Introduction
Big Eyes, Small Mouth 2nd Edition is almost everything you could ever want in an RPG. It has expandability, flexibility, speed, is easy to learn, and most of all, comes all in one book. Unless you want a full-blown setting, then you have to break down and pick up one of the various supplements.
Layout
BESM 2nd Edition is a beautiful book with full color glossy pages, and wonderful anime-style art throughout the book. The layout of the pages is well done and easy to read. The character creation section is a little confusing in how they present information to the reader. Mostly this boils down to inconsistency as to when information is presented, sometimes the explanations for a particular character facet follow the character creation information, other times, they are located further back, beyond explanations for other character attributes.
The book itself is a 6" x 9" softcover with a good sturdy binding. It has both a table of contents and an index, making it easy to find information quickly in the book. The index alone puts it a notch above many RPG products on the shelves right now.
Character Creation
Character creation in BESM 2nd Edition is a great experience. With the minor problem of information presentation in the character creation chapter mentioned above, character creation is an easy affair.
Using Guardians of Order proprietary Tri-Stat system, players can easily create a character in under 30 minutes. In addition to the three core statistics Body, Mind, and Soul, the Tri-Stat system incorporates Skills, Defects, and Character Attributes. Defects and Skills are fairly self-explanatory, the Character Attributes is where the system shines.
Character Attributes are a combined statistic that covers everything from normal human-like abilities (e.g. Animal Friendship) to supernatural abilities (e.g. Astral Projection) to technical abilities (e.g. Own A Big Mecha). Character Attributes are what make the system so flexible and easy to use. With Character Attributes, a player can easily create a techno-mage, a mecha-pilot, or a magical girl, all using the same book!
All the information for creating characters is laid out in an easy to follow manner and all Skills, Defects, and Character Attributes are in tables with page number references for easy use.
Game System
The Tri-Stat game system is a small, fast, and easy system for roleplaying. As I mentioned above, with only three statistics, the system is not numbers heavy. The core of the game consists of rolling 2d6 and comparing that to a target number generated by a combination of a Statistic, a Statistic plus a Skill, the average of two Statistics, or a Statistic plus an Attribute score. If you roll under, you've succeeded, if not, you failed.
The one place that BESM 2nd Edition lacks a little is in it's damage system. Damage is calculated based on a fixed score for the weapon and adding a players Attack Combat Value (a Statistic derived value). However, the upside to this combat system is that it also accentuates the speed with which BESM 2nd Edition can be played. No more 4-hour combats with 2 orcs and an ogre, with the Tri-Stat system, you'll be moving right along with the story in no time.
GM Section
As a gamemaster for Big Eyes, Small Mouth, you may be a bit disappointed with the core book alone. There is no beginning adventure, no world included. However, there is an excellent list of adventure and campaign seeds, along with a great list of anime resources and information. The core book does provide some pointers and advice on how to go about running an anime-style game, most of which was helpful.
Ultimately, as the GM, if you plan to run BESM 2nd Edition and don't want to draw up your own world, you will have to buy one of the various supplemental game worlds.
Final Analysis
Big Eyes, Small Mouth 2nd Edition is a great game with lots of support from the company. It has a strong presence on the Internet and the flexibility to cater to many styles of gaming. The book is a bit pricey at $29.95 (US $), but BESM 2nd Edition is definitely worth it. If you are interested in running an anime-style game or are looking for a good generic game system that's easy to run and easier to play, BESM 2nd Edition is well worth a look.
