Black Bullet – ep 1 [first impression] my little moe

And noooow we begin with the Attack on Titan esque cash ins.

To begin an analysis of Black Bullet I need to get to the point- it’s a good show and you should watch it. Please keep in mind my criticism is based solely because of the vibe of the show. The very first scene of the show is an oblique dark themed song with a scene of tragedy and an overpowered villain ruining everything. Then there is an opening. . . .with lots of opera and gregorian type sounds everywhere. Even as just a device, the feel kind of seems like a cash in to the popularity of Attack on Titan. ANYWAY now that this is out of the way, there are some things we need to discuss.

 

For starters, I love this main character, I mean what. I dunno just something about him is just cool enough to make me look passed the whole main character thing and into the archetype. On that note I love Ichigo Kurosaki so TAKE MY OPINION AS YOU WILL.

 

Rentaro, the main character, is a civil servant who’s sent to investigate the situation of an apartment building. Turns out he is one of the few people capable of taking on what this world calls ‘Gastrea’ and rather than find the monstrous creature, he finds a masked man who admits he is the one who killed the officers who tried to investigate the scene.

 

Immediately the anime kind of wins points for not explaining everything to us in gratuitous details yet giving us enough to keep us attached. People attacked by ‘Gastrea’ become infected with some kind of disease they spread, and can then spread the disease further. The man in the mask kills the officers who come in to avenge their friends and then leaves, warning he is the one who will end the world and no one can stop him. IF ONLY COLOSSAL TITAN SENPAI WERE SO VERBOSE

We see then a girl who it is implied was supposed to come with Rentaro but fell off his bike when he was riding too fast, and it turns out she’s lucky enough to encounter the mentioned affected victim who escaped before the place was even investigated. We see that when someone becomes ‘infected’ they literally become a Gastrea, with their bodies shredded into becoming host vessels for gigantic beasts that claw their way out…via alien style! With more organ ripping. Yum. Organ ripping.

But rather than be super cool and beat him up he kind of throws her, I’m sure she’s actually cool but it doesn’t help moments before they did a fanservice OH WE’RE BASICALLY IMPLYING THIS COULD BE THE ‘OTHER STICKY WHITE SUBSTANCE’ crap. WE GET IT YOU LIKE LITTLE GIRLS JAPAN!

 

We aren’t left wondering what the title means for long as we see Rentaro’s gun shoots ‘black bullets’- a substance known as Varanium that is the only material capable of harming Gastrea and stopping their regeneration process. I’m sorry though I’m still getting over that screenshot up there ARE YOU KIDDING ME ANIME? Is this all Enju is going to be?! A FANSER-

Nevermind we’re good.

Anyway, Enju is also in love with Rentaro and calls him her fiance. He actually cares about her and asks her if she’s okay so I don’t completely mind it, I’m sure it will just have to grow on me since LOLI ROMANCES ARE WEIRD YO. But apparently Enju is known as a ‘Cursed Child’. We learn that Enju is an Initiator, a child born solely to fight Gastrea, and Rentaro is a Promoter, meant to control her. HMMM WHERE HAVE I HEARD SIMILAR THINGS FROM

Aaand then we meet Rentaro’s boss whose name I TOTALLY MISSED because I was DISTRACTED BY THE SEXUAL TENSION

TWO WOMEN

WHO TOTALLY WANT TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU

TWO WOMEN

ONE IS INAPPROPRIATELY AAAAGEEEEEED (I’m singing so you should sing this to get how great I am)

Okay so her name is Kisara and she wants to bone Rentaro. And Rentaro wants to bone her. But Anime awkward and super powered love loli stand in the way. And then there’s a third main female, the crazy mortician who asks him why he hasn’t killed himself. I’m going to pause here and let you guys know- I hate when anime does this. When a bunch of women are in a plot because they belong in the plot and are interested in the goals, okay. But I hate it when anime makes it seem like these women are centrally maintained through on dude. Never do we just see them thinking or doing stuff by themselves. Enju is on her own and even talking to herself about him. I hope this anime shapes up and becomes more about the individual character’s doing things for their own benefit, but for now it seems stuck in this trope. I’m not interested in women who exist for men only, I’m interested in people who do things for their own reasons. And granted I can understand Kisara and Enju both caring for him, but so far that seems to be the most poignant detail pushed into our faces about them and one IS A LITTLE GIRL WHO CAN DESTROY GIANT MONSTERS

But the rest of the episode the characters have to put the imminent threat of the missing Gastrea outbreak cause and simply go to school. It’s obvious from the way she acts that Enju really really wants to be with Rentaro and he flat out says to give up. Normally I hate that kind of character but she’s so cute, and unfortunate. Because she is a cursed child, an Initiator, whose mother ingested the Gastrea virus and gave birth to a daughter with red eyes and abnormal capabilities. She and the other cursed children are humanities last hope, and their curse. But will Rentaro find the source of the current outbreak before it’s too late. . . or will people find out what exactly Enju is first?

Impressions

Art: 9/10- this artwork is beautiful and the animation is consistently impressive. Dat moe blob.

Story: 7/10 it’s got some original ideas but come on. THEY EVEN LIVE INSIDE GIANT MONOLITHS THAT THE GASTREA HATE OKAY OKAY ATTACK ON TITAN WE GET IT

Characters: 7/10 they seem cliche for now but I still enjoy them and WANT MY LITTLE MOE BUTT ENJU TO BE HAPPY SOBS

Likelihood to cover: BUTTER MY BUTT AND CALL ME A BISCUIT THIS SHOW IS MINE

but seriously THEY LIVE INSIDE MONOLITHS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE APOCALYPSE

Oki