Loot Crate’s Loot Anime x Crunchyroll Episode 13: Blade (Review, Spoilers)

The heroes of Bleach, Berserk, Gintama, and Sword Art Online have crossed swords in the Blade themed Loot Anime x Crunchyroll Episode 13, and even the Loot Anime mascot, Yume, shows her mettle and draws metal this month. Just as swords are sleek instruments of violence, so was this month’s Loot Anime a deceptively small package that was packed with tempered power.

While Ichigo’s sword draws most of the attention, an equally mystical and flamboyant part of his spiritual accouterments are the Soul Reaper robes that appear when he steps out of his body. While Loot Anime didn’t include a Soul Reaper sword this month, you do get your very own Soul Reaper pajama wear in these exclusive Ichigo Kurosaki Bleach lounge pants made by Undergirl/Underboss productions. They won’t appear when you’re ready to enter the dream world at night, and you’ll have to put them on one leg at a time like Ichigo in his corporeal body, but they are extremely flamboyant, all cotton, and comfortable. Those that have been following my Loot Crate and Loot Anime reviews know that I have a soft spot for nerd / otaku themed pajama wear, and this is definitely my favorite item this month.

This month’s manga is an exclusive variant Sword Art Online Progressive Manga from Yen Press, who took the challenge to make something Blade themed seriously, and gave this special edition a reflective, foil-like, look. I haven’t read this yet, but the art looks fantastic, with creative panel and page composition, and the variant cover’s attractive metallic sheen makes the volume stand out on a table or a shelf. While the old saw says that you can’t judge a book by its cover, experience has often taught me that the reverse is as likely to be true, as a book without a strong concept will rarely have a strong cover. So Sword Art Online Progressive is now on the top of my reading pile.

Next up, this exclusive Berserk Sword Letter Opener made by Jack Nadal, Inc. is a tiny replica of Guts’s demon-killing sword. It’s a quality collectible that not only looks awesome, it also has enough edge and heft to fulfill its function of slaying envelopes. On that point, I should disclose that it comes with an advisory pertaining to its sharpness which you can see in the box lid above.

The phone charm this month, with art by Christina K. Yang, depicts the Loot Anime mascot Yume armed with katana. Of the phone charms that I’ve received so far, my favorite is probably the Delicious sundae, but this is a close second, and I like seeing that Yume has stepped out of the posters onto a piece of merchandise.

There are two pieces of wall art in the Blade themed Loot Anime: first, there’s this month’s poster, with art by LucidSky, which is a stylish page designed like a three panel manga; and second, there’s the exclusive Gintama wall scroll made by Just Funky. I’m a fan of wall scrolls in general, as there’s no need to buy a frame, and you can hang it minutes after you buy it. This Gintama wall scroll is particularly nice, with a striking shade of blue, and the character art configured so that instead of being confined by the narrow dimensions of the strip, he’s leaping out of it. However, I’m also intrigued by the three-panel poster, as it makes me wonder if Loot Anime plans to treat their subscribers to an exclusive Yume manga in the future.

Just as an actual sword’s appearance is double edged, and can be intimidating or emboldening, depending on which side of the blade you’re on, so also did Loot Anime’s Blade collection have immense twofold visual appeal, as the items both presented well and remained faithful to their function. A crate called Blade would have seemed dishonest if there wasn’t one item to remind you that blades have two edges to inspire caution and respect in their owners, and it was a bold move on Loot Anime’s move to include that item—with a safety disclosure—and stay faithful to their concept. While there were individual products that I have liked better from Loot Anime, this was my favorite Loot Anime episode so far in terms of strength of concept and execution of the whole.

The Loot Crate forge has stopped minting the Blade box, but fans of Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, Robotech and Space Patrol Luluco have until December 27^th to sign up to explore the Galaxy crate.

Loot Crate sent the review copy.