Black Rock Shooter - 1

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What the hell - my first thoughts when watching this episode - I haven't had a reaction like this since I read Clamp's Gate 7 first volume and when I first saw Mawaru Penguindrum. I'm not sure that the feeling is of being creeped out in a good way or bad, which also worries me a little bit.

Granted I haven't seen the OVA, so I was expecting to be in the dark for a little bit of the story and some of the setting but I don't even know what the story is meant to be about! Is it going to be about the two girls friendship resembling something like in Cardcaptor Sakura, - well a little more extreme version of that - is it meant to be a horror anime or maybe it still meant to be a fantasy battle Right now it's up to you.

As I said the first episode did give me the chills and that would be because of Kagari; the girl in the wheelchair with some serious boundary issues and someone who is very possessive, especially of Yomi. The scene when she enters almost makes you want to cry, like when she starts handing Mato the macaroons one by one and then later when she tries to get rid of her by pretending to speak to the doll. The whole scene itself was set up to make me scared since the pace of the progression coupled with the close-ups of the dolls did not make this seem like a battle anime any longer.

The parts where we see the actual BRS are again somewhat of a strange experience. Each time seems to come with a different monologue and as those scenes progress we get sucked into the insane scenery of her world and the opponent which clearly has something to do with Kagari. The world setting where BRS is reminded me a little of [C]: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control, where the protagonist entered a different world in order to engage in fights, but since BRS and Mato still seem to be disconnected from each other, I'm not sure as to what the meaning behind there existence is.

Even though the episode was disturbing to say the least, the friendship parts and emotions of both Mato and Yomi did give the episode a little more than just a creepy feeling. I didn't care so much for the depiction of their friendship which was bordering more on love but then again I'm not a fan of any female friendship depictions in any manga or anime so I can't possibly be an impartial judge. I only hope that the relationship remains a friendship and doesn't develop into anything more (their in Junior High for ****'s sake). Both Mato and Yomi are kind of intersting characters since one is too childlike and resembles Hibiki from Senhime Zesshou Symphogear (Mato) and the other is clearly used to being isolated and I assume has a darker past that is somehow tied to Kagari.

The ending of the episode was actually quite cool. Even though BRS didn't really get to have a proper battle, by finishing with a monologue and her impalement we are left wondering how we found this first episode. Judgement call right now; just as I'm finishing this episode, I'm around 99% sure that I'm going to watch the second episode.