thor123

Story and characters

As the synopsis states, Black Rock Shooter is a story about two dimensions/universes/worlds. In one, dark, universe, there is the cool fighting loli called Black Rock Shooter, fighting against other people. We get to see a bit of what this world looks like, but apart from fights nothing much happens (except at the ending, but i'm not going to spoil that) You may ask why they're fighting? The thing is, I don't know. It's never made clear why they're fighting. Personal grudge? War? Hero trying to slay the demon lord lady? We don't know anything about this world, nor about the characters there: they don't ever talk. It may be better than Naruto's Talk no Jutsu, but it's hard to get to know anything about them this way...

What about the other universe then? Well, in the other universe (that is more like ours), we get to see a pseudo-yuri slice of life / school life story about the friendship between two girls (Mato and Yomi), and how one girl seems to get jealous when the other gets another friend. Most of the story happens here, but luckily for me (I don't really care for that kind of stories) they glossed over the more uninteresting stuff by just showing it real quick and putting some music on it. Great move imo, since it still gives the right atmosphere without making things boring. As for the characters, they're just normal high school girls and that's about all you can say about them. It's not like one can expect too much in 50 minutes though, so I can somewhat forgive that. 

The combination of the two worlds may seem weird, but it actually makes it interesting because of the "mystery" of how they're related. You're constantly looking forward to the conclusion, where you'll get the answers you're so desperately waiting for! Except you don't get any answers at all...  It's a real pity, the ending leaves tons of questions, and feels like bait to get you to watch the TV series.

Animation

The animation and artwork is very well done, both when it comes to the action scenes and when we get to see some panoramic scenes. (open pics in new tab for bigger size)

 The choreography for the fights was great too imo, which made at least the action scenes exciting and interesting - even if you have no idea who's fighting, if it looks good it can at least give some visual joy.

Sound

The music was very nice and fitting, I especally liked the music during the action scenes. Not something I'd just look up to listen to while doing something else, but it did help to create the right atmosphere in this anime.

Overall

Very enjoyable OVA, even though the story and characterization wasn't that good. Glowing eyes and big weapons in fights with good choreography also help in making it cool. It's not the greatest anime ever made, but it's enjoyable to say the least