English Dub Review: BOFURI: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense “Defense and Bonds”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Payne deals a deadly blow to Maple which forces her to use Stout Guardian. Even after throwing out her skills to no avail as Payne is left unfazed while taking down Iz in the process. Meanwhile, the other members are pushed into a corner by the other members of the Order of the Holy Sword. Then Maple unleashes her last trump card, Atrocity, and slaughters Payne and his team.

After that battle, the Maple Tree guild starts eliminating other guilds with Maple in her monster form. Then they lend a hand to the Flame Emperors who made a lot of other guilds their enemy thanks to Mii. Later the Order of the Holy Sword is spotted by Sally as the number of guilds in the event continues to dwindle. Soon after the admins discuss the event coming to a close and start pulling video feed for highlights from the event. After the event, Maple Tree guild lands in third place and has a party while inviting members from the two top guilds.

Our Take:

The battle between Payne and Maple was a close call for Maple after using up most of her skills against the top player of the game. Payne shedding through her defenses and skills was great at showing how powerful he is. However, Maple managed to get Payne down to 1 HP with one of her skills, Counter which forces Payne to use his own Stout Guardian. We get this cool standoff between Payne and Maple as they ready their final skills. However her last trump card, Atrocity was the last skill that won her the battle. Maple literally eats him in that monstrous form after he cuts down two of her limbs. Then she destroys his team, and it’s frightening to imagine it from their perspective of being eaten by that monster.

It was amusing to see her revived teammates terrified of her form and to see the other guilds run away after seeing her boss form. At this point, the guild is eliminating the competition since they have to drop their plan on the orbs. While the Maple Tree guild is out destroying other guilds, the Flame Emperors are in a heated battle with other guilds since Mii took their orbs. On the verge of defeat with only half their army left, Mii is out of MP until an unexpected guest arrives, Maple. Maple, who’s still in her Atrocity form goes after the other guilds leaving the Flame Emperor time to compose themselves. Then Maple Tree guild overkills by cloning Maple’s Atrocity six times and that scene was pretty destructive with guilds like the Order of the Holy Sword are dumbfounded with the multiple monsters.

While the event is wrapping up with the guilds being taken out left and right, the admins talk about the event and Maple. One admin suggests nerfing her again while another admin brings up that some players are grinding in order to challenge and how she’s become the face of the game with new players coming in. In the end, they decide to leave her to her own devices and even start guessing on what she’s doing right now. It’s interesting how Maple’s become the face of the game as her methods are so abnormal that new players are joining the game.

After all of that Maple is back in her cute room talking with her best friend, Risa, and then she scrambles to prepare for English class with Risa’s warning on her grades dropping and the consequence of being banned from playing it. Lastly, Maple Tree guild has a party and Maple invites Payne and Mii with their guild members while adding them as her friends. This is when the admins show the highlights of the fourth event and when Maple reveals that she broke through five digits in her vitality stat.

The ending montage was nice as the audience can see Maple, Mii, and Payne teaming up to fight a huge boss, the guild leveling up, and Sally and Maple just hanging out. The chat room comes back up as the users discuss Maple and cheer for her. The episode was a good conclusion to the anime as it shows one of the joys of playing a game with being in a guild and making friends with rivals.