rylee65 - 2014-12-03 03:39:10

It might be just me, but the battle scenes make up for the weak story and characters.

An 8 episode anime, which is an adaptation of an OVA inspired by a vocaloid song, which was inspired by a character design of the same name... Black*Rock Shooter narrates the story of a group of girls who unconsciously fight their intra and interpersonal problems with the help of their "other selves", which are beings that exist on their own alternate worlds where emotions are materialized.

The main issue I had with this anime is the weakness of its plot and characters, which becomes evident when the show tries to portray itself too serious and deep.

The animation quality is very high overall. The fluidity and colors match rather well the (even if rushed) tone of the show. A main characteristic of the animation of B*RS is the 3D CGI used on the Other World scenes. The character design there is epic, the battles never felt awkward and.. I don't know... Those scenes were so good that, as I said on the first line, pretty much made this show worth watching for me. 

The voice acting was good but nothing spectacular. The soundtrack, however, was awesome. It put the extra whoosh that some scenes needed, and it complemented really well others, particularly on the Other World. Sometimes it... kind of... overhyped? the scenes, but that's the plot's fault, not really the soundtrack's... 

Overall, I ended up focusing on the Other World stuff because the story, as seriously as it took itself, didn't capture my attention enough.
Man, that scene when BRS "evolves" her cannon into a gatling gun was AWESOME :D *ahem*

3/5

porter.shanahan - 2014-04-23 00:56:35

While this anime may be hard to understand, in all due respects it does deserve more than people give it. It's based off a song, yes. A song by Hatsune Miku with the same name. It first started out as a manga, then it became an OVA, now an anime.

While I may be the only one who thinks this, this anime was pretty good. It just takes five episodes to ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. Maybe that's okay for this anime. I enjoyed this anime--it was pretty dark in a psychological matter and hey, Black Rock Shooter is sexy.

The only issue is how rushed the ending was. That's the issue with this one. But tbh, you people don't give this anime enough credit. It's great.

oflatley - 2014-01-31 09:42:53

Black*Rock Shooter (TV) is a spin-off franchise based on an illustration by -"supercell" member- Huke, which inspired the songwriter of "supercell", Ryo, to create a song for the illustration, which spawned a music video, OVA, an abundance of merchandise, and then this series.

The story was originally the brainchild of the director, Shinobu Yoshioka. The script writer of this series is Mari Okada, who many would know of from "Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai." (myself included), "Canaan", "Fate/Stay Night", "Toradora", and many more.

She has a style of incorporating Moe into her characters, as well as realistic character interaction, and decides to focus on the details of feelings, that most people would look over. She also delves into the territory of melodrama, quite often.

This particular series focuses on a slew a characters, which is one of its shortcomings.

The series is only 8 episodes, and there are at least 5 characters to focus on, there's not enough room for explanation, especially when it comes to the melodrama in this series. But I have seen stories handled worse with 13 episode by other writers, so that does show in her ability to write.

The story is incorporated between two dimensions. The idea of the story is based around a story book that the main character has always liked since she was a kid. A little bird flies across different parts of the world, and collects the different colors the world emulates through it's wings. But the bird collects too many colors, and its wings turn brown and gray, then black, and then the bird dies. Sounds like your general everyday nursery rhyme to me (No, seriously, it does)!

Mato Kuroi (alter ego- Black Rock Shooter), Yomi Takanashi (Dead Master), Kagari Izuriha (Chariot), Yuu Koutari (Strength), and Saya Irano (Black Gold Saw). And a few more are introduced along the way.

It's the beginning of the school year for Kuroi. While she familiarizes herself with her new school, she decides to make friends with Takanashi, who she mistakens her name as "Little Bird Games (because of the Japanese pronunciation)".

Takanashi's sister (or friend, or something), Izuriha, is, well, crazy. She doesn't want Takanashi to be friends with Kuroi, because of her conceitedness.

And it basically just snowballs to depression, jealousy, deceit, manipulation, rage, ect.

As you can tell, this show is very depressing. And at times confusing, with plot hole abound.

In the other dimension, it is only stylized fighting with some narration every now and then.

Over the course of the series, you will understand, or at least be given an explanation, as to how the second world is connected to this reality (particularly in the last 2 episodes).

