Blade & Soul: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Blade & Soul: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Blade & Soul is an action anime with some high-octane battles to whet the appetites of action fans. The series features production by Tokyo Broadcasting System. The original character designs by Hyung-Tae Kim add to the aesthetic. The animation for Blade & Soul is produced by GONZO (Akiba's Trip: The Animation, Gad Guard). The theme music is performed by Mimi Meme MIMI (opening) and LEGO BIG MORL (ending).

Blade & Soul comes from producers Gaku Nakagawa (Captain Earth, Noragami), Hidetada Soga (Castle Town Dandelion, Tokyo Ghoul), Kiyotomo Sudo, Sada Hoshino, Shigeaki Arima (Gonna be the Twin-Tail!! , Locodol), Shin Furukawa (Attack on Titan, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord), Tetsuya Endo (Tanaka-kun is Always Listless, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches), Tsuyoshi Tanaka (Infinite Stratos, Photo Kano), and Yoshito Mitsui. Blade & Soul features vocal performances by Yuki Takao, Chō, Aoi Yūki, Sora Amamiya, Sayaka Ohara, Ayahi Takagaki, Marina Inoue, Rikiya Koyama, Rumi Okubo, Ryoko Shiraishi, and Shizuka Itō. Blade & Soul is an adrenaline-packed action series for fans of the genre.

Alka (Yuki Takao) wants to swim in the blood of her enemies. Alka is no ordinary sword master and she has trained to be the best in her class. Yet Alka found her beloved clan slaughtered and her own past master, Hon Dōgen (Chō). Determined to get revenge for the murderous blood bath set forth by her enemies. Alka seems one person in particular: Jin Valel (Aoi Yūki).

Jin is the leader controlling the dangerous group known as Impurity. In some ways, Alka and Jin share a lot in common – though both go about things in different ways. Jin is a ruthless killer with a different mission. Alka is also stoic and cold because of her upbringing from a group of deadly assassins.

The mission ahead of Alka leads her to becoming friends with some unexpected acquaintances: gun expert Jin Hazuki (Sora Amamiya), martial arts master Elle Karen (Sayaka Ohara), and others. Alka soon finds herself changing and the darkness inside might be different than it was once before. Can Alka free herself from her past and her training from the assassins?

The character designs by Eri Nagata (The World's Finest Assassin, Ensemble Stars!) add to the series style. The designs fit the production well and help to expand on the aesthetic. The characters are illustrated with a grittier aesthetic than some productions. Blade & Soul doesn’t provide those cute and bubbly character designs one might find with goofy comedic anime series – rather, the anime provides a more intense and dark sense of style with designs that are suited to the genre and dark and atmospheric style. These character designs certainly reflect that part of the production.

The animation on Blade & Soul is grittier and more intense than it is on many anime productions. The style evokes a grungy action-oriented anime. The animation style is more intense than some series productions. The series features art direction by Ken'ichi Tatefuji (Unlimited Psychic Squad, Squid Girl). The chief animation direction for Blade & Soul is by Eri Nagata (Jujutsu Kaisen, Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions) and Satoru Kiyomaru (Leviathan: The Last Defense, Rosario + Vampire). The animation team did a good job in providing the series with plenty of style. This is not an action series lacking in fun stylistic elements – these elements certainly enhance the tone of the production in spades and this adds to the production. The animators provide nice line art and the action scenes are well drawn for the anime, highlighting the intensity of drawn guns and the mayhem of battle.

The cinematography by Shinya Matsui (World Break: Aria of Curse for a Holy Swordsman, Kubo Won't Let Me Be Invisible) is a good aspect of the production. The cinematography adds to the series style. Visually compelling, the dark and gritty cinematographic style helps to highlight the action scenes, providing a solid stylistic flourish that is different than one would find with a comedic or drama production. The cinematography by Matsui works well for the action-packed series.

The score composed by Taro Iwashiro (The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet) isn’t perfect but it does offer some solid background music. The score helps to highlight the action and there are some intense elements to the score. The score provides some intensity when needed and it amps up the battle scenes.

Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka (Fairy Tail, One Piece), Blade & Soul might not be as impressive as some of the other series its screenwriter has worked on but it still offers solid action scripting. The screenwriter knows action and how to highlight it well. This is essential to the production. The scripting emphasizes action in a compelling way.

Directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Texhnolyze, Blade of the Immortal) and Hiroshi Takeuchi (Zunda Horizon, Love All Play), Blade & Soul is an interesting action anime. Fans of the action genre may wish to check the series out. The Blade & Soul series has plenty of big action-beats for genre enthusiasts. Those interested in the genre underpinnings of the anime series will find it worth a look – it should appeal to many action fans.

Blade & Soul: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks, Blade & Soul is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The series has a quality presentation. The high-definition presentation capably presents the high-definition animation with an impressive array of colorful animation with a dark and gritty aesthetic. The series animation is quite bold: the style working well for the action genre. The background animation and line art are well reproduced. The Blu-ray presentation provides solid encoding by Sentai Filmworks.

One of the greatest strengths of the Blu-ray format compared to streaming video service platforms is the fact that the video presentations are superior. The video quality is provided with higher bit-rates (enhancing the presentation). The picture-quality is a bit more detailed looking and has better quality compression methods. By comparison, the streaming services provide video with more compression, providing a less immersive viewing experience.

Blade & Soul: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio quality on the release is both crisp and clear. Dialogue is well reproduced on the release. The lossless audio presentation helps to enhance the soundstage. The action scenes have more gravitas – providing extra weight to the series. The sound direction by Hiroto Morishita (High School Fleet, AOKANA: Four Rhythm Across the Blue) is well reproduced. For audiophiles seeking the best possible audio presentation, the audio quality is superior to streaming platforms. The audio quality is lossless, providing uncompressed audio quality. The lossless audio provides a more immersive soundstage and detail is superior. By comparison, streaming services usually provide audio around 320kbps – mere MP3 quality.

If there is one drawback to the release it is that the package does not provide an English audio dub. Fans of English dubs might find the lack of English dub audio a little bit disappointing. This could certainly be a aspect of the release that may deter purchases for some fans. Nonetheless, viewers who prefer the original Japanese language audio presentation will not be bothered much by the lack of an English dubbed presentation.

Blade & Soul: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release has a lackluster supplemental package. Unfortunately, the release is close to barebones and there is not much in the way of supplemental material to round out the package. The release doesn't provide audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, voice- actor interviews, or even art galleries. These sorts of bonus-features would have added some extra value to the package for fans. Similarly, the set does not include an o-card slipcover – something that adds value to the packaging.

On disc supplements include:

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 1:32)

Clean Closing Animations (HD, 3:04)

Blade & Soul: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Blade & Soul is a tough-and-gritty action-anime series. Fans of action anime productions may find it to be a worthwhile series to check out. The action series has some compelling elements including solid directing by Hiroshi Hamasaki (Texhnolyze) and Hiroshi Takeuchi (Zunda Horizon). The animation is especially interesting and effective. The Blu-ray release provides a quality high-definition video presentation alongside lossless audio. The release does not provide an English dub option. The supplemental package is average. However, Blade & Soul fans who want to own their own copy featuring the best video/audio presentation quality may wish to consider a purchase.