Blue Archive is a gacha game-

Okay, that already has a LOT of baggage. Gacha games aren't viewed in a positive light at all due to understandable reasons like gambling and addiction. They also don't normally have good anime adaptations (like Azur Lane's). But I think Blue Archive is completely enjoyable without the gameplay and is shown fantastically well in it's anime adaptation.

Starting of with its reveal, I knew it was going to be at least decent. I don't play a lot of gacha games but Blue Archive is one I actually enjoy, because of the story. The story of Blue Archive is fantastic. Not just for a gacha game, but just in general. The characters are fun, the scenarios are as wacky as they can be emotionally investing, and the music is wonderful. Knowing that they were doing an adaptation of the first volume, made me know this was going to be handled at least competently. They even announced that Sensei is in the anime and plays a major part. Thank god.

Now that the full anime is out, I can say that it delivered. As a fan, I feel this was a good watch and I enjoyed tuning in to watch the anime every week. No episode really left me unhappy besides "I want more." I think for a non-fan, they can enjoy it too, although there are a decent amount of references in this that aren't cleanly resolved in the anime, like what happened to the FTF's school debt, or why Shiroko Terror was in the beginning of the anime if they weren't going to acknowledge anything about it, or what the Kaiser Director was looking for. Most of these are answered in the game, but not in the anime, which I think can confuse people who have only watched this.

As an adaptation, it adds the dimension of seeing the characters moving and talking, as well as more varied locations than the few backgrounds they have in the game, which is already a treat enough. They also reference later chapters, like mentioning and showing Yume, and Hoshino when she was a second-year. There's also plenty of new music which is another strong point of Blue Archive, with the credits theme just being a complete vibe. The action is incredibly well done, and isn't just shootouts.

As for the fan service (moreso in the "its that character I recognize" sense than ecchi stuff), it's also handled well. Sure, there's a large cast of students in the game and it's only growing, but knowing that this is only an adaptation of the first volume sets reasonable expectations. But still, they show other characters involved in other stories, like the rest of the Make-Up Work Club, the Saiba twins, as well as Yuuka and Noa when they go to the aquarium, which is actually a brand-new scene added to the anime, where cute girls do cute things.

Honestly, my biggest complaint is the initial release of it. It wasn't picked up for official subbing so the only "legal" way of watching it was with poorly done subs. At the time of writing this, it's still an issue, although fansubs help fix this (which is something I can't believe we're having to rely on in 2024). The official YouTube channel has the episodes, which is kind of astounding already, but they're only on episode 5 right now. If they do more, I hope they get a better release system down, because seeing them with the "official" sub when they were coming out was awful and ruined a lot of the more impactful scenes with bad translation and lack of any emotion in the subs.

I really like this anime, and I think it's worth a watch. Even for non-fans, I think there's something to enjoy here and that already should be a testament to how solid it is. My only gripe is the release of it, but over time I'm sure that will be smoothed over. I really hope they cover later chapters with as much quality as they gave this anime, because it only gets better from here.