Where do I begin? Where do I begin? First off, Black Rock Shooter is an amazing anime and you should definitely check it out. It's amazing. Today I watched the OVA. I'd like to review it. First it starts off with Black Rock Shooter running around a chapel filled with crosses, which is gothic and I love anything dark. Next off you see a young girl named Mato. Mato is a typical Japanese anime schoolgirl. She has big, blue anime eyes, wears the school outfit, has weird-styled black hair, and has a very high voice. She even has a little brother, who's also maturer than her. On her first day of high school she meets a girl named Yomi Takanashi, who is more of the opposite. Yomi is more sophisticated and mature, while Mato is more cute and childish. Mato likes basketball and more casual things while Yomi has a smartphone, has been to Germany and knows German, and even plays volleyball. They both become friends, and by friends I mean literally connected, I'll get to that very soon. Well, we're greeted to Mato lying in bed. She grabs her phone and wakes up, gets ready, and everything. Later on we see her walking around her town, and she remembers she has to get on the Kibata Station train. When she gets to school, a young girl with green eyes and curled hair named Yomi steps out of a car. They meet and they become really close. Now, what's cool is that during this, you also see a different viewpoint involving Black Rock Shooter. At first it doesn't make sense, but believe me it does. This is where it becomes more of a puzzle that you have to observe to solve. So, we find out that Mato likes Yomi, and vice versa. It's all cute. Mato's first thing she says to Yomi is a compliment on her height, which is when we find out she's going to join the basketball club. Every day Mato and Yomi would meet on the bench and go out for a little. You find out that they both live in the exact same neighborhood, you see their connections so much that they make a collage with music. You would see them at food stores, at book stores, mostly just anywhere. One day Mato brings Yomi a cell phone strap, this also has meaning if you carefully look at its design. Mostly, they're not just friends, they're not even shinyuus, no they seem unbreakable. Both of them compliment each other with cute and touching words like "I love you" and "I don't want you to go". It seems so nice and innocent, it makes you wish life could actually be like that. While this is going on we continue to flash back to Black Rock Shooter, but now she's with someone who looks oddly familiar to someone we just saw. If you looked closely, it made sense and explained pretty much the whole OVA. Then it all changes when Mato sprains her foot. Yomi starts to change. You can tell she's getting jealous at all the attention Mato's new friend is getting. Who is Mato's new friend? Her name is Yuu (or Yuuki) and she is the "super manager". For some reason everyone likes her, and I can see why. So, one day Yomi doesn't get on the train with Mato. This seems odd. The next day you are treated to a text that mentions three words, police, investigation, disappearance. Mato rushes home when she's greeted by her mom "The detectives are upstairs waiting for you.". Now, if you were clearly watching the Black Rock Shooter viewpoints, this would clearly make sense to you. Mato goes upstairs and starts saying how Yomi isn't the type of girl to run away from home. She starts crying, at this point you can tell she cares for her. It's really sweet in a sad way. Now is where the subliminal messages get clear. The next morning Mato gets a very strange text. It's a text from Yomi, but it has no subject. Mato dresses in clothes that make her look like a certain character we just saw. She rides her bike to their usual spot and notices a light. This is where things got epic. The light sucks her in and you see Black Rock Shooter with that girl who looks familiar. Guess who she is? Yomi! What was awesome is how she got up and as Yomi attacked her with her chains, she absorbed them and did the best thing ever. She reached out her hand like Riku, it was epic. She then grabbed Yomi and hugged her, saving her in a way.
Next comes the obvious ending. Mato meets herself, I mean Black Rock Shooter and she says who are you? They fuse together and say "I am Black Rock Shooter!" Obvious, but an awesome ending to a nice OVA.
Presentation (10):
The way the OVA was presented was amazing. From the opening to the very end it was wonderful. The way the characters were drawn, the way they mixed mystery, action, school, and friends while still being consistent was very good. The music was epic as well. It fit in every scene. It is the only anime soundtrack I will listen to besides Puella Magi Madoka Magica's. I could explain more, but you get the point. Presentation is awesome! Especially since the company that made it never made an anime before this.
Story (10):
There is nothing more I can say about the story. Just watch it. You won't regret it! It's actually that good. Very complex while staying consistent to the show. The series is all one big puzzle and mindf***. You won't be disappointed.
Art (8.5):
Don't get me wrong, the drawing and animation was awesome too. It's just the art style that gets bland sometimes. How many times have we seen an anime Japanese schoolgirl. Once, twice, 1000, 100000000? Everything else was great though, from the cel-shading, to the design styles of the buildings and some of the characters. I really admired the work they did with the art styles. I also liked how the beginning shows a very artistic battle scene between Black Rock Shooter and Yomi.
