Anime is home to many exaggerated fantasy worlds. From Attack on Titan's roaming giants to Sword Art Online's themes, exaggeration is a defining factor of the medium. Sometimes this exaggeration can work to great affect; Kill la Kill's overt and extreme oversexualization of its female characters surprisingly garnered the show praise from Feminist and Anti-Sexist media outlets, spawning op-eds on the subject like those written by Antonin Korenek. Other times, not so much (Just search "Sword Art Online" with any trope you like, and it will be in the show). Yet there is a show that combines both aspects of exaggeration - it is mind-numbingly dull, yet never uninspired. Its pace is fast one minute then slogging the next, but it keeps your attention. The show feels like it drags for eight long episodes, but by the end you feel like you just want more.
This is Black Rock Shooter.
This twenty-twelve anime made by Studio Ordet was inspired by an OVA which was inspired by a song which was inspired by a drawing by and artist known as Huke. Confused yet? We're just getting started
The story revolves around two main protagonists in two separate worlds: Mato Kuroi, a normal middle schooler, and the eponymous Black Rock Shooter, a black version of Red Riding Hood with giant gun that shoots black rocks. How original.
The two worlds are intertwined in a not-well-explained way where the characters in the world of Mato are represented in the other as exaggerated versions of their inner feelings. For instance, Mato's wheelchair bound friend Kagari rides around in a giant chariot in the alternate world (By the way, that character's name is Chariot. Go figure.). Except, where Mato and company are great friends in the real world, their inner insecurities are busy battling it out in the alt world.
This is where the show greatest strength and worst weakness lies. The story of how the alt world ties into the real world is hardly explained, ending a climactic fest of light that ultimately leaves the viewer confused as to what they had just witnessed. Yet in that confusion lies a strange satisfaction. Though the story is hardly represented, the character designs, battle choreography, and sheer weight in the animation makes the experience enjoyable in a sort of drunken joyride of
color and explosions.
Black Rock Shooter combines the great parts of action anime and throws them at the forfront, risking losing the audience for a lack of plot. The plot is hidden behind bright lights, one-of-a-kind characters, and unique action sequences all for the benefit of the show. If you are looking for a deep story of drama and empathy with characters whose
shoes you can put yourself in, look elsewhere. Black Rock Shooter is an explosive romp of satisfying action in an artistic environment, and it couldn't be any more enjoyable if it tried.
