English Dub Review: Absolute Duo “Blaze”

Let me get this out of the way now. Absolute Duo is a microcosm of my views of anime culture. Right out of the gate, there is an out of place fight, a theme that would fit perfectly in Dance Dance Revolution, big and bouncy boobs, a Hunger Games-esque entrance exam, a straight uplolita girl who is shown almost naked, and big, shiny tits. This is what attention deficit disorder is made of, kids. Part of this is why I’m on the fence about Absolute Duo. Again, the rating of TV-MA may be a bit of a reach, because there’s no one naked, no expletives, and very little blood. It’s the same boat that World Break is in. I’m kind of thinking Funimation just arbitrarily hands out ratings.

As for “Blaze,” It fits as a decent introduction episode. I’m not entirely sure where to take how I feel. Most of this feels absolutely over the top. Every reaction from the main character, Tor, was just necessary. This goes double for any interaction he has with his temporary Duo partner, Julie Sigtuna. I get the whole creeped out by staring thing, but the overreaction to them living together (temporarily as of the end of episode one) was a bit much. Tor has a friend, Tora. I have been pretty okay with all of the voices in the broadcast dubs, but Tora’s voice is dead wrong for the character.

With that said, it’s hard to gauge “Blaze” in a box. It’s the first episode, and it seems okay. I have nothing else to go on right now, and nothing really made me go bonkers for it. It’s middle of the road at it’s best, even with the unique take to weapons. There seems to be a lot going on with that, and we’ll just have to wait for more to get divulged, if it even does. Absolute Duo isn’t the worst show I’ve watched, but there is a lot of room for improvement here.