See, I've got enough blue on me so I can be Blue, and then you made this so you can be Red... Do you see where I'm going with this?
Summary:
In a dark world, Black Rock Shooter fights against opponents using her glowing blue gun. In our own dimension, a young schoolgirl named Mato begins middle school, and is immediately taken with her classmate, Kotori Takanashi. She discusses this with her friend Yuu, and returns home to read one of her favorite books, The Little Bird and Many Many Colors. After trying and failing to get to know Takanashi better, Mato visits the school counselor and begins basketball practice. On her way home from school, she runs into Takanashi, who recognizes her cell phone strap as the bird in the story Mato was reading before.
The two return to Takanashi’s house to hang out, only to be interrupted by Kagari, a girl in a wheelchair who wants Takanashi all to herself. Horribly embarrassed by this, Takanashi apologizes, and Mato leaves incredibly frightened. However, she keeps the red bracelet Takanashi gave her. In the alternate dimension, Black Rock Shooter finds herself fighting a version of Kagari in order to save an alternate Takanashi. The next day in school, Mato consults the counselor on her dilemma and decides to continue befriending Takanashi. The two make plans to spend time together at the festival that is being held soon. Things don’t end so well for Black Rock Shooter, who is left helpless at the end of the episode.
Reaction:
I sure do wish there were some black rocks around here for me to shoot...
I’m not so sure how these two-worlds-collide thing is gonna go down. I like it when it’s being used as a reflection of the characters’ feeling, like how Kagari and Mato vying for Yomi’s attention turns into a literal no-holds-barred battle to the death, but what’s up with the huge, all-seeing eye? That’s crazy. The dimensions must be linked somehow, and Kagari is some otherworldly demon in both of them, but what’s going on here? I watched the OVA that was put out a while ago, and damn, was that vague! I enjoyed it for what it was, but I expect the TV series to go way more in-depth, even if it does only have eight episodes to do it. I at least expect to know what Black Rock Shooter is made of by the end of the show! She gets flung, punched, stabbed, drilled, sawed, and then just stands right back up! I’m not sure if that’s a metaphor for what Mato is going to experience somewhere down the road, but I was kind of expecting the titular character to have more muscle and not just a body made of solid diamonds. I saw her land maybe one hit while she took a hundred.
In the ‘normal’ dimension, things are just as weird. When I first saw Kagari, I was pretty ambivalent towards her. I mean, alright. Creepy girl in wheelchair who plays with dolls. But something about her gets more and more unsettling the more I think about it. The terrible atmosphere during the macaroons scene was so well communicated. I’ve been in situations like that, just as awkward, and it’s the worst for everyone involved, especially the person who thinks it’s her fault. Yomi might be the first character who I’ve felt an unending stream of sympathy for right from the get-go. Her relationship with Kagari, if the creators decide to develop it properly, could be really captivating. While Mato is clearly the heroine, I’m much more interested with what’ll happen if they choose to make Kagari a sympathetic character as well.
This post was written by...
Leenina – who has written 84 posts on Sea Slugs! Anime Blog.
I'm Leenina, an innocent girl who will soon be corrupted by the dark underbelly of anime blogging. My Sea Slugs career began in December 2010. My favorite anime include Kaiba and Noein, and so obviously I prefer rather serious science-fiction shows. Although generally a skeptic, I do attempt to follow the shonen ideals of hard work, friendship, and willpower.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Kagari is amazing, so incredibly creepy, and her relationship with Yomi just drips “very bad things are going on here”
And Wheels…I mean Chariot, is just a triumph of design, and I find that surprisingly I don’t mind the CG battles much at all.
I will never look at Macaroons the same way again
Please be reminded that each BRS production has pretty much a different take on the characters and the world setting. The OVA is similar to the TV series to a point, while both the manga and the PSP game have WILDLY different interpretations on just what makes BRS… BRS.
As for BRS TV, ah, prepare for heaps of awkward melodrama.
The one constant being that its always spectacularly gay.
Noooooot really. You can only say that for the OVA and the TV series, as the manga, uhm, is something you’d expect more from a ‘dark’ magical girl series. The PSP game dispenses with the Real World completely too, and embraces the dark Otherworld entirely (which is why BRS has an actual name and spoken lines in that one).
Myssa, shockingly enough, I do actually know what I’m talking about.
Between the two different worlds, the girls flirting with each other and the bird puns, I somehow couldn’t help but think of this.