The Bakumatsu period, the final years of the Edo period, was an era of great social change and should be a fertile choice to set a historical drama. The mid-1800s brought an end to the Tokugawa Shogunate, a mode of government that had persisted over 250 years, while also drawing a definitive end to the age of the samurai. Several other anime are set during this time, such as Peace Maker, a superficially similar show also featuring historical figures in the form of Shinsengumi members. Unlike Peace Maker, Blue Miburo is set before the Shinsengumi's formation, when rather than the elite police force/guard unit they would become, they were still a group of rowdy young ronin, the Mibu Roshigumi, or Miburo for short.

Protagonist Nio is one of those wide-eyed, naive, yet preternaturally perceptive anime kids, and whether you find him irritating or not may make or break this anime for you. As an orphan, he's cared for by his elderly “Granny,” who isn't blood-related, and neither is the “sister” who lives with them. All three run a small eating establishment that sells dango (rice dumplings). When Nio meets Miburo members Okita Sōji and Hijikata Toshizō (and is used by them as bait to catch criminals), he decides to join their group and help crusade against injustice. Unfortunately, Nio is useless with a blade and must use his sharp wits to solve problems instead.

Nio takes time to settle into life in the rough-and-tumble world of the Miburo, eventually making friends with two other similarly-aged boys, and most of the show is seen through their eyes. History buffs will note there is no person by the name of “Nio” recorded in the many stories of the Shinsengumi, and the show itself lampshades this, with the narrator outright admitting that his name won't be remembered. So why should we care about this inconsequential character? That's an excellent question that the first half of the show doesn't answer. Somehow, Blue Miburo manages to make the Bakumatsu period boring.

It doesn't help that Blue Miburo looks dull, with leaden direction and unremarkable backgrounds. Character animation is minimal, even during action scenes, which often amount to merely quick cuts and panning with little in the way of actual motion. Even the opening sequence, which should be most shows' opportunity to show off, consists of characters standing against backgrounds with layers moving in parallax, a cheap way to emulate three-dimensional space.

The plot hasn't developed in any particularly interesting ways, to the point it's hard to write anything positive about the show. About the best I can come up with is that “Blue Miburo… exists, I guess.” That's hardly a ringing endorsement, and it's a testament to how painfully below-average and mostly uninteresting it is. There are one or two characters that are larger than life that occasionally liven up the screen, and the most recent couple of episodes involving the (obviously young bishonen) shogun have been more entertaining. Still, I can't help but feel that more should have happened by this point.

Most characters are forgettable, and many episodes have struggled to keep my attention to the point I've needed to rewind and re-watch because I've felt myself drifting out of boredom. It's a shame that what could potentially have been a promising historical drama is held back by such lackluster production. Perhaps the most easy-to-please samurai drama fans might be satisfied with Blue Miburo's meager offerings, but I can't say I'm particularly enthused to watch the second cour. There are far better historical dramas out there (check out my article on the subject here.) Based on this bland first half, I can't recommend Blue Miburo.