Black★Rock Shooter (OVA)

Inspiration comes in a myriad of forms, and anything can lead a person on a flight of fancy. In 2007 the artist Huke designed an original character called "Black Rock Shooter", which he posted on his blog. The character inspired Ryo, the leader of the band Supercell, to write a song entitled "Black Rock Shooter", and Huke joined the band to provide further illustrations that were used in the music video for the song. Anyone familiar with the band's musical history will find it unsurprising that the lyrics themselves are sung by none other than the Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. In 2009 Yamamoto Yutaka's production comapny Ordet(Suzumiya Haruhi fans should recognise his name as the production director for the original series until he was fired from KyoAni during the making of Lucky Star), decided to make a series of animated music videos based on the original work in conjuction with Ryo. Ironically, the same scenes was used for all three shorts, with the only real change being that the titular track was presented in three different ways. All three shorts were gathered together and released on DVD under the title "Black Rock Shooter: Pilot Edition" and, following its successful release, Ordet embarked on a 50 minute OVA for the show. In an extremely surprising move (and truth be told, a very good bit of marketing), the new iteration was subtitled into seven different languages, and released free (that's right, free!), on the cover of Hobby Japan and Megami magazine, with a further release on the cover of Animedia scheduled for August 10th 2010. The anime will also be released as a retail version in December of this year as well, but with all the freebies it will be interesting to see if anyone actually buys it. Okay, now you know something of its history, but why have I bored you with all that when what you really want to know is, is it any good? Well, there's a reason for all that information (and no, it's not because I love the sound of my own voice, which is admittedly rather gravelly these days - and don't ever let me sing!), which has a big effect on how one views this show. As far as the story goes Black Rock Shooter is ostensibly about two friends, Kuroi Mato and Takanashi Yomi, who are both first years in junior high school. The anime is also about a blue eyed girl wearing very little who is engaged in various battles with other characters. And that's about it really. The main issue with Black Rock Shooter is that there is no explanation as to what is actually going on, or more importantly, why. While I'll be the first to admit that such sentiments are not always necessary in anime (especially certain comedies), the lack of any real direction makes one wonder what they've just watched. While the plot may be fairly straight forward in the "real" world (albeit on the brief side), the whole deal with the parallel world is never investigated, nor are any explanations forthcomin no matter how long you wait. The viewer must assume certain things in order for the story to work, however while this may be fine in certain shows, there is simply too much missing from Black Rock Shooter to allow for any viable suspension of disbelief. What does make sense though, is that the story is effectively about depression and isolation, however the highly stylized approach adopted by director Yoshioka Shinobu leaves too much to the imagination, with no real compensation for the viewer's input except for a scantily clad girl with a gun/sword/whatever it is at the moment. The fact is that there is scope for a much, much better story here, but for various reasons, some of them obviously financial (hence the "official" retail releases and all the merchandise), there is no room for the plot to evolve into something worthwhile. The seeds are there though, for a much more in depth look at the franchise, and I for one would be interested to see how a 13 episode series would play out as this OVA does have some good ideas and concepts. One area where the music video influence shows is in the look of Black Rock Shooter. The animation is pretty decent in both the real world and its parallel counterpart, however there are some flaws with both styles used by the show, especially with the character movement which are, at times, a little on the odd side. The design of the anime is good on the whole, especially the settings in the parallel world, all of which are a little on the post-apocalyptic side. The look of the real world is very much like that of any number of anime, although there has been some effort to increase the level of detail in the surroundings. The one thing that irked me, however, was the number of scenes in the parallel world where one character or another does nothing more than pose in a cool way, as this just seems an unnecessary attempt to curry favour with the viewer. On a side note, has anyone else noticed that the scantily clad, gun-toting, parallel world loli looks remarkably like a punk/goth version of Hatsune Miku? As far as the sound goes, Black Rock Shooter is good in every department, but it's a long way from being great. The acting is decent for the most part, however there are occasions where the sieyuu are overcompensating for the lack of characterisation. The effects are well chosen and choreographed, however there are some timing issues that occur during the heavy action scenes. Now given that this is a show that's ultimately based on a music video, one would be forgiven for thinking the music might be a little bit special, however this is not the case. While the thematic music tends to be rather subdued over the course of the show, there is a distinct lack of accompaniment for the majority of scenes. The major piece is actually the ending theme "Braveheart" by Gomband, a fairly generic J-rock song that actually works rather well given the manner in which the show ends. