Before I continue this review, I'd like to point out the fact that I have, indeed, read the manga up to the point at which the story in the anime ended, and I will try my best not to compare the two, though it is near impossible, considering how much better it could have been with a true-to-the-manga following, instead of the anime original ending we have at hand.
First, let me go into some brief background. Gokukoku no Brynhildr, better known as Kiwaguro no Brynhildr, which is the name of the manga series that served as the source material the anime was based on, was
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written by the same author who wrote Elfen Lied. As a result, many people can see how similar the concepts that are used, as well as the character archetypes that are expressed in the two series's. Elfen Lied suffered from a terribly executed anime original ending, and whereas Gokukoku no Brynhildr should have learned from this original mishap, it suffers from a arguably worse anime original ending than Elfen Lied did, and coupled with the numerous other defects present in its almost jokingly terrible plotline and execution, it deserves a much lower score than its predecessor and accomplished much less.
Let's move onto the categories.
Story: 3
Let's begin with an analysis of the plotline. The main character, Murakami-kun, is a genius with photographic memory, and comes upon a "witch" that resembles his childhood friend, and he chooses to save this witch from persecution from the laboratory from which they escaped, along with multiple other witches. The backstory isn't bad, and is actually fairly interesting. It makes you question: What is the mystery of the lab that we are about to find out, and how is it related to why these witches are being persecuted?
However, with further delving into the events that happen during the plot, you find that Brynhildr only devolves into a pseudo slice of life with gore in it, during which the only interesting things that happen include listening to Kazumi's heavily accented voice and her proclamations of how horny she is and how much she wants to have Ryota's children.
The ending was another giant factor that becomes the downfall of this anime series - after dillydallying in the world of Kotori-chan's breasts and Kazumi's nonexistant ones for numerous episodes while providing minimal main plot development, the series tries to wrap itself up in the final 2 and a half episodes, cramming about 30 chapters of work into roughly an hour of showtime. As a result, the ending was inevitably rushed, and changed from the original manga arc's ending, cutting away important developments, like Ryota's presence right beside Kotori as she was ejected, or Kana's part in saving Neko and Ryota from Valkyria.
Another blaring issue that the storyline had was the completely forced and manufactured plot. Rather than letting events unfold, and letting characters deal with problems as they normally would in an intelligent way, a tragedy happens, a character gets godlike status, and the problem is solved. This same formula is repeated numerous times throughout the episode, with deus ex machinas being pulled again and again and again from the writer's toolbox. I admit, this isn't just an issue with the anime adaptation, the manga suffered from it as well, whether it be Ryota's unerasable photographic memory, or Kotori's ability to stop all kinetic energy of the person she switches with when she switches places with someone using her teleportation ability. These scenes, however, show how stupid and contrived the plot actually is, which makes any plot progression feel forced and unrealistic, along with just plain uninteresting, because the audience can just assume that some character will exhibit some extreme new aspect of their power that will be able to easily solve any problem thrust in the main character's way, time and time again.
Art: 6
The art was decent. The version I saw incorporated censoring in the form of fog in all the gory scenes (like the melting scenes or cut up bodies), that was almost as terrible as the Funimation censoring used for Freezing, but most other elements were handled fairly well. Certain scenes did feel awkward, however, and the characters did appear bland and uninteresting at times when actual plot development happened, leading me to believe most of the budget was spent on the unnecessary fanservice present throughout the entire length of the series.
Sound: 5
The sound quality was decent, and the opening sequence for the first 10 or so episodes was actually quite catchy, as dubstep openings aren't as prevalent in the Japanese music industry in general. The second opening, with its more heavy metal air, was also fairly interesting, and the ending provided a sense of calm after the gory events that happened in the episode. There wasn't anything particularly special about the OST- it was basically what you would expect from any other science fiction anime title with explosions and laser beams. The voice acting, however, was fairly subpar - none of the emotions that the characters felt that should have been communicated to the audience got through, and at times when some screaming and emotion should have been prevalent, the screaming and name-calling just felt noisy, and might have been better off with just silence and streaming tears. As a direct reference to one of these scenes, when Murakami was sliced in two in episode 12, Kana's fervent typing (which translates to speech through her superintelligent text to speech converter device) didn't serve much purpose, and actually distracted (and annoyed) me from a supposedly shocking scene.
Character: 2
The worst portion of the anime. Unique and interesting characters drive the plot of the anime, and without these, the plot simply can't function to be anything intellectual or even seemingly interesting. Every single character written in the series only had one of two purposes. 1. To be part of Ryota's harem or 2. To be killed brutally and horribly. All those who were part of the harem cannot act, or think for themselves - they are merely piles of meat that idolize Ryota and dream of mating with him - as literally and clearly expressed by Kazumi multiple times throughout the series's length. All those who die, end up as terrible emotional triggers that are supposed to attract the gore fetishists, or pull at the heartstrings of the sensitive - neither of which is possible with the terrible censoring and insignificance of any individual character that appears to die in the show.
Enjoyment: 3
No doubt, my interest in the manga, and the failed expectations I had for the show before I entered it influenced my enjoyment levels, but nonetheless, if you don't enjoy random fan pandering and cardboard characters in your serious piece of science fiction with a dark plot and atmosphere, then you probably won't enjoy this show.
Overall: 3
This show suffers from the same problem that Elfen Lied did, except it doesn't solve this problem - it only makes it worse, in the worst way. All the calm and peaceful slice of life that happened in the show, much like the slice of life present in Elfen Lied, serves little to no purpose, and none of the characters are likable enough to feel emotion for when he or she happens to be caught up in tragedy. The show tried to juxtapose the gory and dark elements of the show's main plot, with the lighter elements of the show, but it was a doomed project from the beginning, and would have been much better off holding the male hormone tease and spending more time with the main storyline and illustrating all the mystery aspects it promises to address in the first episode, up till the last. At least with Elfen Lied, there was a sense of "oh, wow, that was an intense ending, left open for us to wonder at and reflect on our own what the show was supposed to represent." With Gokukoku no Brynhildr, the only thought I'm left with is "What the heck happened I don't even know what I'm supposed to be feeling Can somebody take me to the doctor please The manga was 1000% better even though I didn't even like the manga that much please Brynhildr what happened to Kazumi you didn't even tell me at the end Why did Neko have to lose her memories Why is Ryota so unkillable and such a badass and Why did I even choose to watch this adaptation."
Jul 6, 2014
Gokukoku no Brynhildr
(Anime)
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Before I continue this review, I'd like to point out the fact that I have, indeed, read the manga up to the point at which the story in the anime ended, and I will try my best not to compare the two, though it is near impossible, considering how much better it could have been with a true-to-the-manga following, instead of the anime original ending we have at hand.
First, let me go into some brief background. Gokukoku no Brynhildr, better known as Kiwaguro no Brynhildr, which is the name of the manga series that served as the source material the anime was based on, was ... 
Jul 1, 2014
Black Bullet
(Anime)
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Black Bullet. I went into this series with a bit of skepticism: Will this series, which seems to focus on human morals and values within the context of a war between the humans and "them", in which case, the Gastrea, achieve their message, loud and clear, in its measly 13 episodes of length? Much like previously released anime like Elfen Lied, Higurashi no naku koro ni, and Psycho Pass, that are well known for their darker settings that serve to illustrate a concept of humanity put to the test, Black Bullet incorporates a similar dark setting, with the apocalypse of the human race at stake,
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