I will say this. The feelings that these characters express, are definitely real ones. We all have had these feelings over our lifetimes, especially during puberty. But that doesn't mean I want to watch a dramatization of those emotions that I have grown out of. Especially when they're as embarrassingly immature as they are.

I wish the writing was dealt with more maturely, despite the characters age. I have met a lot of younger kids, and they are much more mature than these characters, even with the same problems.

One of the biggest problems I have with are the adults in this series, they're even more immature than the children (Which is sadly a truth in this world).

Only an immature adult who cannot level-headedly handle a situation, let alone tackle it at all, could create such a disruption of emotions withing these children.

On another note, the music, the art, animation, and CGI are outstanding. The seiyuu do an excellent job with their respective roles. The direction of the cinematography is very stylish, and sometimes can evoke an emotional response. But there has to be something there to make it impactful. What could it be?

The writing. That is where this series falls short.

I think the series would have done much better if they decided to focus on 1 or 2 characters, build up the story a bit, and not have an emotional breakdown over the most menial things. They could also throw the whole "Other-world" idea out, or just stay in the "Other-world", because no matter what message you send with this anime, you cannot place your burdens on this non-existent entity in true reality.

Enjoy life. Be happy that you have the ability to eat hot food, with clean water, sleep on a soft bed, and have a loving family.

There are so many people in this world who go without, and just because "She isn't paying attention to me" 24/7, does not make it the end of the world. Not at all.

We all have those stages in life, but I don't think we want to see them again.

Despite all of my complaining about the writing, the story is surprisingly entertaining to watch, but extremely shallow and over the top.

So if you want to watch this anime, watch it as a step up from a generic, turn your brain off, thriller.

But the writer makes the story feel more important than it really is, and that will annoy many people who have seen how important stories can be told.

The ending will make an accusation to face all of lifes trials, and that you can never live without pain, or happiness. But there are many stories out there with that explanation, and they are better told stories.

___

To conclude, the story is very shallow with many holes, so the water of life will start draining out of it.

But the story is fun to watch, as the art, music, cinematography, acting, and direction are very good.

Watch this as a thriller, with psychological tendencies, and a little heartwarming message at the end, and you'll enjoy it.

Be prepared for the over-dramatic melodrama along the way though, because it's a doozy.

Keep pursuing your dreams! ~ Wynn

abernathy.dane - 2013-08-21 17:38:56

This anime is really a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, the character design and the CGI battles were awesome. On the other hand, the story didn't make any sense and character development was almost nonexistent.

Black Rock Shooter was originally a Vocaloid song by supercell. Someone liked the song and made a character based on it, followed by an OVA. I thought that the OVA was fairly good and hoped that the anime would pick up where it left off. Instead, the anime had a completely different story, one that was confusing and hard to follow. The characters seemed like they had no real personality. One might argue that since this was a short anime, there isn't much time for character development, but other short animes such as Kokoro Connect, Angel Beats, and FLCL seemed to be able to do it very well. Watching this anime seemed like a chore, and I didn't understand it well. This anime isn't all bad though: you get to hear the original song at the beginning of every episode and the characters look cool. Additionally, the battle scenes were pretty sweet, and they were directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, the person responsible for Gurren Lagann, Dead Leaves, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, and FLCL.

If you really want to watch this, knock yourself out, but I would recommend the OVA instead.

uohara - 2013-08-17 22:49:37

Black Shooter Is A Anime That You Have to Watch Without Trying to cling to the story Due The confusion This Anime Deals to Its Viewer . If You Do Plan On Watching This Series I Advise You To Watch The Ova First Even Though Like This Whole Anime Is Really hard To Follow Regardless Of watching the Ova .

Story/6

The Series is mainly Circled around Two Girls Named Mato & Yomi who sense something in the other that they lack in themselves, and are drawn to each other in spite of their contrasting personalities. Though initially hesitant, they form a strong connection . The Plot for the most part isnt whats wrong with this anime at all. I actually Liked when The Series Focused on Mato & Yomi alot . The Problem with this anime is when they try to Mix the real world with the world Black RockShooter & The Rest Of The Girls Fight In.They Never Explain How In The Hell they were able transform themselves In Black Rock Shooter Girls . Well No Correction They Did But Didn't Do A Great Job Of Explaining It .It Was Like the First couple of episode was on the same level so you could understand what was happening in the Series . Then In The later half of this series when everything thing was fast paced And Terms,Different Characters, & Logic Was Thrown at you It Had Your Brain Crying for Help because it Couldn't Keep up what was going on anymore.