Music (10):
The music in this anime is very harmonic. From the many different sounds of pianos to guitars, and even violins this OST does not disappoint either. Another good song is the piano version of Black Rock Shooter by Hatsune Miku. And the main theme is good as well. It is made by ryo (Supercell) and sung by Hatsune Miku. Though made in 2008 it still is a good song and its message is very good as well. "How loud do I have to shout? How much more do I have to cry?"
Characters/Character Development (8.0):
While, the cast is great, their development is not. The characters in this show are cool, but we never learn to much about their life. Yes, we learn about Yomi being a fan of volleyball and going to Germany, but that's hardly enough to be called character development. This isn't Lucky Star guys, we need more than just interests like Germany and volleyball. The characters on the other hand are awesome. Mato is cute and girly, Yomi is very dark, sophisticated, smart, and hidden. Yuu/Yuuki is very kind, but cool at the same time. (Weird how Yuuki reminds me of myself. I say the exact same things sometimes, like to smile and not to be upset)
Voice Acting (10):
You can tell the seiyuu's put a lot of work into this one.
Overall (9):
While still a great anime, Black Rock Shooter does suffer from some unfortunate issues. One, character development is severely lacking. You don't really know much about the characters besides their personalities and basic interests. The ending of the OVA is as cliched and guessable as The Sixth Sense. By the 16th minute the OVA can be completely answered just by looking at the characters and the end is obvious. While awesome, it didn't make me say "OMG! MATO IS BLACK ROCK SHOOTER!" I was saying "it's you" "dude, it's you". The music on the other hand is awesome and the piano styles are awesome. I also like the characters, just not their development within the plot yet. Another complaint is that pacing is very slow at times when most people want to be engaged in the series by the first 15-20 minutes. It may cut to the dark parts. Tears of blue, birds, and all. It still doesn't speed up the pacing. So, mostly Black Rock Shooter, besides some problems is an amazing anime that you should definitely check out sometime.
I will make another review when I'm finished with the whole series.
Thank you!
~Ryan
Please leave your comments, opinions, or thoughts on this review below.
Where do I begin? Where do I begin? First off, Black Rock Shooter is an amazing anime and you should definitely check it out. It's amazing. Today I watched the OVA. I'd like to review it. First it starts off with Black Rock Shooter running around a chapel filled with crosses, which is gothic and I love anything dark. Next off you see a young girl named Mato. Mato is a typical Japanese anime schoolgirl. She has big, blue anime eyes, wears the school outfit, has weird-styled black hair, and has a very high voice. She even has a little brother, who's also maturer than her. On her first day of high school she meets a girl named Yomi Takanashi, who is more of the opposite. Yomi is more sophisticated and mature, while Mato is more cute and childish. Mato likes basketball and more casual things while Yomi has a smartphone, has been to Germany and knows German, and even plays volleyball. They both become friends, and by friends I mean literally connected, I'll get to that very soon. Well, we're greeted to Mato lying in bed. She grabs her phone and wakes up, gets ready, and everything. Later on we see her walking around her town, and she remembers she has to get on the Kibata Station train. When she gets to school, a young girl with green eyes and curled hair named Yomi steps out of a car. They meet and they become really close. Now, what's cool is that during this, you also see a different viewpoint involving Black Rock Shooter. At first it doesn't make sense, but believe me it does. This is where it becomes more of a puzzle that you have to observe to solve. So, we find out that Mato likes Yomi, and vice versa. It's all cute. Mato's first thing she says to Yomi is a compliment on her height, which is when we find out she's going to join the basketball club. Every day Mato and Yomi would meet on the bench and go out for a little. You find out that they both live in the exact same neighborhood, you see their connections so much that they make a collage with music. You would see them at food stores, at book stores, mostly just anywhere. One day Mato brings Yomi a cell phone strap, this also has meaning if you carefully look at its design. Mostly, they're not just friends, they're not even shinyuus, no they seem unbreakable. Both of them compliment each other with cute and touching words like "I love you" and "I don't want you to go". It seems so nice and innocent, it makes you wish life could actually be like that. While this is going on we continue to flash back to Black Rock Shooter, but now she's with someone who looks oddly familiar to someone we just saw. If you looked closely, it made sense and explained pretty much the whole OVA. Then it all changes when Mato sprains her foot. Yomi starts to change. You can tell she's getting jealous at all the attention Mato's new friend is getting. Who is Mato's new friend? Her name is Yuu (or Yuuki) and she is the "super manager". For some reason everyone likes her, and I can see why. So, one day Yomi doesn't get on the train with Mato. This seems odd. The next day you are treated to a text that mentions three words, police, investigation, disappearance. Mato rushes home when she's greeted by her mom "The detectives are upstairs waiting for you.". Now, if you were clearly watching the Black Rock Shooter viewpoints, this would clearly make sense to you. Mato goes upstairs and starts saying how Yomi isn't the type of girl to run away from home. She starts crying, at this point you can tell she cares for her. It's really sweet in a sad way. Now is where the subliminal messages get clear. The next morning Mato gets a very strange text. It's a text from Yomi, but it has no subject. Mato dresses in clothes that make her look like a certain character we just saw. She rides her bike to their usual spot and notices a light. This is where things got epic. The light sucks her in and you see Black Rock Shooter with that girl who looks familiar. Guess who she is? Yomi! What was awesome is how she got up and as Yomi attacked her with her chains, she absorbed them and did the best thing ever. She reached out her hand like Riku, it was epic. She then grabbed Yomi and hugged her, saving her in a way.
