Black Rock Shooter OVA – Review

Friendship. Something that is craved and needed by everyone. But if that friendship was torn, how far would you go to repair it?

Black Rock Shooter is a nice short story of two girls whose friendship grows from the roots that is high school. Everyday brought them closer together and made the possibility of losing each other unbearable.

Story – Inevitably in a short OVA like BRS, there isn’t much time to create a deep and complex story. So BRS, knowing this, uses a common storyline and throws in something unique, making it utterly fantastic. The way BRS shows the two sides of the storyline side-by-side makes the conclusion all the more effective, and by splitting the anime into two halves and showing them next to each other, BRS presents its story in a way that is not only refreshing, but more intriguing to follow as we try to decipher what is taking place. Although I began to doubt the storyline during the final few minutes, the conclusion brought it all together and cleared my doubts by showing how far someone would be willing to go to save a friend.

Art – Seeing as BRS is an independently made anime, the money in the art department is limited as shown by some sketchy bits of animation. When I first saw the characters, I immediately saw the similarites to others from different anime such as Azusa from K-ON!. But apart from that, the art is very well done, from the characters emotions shown through a variety of expressions, to the battle scenes, which although a little sketchy, were very well done overall. The eyes of the characters caught my attention most as they were very detailed and this combined well with the complex variety of emotions shown throughout.

Although there isn’t a great deal of music in this anime, the pieces used during the battle scenes and the ED song were brilliantly composed, and the silence used during some parts of the anime was more effective then any musical piece could have been.

Once again, with BRS being a short OVA, there isn’t much time to work with the characters. However when the time calls for it, Mato and Yomi both show a degree of development as they strive to keep their friendship intact.

Enjoyment – The timely change from daily life to battle scenes was very enjoyable, and when the conclusion brought the two together it brought a smile to my face when I realized what had happened. When watching BRS, I was originally confused at how the two story lines would connect. Now however, I feel like if I watched it again, I would enjoy it so much more knowing that now I know the bigger picture, I can focus on the events that lead up to it.

Overall this is a great attempt at creating something new and unique. With the short amount of time available, BRS gives us a fantastic story, which although small, is definitely memorable. Personally I really enjoyed this anime as a whole, and like I said, I’d probably enjoy it a lot more if I watched it again. By coming into this anime with few expectations, I was pleasantly surprised to find something as compelling as Black Rock Shooter.

It also posed me an interesting question: How far would you be willing to go for a friend?

Review Originally Written by Winley from MAL, Thank you for sharing the same points towards the OVA!