Animation/10

One Of The Shinning Points of This anime is The Animation . The Fighting scenes are Eye Popping & Amazing as-well as the overall settings & Characters/Characters Design in this series . It Made you feel like you were actually there at times when watching or seeing a character getting blasted away by Black Rock Shooters Cannon.

Sound/7

The Opening Music Wasn't the best but overall was good , The Action Packed sounds and emotional breakdown yells you get from the characters in the series were good . Natural sounds were done fairly well in this series I will give them that To.

Character/8

Even If The Anime Series Will have you confused and pounding your Head On A Table . For the most part the characters Does let you get emotionally tide with them . And When they transform into what I call Them: The Black Rock Shooter Girls . They Are Totally Bad Ass And Levites the series to Its Highest point .

Enjoyable/10

Many People do Dislike the series with a passion and i dont blame them at all . But.... I personally loved this series for one reason and one reason alone . Its Spectacular Action Packed Fights Between The Black Rock Shooter Girls . If you just cut off the scrambling storyline and set it a side and just enjoy The Action that take place . I Promise , You will find this series very enjoyable like i did surely.

Overall/8

This Series By Far Confusing Has A Storyline that Is Never Explain But.... At The End of The Day The Action Was Too Amazing for me Not to give this Anime A Good Rating . Many People like A Stated Really dont like this series . But dont let those downers make you miss out on What I say is A great Action Experince .

marilyne78 - 2013-07-28 13:42:59

The issue behind using music videos for the basis of creative concepts such as Black Rock Shooter is the lack of source material. As much as I love the art style and the CG fights of the series, the story is always the main driving point of a series.

And to be honest, Black Rock Shooter has no direction in its story.

Although I wanted to keep the OVA and TV as separate entities, the storyline of the single one episode OVA series was definitely a better approach for the whole world of Black Rock Shooter. However, rather than remaking the OVA, the 8 episode TV series intended to add a more psychological strain to the series.

Black Rock Shooter, the mysterious girl with the gigantic gun, is a counterpart of her reality self, Mato. And much like BRS, other characters in the story such as Mato’s friends all have alternative beings of themselves that exist in a different world. These beings usually represent those individuals’ insecurities or issues in reality, and when defeated, vanish alongside with the problem.

Simply put, your problems are fighting in another world.

This is where Black Rock Shooter definitely thrives. The character designs of the alternative characters feel fresh and creative, definitely character designs you don’t see very often. Complimenting them is the beautiful art of the alternate dimension.The colorful backgrounds, bizarre structures, and unique landscapes add even more levels of creativity and help give Black Rock Shooter its unique feel.

While I don’t consider myself an action fan who likes seeing senseless fight scenes, the computer graphic fights of BRS are very entertaining to watch. If you flip to 3:30 in the video below, you can get an idea of how engaging the fight scenes can get and how well the backgrounds compliment everything (this certain scene takes place between Black Rock Shooter herself and Chariot).

However, in all the focus of the beautiful art and fights, the attention on the storyboard fell short. As much as I wanted to overlook the flaws in BRS, the trainwreck of the story becomes ever apparent as you progress into the series. While I felt a psychological twist for a series like Black Rock Shooter would add a level of depth to it, the direction BRS took was too confusing and frustrating.

The major focus was placed on some non-nonsensical book about a bird and its transformation through various colors. Apparently the directors wanted to compare the cycles of life with different colors. To add more "psychological flare", the series also decided to introduce the awkward friendship of the shy Yomi and her crippled and mentally insane "friend", Kagari. These were all intended to give Black Rock Shooter a level of psychological depth, but in reality felt forced and just irrelevant. To add more to the conflict, the school theme tried to add a slice of life school feel that overall just blurred the direction of the story more.

Coming into Black Rock Shooter and looking for an intriguing story and strong characters is definitely the wrong mindset, as Black Rock Shooter fails to shine in those areas. What I do advise is watching BRS for the for the great colorful art and the thrilling fight scenes, because that’s where BRS shines the most, and where you’ll find most of your enjoyment.

