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「実績を打ち立てろ!」 (Bougyo Tokka to Dainikai Event.)
“Defense and Second Event”
This week’s episode of Bofuri calls attention to the many changes and workarounds in the game that have caused Maple and Sally to rethink their strategic approach to completing quests. As the two progress, it also provides more information to Maple regarding aspects of the game she will need to look out for.
Maple and Sally’s main opponent in this episode is an ice bird designed to be a cheap, unbeatable troll boss. But whereas there are one or two moves that made previous bosses difficult, the ice bird was intended on having a whole laundry list of cheap tricks the game developers added in to bar off most players for clearing the boss. On top of this, the nerfs they keep adding to Maple’s skills make it harder for her to pull in a clutch victory out of most of her encounters alone. With this in mind, it’s neat to see scenes from the admin’s point-of-view since you don’t often get cutaways where they are directly reacting and responding to events within the game.
In spite of the many obstacles interfering with Maple’s abilities, the show still maintains a charming yet clever tone to it by having her and Sally work together to concoct new skill combinations to take on enemies as the ideal companions. After Maple unintentionally uses the older warrior group as guinea pigs to test the waters of the troll boss, the two are able to pull off a victory by sheer luck after Maple was 1HP point away from defeat. But from the ashes of the ice bird are two eggs that hatch into familiars for Maple and Sally. These pocket monsters are particularly adorable because they mirror the duo through both their close bond with each other and their respective traits as a defensive turtle and a swift fox. Maple even gives hers a cute matching name by calling her turtle “Syrup”.
But with new advancements come new obstacles. Since the admins are openly wary of Maple’s prowess with the game, it’ll be easy to see a situation where they would continue to target her for any future nerfs they plan for game balance. On top of these balance concerns, the foreshadowing of PvP elements where players are sniped for their rewards turned out to bite Maple on the behind when a samurai named Kasumi (Hayami Saori) got the idea of trying to beat her in a fight to steal her gold. Episode 04 gave us a better glimpse at the difficulty that Maple faces when she has to fight and keep her nerfs in mind, but it’ll be interesting to see how she handles strife between rival players in PvP and how Syrup will play a role in future fights.
Kinda a fun, not-too-serious watch until now… Every other player
Maple has met until now has been friendly and this ending was a
twist I didn’t expect especially after the other party didn’t try PvP.
My guess is that Maple and Sally won’t defeat #6 in the next episode,
but that the Second Event time will simply run out. Since #6 is in the
opening credits it looks like she’ll become part of Maple’s party now
or they’re all become friends (honestly, this is why I avoid OP/ED early
in the season ’cause they tend to spoil way too much).
I’m also guessing that the two girls Maple appears with in the OP
(just before she trips) are the green turtle and white fox that somehow
“evolved” to lolis :).
@Choya :: You gots no snaps of the ice bird in the post❗️
They met the lolis last episode while shopping and a grown up version of the turtle is being used by Maple and Sally as a mount in the ending.
– I love how Maple’s use of the “Cover Move” skill (by combining with Sally’s speed) reminds me of how some Diablo II Paladin players use the “Charge” skill to quickly traverse the map. (Though “Charge” still pales in comparison to having an Enigma Rune Word armor. “Teleport” skill for days.)
– So that world’s VR tech can simulate taste and smell(?), but still can’t simulate the feeling of heat or cold? Right…
– Seeing Maple’s shield broken in half reminds me of the many times Amuro’s RX-78 Gundam was left with half a shield.
– I wonder how many levels did Maple and Sally gain after defeating Silverwing?
– At least that’s not Giant Toad saliva… Also, it’s still entertaining how Maple still stumbles upon (or subconsciously thinks of?) unorthodox ways of using her skills.
– Maple Syrup…that pun went by quite quickly.
– Hooboy… Hope Kasumi doesn’t have an attack with the “Ignores Target’s Defense” modifier.
It’s a funny they take the trouble to animate well the action scenes here, at least moreso than shows like Nanatsu no taizai third season are (a painful fact considering that NNT is an action anime) even though it should only be a “slice of life of video games with girls” where they are supposed to have fun. They have actual animators animating actual animation but putting zero effort into anything else There’s no conflict here, let alone any kind of character drama that might make them interesting or compelling, to say nothing of growing in any way
Please have just one of those animators browse some webcomics for about five minutes and steal their jokes. Hell, have one of those animators play an MMO for five minues so you understand how they work. You have a bunch of supposed developers/admins sitting in a circle, lamenting that their unbeatable boss was easily beaten despite them giving it somewhat higher stats.
That’s not meant to be a joke. That’s story exposition.
I love how everybody assume that Sally is another broken character just because she’s Maple friend.
Of course they are right, and she’s walking awesomeness, but they can’t *know* that. Nice reversal of usual tropes.
even Pro Gamers need some steam off days 🙂
Loved how Maple basically turned “guard” action moving shielder to player she is guarding into free, fast move skill matching speed of Sally.. reminds me of some MMO’s I’ve played myself….
Wondering how armor piercing attacks work, halving the defence? (as is in Infinity tabletop battle game…)
Maybe admins will introduce skill ignoring the defence altogether? (again Infinity has “monomolecular weapons” doing exactly that, and WH40k has power weapons ignoring armor saves, and some sorts even ignored “invulnerable” saves that were supposedly working always… writing game rules is often hard and full of contradictions).
I wonder what skill up her sleeves does that Samurai girl have?
That skill allowing Maple to survive basically anything with 1hp, provided shes guarding another player and below 10% health… situational but can become completely broken. As the Ice Bird has learned to his dismay….
Oh and the Council of Admins reactions were priceless…