Next comes the obvious ending. Mato meets herself, I mean Black Rock Shooter and she says who are you? They fuse together and say "I am Black Rock Shooter!" Obvious, but an awesome ending to a nice OVA.
Presentation (10):
The way the OVA was presented was amazing. From the opening to the very end it was wonderful. The way the characters were drawn, the way they mixed mystery, action, school, and friends while still being consistent was very good. The music was epic as well. It fit in every scene. It is the only anime soundtrack I will listen to besides Puella Magi Madoka Magica's. I could explain more, but you get the point. Presentation is awesome! Especially since the company that made it never made an anime before this.
Story (10):
There is nothing more I can say about the story. Just watch it. You won't regret it! It's actually that good. Very complex while staying consistent to the show. The series is all one big puzzle and mindf***. You won't be disappointed.
Art (8.5):
Don't get me wrong, the drawing and animation was awesome too. It's just the art style that gets bland sometimes. How many times have we seen an anime Japanese schoolgirl. Once, twice, 1000, 100000000? Everything else was great though, from the cel-shading, to the design styles of the buildings and some of the characters. I really admired the work they did with the art styles. I also liked how the beginning shows a very artistic battle scene between Black Rock Shooter and Yomi.
Music (10):
The music in this anime is very harmonic. From the many different sounds of pianos to guitars, and even violins this OST does not disappoint either. Another good song is the piano version of Black Rock Shooter by Hatsune Miku. And the main theme is good as well. It is made by ryo (Supercell) and sung by Hatsune Miku. Though made in 2008 it still is a good song and its message is very good as well. "How loud do I have to shout? How much more do I have to cry?"
Characters/Character Development (8.0):
While, the cast is great, their development is not. The characters in this show are cool, but we never learn to much about their life. Yes, we learn about Yomi being a fan of volleyball and going to Germany, but that's hardly enough to be called character development. This isn't Lucky Star guys, we need more than just interests like Germany and volleyball. The characters on the other hand are awesome. Mato is cute and girly, Yomi is very dark, sophisticated, smart, and hidden. Yuu/Yuuki is very kind, but cool at the same time. (Weird how Yuuki reminds me of myself. I say the exact same things sometimes, like to smile and not to be upset)
Voice Acting (10):
You can tell the seiyuu's put a lot of work into this one.
Overall (9):
While still a great anime, Black Rock Shooter does suffer from some unfortunate issues. One, character development is severely lacking. You don't really know much about the characters besides their personalities and basic interests. The ending of the OVA is as cliched and guessable as The Sixth Sense. By the 16th minute the OVA can be completely answered just by looking at the characters and the end is obvious. While awesome, it didn't make me say "OMG! MATO IS BLACK ROCK SHOOTER!" I was saying "it's you" "dude, it's you". The music on the other hand is awesome and the piano styles are awesome. I also like the characters, just not their development within the plot yet. Another complaint is that pacing is very slow at times when most people want to be engaged in the series by the first 15-20 minutes. It may cut to the dark parts. Tears of blue, birds, and all. It still doesn't speed up the pacing. So, mostly Black Rock Shooter, besides some problems is an amazing anime that you should definitely check out sometime.
I will make another review when I'm finished with the whole series.
Thank you!
~Ryan
Please leave your comments, opinions, or thoughts on this review below.
Edited by keytotheheart