Bucchigiri?! Review: When Great Animation Can't Save an Anime

Bucchigiri?!

Whenever we join a new school, workplace, or community, we all have our own targets and agendas. But what that place has in store for us may be completely different and may even clash with our own goals, much to our dismay. Perhaps it is fate at work, but we have little choice but to tread the path before us sometimes, and that is when adaptation and improvisation shine brightest. This is but a barrier you face on the way to your ultimate target, and you're getting there one way or another, depending on your performance right now!

“Bucchigiri?!” is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from the 13th of January till the 6th of April in Winter 2024. It was produced by TOHO Animation and dugout and brought to life by Studio MAPPA. Featuring the genres of comedy and supernatural alongside the themes of delinquents and school, this original series of 24-minute episodes earned a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD in four volumes via Toho from the 17th of April till the 17th of July 2024. A summary episode titled “Bucchigiri?! Yomigaeru! Konya wa Bucchii Back to the Chuuka!” was released as a TV special, also going by the titles “Bucchigiri?! Recap, Bucchigiri?! Episode 6.5” and “Bucchigiri?! Revival! Tonight is BUCCHI Back to the Chinese Food!”. This single episode aired on the 24th of February 2024 and was done by the same studio, running for just 23 minutes and earning a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older. It served as a recap of the first six episodes of the main anime.

The story is set at Ichizu High School, where two rival gangs, Minato Kai and Siguma Squad, remain embroiled in a long-standing and bitter power struggle. Enter protagonist Arajin Tomoshibi, another transfer student with zero interest in the gangs and would instead not get involved. However, he has his own goal: finding himself a girlfriend. As luck would have it, he gets placed right next to a girl named Mahoro Jin, who just happens to be the prettiest girl in the class, with the bonus of her seemingly liking him too. But there is a colossal barricade: she has an overprotective older brother named Marito Jin, who just happens to be the combative leader of the Siguma Squad. To make things worse, Arajin reunites with Matakara Asamine, his childhood friend, who also happens to be a member of Minato Kai.

With trouble brewing from two directions, more rotten luck befalls him when he accidentally awakens a genie, Senya, a being known as an Honki Person from ancient legends. Senya also takes a shine to the young man thanks to his fervent aspiration, even though it’s technically the loss of his virginity. Our protagonist is the type to just run from a fight. Still, Senya’s choice to lend him his powers leads to this lovesick boy holding his own even against the likes of Marito, which in turn causes both gangs to be interested in recruiting him to their representative cause. With the turf wars heating up beside him, a third gang joins the chaotic fray to make matters even more hectic, making Arajin's involvement in all this neigh unavoidable.

At first glance, "Bucchigiri?!" appears to be a promising show that gains momentum quickly. The show boasts a fun premise, a unique style, vibrant characters, and uppity music, among other things. But the biggest issue with this series is the main character, Tomoshibi Arajin himself, and that is a recipe for disaster no matter how significant the other aspects are. He is annoying to the point that he single-handedly makes you dislike this series, even though it had so much potential from the onset. Even though the story revolves around him, everything seems to unravel around him. I can see that the show was targeting great heights, but they resorted to using numerous tedious cliches back and forth in the first few episodes, and I found myself annoyed. For example, all the MC does is simp over this one girl, fantasize about losing his virginity, and run to the restroom whenever he feels nervous, and he hardly develops throughout the series. All the episodes feel repetitive, and Arajin contributes nothing to the plot aside from throwing one OP punch at someone at the end of every episode to keep up the status quo. What happened during the remaining time for each episode? They were so insignificant that I can barely remember.

You’ll likely feel like dropping this one after the third episode, but should you continue for whatever reason (like blind hope that it’ll get better eventually), you’ll simply be more disappointed. While the central story premise is intriguing and fun, the plot progression and characters are awful, and there’s not much of a tale to remember here. Not even one episode gives you a good enough reason or drive to watch the next because it’s always just about that annoying MC fighting the opponent of the week and winning regardless. There is no buildup, tension, absolute risk, reasoning, motivation, development, or morale. And Arajin’s powers? It’s all luck and zero skill; there’s no harsh training or overcoming weaknesses involved; he just gets pissed and punches the lights out of people.

We already spoke about how great Arajin is, but it doesn’t end there. Delving into the character department, it simply must be stated that you will grow to HATE this guy. You can call this a character-driven plot, but how well would that go if the characters were this bad? With each passing episode, you would feel Arajin irritating you more and more with his braindeadness. All he ever does is simp like his life depends on it; he remains fixated on Mahoro at the beginning, but he switches up the moment another girl shows any interest in him. So, what is the motivation behind his battles? Nothing. Don't even begin to discuss his frequent bathroom breaks! He runs off whenever he’s nervous and returns just in time to save the day with one punch. How climactic! Meanwhile, Asamine exhibits a level of incompetence akin to a sack of peanuts.

For someone from a gang, you’d expect him to be sharper and not too trusting; instead, this guy here trusts Arajin way too much for no good reason. We are talking about an MC who abandons this guy whenever things get tough, but he still hangs around and sprouts nonsense about friendship. I understand he trusts his childhood friend, but why would he keep this up after so many betrayals from an MC who doesn’t seem to care? Last but not least, Mahoro is sitting over there, simping over her brother. Ew. No matter what Arajin does to get on with her, she just effortlessly uses him for her benefit in every episode, and our prodigious MC remains too stupid to realize. The remainder of the characters are equally bad or unmemorable, and they’re so lackluster that I barely have anything to say about them.

The only good thing about his show is the art and animation department. The art style is vibrant, sharp, and well-detailed. The character designs are memorable too (even though the characters themselves aren't); each of their designs suits them perfectly and is unique; almost every character is eye candy, and there’s fanservice from both genders here. The animation is smooth, and I enjoyed the visual representation of the action scenes. The sheer variety of the color palette impressed me. Overall, the production quality is superb here, but it’s a shame this was wasted on such a terrible show.

The Sounds and Music department is also decently handled. The opening theme is "Sesame" by Kroi, and the ending is "Love je t'aime" by Mahiru Coda. These are cool bangers; I remember them much more fondly than the series itself. The OSTs and sound effects are spot on, hyping up each moment to the best of audible capabilities. The voice acting was fine, but some of them sounded out-of-place and irregular to me. Trust me, it’s not as big an issue as the story and characters.

Overall, “Bucchigiri?!” has a fun premise and much potential that flopped hard. Granted, there are fantastic action scenes, visually colorful characters, lighthearted humor, and insane production values. But everything goes downhill every time it turns to its protagonist (which it must). Like most MCs, there are moments where he needs to man up to a fight or showcase his humanity, but Arajin just goes with the most selfish route he can take and faces zero repercussions. He will abandon anyone without hesitation, only deviating if the girl he has feelings for compels him to do so. This was meant to be a coming-of-age story for Arajin and Asamine, but the self-centered Arajin being the one to resolve the final issue left a sour taste in my mouth. And as selfish as she was, Mahoro was at least fleshed out as a character and ended up being more than some plot device, so kudos to her. Finally, I do not recommend this show to anyone, as the MC would only irritate you and overshadow anything good in this series. Your time is better spent elsewhere, and I suggest you check out the Opening and Ending elsewhere!