When I speak about the storytelling aspect of an anime, I always consider its premise as well. Where is the anime set? A school, a dystopia, or the far distant past? The realm in which things take place is always a determining factor for the feel and tone of the show. While Black Rock Shooter's concept of "other halves" residing in a parallel universe isn't exactly fresh, the way it was executed is. A world where our mirror selves do battle against each other to shoulder our pain is an idea I'd never seen before. Also, due to the rather short length of the anime's run (8 episodes), I was impressed with the content they managed to fit inside. Even with the show's shortness there was weight behind what the characters did and how they felt. Truly impressive.
Visuals are certainly a key factor of this show, considering it was birthed from a music video. The story itself takes place within two universes; the world of the real life humans and the realm of their other halves. While the depictions of young schoolgirls is rather standard, the scenes shown in Black Rock Shooter's world are much more interesting, though less frequent. Well done choreographing and well executed concept art is its strength here. The physical struggles between, for example, Strength and Insane BRS well represent the emotional trauma their patrons experience in the real world.
Following the path of logic, music is also a key component of a show based on a song. The audio is great-it sets the right tone and keeps the pacing correct. A definite strength there.
Overall, I was impressed by Black Rock Shooter's ability to deliver a meaningful viewing experience in the limited time it had. Had the show been longer with the same amount of content, I would have been less pleased with it;but I think that is the point. The story told the message it wanted to and nothing more, no fillers or none sense interactions. I give it a 9/10.
~Kurai Shiko
