Black Rock Shooter: The Series Episode 1

Black Rock Shooter was released a while back as an OVA, that raised more than a few questions that were not answered. Well, here comes The Series, which provides answers to more than a few of the questions that the fans have been asking.

It's Mato's first year in Junior highschool, and things seem to be going smooth, at least for her. In an alternate world, a girl who looks similar to Mato is fighting for her life. Black Rock Shooter is a warrior who fights the same battles as Mato, just in a slightly different way. While Mato must battle the pain emotionally, BRS must fight against a manifestation of the problem which she takes care of the only way she knows how: by kicking it to the curb!

Mato meets a girl named Yomi whom she decides to befriend after finding their common intrest in a childrens book called "The bird and the colors". But after a rough confrontation with Yomi's only other friend, Kagari, Things take a turn for the worst. Seeking Emotional help, Mato goes to the school counselor who seems to know Mato a bit better than she leads on. She also seems to know about BRS and her fight against the Manifistation of Kagari's hatred of others besides Yomi.

I like this, I honestly do.

The concept of the show is quite interesting. Certainly original, and a decent story to start off from. But I do have a slight problem with it. I watched the OVA when it first came out. So, I figured it would stay pretty close to the OVA when it came to the story. One of the biggest changes I noticed was the fact that the way that the story plays out is somewhat backwards.  One of the differences involves Yu, who is Mato's best friend in the series, was met after Yomi became friends with Mato in the OVA, whereas In the series, Yomi was met after Yu became best friends with Mato.  The Music was done quite nicely, and I did not find any pieces that were out of place.  The voice acting was very good, although we have yet to see a voice for BRS, but I'm sure we'll hear one in future episodes.

Characters: 4/5
Plot Advancement: 3/5
Creepy children: 5/5

Sword use: 4/5

Animation Quality: 5/5