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To start, Black Bullet is NOT a loli-harem. Contrary to a lot of other reviews, this series didn't have a single sexual scene, and there was only one truly suggestive joke throughout the whole thing, in which the main character was absolutely horrified at the idea. There is nothing wrong with having a lot of younger characters, and I actually thought it was exciting and new. They acted like real little girls; they had adorable personalities, childish ambitions (like wanting to grow up to marry a person they admire and look up to), and reacted they way most children truly would if put into some ... of the situations they did.

It was not, in any way, a harem. Harem anime have girls throwing themselves at the main character, constantly trying to seduce him, and usually lots of panty shots and boob jokes. This anime had absolutely none of that, these characters wanted nothing sexual at all.

The main character truly loved some of the younger characters, but in a purely family oriented "older-brother" way.

Story: 7/10
Okay now that that's out of the way, on to the story. I thought it was great. It might be a little cliche, but they made it work. I think one of the biggest problems in Sci-Fi shows like this one is that nothing is ever very "scientific", or based on any evidence from the story's universe. But in this show, most everything about the virus was really well explained, or at least had some sort of theory behind it. And if it wasn't, it was something the characters (or the society itself) was investigating. Personally, I think that's what makes shows like this. I love the theories and thought put into each scenario.

They did a great job of not being too repetitive and having the exact same problem re-occur again and again, but also kept a balance from things being too ironic. I dislike when one thing is solved, but then another completely random problem just so happens to start up immediately afterward, and then again, ect. ect. It was decently paced, for an anime with a ton of potential packed into just 13 episodes. Keeping that time frame in mind, it was a pretty unpredictable show. Even though it was moving pretty quickly, you still couldn't really tell who would die next or whether their plan would actually work.

And as always, I appreciate an anime that's not afraid to actually kill characters, rather than have them narrowly escape death time and time again.

Art: 8/9
The art in this show wasn't anything flashy, but I greatly appreciate a nice, simple style. The art they used fit nicely with the used CG for all the Gastrea, as well.

The animation was good. Like the art, it's not anything to rave about, but the fight scenes definitely looked pretty cool, and the characters had great body language. Especially Enju, she looked like such a child when she ran around or got upset, and it really helped build her character.

Sound: 8/10
A lot of people say the OP sounds a lot like the OP from Attack on Titan, and having not watched that anime I can't really argue in any direction. But I will say I really liked the music used throughout the entire series, and the OP will definitely be going into my iTunes.

The voice acting was great. I felt like the voices really suited the characters. None of them had annoying voices, which is a problem you tend to run into a lot in anime. However, I think the best part about it was that you could really hear the emotions in the voices. Some of the tear jerking scenes really hit you hard, they did such a good job making the voices sound so realistic to the situations. Especially Enju's screams/crying.

Character: 8/10
Along with their voices, these characters were so great! They really fit into the story, and their designs were super nice. All the little girls were so cute, and even the ones that were just in the backgrounds had really unique designs. You could tell thought was put into even the random background characters, and I thought that was pretty cool.

Black Bullet also didn't follow the typical personality tropes. The characters had pretty distinct personalities that didn't fall under "cookie-cutter" categories.

As rare as it is, almost all of the characters in this show, including the villains actually, were pretty likable. I love love Enju. She was so cute, and unlike a lot of shows with younger characters, she truly acted her age. Rentarou was great as well. It is so refreshing to watch an anime where the main male character isn't a whiny baby that yells a lot when he accidentally touches boobs (all. the. time.) and can't keep his emotions together in a battle. Rentarou was a strong, kind, and determined male protagonist, and I loved him.

Character development was really the only weak point in the characters. But I can't really blame them, it's hard to smoothly transition a character in only 13 episodes. Honestly, if they had tried much harder it probably would have come off really forced. Here's to hoping for a second season so we can really see those characters changing!

Enjoyment: 9/10
I really did enjoy this show. It kept you wanting to know what happened next. I don't know what else to say here honestly... I definitely would recommend it!

Overall: 8/10

As a warning, I'm just going to start out with saying anime was pretty bad, and it really didn't even have an ending at all.

Story: 4
The overall concept of Btooom!'s story sounded really cool, and was the sole reason I decided to give it a try. It was a great show idea, and had so much potential, but that's really the only thing keeping the story's rating from dropping below a 4. There were no surprises in the plot, and any questions you may have had were given away within the first few episodes. From then on, it was more or less bland battles where ... characters tried to "outwit" each other with bombs, a lot of drama, and a lot of complaining.

