My Review of "Black Rock Shooter"!
I could go for a few beautiful-looking macarons right now.
Story
The story follows Mato Kuroi, a student who wants to befriend her classmate, Yomi Takanashi. Upon attempting to befriend her, it is revealed that her only friend, Kagari Izuriha, is a selfish bastard who doesn't want Yomi to make any friends. Kagari is willing to do anything to stop Mato or anyone from befriending Yomi, which becomes a conflict of the story. To give a more fictional perspective, the anime also shows Mato's inner perspective of the situation through her dreams, which end up showing a more action-packed version of what Mato, Yomi, and Kagari are going through. After this, another conflict arises with a manipulative adult figure by the name of Saya Irino. She manipulates certain students to make them feel worse about their problems, but it seems that her methods actually have a good purpose.
Visuals
The visuals, although not super unique or extremely detailed, are pretty good. Some scenes feel like they have a 3D look, making them pop out compared to a 2D look. I will say though that there are a few scenes in Mato's dreams that go pretty hard with the animation.
Characters
The main character, Mato Kuroi, is a friendly student who's not one to give up on becoming friends with people. Although she does cry, she's able to recover since the inner version of himself, appropriately named Black Rock Shooter, is able to withstand the pain she receives. Yomi Takanashi, the person she wants to befriend, is a caring classmate of Mato who's unable to show her true feelings because of an antagonist, Kagari Izuriha. who keeps Yomi all to herself and tries to prevent Mato from befriending her. Whether it's through guilt tripping and manipulation or using various tools to mark her territory, Kagari wants Yomi all for herself. However, after breaking free from Kagari, Yomi begins to show her true colors when she becomes paranoid of losing her friends. Another antagonist, Saya Irino, is just like Kagari in the way that she's able to effectively manipulate many people who come to her. What's even worse is that she's the school counselor, so anyone who has sensitive topics to talk about go to her to vent or ask for advice, giving her lots of chances to manipulate people.
The Good
I liked the way how the anime balances the perspective inside Mato's mind and the reality of her situation. It gives an almost equal amount of slice of life and action that work together so fans of both genre end up satisfied overall. Speaking of which, I loved Mato's depictions of the situation. Although seeming a bit goofy with weapons like macarons, the way Mato perceives things is definitely fascinating and entertaining. In a way, I actually find it a bit more entertaining than the slice of life side of the story. Even if it's only 8 episodes, the anime is really well-paced and I didn't find any part of the story rushed or too long. I felt that each part of the story had enough time to shine and show their impact to the outcome.
The Bad
If I had to be nitpicky, the only problem I could find with the story is that the plot is a bit overshadowed with Mato's fictional perspective of it. Although I loved it, Mato's dreams did make the slice of life side of the story a bit boring compared to the action Mato imagines. But then again, her dreams do end up becoming the main focus of the story, so it's not that big of a deal for most of the anime.
The Downright Ugly
Nothing downright ugly about this one, except maybe the Macarons :)
Is It Worth The Watch?
If you're looking for a shorter anime to watch, I'd say that this show's worth the watch. There's no "fanservice" and the story's definitely entertaining even if it's not super complex or incredibly developed all the way through. It definitely does a good job in showing how everyone's facing their own battles inside and how we can't assume that everything's just fine. I end this review with two words: WOMEN'S BASKETBALL-
Thank you for taking the time to read my review. I hope this helped you with your decision on whether to watch this anime or not! If you already have watched it, I hope that you can agree with me with some of the points I made. ^^
