English Dub Review: Bofuri: I Don’t Want To Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense “Defense and First Battle”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Welcome to New World Online. NWO is a brand new VRMMO (that’s a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online, for all you n00bs) that all the kids are getting into. Our protagonist, Kaede, doesn’t usually play games, but is talked into buying a copy by her best friend, Risa. But when the launch day comes, Risa’s mom won’t let her play because she has a big test to prepare for. This leaves Kaede to test the game all by her lonesome.

At the signup stage, she picks the name Maple, chooses a great shield as her primary weapon, and uses every single one of her attribute points to gin up her defense. If you’re not a gamer, let me tell you that this is an odd strategy. For the most effective play, you want to use your points to balance: attack, defense, agility, dexterity, stamina, intelligence, luck, etc. Different classes—warriors, mages, merchants, archers, etc.—will focus on some attributes over others, but still add to their lesser attributes for insurance.

Kaede’s reasoning for only powering her defenses is—as the series title suggests—she doesn’t want to get hurt.

For the rest of the episode, the answer to almost every question is: Because you only stocked up on Defense, idiot!

Why does my player move so slowly?

Because you only stocked up on Defense, idiot!

Why is my shield so heavy?

Because you only stocked up on Defense, idiot!

Do I need to take off my VR gear to use the washroom?

Because you only… Well, you get the idea.

Oddly enough, however, her strategy seems to work. It may take over an hour, but she’s able to gain experience by exhausting enemies to death. And even though she can’t defend against poison, each blast of venom builds up her poison immunity. Before too long, she’s advanced to level 12 and has learned a number of fighting tactics. But whenever she earns attribute points, she foolishly plugs every last one into defense.

Next, she meets Kuromu, another great shield fighter, and Iz, a craftswoman who makes specially designed equipment. Iz informs her that a fancy shield will cost about one million gold pieces. While Kaede only has about three thousand, her new friends inform her that she’ll accrue money quickly, especially if she fights some of the tougher enemies to the east.

They don’t expect her to go alone, but she does. The girl’s not very intelligent, after all. Why? Because she only stocked up on Defense, idiot!

Kaede manages to defend her way through a pretty nasty cave and even beats the final dragon by dousing herself with dozens of potions and then eating the beast to death. She’s rewarded with more experience and attribute points, plus a one-of-a-kind outfit and shield. Sorry Iz, this little warrior has no need for your “money.”

 

Our Take

Take note writers, watchers, and weirdos, this is how a proper premiere episode should be done. After a short twenty-three minute installment, I know what Kaede/Maple is all about and what her short-term goals are. Her long-term goals will likely be revealed later but they weren’t relevant in this episode, so I have no problem with them being omitted. We also got a comprehensive and detailed explanation of the world’s rules which also happen to be the basic rules of New World Online. It’s not your average RPG—you never become immune to poison by being poisoned, otherwise nobody would ever die from it—but such logic is easy to follow and it suits the protagonist’s needs.

Let’s be real for a second. In an actual game of this nature, Kaede wouldn’t have lasted ten minutes without sacrificing a number of lives and an endless supply of equipment. She’d be dipping into downloadable content and leaping behind the game’s paywall within the first twenty minutes. Obviously, that wouldn’t make for compelling television, so even though it comes off as insanely illogical at first, things will really take off when she reaches a high enough level to justify her unintentional awesomeness.

We were also treated to a peek at a few characters you know are going to be important down the line. There may have not been anything particularly special about the likes of Fredrica, Drag, and Pain, at least not to the untrained eye. However, I immediately recognized their untapped potential and am certain they’ll be back in a big way—plus, I checked Wikipedia just to be sure.

The limited scenes in the “real world” were brief, yet poignant. Beginning in a modern setting made the juxtaposition between real life and NWO all the more dramatic. Her best friend, Risa is also bound to play a major role—according to Wikipedia—and her unassuming introduction could really clash with her in-game persona since, unlike Kaede, she’s a seasoned gamer. Or maybe, she’ll be exactly the same in NWO as she is in real life. Either way, I’m extremely interested and ready to find out.