Most shows of roughly this type spend half their first episode spouting expository dialogue (and probably a good portion of the rest as well). Black Bullet lets you pick things up on your own. It contains far less exposition than most anime, and what it uses is well-placed and unobtrusive. If your mood isn’t favoring a brainy show, but you’d rather do without the spoon-feeding, you’ve probably found the right anime.
I can’t think of any point where Rentarou really annoys me as a protagonist. On the contrary, he seems like someone who is genuinely trying to become a better person, even while learning to deal with the cruel realities of his world. In many ways, this show is about his growth as a person.
If you ask me to point to the show’s greatest flaw, I’d go right for the harem aspect. It holds the greatest potential for destroying suspension of disbelief. I certainly wouldn’t classify this show as harem genre, but for some reason EVERYONE in this show is enamored of its largely unassuming protagonist. I don’t mean to turn anyone off. Black Bullet shares little with harem anime besides Rentarou’s strangely magnetic effect. Even villains like him.