But despite the predictability and slow scenes, the worst part of the entire plot had to be the underlying messages that were practically stuffed down your throat the entire time. This show is dripping with misandry. Every chance it got, it highlighted the wrongdoing of men, and portrayed them all as disgusting pigs without self control. Even the main hero, who clearly had high morals, was "tested" and almost lost control when he came in contact with panties. It felt very out of place, was uncomfortable to watch, and got to the point where it was out of control sexist.

Art: 6
To be fair, the art wasn't too bad. It's an interesting style, and better than a lot of anime out there. It also used a lot of diversity between the characters, which was nice. However, there were a lot of panels where the character's faces were really out of whack. And for an action anime, the animation was really plain.

Sound: 5
Complimenting the bland art, was the bland music. There wasn't anything special about it. The opening and ending soundtracks were okay. The background music was a little less okay.

And the voice acting was even worse. I only watched the dubbed version, but I can almost guarantee you'd be better off watching the original Japanese. I'm a fan of loose translation when it comes to dubs, because the lines just never sound natural when the translation is too direct. But Btooom! falls really short of this, and most of the character's would say awkward sounding things. Certain words they used just didn't fit into their sentences. It was pretty bad.

Character: 2
But this was by far the worst part of the entire anime. Not only did the characters have absolutely no growth, but they were all absolutely awful to begin with. Just the two main characters alone made me cringe.

I don't generally have a problem with the 'damsel in distress' role, but they went a little overboard with it in Himiko's case. There was almost never a moment when she decided to take action, except for the several times she decided suicide was probably her best option. Other than constantly needing assistance, her only other purpose in the show was to be stuffed into the stereotypical tsundere trope. I usually like those kinds of characters, but again, they took it a little too far. She never, ever stopped yelling, crying, slapping Ryouta for being a "pervert", and generally just saying obnoxious things. It was really out of place in an anime with such serious underlying tones.

Ryouta was no better. I was very confused with his character. On one hand, in all his flashback's he was portrayed as this angsty teenage boy who was rude to his mom and pretty much an asshole altogether. But on the other, while on the island he did nothing but try to help the other players. His thoughts were always super moral, and kind. There was no amount of time between being at home and being on the island where this change in personalities would have made any sense.

Enjoyment: 4
This anime was riddled with dramatic irony, and at times it was incredibly frustrating to watch because you knew something the characters did not and it should have been SO OBVIOUS, but it literally took them an entire episode or more to figure it out. And of course, when they finally had the moment of realization, they were painstakingly slow to react.

However, some of the fight scenes had pretty cool angles, which was definitely entertaining. And I can't write off that it was a little fun to see who would die next.

Overall: 4
Overall, this was a less than mediocre anime, and I do not recommend it. Honestly I don't even know why I finished it, and I will not be re-watching.

Story: 7
The thing I love most about mystery shows is the part where they take all the clues and information and sum it all up in a genius scene. UN-GO was able to take the most confusing scenarios and still explain them, leaving you with no questions left to ask. And it still managed to remain almost completely unpredictable.

The episodes were well paced. Although during the beginning of the anime mysteries really only lasted one episode each, they eventually started taking longer and longer to solve. By the third episode of the show the cases got so hard to decipher I couldn't stop watching ... and actually finished the whole anime in one sitting. I do wish it had been a little longer.

I wanted to give UN-GO's story a 9, but there was one thing holding it back. It tended to be a little repetitive. Each time something happened, it was generally the same thing. The case would be presented to both Mr Kaishou and Shinjuurou, Kaishou would make his presumption, then Shinjuurou would prove him wrong with a little help from Inga, and it would all get covered up by the government. While repetitive cases are to be expected in a tv show revolving around a detective, I was still a little disappointed that UN-GO followed the same suit.

Art: 7
It's definitely a show with pretty art. To me that's a generally a big deal, because if you're like me at all the art can literally make or break a show, regardless of how great anything else in the anime is. But there isn't much to say here, this time. The art was really clean and well drawn. The backgrounds were nice. And I really loved the way hair and eyes were drawn in this style.

Sound: 8
Although I've said before that I don't normally pay attention to this category quite as much as the others, I was very impressed with UN-GO's soundtrack. The music was great, including all the background themes, and the ending song was super catchy.

As for the dialogue, while I can't speak for the original Japanese, I do think they did a fantastic job with the dub. Far too many anime really flop when they make an English version, but the lines in UN-GO were excellently translated in a way that sounded natural but still got the original point across.

Character: 6/8?
I was so conflicted with this category's rating. On one side, the characters were so likable. And they had great designs. All of them looked nice, even the more regular looking characters weren't too boring. There weren't really any over the top designs, either, with the exception of Inga's female self. And even then, her flashy design worked perfectly with her personality, and it wasn't like you had to look at her like that all the time.

But on the other hand, there was very little character development. Especially Shinjuurou, who stays pretty much the same through-out the whole anime, including the extended 0th episode. I found it hard to keep liking him when he just kept acting so calm and reserved throughout each investigation, until the very end.

