Btooom! for me is what I call good anime slop. Looking from today, the premise, the characters, the way everything plays out is pretty stereotypical for an anime like this. It's predictable but yet entertaining. And unfortunately, and that is sad to say, Btooom! had a lot more potential for what it was.
Characters 4/10:
In Btooom! you'll get to know most of the cast in the first 3 episodes. And if I had to give these 3 episodes a title, I would name them "Trauma dumping montage". Each and every character has been through some pretty traumatic stuff. And the anime is not doing anything else than to introduce you to these characters through their trauma. It tries to be as disgusting and f-ed up as it possibly can be. For me, that makes most characters feel kind of incomplete, like their entire existence is based on some traumatic event. The worst for me, though, was that the MC behaved in a very inconsistent way just for the sake of the plot, and the character development was close to non-existent in that way — or maybe, to describe it better, the character development was ignored.
Story 5/10:
It's hard to go on about the story when there isn't much to say. It would have been more interesting to talk about the story if there was a season 2, because season 1 leaves some questions as to why this death game is played in the first place. It only gives some hints. Other than that, Btooom! mainly focuses on one of its stronger points, and that is the action and the fights. In the anime, characters have various types of bombs to fight with. Each of them can be used differently. Each of them has their strengths and weaknesses, and it makes for some strategic fights. Especially in the middle part of the show, the anime makes use of that. The way the characters use these weapons against their opponents and in combination with the environment is pretty interesting. The combat system of Btooom! is honestly pretty good, with some nice tricks being played out. It gives so much potential, but unfortunately, most of the time the fights are still wayyyyy too predictable. It's not better when the anime then goes forward to explain things to the viewer that are blatantly obvious if you even just put 10% of your full attention to what is shown on screen.
Art & Animation 7/10:
As expected of Madhouse, the whole production value of the show is quite decent, but for a show from 2012 I would say that it is not more than decent. The art is more on the "realistic" side of things for an anime, and it fits quite well with the overall military vibe of the show.
Soundtrack 7/10:
The soundtrack is supporting what is shown on screen in a fitting way, but personally it is nothing to really remember for too long. It has 2 pretty good fight OSTs that I really liked and that got me going.
Enjoyment 6/10:
As said at the start, Btooom! is nothing special apart from the potential that it presents with its combat system. However, in the end it doesn't make much of that potential most times in comparison with other shows with a good combat system like World Trigger. This anime plays out exactly the way you think it is going to. It has no insane plot twists or turns. It doesn't get you to feel much for most of the cast. But it is a nice casual watch with the overall production value if you like shows of this genre, the military vibe, and some gruesome, gory moments.