Have you ever been in a situation where you're not really a big fan of a particular series and yet absolutely love one of the characters in it? I haven't,but that was before I watched Date A Live. The original Date A Live series is quite popular,even so according to me it's definitely NOT a must watch. But the most popular character from this franchise definitely helps in the marketing, because I already knew her before I started watching. I didn't know her name, she was just "the girl with the weird eyes" for me since I've seen her numerous times on social media. Halfway through the first season of Date A Live I understood why is she so damn popular.
Kurumi Tokisaki, undoubtedly has the potential to claim herself a spot among the best girls in all of anime...at least that's what I feel and I know that I'm not the only one who feels that. She's a supporting character and an antagonist in D.A.L and didn't appear for the first half of the season,but when she did one of the first things which came to mind was "Damn this girl deserves her own show." And surprisingly,she did! Which brings us to:
DATE A BULLET.
Story: 7.5/10
Those who have watched Kurumi Star Festival would know about how Kurumi killed one of her clones for falling in love with Shido(in case anyone doesn't know about her powers, the original Kurumi can create time clones with different versions of herself. Since she's a personality who doesn't bend to other's will, finding out that one of her versions has fallen in love with the protagonist, she killed her). Having died a miserable death in her own hands, Kurumi finds herself in an alternate dimension,known as "The Neighbouring World". Waking up to an entire new world about which she doesn't have any knowledge, she finds out that she's part of a battle royale against other girls known as "Quasi spirits" each with their own purpose of winning the battle. She saves the life of a girl named Hibiki, who's also participating in the battle but is too weak to win against any of the other opponents. From Hibiki, Kurumi gets to know that some mysterious entity called "Queen" arranges these battle royales and whoever wins, gets her wish granted by the Queen. Desperate to return to the human world and see the person she whom she loves once again, Kurumi decides to go all out in the battle. Anything ahead of this will count as spoilers since it explores Kurumi's past and Queen's true identity. The plot is kinda mediocre, but definitely not bad.
**MAJOR SPOILER**: We know clones generally can't summon angels. But in this movie in one of the climax fight sequence Kurumi manages to summon Zaphkiel,her iconic time manipulating angel,the reason was later explained by Queen.
Characters: 8/10
While Kurumi is as badass as usual, I have to say I liked the original Kurumi of Date A Live a bit more. Why? Because back in the human world she had her own reign. The typical dream woman for masochists and idol for sadists, the eerie and mysterious version which used to send shivers through every other characters' spines. Here in the new world, she's lost and therefore loses her casual attitude which she upheld before and becomes extra cautious of other characters. But if we think about it then I don't think any other character would manage to look this cool after finding himself/herself in a completely new world. She completely had everything under control like she always did. Besides Kurumi,we get to see new characters but none of their goals or history was explored other than Queen's.
Artwork and animation: 9/10
Brilliant, the landscape of the alternate dimension was beautifully made. The animation might even be better than Date A Live III. Coming to the artwork, it's good on its own but,BUT...I definitely prefer the old style,it just goes more with characters like Kurumi. Here they made her prettier and she looks a lot younger. Though it's not a problem since the original Kurumi mentioned before that this was a younger version of herself.
Sound: 8.5/10
The opening track, INFERMATA, has become one of my favourites. Gou Sakabe has done an excellent job on it. The music truly deserves appreciation.
Enjoyment: 9/10
The most personal part of any review. The sheer presence of Kurumi made it 8/10 for me, +1 for rest of it.
Overall: 8/10
