Anime: BPS: Battle Programmer Shirase 483h4i

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Battle Programmer Shirase consists of five 3-episode segments revolving around Shirase, the “Greatest Hacker Ever”, also known as BPS. In each story, Shirase is hired to counter-hack a hacker named “King of America”, as King attempts to… well, do weird hacker things.

The animation in BPS is pretty standard, looking a lot like every other anime of its genre. Nothing really stood out as being amazing or degrading. It is well animated, but with a slight overuse of still frames in some episodes. The animation is so generic that it is hard to review in depth.

The sound is equally standard and generic. Nothing really stood out. It’s well done, but it’s nothing special. It is much easier to write about animation and sound that are very bad or very good, rather than ordinary and run-of-the-mill.

The plot of BPS seems complex on the surface, but is actually rather simplistic. A recurring character named Akizuki, who plays a different personality in each 3-episode segment, comes to Shirase with dire news involving the hacking or attempted hacking of… whatever. After a quick bribe, often involving some piece of computer equipment, Shirase accepts the job, following Akizuki to his base, house, whatever. A few quick taps on the keyboard or cell phone by Shirase, and the enemy hackers are stopped, their computers exploding. I thought the idea of hackers causing computers to explode went out of style with Scanners and other B-movies of its type, but oh well.

This is an ecchi comedy at heart, so expect to see a lot of compromising situations. Unfortunately, most of those situations involve Shirase and his elementary school niece, who he lusts after. This lolita situation detracts a great deal from the comedy of the series, and feels very out of place. Every time Shirase started crawling on his back in an attempt to look under Misao’s skirt, I cringed. If they had just made her a little older, I could have handled it. It instead came off as disturbing and cringe inducing; a huge detraction from the flow of the series.

The few characters involved were interesting enough. Shirase comes off as a sort of stoned loner, lying about in his house, or lazily banging away at his antique computers. Misao is a cute elementary school student who has brother-complex with Shirase (even though he is her Uncle, she refers to him as Onii-san, which can stand for brother or older brother). The fact that Misao returns Shirase’s affection adds to the cringe inducing. I loved Koi Kaze, a story about a 28yr old man in love with his 15yr old sister, because it dealt with their relationship seriously, making it the focal point of the series. Incestuous feelings and relationships in anime do not work as mere character quirks, and require a more in-depth look to make the audience comfortable. I had the same problem with Revolutionary Girl Utena as I did with Battle Programmer Shirase, to a lesser extent with the latter.

None of these problems detract much from the series as it is watched. Shirase is far superior while viewed than when thought about in retrospect. I laughed quite a bit, and found the story to be mildly interesting. It has a very open ending, paving the way for another series with Shirase as the main character. I’m not particularly interested in seeing a continuation of this story, but I must it, it was a pleasant way to spend two and a half hours.

I can't properly place my finger on it, but there is something about this anime that just makes me laugh uncontrollably. Battle Programmer SHIRASE just happens to be one of those few animes that takes on a somewhat cliche ecchi routine, yet proportions it into the series in a way preserving the story, and ing the humor this anime expends in each and every episode.

BPS: Programming genius.

Satoshi Shirase is an careless, disinterested programmer who happens to spend day and night in front of the CRT. He has a cute sister (or rather, distant cousin), Misao, who is still in elementary school. She loves to go and cook for him, and make sure that he is healthy.

Thus this legend in the world of computers goes day by day with his sister, saving the world, meeting crazy hackers, etc. The question is, "what really is on his mind?"

Hands down, this series doesn't hold back. Expect a lot of sex jokes, despite the little girls running amock. Various opinions I've found express disgust with the series ecchi, but I love it - it's different! No, I'm not pedo at all, but I find the ecchi to be quite fulfilling and of an original category.
The story doesn't have any focus besides BPS and Misao. Basically some catastrophic event caused by the "King of America," - some sort of wannabe hacker - requires BPS's extraordinary ability to handle the situation. You can guess what happens afterwards. It runs fairly smoothly, with 4 easily divisible story arcs, and a really cheap conclusion.

Regardless, the story as it is flawless for the most part. It has a lazy pattern, which is fitting since the main character is just as lazy.

Humorous characters.

Not exactly the best, but definitely incredible. I think I liked BPS the most out of the characters - his separated, disinterested personality actually carried this series to its limits. Also, Misao is a great , since her genki, kawaii self really contributes a contrast to Shirase/BPS himself.

Also, there is a sexual joke that seems to reoccur throughout the series. Once in every story arc precisely the same joke is executed. Strangely enough, each and every time I laughed at this joke, but I doubt that many other people could like it quite as much.

Outstanding OP/ED.

