So you can call me crazy, but I actually liked these final episodes of Black Rock Shooter. Sure, it was rather sappy and all, but despite that, I liked the direction that the plot took, finally relating the Black Rock Shooter world and the real world together, and creating an interesting setting based on that. Mato also became more interesting as she separated from Black Rock Shooter (and was basically out of the picture being unconscious, allowing the rest of the cast to play out).It’s still full of teenaged angst, but I felt that that angst was much better than in the first half. It actually was about something: about being scared to face reality.
Based on that, I really can’t lump this together with the worst of Noitamina. It obviously is nowhere near the best, but at the very least the creators didn’t turn it into a gigantic flop. It’s certainly better than that m ind-numbingly boring OVA. Library Wars? At least this show had a beginning, middle and conclusion. Jyu Oh Sei? At least this series didn’t overpace itself. Guilty Crown? None of the characters here is as bad as the cast of that show. Fractale? Hell, this show actually did something with its setting.
In the end though, this remains a series where the creators should have put more thought into how to make it work, especially due to that first half. The worst character in this series is by far Yomi, and this show dabbled way too much into her uninteresting angst. The teacher also needed more work. Yeah, she got an explanation and I have no problems with her part in the story, but that still doesn’t make me buy her really weird behavior in the first half.
The action of this series also made up for a lot, because this was genuinely good, compared to the dull action sequences of Guilty Crown. The only shame is that everything had to be in 3D CG, but ah well: without it the creators would never have been able to animate as much as they did here.
My request to Noitamina now is: keep experimenting. You tried to dabble into teenaged series for a while. Now, let that go and start to focus on different series with yet another target audience. Tsuritama and Appolon? Keep that direction going. Don’t just suddenly announce K-On 03 or Shana 04 for your Summer Line-up.
Rating: *+ (Great)
I agree with your remarks, on the whole.
A beautifully rendered series that kinda missed the mark with excessive melodrama in the mundane world.
Dollars to donuts, had this show focused on that otherworldly reality alone, but expand on the characters a bit, and not worry about exposition or anchor in our reality, then some of its potential would’ve been realized.
The ambitions were there for the taking. Too bad the creators settled for less with tropes (middle schoolers angst). 🙁
I have to admit. It was fresh enough for me because I haven’t seen teenage angst in an anime in a long time. I wonder why…
This did not fail me. So astonished.
I think, BRS got way too much flak for beeing misunderstood as an otaku-pandering show, a betrayer or noitaminA’s ideals.
In fact, Vocaloid, Miku, and the BRS franchise are all famous enough in Japan, that it’s almost even “mainstream”, but at least popular with young, trend-savvy people, way beyond the 2ch dwelling audience. Unfortunately, here in the west, only otaku know about ANYTHING that happens in japanese pop culture, so it was hard to see BRS as an attempt at broadening anime’s horizons to normal people, even if it honestly tried that, even more so than a typical josei or shoujo show.
Did somebody just call me an otaku? ^^;
I still think BRS is kind of a miracle story about an artsy sketch and a vocaloid song going so viral it actually rated an anime as one of it’s many adaptations…a Noitemina one at that.
I wonder if the producers originally planned for the anime to come out like this and were trying really hard not to be too predictable or did they do a hard turn halfway somewhere due to popular demand…
The first part and the second part are a little hard to reconcile for me but it definitely turned out pretty well in the end.
Well it looks like so far, noitaminA seems to be done “experimenting” with “otaku-pandering” shows and has gone back to stuff similar to it’s old days, seeing as neither Tsuritama nor Sakamichi are getting super hyped up, and that Moyashimon season 2 has been announced for July.
And I didn’t mind BRS. I really like the character designs of the other world girls and that HanaKana voiced the protag is a definite plus. And the amazing battle sequences. The rest of the drama part was all right I guess.
“Don’t just suddenly announce K-On 03 or Shana 04 for your Summer Line-up.”
How about Moyashimon S2?