Black★Rock Shooter (TV) (Black Rock Shooter)

On the first day of junior high school, Mato Kuroi happens to run into Yomi Takanashi, a shy, withdrawn girl whom she immediately takes an interest in. Mato tries her best to make conversation with Yomi, wanting to befriend her. At first, she is avoided, but the ice breaks when Yomi happens to notice a decorative blue bird attached to Mato's phone, which is from the book "Li'l Birds At Play." Discovering they have a common interest, the two form a strong friendship.

In an alternate universe, the young girls exist as parallel beings, Mato as Black★Rock Shooter, and Yomi as Dead Master. Somehow, what happens in one world seems to have an effect on the other, and unaware of this fact, the girls unknowingly become entangled by the threads of fate.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Black★Rock Shooter is based on characters illustrated by huke. The illustrations caught the eye of music producer Ryo who then created a song based from these illustrations with his collaborative Supercell. This song's title would then become the inspiration for the anime, Black★Rock Shooter.

The anime was awarded the Technical Achievement in Broadcast Animation at the 65th Motion Picture and Television Engineering Society of Japan Awards in 2012. It also received a video game adaptation for the Playstation Portable, as well as a few browser games and guest appearances in other popular video game franchises.

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Related Anime

Alternative version:	Black★Rock Shooter (OVA)
Prequel:	Black★Rock Shooter
Other:	Black★★Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Black★Rock Shooter

Main

Hanazawa, Kana
Japanese

Dead Master

Main

Sawashiro, Miyuki
Japanese

Kuroi, Mato

Main

Hanazawa, Kana
Japanese

Strength

Main

Asumi, Kana
Japanese

Black★Gold Saw

Main

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

Takanashi, Yomi

Main

Sawashiro, Miyuki
Japanese

Izuriha, Kagari

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Chariot

Supporting

Kitamura, Eri
Japanese

Koutari, Yuu

Supporting

Asumi, Kana
Japanese

Irino, Saya

Supporting

Noto, Mamiko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Katsumata, Hideo

Producer

Matsuura, Hiroaki

Producer

Nakamura, Hiroshi

Producer

Mori, Akitoshi

Assistant Producer

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Opening Theme

"Black★Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター)" by supercell feat. Hatsune Miku

Edit

Ending Theme

"Bokura no Ashiato (僕らのあしあと)" by supercell

Reviews

Aug 24, 2013

NotDolphy

Recommended

Ahh, Black Rock Shooter… je t'aime

In the 1960s, which is 60 years before when I come from which is the future, a recondite avant garde composer by the name of Captain Beefheart graced the airwaves with his trundling avant garde music that challenged the status quo of blues music with a menagerie of outré bumps and scrapes, replete with a healthy dose of guttural growls, vaguely resembling music. Yet these renegade evocative soundscapes informed a portent of society. In order for progress to subsist, artistic vanguards like this are of incorrigible necessity.

Now, I'm going to go on a bit of a tangent here, so please ... bare with me. In comparable fashion, the incandescent, avant garde Dada movement was birthed by way of the antipodal reaction to the indelible horrors of World War Un. This international movement was embarked by a collective of adroit artists and poets consummately associated with the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. Dada rejected reason and logic, prizing a mélange of nonsense, irrationality and intuition. The origin of the name Dada is difficult to parse; some believe that it is a nonsensical word. Others maintain that it originates from the Romanian artists Tristan Tzara's and Marcel Janco's frequent use of the words da, da, meaning yes, yes in the Romanian language. Another paradigmatic theory states that the nom de plume "Dada" came during a confluence of the group when a paper-ladeden knife stuck into a French-German dictionary happened to indicate a sequence of letters spelling out 'dada', a French word for 'hobbyhorse'. Their greatest accomplishment, however, was paving the way for Black Rock Shooter, and in turn, this highly intellectual essay I am writing.

In the avant garde tradition of dadaism, Black Rock Shooter tells the tale of budding young girls coping with the malaise of growing up by way of nigh-poetic alternative reality battle sequences. These obstreperous alternative reality segments, an oneiric substrate of the recursive subconscious, serve as a brilliantly heuristic amalgam: the asynchronous parallelogram that is the human mind is an esoteric and, at times, untenable beast; one that Black Rock Shooter, in all its thematic opulence, seizes magnanimously, spinning it's own immutable and immaculate web that, while subtly didactic, masterfully explicates the manifold human condition on the precipice of the acquiescence of maturity with a very natural demure about it. In the words of Lester Bangs, "Every great work of art has two faces, one toward its own time and one toward the future, toward eternity." Well played, Mr Bangs. Well played.

And if you'll bare with me for a bit longer, I'd like to expound upon what a "character" is before diving headfirst into Black Rock Shooter's puissant ensemble cast. To cite wikipedia: "A character is a person in a narrative work of arts (such as a novel, play, television show/series, or film).[1] Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr, the English word dates from theRestoration,[2] although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749.[3][4] From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor" developed.[4] Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person."[5] In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes.[6] Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor.[4] Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practised by actors or writers, has been called characterisation.[4]"

That is what a "character" is. Now you "know".