If there is anything besides the appeal of the storyline when it comes to this anime, its the music!!! The opening number suddenly (by Naomi Amagata) and the ending Pure Enough (by Yuki Matsuura) are great little pop hits that make me want to dance. I like in particular the opening, since many of the lyrics are genuine and also the appeal of the sequence with it makes this series welcoming along with its humor. The ending is cute, with Misao stomping down the street, giving the series a sense of cuteness with its ecchi themes. I feel that the music is well executed.

The seiyuu are also really good as well. BPS's seiyuu gives off the best sound of boredom and carelessness I've seen for the type of character, and Misao's voice happens to fit her quite well. Some of the other seiyuu do perform their parts very well, too.

Animation: okay, at that.

I would say the animation is the worst part of BPS - and at that, it isn't all that bad. The character designs are pretty average, besides the general expression on BPS's face - that is priceless. It is very gentle and pleasant, but there is nothing particularly special about it altogether. Some of the ecchi is really cute, though.

I'm a fan.

I feel that I'm in the minority, but I seriously loved this series. Some of the humor is tasty and unique, and some of it is very common but played out in a good way. The story holds together, and the rewatchability is great since each episode is relatively half of the length of a full length series.

This is a good one for certain newbies, too. Perhaps ones who you think could appreciate Japanese humor and sarcasm. I can see myself in the future recommending this to my anime club, or just when I'm bored without any other anime.

Last of all, there is quite a bit of computer tech jargon, but it's nothing that is necessary to truly get what the series does. Of course, I don't recommend depending on this series for computer literacy, either. :-)

Watch this only when you're bored and have nothing else better to do. Bad tasteless ecchi and fanservice ruin an otherwise decent show with an outstanding story. Oh well, nothing is perfect anyways.

Bottom Line: Exteme pedoliciousness doesn't fully ruin a good premise. Too much fanservice, not tasty enough.

Animation: Very well done. The computers and technical gadgets were animated beautifully. Facial expressions were done very well too. Backgrounds were a bit bland, and were a little too dark sometimes. Opening and ending animations were flawless and very unique.

Sound: Very nice beeps, blips, rings, and clicks. Computer sounds emulated to near-perfection. Satoshi's seiyuu puts on a good job as the social outcast, and America-oh's voice was perfect also. Nothing slacked off too much but nothing too freaking awesome either.

Story: Using computers to battle other computers? Causing explosions and ships to veer off course just by using a 108-key weapon of destruction or a tiny weapon known as a cell phone? The story may be a bit far-fetched but it is done superbly well. It's hilarious to see the King of America getting flustered by a social outcast who uses only antique hardware. The story may not be too understandable to the computer illiterate, so prepare at least some knowledge of computers before watching.

Character: Too pedo. And incestuous too. The frequent repeat of the same ecchi jokes also irks me. I guess the schoolteacher along with America-oh are the only saving grace characters.

Value: Bad ecchi aside, I have to say I really enjoyed BPS. The jokes were good, the action was done well, and the ending was satisfying.

Enjoyment: Double-edged. On one side there's the pedo and on the other there's the sweet action. Pedo versus action. I'd have to say that the action edges out the pedo; at least it doesn't ruin the whole show. Recommended, at least.

It has to be noted that Battle Programmer Shirase (BPS) is mainly aimed at computer literate people with some knowledge of the jargon used in the computer world. Others may watch it, but wouldn't get the same satisfaction from the anime solely because some of the jokes are, what you say, quite geeky.

BPS revolves around a Shirase Satoshi, a socially boring and lonesome person who has quite a stereotypical fascination with hentai doujinshi. On the internet, however, he is well known and considered one of the best computer hackers around. It's no coincidence then, that when someone with the alias "American King" wants to cause some "anonymous" trouble over the internet, that BPS be called into action by executives of the targeted companies.

The concept of BPS; battles using computers; is a strange one indeed but not unexpected in today's technological world. And for the most part, it pulls off this concept quite successfully. The story is understandable (if a little unbelievable sometimes, eg. setting off a power surge and gas leak in the same building causing an explosion using only a computer? I dunno...), but the subtle mix of character interactions and incidental comedy makes this series quite enjoyable.

The animation is, to modern standards, a little slack, although it fits the theme of the show quite well. The characters are not as developed as some would like it, and you aren't really drawn into their plight, situation or emotional state, but you get to know them sufficiently enough to separate the good guy from the bad guy. The character designs seem very generic, but otherwise effective enough to .

The opening and ending theme songs to BPS are very catchy, and the mid-anime background music is fairly good, although forgetable. The voice acting is overall a decent job; nothing boring and but nothing overly exciting either.

When it comes to the value of this anime, it is mixed bag, with some more likely to rewatch than others. Since I mentioned that it is very computer jargon centralled, those who probably understand the language will probably draw more enjoyment out of this anime.

BPS might fall short in many areas, but it is by no means bad, and even for the casual viewer the storyline comedy should be enough to go by for an enjoyable experience.