Itai no wa ija nano de bógjorjoku ni kjokufuri šitai to omoimasu.

There is so much I can find fault with regarding this anime series, as I am a regular fantasy RPG player. It centers around a game I know does not really exist, yet I still find myself really annoyed with the idea that anyone would even consider releasing a game like this sometime in the future. The anime’s creators have clearly never heard the word "balance" (or the well-known English phrase "balanced game"), and so the main female protagonist Maple gradually gets to the point where she becomes more like the final boss with advanced skills that leave you scratching your head. Then there are the methods Maple uses to come by those abilities. You would have thought that this girl, if she were in The Legends of King Arthur, would have discovered Excalibur just by tripping over it on her way to the bathroom. Rationally speaking, I found it completely unconvincing, because nothing could ever happen in the way they portray stuff, and there are an incredible number of coincidences that take place, pushing everything to ever more absurd levels, the skills all add up to completely cover over any possible real limitations our main female protagonist may have, and unexpectedly - it is really entertaining! It is like watching a small child who really enjoys burning ants with a magnifying glass. Something inside you is screaming - damn it, this is so wrong, however, when you see the passion and unconcealed delight of that little innocent human being, it is strangely heart-warming... Everything in this show is insane, light-hearted and playful, so at times I just did not know whether I was watching Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, So I'll Max Out My Defense, Pokémon, Godzilla or some new season of Mobile Suit Gundam. In addition, the high standard of animation is to be commended, the fight scenes are especially praiseworthy as they are extremely detailed. In other words, it is good to watch, very entertaining and imaginative, with lots of likable characters. That is the reason why I am joining the Maple fan club. "Cute girls are breaking my game!" 7.8/10. P.S I was going to throw in a cheesy Bethesda joke and compare some scenes from this anime series to, say, the Fallout 76,  when the giant airship Prydwen appears… well, maybe next time. (01.12.2022)

Slightly weaker than the first season, but still a pretty cool and enjoyable show. There seemed to be less humor and fewer of those absurd, over-the-top, and hilarious moments about how insanely powerful Maple was, by which she was ruining the whole game. I only laughed once or twice per episode (one of which was usually at the end during the "community chat"), which seems pretty little for Bofuri. It's as if the author realized at the end of the first season that this joke won’t do, and a change of approach was in order. The main character needed to be put in situations where the reader/viewer would worry about her, to set the stage for another story. There is only one moment in this season where Maple gets a crazy new upgrade while everyone around her tries to catch up with her. Half the season is like Pokémon again, which I don't really mind since I'm used to "pets" and "mounts" from playing MMORPGs. However, there is a noticeable change in the finale. It is a celebration of teamwork, instead of Maple single-handedly kicking the final boss's ass with everyone around her merely standing by in disbelief. So instead of a "super übercute heroine", it’s a show about "we can do it as a team", and I'm not sure if I'm happy about it. Maybe I liked to watch the absurdly strong Maple... Anyway, I did enjoy this season quite a bit, I liked the many different locations that were introduced. The show convinced me that the game world of this VRMMORPG was incredibly rich and made me want to experience it as a player. I also had no problem following all the characters’ stories. Bofuri is the kind of series where I love the main character, I like 2-3 other characters, and the rest are just OK. What this means in practice is that there is no one I didn’t like, including all the "pets". It’s quite an achievement for an anime with so many characters! I was also intrigued by the ending which showed even more new characters and clearly set the direction in which the story would go next. I'll be happy to watch another season, however, I doubt that I'll enjoy any sequel as much as I liked the first season (even if it was mainly about that one joke) 7/10. (19.04.2023)