Black Bullet Review: Badass Lolis the Anime

Well I just finished Black Bullet, surprisingly it turned out better than I thought it would. The show had felt mediocre and I didn't think I would think too highly of it, though the last few episodes end up shining against the rest.

For most of the show things felt oddly pointless, characters seemed like they had their own personalities but they still felt a little flat. That is how the entire show felt, flat. Deaths felt like they had no meaning and were just sprinkles on your freezer burned ice cream. It was like the show saw how successful Attack on Titan was and decided that it was popular due to the deaths. So it introduced a character only to have them die within a few episodes. This formula was persistent through the entire show and it got bland. I did have to chuckle at the end when Rentaro is sobbing on Enju talking about starting to not be fazed by death as the entire show I wasn't too fazed. I just sat there going "Why does it have to be the loli, why does it have to be the loli, why does it have to be the cool guy, why does it have to be the loli." Though I will say that a few deaths were executed well, but for the most part characters were introduced to be more cannon fodder for your emotions because "oh my god they killed a kid".

There are plenty of shows which have children dying, I mean Deadman Wonderland starts with a class being slaughtered (wow that totally didn't happen in Black Bullet off camera). Black Bullet feels like it see's the popularity of other shows and tries to mash it into their show. But this doesn't work if you can't execute it well. I will say that one thing they executed well was the characters that lost their sanity, they did a good job at portraying people that have seen the gates of Madness and have no care in the world.

There were also a few scenes which I genuinely got goosebumps at, mainly some of the scenes where amazing things or amazing shots happened. Like the scene towards the end about the festival that helps them in the battle. I also really enjoyed the scenes where kagetane appeared. He is the top hat guy with the bat shit crazy loli girl that is a mantis type.

He is just a fun guy to watch that in a lot of ways I can relate to. He views the world as scummy and wants to rewrite parts of it. He wants to see a new world order and does it looking like a dapper gentleman. I don't want to rewrite things, but I am not content with society as it is and would like to change parts of it. Though I have come to accept that you cannot change things by yourself and will condone society temporarily because I am far to lazy to campaign for change. I realize I just slightly contradicted myself but it is simply how my brain works. I can make a change but I don't feel like it so I will condone something I see issues in simply because I am lazy. Though Kagetane isn't lazy, he acts and he is very good at playing mind games. Another feature I saw is his love to flaunt his power, that is something I enjoy doing when the situation permits it. For the most part I don't flaunt such things around because I have no desire for people to see how much I can do; that simply means more publicity and more hassle which I want to avoid for now.

Honestly the show doesn't have a ton to root for other than its somewhat heart of darkness esque look at things. Heart of Darkness is about thinking you are doing something good when really you are the evil. This was explored from a military point of view in Spec Ops the Line, really recommend the game. But certain characters feel like they come to this realization and other characters feel like they are teetering and don't know what is right.

I ussually introduce a bunch of characters but really with a show full of people dying why would I, they would just die suddenly because I said "Hey I like this character". I will say that other than Kagetane I have two characters I liked a fair amount.

Tina Sprout

A cute loli character that during her "arc" she has some very funny scenes and she is someone that has seen death all around her and has come to reconcile with it. She is fine with it all so long as she could carry out her goals, but that changes and she learns to love. She is probably the most mature character on the show and she is like 10. Also she is really cute, has a nice dress, has cool arm things, leggings, a sniper, really good eyesight. I just really like her character, and how cute she is. I love my lolis and this is a girl that made it into my top 10.

Sumire Muroto

She is a scientist that has a funny sense of humor. She accuses Rentaro of being a lolicon and nearly convinces Tina that he is amassing a loli harem. It is quite funny to see, she seems to be the only character aware of the show she is in and nearly breaks the fourth wall all the time. Her voice is also nice, it is the voice of someone that has seen it all and is only mildly intrigued by things that others will be exceedingly energetic about yelling, screaming, etc. In most scenes she reminds me of The earl of pudding (Lloyd Asplund) from Code Geass. Though he was a little more energetic especially when his work was threatened. They both remain calm in the face of destruction and death; true Sociopaths. 