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure what to make of the characters. On the one side Mato and Yomi are decently realised as junior high school students with a budding friendship, however there isn't any real development of them or their relationship as what the viewer is only given a "fast forward" perspective until the "interesting" stuff begins to happen. On the other side there are the characters on ... the other side, none of whom are explained in any way, and only one ever gets named. Granted this is only a 50 minute OVA and there's a lot to cram in there, but this is exactly why I believe this show should really have been at least 13 episodes, as while the "real" world characters are personable enough, I'm pretty sure many viewers have asked the same questions I did (i.e. who are the parallel world characters and what the hell is going on?). While the OVA is enjoyable to a degree, the problems it has are simply too big to be overlooked or marginalised. One of the biggest issues is that the money wasted on producing this 50 minute OVA could, with a bit of frugality, been used to produce a 4 episode series that would have allowed formore development o both the plot and characters. In essence though, Black Rock Shooter is simply another example of what is actually wrong with the anime industry. The various production studios waste so much money making shows that cater to a minority market, even within the anime community, and must therefore make up for their losses by overpricing the licenses for overseas distribution, and that's basically what's going on here (hence the retail release and the huge amount of merchandising). Be that as it may, Black Rock Shooter is a decent way to waste 50 minutes, but it's not the best way to spend your time given the number of "better" (and I use that word very loosely), shows on offer.

This show was so hyped up. For a year before its release, floods of fanart, teaser videos, even cosplay, were everywhere. Then it finally comes out and is probably the most disappointing thing I've seen in a long time. It's probably going to get high ratings just because it has forced popularity, but don't be fooled. Here's the what and the why. Spoilers, of course. Story: 2 Awesome promo art, a catchy song, cool fight scenes, and what does the story end up as? A slow-building, slow-moving school drama. It's not even interesting. Basically, the main character Mato becomes friends with a Yomi girl. Mato then becomesfriends with a Yuu girl. Mato gets jealous (since they were OBVIOUSLY such good friends after all of what, three days?), vanishes suddenly, and is never seen again. After the end credits, she's back. What happened? Who knows. It also impllies Yuu is now jealous of Mato and Yomi being friends, leaving room for a sequel (God knows it doesn't deserve one). There are fighting scenes throughout, where characters that look like personas of these girls duking it out in a phantasmal checkerboard world, except for Yuu's persona, who just stands on a cliff for one scene and then is never seen again. The show keeps you guessing how it's related to the story you see unfolding at the school - could it be her imagination? A wild world contained in her dreams? No! It has no fucking connection at all! It's a metaphor for her trying to overcome her friend's jealousy. It's not deep. It's not inspirational. It's just stupid. Art: 4 Yes, Black Rock Shooter is Yoko from Gurren Lagann combined with Hatsune Miku. Yes, there are girls with heavy weaponry, scythes, skulls, and skimpy clothing in this awesome cathedral world. But then when you actually watch it, you discover that during those fight scenes, the video gets so choppy you can barely tell it's animated at all! It's like you're watching a powerpoint presentation! The school life sequences were better animated, but were generally poor enough quality that it feels like you're watching K-On animated by underpaid laborers. Oh, wait... Sound: 5 Remember that awesome Vocaloid Song the show was going to be based on? It doesn't appear in the show at all. Instead it's replaced by a punky-sounding end credits song, very sparse background music, and the voices, well... most of the lines are grunts and heavy breathing. For 50 minutes of video, there's not very much talking, and for what they do say, I have no comment. The music though, was a big let-down. Character: 2 There are 6 characters in this show. Mato, Yomi, Yuu, and their personas. The personas look awesome but never talk until the very end, where one speaks. Deep? No. Lazy. Their designs are decent enough, although Black Rock Shooter to me looked more like a zombie with her pale white skin and stomach scar. I don't really have much to say about the school-life versions. They're really boring. If you can find one defining thing about any of the three of them, please, PLEASE tell me. I won't even remember their names by tomorrow. Enjoyment: 3 Because it was only an hour. Overall: 3 Yeah, so people are going to say if you don't get the plot of this show, it's too deep for you. Well guess what? There is no plot. It's 40 minutes of highschool drama - /sorta/. 4 minutes of credits, and across the whole thing, 6 minutes of low-framerate fight scenes. The moral of the story? My friends and I came up with two. A. You cannot have more than one friend. B. Girls are bitches.

