REVIEW: ‘Sabikui Bisco,’ Season 1 – Exceeds Every Expectation

Sabikui Bisco is a fantasy/adventure anime produced by Oz. In the city of Imihama, there is a young Doctor named Milo who struggles with his limited supplies to treat his patients. Most of these people suffer from rust infection. After a calamity in the past spread rust all over Japan, the people struggle not to succumb to its poison. But when Milo learns that the wanted outlaw Arcaboshi Bisco may know where to find a permanent solution to the rust crisis, he sets out with the outlaw on an adventure to find this hidden cure in Sabikui Bisco Season 1.

There are times that I love being wrong. When something that looks like more of the same rises above my expectations to be truly great. Sabikui Bisco Season 1 is one of those things. The key element of this series’ elevation over my early expectations lies with its duel lead protagonists, Milo and Bisco.

When the series first introduces the duo, they come across as easily recognizable tropes. Milo is the timid, in-over-his-head inexperienced hero, while Bisco is the angry man who is incapable of speaking in any voice that isn’t a yell. This overly angry character type that anime loves rarely ever works for me. They simply come across as verbally abusive to me. But while these are the initial impressions the show gives, it quickly grows both characters into so much more.

Bisco is rapidly evolved into someone with a tremendous amount of heart who will move heaven and earth to find the cure for the rust. He cares deeply for his friends and freely shows kindness when he can. His frustration with the world quickly becomes understandable and manages to deliver a ton of emotion throughout the series.

Likewise, Milo quickly grows into his new role as an adventurer. There aren’t a lot of moments where the hapless doctor needs rescuing from the hardened adventurer. Milo manages to get a handle on the adventuring life quickly, allowing him to hold his own for most of the series.

Allowing both characters to be stars of the action, as well as the emotion of the series, makes them both feel far more real than assigning each to one side of the story.

While these two form the core of Sabikui Bisco Season 1, the amazing characters extend far beyond them. Bisco’s mentor Jabi, along with Milo’s big sister Pawoo provide amazing support to the central duo. Both characters deliver heartwarming moments, and Pawoo gets to deliver some of the most bonkers combat moments of the series. This woman is a BEAST!

But while having great heroes is a wonderful thing, a great story often needs a great villain. And Sabikui Bisco Season 1 gets that villain in the form of the mayor of Imihama, Kurokawa.

This fiendish politician combines the maniacal over-the-top- energy that anime villains love with a plot and purpose that strikes disturbingly close to reality. The things this character will do to further himself are beyond loathing.

As the show follows its protagonists on their quest, the series delivers some of the most unique action sequences I’ve seen recently in anime. This is due largely to Bisco’s unique weapon of choice. His bow and giant mushroom sprouting arrows.

Whenever Bisco fires his bow, mushrooms of various shapes and sizes spring to life where the arrow strikes. Used for launching enemies, blocking incoming projectiles, and even quick escapes, these arrows make every moment of combat surprising and fun.

Another strikingly unique aspect of Sabikui Bisco Season 1 is the world itself. While most of the stranger elements of this alternate Earth go unexplained, they deliver some amazingly creative elements that keep each episode feeling fresh. From the giant crab that provides the duo’s primary means of transportation to the jaw-dropping monstrosity that delivers the show’s final challenges, the world of Sabikui Bisco is always memorable and unique.

All this action and world design would be for not without great animation. And this series delivers on that wonderfully. Every pulse-pounding fight, unique visual element, and heartfelt character moment is captured with stunning design and a smooth presentation.

Honestly, I can’t praise Sabikui Bisco Season 1 enough. It managed to take characters I thought would be recycled tropes and build both them and the world around them into something unique, stunning, and wonderful right up till the credits roll on its mindblowing final episode. I cannot wait to get more of Milo and Bisco’s adventures.

Sabikui Bisco Season 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.