Black Rock Shooter Finally Releases

Already captivating many fans way before it was an actual anime, Black★Rock Shooter finally released it’s OVA in late July after pushing the release date back from “Spring 2010”. Spawning from the growing popularity of the singing synthesizer, Vocaloid, Black★Rock Shooter started out as a character design by the artist Huke and then Ryo of the group Supercell was inspired by the artwork. His inspiration caused the two to collaborate and work on a music video for character, using vocals from Miku Hastune of Vocaloid fame.

Yes, the origins of where such a popular character design are very simple indeed, especially considering the fame of the character and how an entire OVA came from just one simple illustration.

I was hyped when there was an announcement of the OVA. When the trailer came out there was much flailing in my seat. The character design for Black Rock Shooter was eye-catching enough to garner the interest of many fangirls and cosplayers alike. But is character design enough to create an entire series around?
Maybe.
The transition between the “real world” and the “The Otherworld” was incredibly awkward making the connection between the two difficult to figure out. Of course the OVA clears itself up towards the end, but it took some time to figure some things out, especially the time line between the real world and The Other World.


The Real World story follows Mato Kuroi and Yomi Takanashi, two girls that become friends at school. They begin to spend a lot of time together which becomes greatly reduced when they are put into different classes, leading to bouts of jealousy and the disappearance of one of the girls.
The Other World story follows Black Rock Shooter fighting an evil being known as Dead Master.
The animation is clearly beautiful in this OVA. The Other World has a haunting charm to it and the battle scenes are incredibly well done, drawing a viewer in as we await the outcome. The story, albeit simple, is something a lot of viewers would be able to relate to. It was certainly worth watching and the ending leaves much to be desired, but is a cliffhanger so fans can hope for yet another OVA.

Even if you HATE Miku Hatsune’s vocals – as do I – Black Rock Shooter is probably one OVA that you should check out. If you are looking for a complex story, then maybe it is 50 minutes that you could spend watching something else. If you were already a fan of the amazing designs of the series, then maybe checking it out won’t be a bad thing.