If you keep yourself on your toes, and have seen a fair share of anime in the past, I can guarantee you will be able to predict every single major plot event in this drawn out and clunky story. First off though I'll say that the animation does not disappoint, the quality is up to if not better than most on the air shows and although there's not much deviation from the standard in terms of design and motion they staff's done a solid job. Now, about predictability, which most certainly is not an issue in any good story as plenty of plots have abeginning that practically gives away the end. But with good story telling, you don't mind. Black Rock shooter however, does not have good story telling. Instead it has lengthy undramatic and emotionally forced build up to a random(yet, of course predictable) occurrence, which leads to the final 10 minutes being used neither to explain nor expand but rather continue the purposeless fight scene that we've already seen plenty of circa random cut aways sandwiched by the friendship-drama snowball rolling down the story's hill. Certainly there's finer points and details I can get into but I'm definitely not the only one disappointed here so I won't get into what other reviews have already said. The school life portions, had they been well written and presented a conflict that anyone could care for, would have been fine. The pointless cuts to the 50 minute stale mate of a fight scene would not have been necessary either if they just made the portions of the script where characters were interacting and developing something more than what it was. The first time they showed the fight probably hooked people easily enough that the 10 or so other times it was done were definitely not necessary. And really, the way it started had so much potential, the plot in the original song is so vague and ambiguous that really, there could have been any sort of plot but instead they just went along with the source material and stayed vague and ambiguous, painfully so. Considering how much they provided for detail in the meaningless little portions of the ova, it's also disappointing that they didn't spend that time expanding on some of the inferred portions of the story. Considering how meticulous and detailed the fan-base is with their own renditions of BRS it's almost sad how unimaginative the writing in this is. There's one shot of the two heroines together with one playing the guitar, expanding on that could have made the plot amazing, half the point of BRS is that it's a song, without the song the character isn't much and without the character the song isn't much either. That's a specific example I'll bring up, but if you watch the OVA or have already, just imagine some of the scenes and developments given more meaning. But anyways, compared to the quality that the independant creators on the internet were able to produce in terms of creativity, this OVA comes nowhere close. They stuck to cliches and were content with a run of the mill plot, didn't really seem to give much about their characters and have a liking for macguffins and deus ex machina.

I've never written a review for this site, so bear with me. I've been noticing a lot of mixed and disappointed reviews. That's somewhat understandable if one's going solely on the trailers. Instead of an all action fantasy piece, we got a very experimental story of friendship. The very core of BRS is the meaning of friendship. How it bolsters one. How its absence crushes one. How far one will go to preserve it. I'm not good at assigning number grades, so take them in stride. It's hard to quantify the difference between an 8 and 9 and so on and what deserves what. Story: The storyof Black Rock Shooter is a somewhat generic, basic one told in a very unusual way. It deals with two friends, Mato and Yomi, who grow very close to one another in their first year of middle school, only to drift apart in the second year. What makes it interesting is that this descent evolves into a fantasy battle spliced into their regular lives. This effect is apparently rather hit or miss judging by other reviews. Some even suggest that the reviewer didn't connect the two, which is a shame. I thought it was an interesting way of presenting the story. Seeing the downfall of the relationship, the bitter ashes it created, while also watching its genesis gives things an unusual perspective. The battle portion working in time, building with the actual friendship (an example being that the fight doesn't really begin until the defining moment of the friendship). Hence we see it wax and wane simultaneously, and can't help but wonder what went wrong. Why did it come to this? What's more, we see the evolution of that battle, the true meaning of it, as Mato realises just what her friendship and actions have come to mean as well. This presentation is probably what sets the show apart. Had it been linear, the story would've been rather average indeed. It would still be good, but much more 101. That's due to the simplicity of it. It really is nothing more than the rise and decline of a friendship and the fight to restore it. A lot has to do with the emotions of it. How friendship can lift ones spirits and how its decline can drive them into the darkest of corners. Seeing these concurrently drives it home. Obviously, this form of presentation can be confusing if taken at face value. Complaints about seeing a fight between two characters that have no reason to fight in the previous timeline are marginally valid. One needs to realize that it's