Sometimes I don’t know why I watch the anime I watch. One show I started recently is Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu (aka BOFURI), which translates to I Hate Getting Hurt, So I Put All My Skill Points Into Defense. It’s pretty much “Sword Art Online meets Cute Girls Doing Cute Things,” and it’s an extremely adorable show that I somehow can’t stop watching.
The BOFURI anime is the story of a cute female protagonist named Kaede who joins a popular VRMMO virtual game called New World Online at the request of her friend Risa. Kaede hates the idea of ever experiencing pain, so she decides to max out her character’s defensive skills, inadvertently creating a character that can, in the tradition of isekai main characters from stories based on light novels, withstand any enemy attack without taking any damage. As the story progresses, Maple (her character’s name) becomes incredibly strong, to the point that the programmers of the game have to start adding limitations to keep her from ruling the entire game. As we watch Kaede experience various adorable adventures with her female friends, we experience an extremely calming sensation.
The question I have is, why is “SAO for girls” such a soothing thing to watch? There’s no drama, no actual danger, no extreme emotional lows or highs. The main character pretty much wins every conflict easily, even when she gets caught by a dragon — since she can take no damage herself, she realizes she can just start taking bites out the dragon’s body until she does enough damage to defeat him and gain his treasure.
Perhaps the answer is related to why we watch anime in the first place: to escape a world filled with stress, terrorism, taxes and mysterious viruses from China into a world where none of these things exist. If so, then the BOFURI anime is certainly a nice place to spend some time in.
What do you think of the new BOFURI anime? Think it will make you feel calm and happy and solve all your problems? Tell us your thoughts on Twitter!
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