saw this morning....going again.