Black Bullet is a bunch of things, it has action, sci-fi, spooky monsters, superpowers, and lolis. Wow, that's, uh... something for everyone? What?
Black Bullet is a show that some people will love, and others will hate. Yup, this anime's review scores are never in the 4-9 range, it's either 3/10 or 10/10. Come on guys learn a little something called BALANCE! Since this was my second anime ever, I love it, but I know it isn't that good. Like most 8-15 episode anime, Black Bullet wanted to be everything when it simply didn't have the time and courage to do so. However, this show stays very interesting. Is it good, let's find out. (Though you probably already read the review score, so...)
STORY
Basically this richly poor guy in a suit (I wonder why you have no money?) lives in a world with these parasites that turns people into monsters, insect monsters, that are yellow. (It's funny because there's no bees) And his town, obviously Tokyo, is partially destroyed and has walls around the city (This is unoriginal, but that's none of my business) of an inexistant element named Varium, which kills/harms these monsters. However, women with the parasite and give birth to children, actually give birth to "Cursed Children," which have superpowers and are always horny as fuck, but require an injection everyday because they'll turn into your least favorite household pest...
I'm not going on because it'll take forever. Anyway, this show does some crazy stuff when it comes to it's ideas. It steals plot elements from giants like Attack on Titan, Fullmetal Alchemist, and obviously Parasyte: The Maxim, but keeps a partially interesting story.
This show keeps adding on and adding on, like PLEASE! It just needs to slow down.
My most despised problem with stories are the ones with sequences of events. All stories have them, but when the only thing that the story does is be a sequence of events, there isn't any point. Black Bullet is, unfortunately, just a sequence of events. It all starts, and a bunch of stuff happens and before you know it, it's over without a resolution to end itself with. The story isn't absolute shit, but it easily makes the anime fall apart in some aspects. Another big issue is that it's rushed. More rushed than a Paranormal Activity movie, like seriously at least attempt to take your time to polish some characters, make you care for them, etc. Hell, there was a point where some guy was all like "This battle will be a very long, hard one!" (*horny snicker*) and 2 minutes later the battle ends. Oh well, at least it didn't slow down too much, like the Cleaning Levi part of Attack on Titan. (Seriously I hate like the entire middle of Attack on Titan)
Just to get this out, I know many anime do this, but I hate it when people say the names of their power before/as they're using it, it's here because Black Bullet frequently does this. Has all the dumb "Super Mega Ultra Alpha Omega Orange Black-New Home Depot Tsundere Running-and-Crying Weaboo Tairy Fail Fire Pepper Boner-Power Reviewer is a Shameful Virgin I-I-I mean Version 420!!!" Actually, whoever came up with the original idea for saying their power's name is ridiculously stupid. Would you rob a bank shouting "GUN!" and shooting people?
So, what did the story do good on? The premise was interesting, and it holds up, kind of... I believe that the second half was really intense, too. Oh, and it has probably some of the best cliffhangers I've seen in many anime. The story itself can be shocking, too. However, I can't say a word because I hate seeing little girls dying. I am not a lolicon, guys like seriously.
Black Bullet has a relatively interesting premise, but falls short of greatness when it came to flow and pacing of the anime itself.
ANIMATION
So, I have this line of animation quality, and few anime stick on this line, usually on one side or the other. One side has ugly, ugly animation, that no one will watch for being ugly, and the other looks beautiful, wasting their budget on all that and having no story, aka Ufotable - Unlimited Budget Works. (However, Fate/whatever is pretty well acclaimed, so...) Luckily for Black Bullet, it's on this line. The animation isn't average, It's great, and it balances out the other components. (kind of) Everything just works out to the point where the animation actually assists the other components with the performance of it's visuals.
Similar to many anime, Black Bullet also shifts art styles when it isn't serious.
There isn't much to say about the animation, though... It just, does it's job...
SOUND
I love the soundtrack of Black Bullet. It's a perfect mix of EDM, classical, etc. Kind of like what Parasyte tried to do, but instead did dubstep and people kind of laughed. (Parasyte's OST is still awesome, though) In fact, I listen to this anime's soundtrack while playing CSGO, it makes be do better, footsteps do nothing for me. (Still has a KD ratio of 0.86, :_:) Black Bullet's soundtrack fits like a glove, since the show is Sci-Fi, which demands electric music. It's great. Unfortunately, like many short shows, it has a habit of repeating songs, especially my CSGO songs; "Crisis Point: Ascension" or "Crisis Point: Descension." I think they're the only fight songs, they probably ran out of ideas. Black Bullet's soundtrack is very powerful, though.
CHARACTERS
The characters are a very mixed bag. The main characters are badass, the main villain(s) are more badass. The rest... who cares?
First, we have Rentaro Satomi, the poor guy in a suit with a rich-people gun. (Get your priorities straight, sell your suit?) He's a very interesting character, but he seems like a copy-paste harem character, the asexual one that always gets into uncomfortably NSFW positions. Then you have Enju, which is the first loli of the series, who also gets in to uncomfortable NSFW positions, like all the time. Many characters get introduced, such as Tina, Kisara, and Fuse, but a bit later in the series.
Villain characters are a strong point of the series.
Then we have your villains, including Kagetane, also known as the badass version of Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon, which has awesome powers and stuff. However, there are only two full villains, Kagetane and his partner Kohina, pictured above. The characters develop throughout the series, albeit very subtle. Villains in Black Bullet are stronger because there are way less, and they develop way more throughout the series; you learn more about them in direct fashion.
However, comparing to Shiki, the epidemic is not shown to it's full extent; in Shiki, the world around the main characters would slowly rot and decay, less people roaming, more rumors being spread, paranoia, etc. In Black Bullet, everything stays relatively the same throughout, no changes, etc. It's a small detail, but it would've been amazing if they actually rendered the effect of the parasite, since it's given little focus in the story anyway. The characters stay static for the most part, no one totally loses there mental being, and everyone's happy.
Black Bullet has strong characters, but weak side characters and little movement between said side characters.
VERDICT
Black Bullet could be a hit-or-miss for many. I loved it very much, but I tried (tried being key) to keep this unbiased. If you want a fun Sci-Fi that isn't very original and an amazing soundtrack, go right ahead. What Black Bullet isn't is a seriously amazing sci-fi anime like Fullmetal Alchemist or Psycho-Pass, so don't expect anything to that extent.
Black Bullet earns a 7.7/10