essentially two episodes playing concurrently, with scenes not always meant to complement one another. It is foreshadowing on a grand scale. So what we have is a very simple story told in a deceptively simple way, and it's up to the viewer to put the two together properly. The only part I didn't really get was the opening fight scene involving a character that doesn't matter. Art: The art of the series is both eye-catching and a touch mundane. Though I believe that's the point. The "real" world is done in blues and soft colors, and has a rather basic school show look to it with pastels and other soft colors. On the other hand the fantasy world is more greens and yellows, and sports a more gothic and checkered look, with richer colors and darker atmosphere. Appropriate for a friendship gone sour. This color themeing goes right down to Mato and Yomi themselves, with Mato themed in blue, and Yomi in green. The two styles play well off one another in conveying the respective moods. Character designs are simple yet eye-catching. I particularly love the look of Dead Master. Overall, the art is probably the most memorable and appealing aspect of the show as the storytelling is highly visual. Particularly the fantasy world. It supports the story well in accentuating the emotion and action each scene is telling. As a first effort, the animation is suitably fluid. The battle scenes are a touch hectic, but work well. About the only complain I could find is that the artists couldn't seem to decide whether Yomi's hair was short or not. The front and side suggest a close-cropped nape with long front, yet several back shots tend to show parted hair. So there's a inconsistency there. Sound: There's very limited dialogue in the OVA, and the actors are more than adequate for the job. In fact, there's no dialogue at all in the fight scenes. Since the show works heavily on a show, don't tell" concept, this isn't an issue. I can't imagine an argument between BRS and Dead Master adding to the emotion already inherent of two friends at each others mercy. Hence the silence is fitting. All that needed say already had been at that point. Most of the music is average, with one rather odd bubbly number during a friendly montage. I was also rather surprised at how little the title song features in the show. Though it does appear at an appropriate moment. The music doesn't really shine until the end, with some very fitting piano pieces. Particularly the finale score adding to the emotion of the scene. Characters: This one is tricky. Being only 50 minutes long, not much character development occurs. Indeed, all we get is what's important, and that is an extroverted girl befriending an introverted one and becoming very important to her. So important that when they start to drift apart it literally consumes her in darkness. By that account the characters pull off what's needed, and that is the friendship at the core of the story. Sure, we could've learned more about them, especially Yomi, who always seems to have a sad side to her. These are characters of which much can be inferred upon. I have no problem with that given the context of the story. The point is that the relationship of the two is handled well enough to keep the story afloat leading to a satisfying conclusion to the conflict. They're likeable, identifiable, and one cares enough to want to see it through. In a story like this, that's what's important. Enjoyment: The enjoyment of the series really depends on what you give it and take from it. Black Rock Shooter strikes me as the type of show that might improve on repeat viewings. It also depends on how well you like the blending of stories. One does tend to spend much of it wondering when the next fight will occur and how it came to be. Both lines build slowly, and at the end really come together nicely. The entire storytelling style pays off brilliantly at the end, in my opinion, as we view the beginning and end of Mato's journey to save her friendship simultaneously. It can be a touch jarring to essentially see the beginning after the end, but it drives home the very reason she became Black Rock Shooter in the first place. That moment alone practically makes the whole thing. Overall, Black Rock Shooter is a very ordinary story about friendship told in an extraordinary way. Those coming in expecting wall to wall action will be disappointed. Perhaps I avoided that when I read that the story was to be about two friends so i knew what to expect. It's essentially a minor tragedy, not an action piece. The experimental way the stories told rewards viewers willing to put up with it and not just take it at face value. A lot of hype has hit this, and it will be judged far harsher because of it. Is it the best show of the year? Probably not, but it definitely is entertaining and worth a view, especially if you're a fan of unorthodox storytelling. The light hand of the story and characters allow for a lot of fan exposition, and I can see this inspiring fan fiction and sequels, especially with the open ending. The artwork alone is good enough to keep this one around. Give Black Rock Shooter a shot. The show deals heavily with friendship and what it means to people in an interestingly visual way. It may not be the masterpiece everyone was expecting, but it certainly is an excellent first effort and a welcome change from the average Slice of Life shows. Let it soak in awhile, and maybe you'll find something worthwhile in it. It definitely lingers with you.

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