As much as I’m sad of how the intellectual and philosophical side of BRS went, the artistic and technical side of BRS definitely still warrant a watch. In fact, if they nailed the storyboard and fleshed out some better characters, Black Rock Shooter may have been a masterpiece. Maybe.

Thanks for reading my review, and if you have any opinions on it, please post on my wall so I can improve my future reviews. Thanks!

christian79 - 2013-07-17 18:08:54

I got into the Black★Rock Shooter franchise without any former expectations based on the song by Hatsune Miku (which i enjoy lots, but not particularly the original Miku BRS song) nor the original illustrations, videogame or merchandise. I was embracing a new show, unaware of what was coming, perhaps wondering what sort of quality anything about this brand could possibly have, when this fame was reached through such disperse sorts of media. This perhaps could have made me a little sceptic but i was nontheless very curious, it was all new to me. I was in for a surprise.STORY - 9Borderline 10 rating. One of the things that admired me the most about this show was precisely, given that it was limited to 8 episodes and it had enough content to be spread through at the very least 12 episodes, considering the standard pace of most shows these days, it kept dropping in my conscience just how solid and well paced the character development and the situational progress of the events turned out in each episode. How can i explain this, it's as if they managed to keep the show quite fast paced but without feeling rushed at all. It also delivered something that i wasn't very pleased with in the OVA: closure. For those who also already finished watching all 8 episodes AND the OVA, and might disagree with this, i'll put it this way: while the OVA finishes while leaving you hanging with the "ok, what now??" question roaming your head, the TV series leave you with a sense that, there will be something beyond this, but you already know what it is and how it will be, you understand the future and the actual story has closure.Art - 9To justify this high rating, i shall praise this show in 2 different fronts, where it oozed the quality necessary in order to stand out among hundreds of other series. First and foremost, one of the earliest differences between OVA and TV lies in how the characters look like and move in the "other world". While the OVA looked great with very interesting coloring, traditional drawing and a rather dynamic however jumpy animation (low cell count?), the TV show won my heart in the most unexpected of ways. In the TV series, the characters in the "other world" are rendered in CGI and more often than not, that's a very bad omen for any show, due to the uncanny way 3D character models stand out against everything and everyone else not computer generated. The character CGI in BRS looked to me, both in style as well as in movement dynamics, nearly flawless. Many times it fooled my brain into reconsidering if it wasn't 2D, or perhaps an hybrid, which if it was the case, i shall clap my hands for its seamless way to merge what i would risk saying "2D meshes on 3D models". But, go see for yourself, seriously. No, really, do it. Even the movement was extremely fluid and resembled the freedom of traditional animation unlike most 3D models' movements which regularly come paired with clunky/stuck movement. Furthermore, going back into the "real world", the characters are 2D and, while they only look good for half of the time we're looking at them (therefore the 9 instead of a 10 rating), i found the detail and expressiveness of these characters to be super effective in conveying their emotions and pulling some reaction from me, of excitement or sadness, etc, everytime there was attention to detail on the characters' facial expressions.Sound - 9Yes, great. It doesn't have a very memorable soundtrack other than the BRS theme which doesn't count really, because it was already popular out of its own merit (well, to be fair, surely the show will expand on that already estabilished popularity). At various points i couldn't help but become aware of how well the music was being used to enrich several of the core scenes in the story's development, and during certain battles as well (both physical and mental). In terms of sound effects is was equally as competent, delivering some powerful waves especially during some of the battles' most brutal hits.Character - 10I can't say much due to spoilers, but, i will say this: i was impressed how did such a short show even only halfway into it, manage to make me so fond of some of the characters, and really, REALLY, feel glad and sad, and in general, moved with the events that unfolded around them. I consider this quality, a true pearl nowadays, when many shows just can't make you care about even a main character during a supposedly emotion filled peak finale, and then comes something like BRS, that made parts of my body clench in anticipation for the following week's episode, to know what will happen to more characters than just the main protagonist. Each character has a fully explained/revealed past that the viewer learns about in the course of the series and they all have strong motives to drive their intentions, and i believe, the viewer can easily understand all their motives sooner or later, given the smooth way that all the questions are answered (although some questions only get answers on the last 2 episodes or so, making it seem like a confusing story for those who didn't finish it and were expecting the gratification of self explanatory writing contained in isolated episodes that wouldn't dare leave questions hanging with these delicious cliffhangers).Enjoyment - 10Fully enjoyable, second counting waits between each week, absolute focus on the screen while each and every one of the episodes ran for those 20 minutes, moving characters, interesting story, gripping questions, eyecandy battles. I already know i'll be marathoning the show once it gets a full BluRay release! For a show i had no expectations (good or bad) for, what i found was a rollercoaster of emotions that started off sort of mild on the first episode or two but which escalated intensely with the characters you get to know at a deeper level.