Tu m'étonnes. And the "characters", ahh the "characters"…!!! So many "characters", so many "feelings". As I consider it, nigh all of them are connected. In point of fact, the teacher is as well. Mato, a protean Humbert Humbert of sorts, is our intrepid protagonist. Feebly equipoised, Mato is a veritable "domino theory" of emotions. Everything from :D to >:O is covered consummately, leaving no stone left unturned, n'est-ce pas! In no other piece of fiction has the kaleidoscopic array of humanity been so thoroughly covered, and with such nuance to boot. Astute viewers will be on the edge of their seat as Mato confronts inherently relatable, quotidian issues, such as being dealt the "dirty colored macaroons" by a periphery, recalcitrant acquaintance; clearly a profound yet subtle metaphor for fate and one's lot in life. This essayist is pleased to report that you can expect many more ruminations on life like this promulgated throughout, so please be gently with everyone. Case in point, Black Rock Shooter, Mato's acousmêtre alter ego, is in constant conflict with an elusive, Kafkaesque clout beyond her control; a startling depiction bureaucracy that rivals such notable works as "1994" and "Brave World" in its deft, metaphysical illustrations. Furthermore, White Album 2 uses many emotions to bring out emotions. These emotions then show us the emotions of the characters and hence develop them and give us emotions as well while watching this. Veni, vidi, vici.

Black Rock Shooter truly is a psychologically variegated, ephemeral Musique concrète-esque urbane (to coin a neologism) tree-being-chopped-down-when-no-one-is-around-does-anyone-hear-it.!?!. It is a sterling example of anime's edifying artistic potential and stands out sumptuously in the moribund, fetid, meretricious sea of ancillary noxious pabulum that is the anime industry. It is the vanguard avant garde artistic achievement we need. If you'll excuse me for using a downright plebeian parlance of our contemptuous times, it is Absolutely Life Affirming: 10/10

Captain Beefheart would be proud. il y a quelque chose qui cloche métro, boulot, dodo Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.

Yuri factor, however, is a paltry 4.2793/10. Mere inklings of shoujo-ai allusions are all that await you in Black Rock Shooter, in terms of yuri. Don't assuage, however. Abide. Besides, are yuri main for you?

PS: I don't know why I said PS, but this is my maiden voyage review. CONSTRUCTIVE feedback is heartily encouraged. I'd say "Thanks for reading", but let's be honest, you should be thanking me for allowing you to read it. :3

Tune in next week for my review of Lunch Poems by Frank O'Hara, faithful reader. Voilà
Z̤̲̙̙͎̥̝A͎̣͔̙͘L̥̻̗̳̻̳̳͢G͉̖̯͓̞̩̦O̹̹̺!̙͈͎̞̬ *

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Mar 23, 2012

afkeroge

Mixed Feelings

Black★Rock Shooter would be the last time that I will ever watch with the name Mari Okada in it. I should have learned my lesson with the pile of nonsense Fractale, but nooooo! I JUST HAD to watch this until the end.

Okay, I admit, not all of it was bad. For starters, the use of CGI in this anime was superb. I mean, really. I think BRS established a new standard in me when looking at CGI in anime. The fight scenes were well-made, and the level of violence put in here is nothing to laugh at. BUT, I’m afraid everything else just felt… ridiculous ... and pretentious.

I think Mari Okada has a tendency to place unusually large values on topics that don’t really matter and focuses the attention of her writing into creating some of the most angsty anime to ever grace television screens. Fractale had a lot of this that I won’t even bother pointing out. Ano Hana spent too time showing that the character’s couldn’t move on from Menma’s death, as well as OMG IT’S SO SAD LET’S ALL CRY scene from its eleventh episode. BRS had all of this unjustified insanity, characters whose actions don’t make sense, and yes, one of my most hated things about anime, glorifying trivial subjects.

As I said, BRS used insanity very poorly. It’s like asking a fifth grader to write how he thinks insane people act. It’s unnerving, but not quite believable. Let’s take for example Kagari’s behavior. Okay, fine, she was creepy and all that, but I just couldn’t shake off the feeling that there’s something amiss. She felt less like a disturbed person and more like someone feigning insanity to get away with a crime. The same can be said about everyone else.

The characters’ actions do not make sense. Why would Yomi’s mother tolerate Kagari’s outrageous behavior toward her own daughter? Why would Saya torture students who weren’t even involved with her problem (Kohata)? How did they know for certain that Mato was BRS, Yomi was DM or Kagari was Chariot? A lot of other questions remain. This is like Fractale all over again.

As with Ano Hana, I had a lot of trouble trying to sympathize with the events of the story. In the end, the anime ended up being about saving Yuu from the other world. That much is clear. My only problem with this is that the way they did it was so bad. It felt empty. I couldn’t really describe it, but I was so frustrated while I was watching the final episode that I even considered dropping it then and there. It’s the same feeling that I had with Ano Hana. I just don’t like it, and I won’t bother trying to find out why.

All in all, I think Black Rock Shooter could have been much, much more. All of the flaws I have pointed out can all be traced back to the writing. If this show had a different writer, I think a lot of the problems with this show would not be as frustrating as they had become. Sure, the angst will still be all over the place, but at least it won’t be Mari Okada Angst. I give Black Rock Shooter TV my personal MAL rating of 5, which should have been a 3 if it wasn’t for the cool CGI.

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Apr 9, 2012

Haokan

Not Recommended

The first time I heard about Black Rock Shooter, it was basically from all the hype in literally every single social media site I visited. The catchy theme song with the opening lines "Brack Lock Shootah~" stuck in my head and it was on the top of my "planning to watch" list for the longest time. However, this anime was very disappointing.

I'm going to keep it pretty short since this my first review and I don't actually know what I'm doing, but there were several key aspects I feel the anime was missing.

Many people commented on the fact that it had no storyline, and I'll ...

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Poll: Black★Rock Shooter (TV) Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) tsubasalover - Mar 22, 2012	323 replies	by removed-user »» Jan 12, 4:57 AM
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Black★Rock Shooter (TV)

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Black★Rock Shooter

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Kuroi, Mato

Strength

Black★Gold Saw

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Black★Rock Shooter (TV)

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