Enjoyment: 7
Still, regardless of little growth, I really enjoyed this series as a whole. It kept me eager for the next episode the entire time. Definitely worth the time for fan art! I recommend it for sure.

I probably will not re-watch it.

Alright, this is my first time with a review so bear with me!

Story: 8
Shiki did pretty well in this category. It was refreshing to watch a vampire story that didn't make you want to become one. They went back to the old school myths, where vampires can't be killed unless you put a stake through their heart, and they fear things like relics and crosses. They were actually the bad guys. There are already a lot of great romanticized vampire stories out there, so it's really nice to find the opposite.

The episodes were well paced, and the anime as a whole did a great job ... at keeping you on your toes and making you want to watch the next one. It did start out a little slow. The first few episodes were mostly just to give you a perspective on what the villagers were like and how future events would effect them, but at the same time you couldn't really skip them because there were bits and pieces you would need to see in order to understand anything that happened later. Once that was past though, the anime picked up really fast, so much so that I had a hard time waiting to see what was going to happen next. Watching an anime that's like a book you can't put down is a huge plus.

The plot itself was a little holey. As someone who likes a little science behind their fiction, I was disappointed that they didn't delve into the facts about why the vampires hated sunlight or what made them rise. But that's a minor mishap. My real problem was that there was no real back story to the Kirishikis at all. The main antagonists in the story were completely left without any context. While they hint at things here and there, you never really know anything about them. Especially Seishirou, and that really bugs me!

I have to applaud them for not being afraid to kill of characters, though. Far too many horror anime are hesitant to actually kill anyone, and sort of beat around the bush, instead. Especially when it comes to prominent characters, or younger ones. That probably sounds harsh, but it's really frustrating when characters just barely make it out alive, by miraculous events, over and over.

Art: 6
This is where the anime really falls apart. To be fair, the art wasn't truly bad. It was clean and well drawn, and the backgrounds were definitely on a higher scale. The real problem was the style. This especially in the character designs. Almost every character in the show, whether main or just a filler, had the most ridiculous, gravity defying hairstyles. It was annoying to say the least, and incredibly out of place in a horror anime. Even in a comedy, these hairstyles would be considered over the top. The eyes were just as bad. Not only were they too big for most of the character's faces, they were so awkwardly colored. Especially Muroi's, I will never understand why his were so different from everyone else's. The eyes also took away an element of surprise that the show really could have benefited from. If only they hadn't made the vampire's eyes such a dead give away.

The animation was on the crappier side, as well. It seemed to be quickly, and cheaply, thrown together. Many shortcuts were taken. In many scenes the people don't even walk, they just sort of fade in and out across the screen. And there was a lot of still pictures that just slowly zoomed out.

Overall, the art was way too distracting, and I almost dropped the anime because of it.

Sound: 5
I don't normally pay as much attention to this category as the rest. The music sounded okay to me. Nothing I'll be putting in my iTunes, but it worked with the show.

What really brings this category's score down was the dialogue. Now I only watched the dubbed version, so I can't speak for the original Japanese! But Christ, this was terrible. So many of the lines were awkwardly placed, or seemed to be missing a lot of context. And a lot of the characters would say things that completely clashed with their personalities. Again, this could just be because of poor translation, but as an official dub I really think they should have done better.

Character: 5
I was so disappointed with the main characters in this anime. All three of the most important ones had almost the same personality. Distant, a little cold, and angry (at either themselves or just everyone in general). There was no diversity! I know it's a more serious anime, but they should have branched out a little, at least between characters. The amount of generic personalities nearly killed me. Other individuals seemed a little displaced, especially Megumi. I know she was supposed to have an outsider kind of feel to her, but they went a little too far with it, and she seemed like she didn't even belong in the story at all.

The worst part out of all of it is they never gave you a character you truly got attached to. There was no emotional connection, none of the characters were really likable. Megumi was obnoxious, Natsuno was too reserved for you to even really get to know who he was at all, Dr Ozaki was way too cold, ect ect ect. There was at least one reason to hate every character. I really could care less who died and who survived, and that really took a toll on my experience with this show.

Enjoyment: 6?
That being said, I did still enjoy the series as a whole. Yes, they could have done better in a lot of areas, but I still kept watching regardless of it all. It's got it's own way of making you want to watch it. If not for any reason other than who's gonna die next, will that person rise up, and is everyone kind of evil or will there actually be some character development? I will definitely never re-watch it.

I'm not entirely sure I'd recommend this anime, though, especially if you're new to it! Don't ruin your first experience with something that's so-so. If you're really looking for an intriguing, gory horror story, go watch something like Mirai Nikki instead.