nils.nikolaus - 2013-06-23 17:52:32

This is my first review so hope this is helpful for you.Story:Story of it is way confusing. It is about this girl named Mato she is in middle school.She talks to her friend name Yami. Meanwhille in the another world girl named black rock shooter. Where she encounters a lot of people.It is hard to explain what is it about.Art: It looks very good. Not bland looking looks great. colors of it looks nice.Sound: It is avenage. But the only good part of it is the opening.Character: The characters are really good but aright. it gets kinda confusing for a whille. Overall: It is good anime but, confusing. Still good to watch.

waters.brant - 2013-04-21 18:24:25

--Spoilers-- Black Rock Shooter was one of the first animes that I've seen, and I was astonished with the quality of the animation and art. The beginning seemed so cool, and I thought I was going to love it. Everything just seemed to otherworldly and just plain cool. I was excited to see the 'normal world' side, and I at first had no problems with any of the characters. I was actually loving it until Kagari Izuriha got better and started attending school. That's where my smile started to fade. The plot became confusing with girls going berserk and being fine moments later and 'what is this fuckery' type of anime, with an insane counselor which the plot never explained her purpose or in fact anything about her and Strength having odd connections with everyone. All the girls except Mato became crazy, and not the type of crazy that's appealing. Small problems caused the girls' emotions to go spiraling out of control, for petty reasons. Yomi was completely irrational. I can rant awhile on each character, so if you have the time to read my review you better get fucking comfortable. Mato and Yomi's relationship started off as a typical relationship with one girl being introverted and shy and the other one trying to become friends with her for unknown reasons. Now, I have always found that these typical anime friendships have rather annoyed me, because I know for a fact they never happen in real life. One girl who's comfortably popular ALWAYS wants to be friends with a random introverted girl. I've never understood that. But, I did not mind it so much, because I was still enjoying it. I thought Kagari's and Yomi's relationship was pretty original, and for awhile I was still loving the series. Although, I was a bit disappointed at the back story. I am very picky about back stories, so this might of been me being me. Putting that fact aside, I was still happy with BRS until Kagari enrolled in the school. After that my opinion for BRS went down and didn't stop. Kagari turned out to be a complete bitch, Yomi becomes horridly clingy and is overly jealous, Mato is; of course in the middle of this; Yuu would've been all right if the over-complicated story didn't fuck her up, the counselor did not make any sense, as I might've stated before, and the random girl Arata comes in and gets the story even more confusing than it already was. The 'little bird' symbolism did not actually have a place in the story at all, which I found horrible. 90% of the entire plot did not make sense. I was extremely sad that I didn't enjoy it, because it seemed like it had such a wonderful potential. However, it failed miserably. On a closing note, I want to point all of the few good things out in this series. The battle scenes were fantastic and where far the best in the entire realm of anime, and the artwork and animation was also flawless. I also liked how their 'other selves' care for the girls so much. I also enjoyed the concept of everyone having other selves, but it was a bit tainted when some other selves were more powerful than others. Overall, it would of defiantly been on my top 5 anime, but crucial flaws made it fall extremely short.

christa.watsica - 2013-03-16 23:02:15

Best phrase to describe this series is: surprising. During these 8 episodes you will be freaked out, sad, laughing and only during the last 2 episodes will you come to fully comprehend the plot of the series.All that being said, the strong points of this anime besides it's ever changing plot are the battle scenes, the display of characters emotions and the general flow of the story.BRS is almost like the Japanese attempt to capture the genre Magical Realism in animated form.