K:
Where in the world am I supposed to begin with this? This show is just seems to be shotgunning the audience in a not so entertaining manner imo. We have superpowers, street punks, overused color filters, swords, practically naked girl, hints of dark plotlines, etc. I guess lets start with the upsides of the show. Animation wise, the show is stunning. They seem to make sure that every screen has some object that is always in motion. Panning scenes have moving sky, flowers and trains. Action scenes have plenty of effects.... That is all I can say that is positive. The show puts a blue-green color filter on virtually every part of the show making things more difficult to see and lowering the contrast on things that should stand out. On top of that, the show seems to struggle sustaining fast-paced action scenes. We could have an epic scene where the main character is constantly jumping and dodging attacks from skateboarders and fireballs, but instead, the fight is interrupted by bishonen show offscenes, slow skateboard tricks, or the common staying still and talking scene. There was only 1 short fight scene that gave me some of the fun and exhilaration that Zetsuen no Tempest's one fight scene had. Now plotwise, this show didn't really say much. We have some talks about kings and murdereres, but really that is it. There seems to be a major murder in the past, but I couldn't seem to care about it that much in the show's current state.
In short, I wish there was sometime I could look forward to in the series, but I don't really find it interesting right now. I'll keep it in considerations status for now just because it has so much money spent on it. Budgets that large can usually pull something out that is moderately entertaining.....
That was long....
Btooom!:
You have grenades. I have grenades. Let's have a party!.... Basically that is the premise of Btooom! Everyone has 8 grenades and sent to fight each other on an island. For those wondering about the quality of the adaptation, the adaptation was quite solid with most of the details and events told quite accurately so far. This is where we encounter our first problem, the first few chapters of Btooom! are pretty boring with the main character half acting like a wimp. In addition, the mc sounds even wimpier in the anime than how I imagine him in the manga. This is not exactly a thing I wanted, but I can accept it. Animation wise, things are okay. They don't cheap out too much on the action scenes, but there is nothing spectacular about the action scenes. In addition, some of the details of the plants and wildlife are missing in the backgrounds, but there is enough in the bckground to set the general mood.
Overall, Btooom!'s first ep was not that bad but not great. If you are a fan of the series, the show seems like a decent adaptation, but for those new to the series, I would say wait around and wonder what the 2nd episode will bring to us (the topics in the 2nd ep should be a bit more srs).