Overall the show was above average when you factor in some good characters and some good scenes and really should be a show you save for a rainy day as there isn't much the show accomplishes that isn't done much better in other places. Well except if you want harems of loli's, then you should go watch Fate/Kalied (ha you thought I would say this show excels in some regard, fucking pleb tier bullshit). 

Animation: 6 (the show as a whole looked ok, but the Gastrea had really bad CGI for a lot of scenes)

Characters: 7 (again the show had some good character but most had less character than the cardboard cutouts of race car drivers at gas stations)

Sound: 8 (surprisingly the show did good with the opening, ending and general background songs. Though many songs felt cliche because songs like it are always used to make scenes more badass)

Enjoyment: 7 (i felt meh about the show for the most part, with cetain characters bringing a smile to may face, but I wasn't loving any characters; except for you Tina, you get a pass)

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Overall: 7 (watch this for your rainy days or loli pleasure if you exhausted other better shows, this will get you to to the next one piece episode most likely)

Current Events/ Verdict on Watamote

Well it is May and I have been switching through shows quite a bit lately. I went from finishing Blood Lad to watching Bakuretsu tenshii instead of finishing Black Bullet or shakugan no shana or the other shows I started (black rock shooter being close to six months ago). Now i decided to watch Watamote, this was a bad idea...

Watamote so far (2 episodes in) has been depressing to say the least. With Welcome to the NHK paling in comparison if you are masochistic. The difference is that Welcome to the NHK is funny and gives you glimpses of hope while ending on a fairly nice note. Watamote on the other hand is like a bully, it gives you a nice gift only to swat it out of your hands and crush it. It feels like anything good that happens to Tomoko will just result in her not seeing the whole picture or being crushed by something else.

The show actually left me not wanting to watch another episode out of dread. My worst nightmare would be not having the ability to communicate with others, I talk all the time and love to do so. I have to have human interaction pretty much all the time, if I don't talk to someone for more than a few days I start suffering from mental issues. I probably have some pending mental diagnosis coming but that is me, I start to have moments of psychosis and am less and less in reality. Though all I need to remedy this is a persons voice and us to start talking. To see someone that is so far from reality most of the time and can't communicate actually instills a feeling of dread in me.

My ears had a tingly sensation, the kind I get when I don't want to do something. Like my body is rejecting this anime.

 So I think im going to watch something else for now. But I really need to get through the 20 shows on my watch list. Maybe I will start Gintama so that I have something to sort of reset my pallet. Like coffee beans at a candle shop or fruit slice at a winery. Something that is completely different and thus lets you look upon it with an unbiased view.

Though Watamote seems to be trying at a comedy they don't seem to know how humor works.

If you see a man trip you will laugh, if you see him trip then break his neck its not as funny, if you see him trip then break his neck then watch a slew of people brutally hit him till he is dead it is only funny to a certain crowd. But if the man is a 90 year old blind person that trips, breaks his neck, cries out for help, is bruatally murdered by everyone around him it isn't funny anymore. You took the slap stick out and made it into a walking stick that is being used to crush the poor mans ribs. This is essentially what Watamote does it gives you a character that has the false notion that she is the most popular girl. You establish that she isn't popular but then hammer the nail whenever you can. She lacks speech skills and when she does speak it is more pitiful than a dying mouses last squeak. Then she is remotely happy and is crushed, then she goes to the only thing that had made her happy and you find out that even that is nothing special and I quote you "no body cares about those characters".

Another note is that Kiss x Sis is also on hiatus. I enjoy some scenes but overall the show is soft-core hentai. 

Also I am once again in ISS which means watching some anime while reading my Dance in the Vampire Bund Doujinshii collection. I will start with the latter and move to anime when I see fit. I can't really decide right now what I want to watch, maybe I will finish Black Bullet so I can do a review on that, maybe I will wade through the infinite waters that is One Piece. You will have to find out once I do my next update, which will most likely be tomorrow.