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「いつか夢見た世界が閉じる」 (Itsuka Yume Mita Sekai ga Tojiru)
“One Day The Dream World Will Close Off”
“Unconventional” is probably the best way I can describe Black Rock Shooter, as Ordet and Sanzigen have taken a Japanese Internet phenomenon of sorts and adapted it into an anime that’s very unlike the more typical ones that we see these days. Even if this adaptation didn’t have the backing of the established BRS fan base and all the positive associations that come with it, we still have a very intriguing and well-produced anime that’s making a statement for itself with its powerful symbolism and excellent screenplay. The existence of the alternate world fulfills its purpose of exemplifying what’s happening in the real world, where we see seemingly trivial problems — like Yomi’s inability to accept that people can have more than one friend — be driven to the edge and erupt in a surge of maddening emotions that are in dire need of help. Then at the series’ core, we have plenty of foreshadowing on exactly what might be going on with regards to what Saya hopes to achieve by manipulating her students into these self-destructive scenarios to keep viewer interest at an all-time high.
The character interactions speak volumes in this show, as do the close-ups on their eyes, which hint at future problems that are likely in store for Mato. Thus far, everyone seems to be a victim of feelings of jealousy and desire to feel needed, so much so that I’m not even sure if Kagari is fully aware of how much she’s hurting Yomi. From the look of things, she misunderstood what Yomi said about how difficult it’s been to take care of her all this time and figured it was best to just free her from even being friends. That in turn cascaded into an even bigger problem since Yomi feels like she’s losing Mato to Yuu and doesn’t even have Kagari to turn back to, leading us to what appears to be Saya’s desired result as far as Deadmaster is concerned. For what purpose, I’m not sure, but if Saya’s cup collection and Black Gold Saw’s big red eye in the sky are any indication, it could very be that she’s having the students shoulder her own emotional pain — going back to the whole zero-sum idea I threw out last time. At the moment, the best part of watching this series is how they’ve given us a few possibilities to go on but nothing concrete, so I’m just going to enjoy the powerful portrayal of emotions until it’s ready to explain things.
* For Yuu, my growing suspicion is that she’s becoming jealous of how friendly Arata is with Mato instead of her.
* Full-length image: 37.
Preview
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Watch the Preview!: Streaming ▼
Mato needs friends who are not batshit-insanely jealous of everything. Seriously.
But what about my Insane-Yuri-Yandere Saturdays? We need Yomi trying to rape Kagari or Mato!
hehe thats so wrong.
Nothing a good beheading cannot fix.
Psychotic yandere trapping you with guilt? Behead Kagari.
Boyfriend a spineless coward driving you to depression? Behead Arata.
New friend not paying you as much attention and feeling unneeded? Behead Yomi.
Beheading! Cures your psychiatric problems or your money back! (side effects may include changes in personality and short term memory loss)
Note that the beheadings must be in the other world in forms of technicolor 3D battles that would have us all awed 10 years ago.
Shall I…cool your head a little?
WTF is that clip….
^MDK wearing a sock puppet just because he discovered that Mato and Nanoha’s methods of beheading- err… befriending a person is the same.
I think in Kagari case she too has forgotten parts of her relationship/feeling for Yomi once she was “fixed” in the other world. However her that were clear of gears when talking to Mato about wan to show Yomi her thanks is starting to slip back into madness migh also regain those memories as well.
Wtf, Grail-kun?
How the hell Grail-kun found it way here?
*gasp*
Wh have enter an endless repercussion of time and distorted space continuity.
GRAIL-KUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *Throws a knife to the ground* use it to kill your friends and then they will follow you. ^_^
these if they are jealous that kill
Anyone else notice that Kagari now has a full ring around her eyes, whereas everyone else has a half ring?
I noticed that too!!!
I thought it was just me being weird. :))
I think it was only artistic.
Once a character’s simulacrum is destroyed, that character’s soul (or entity) will belong completely to said character, manifesting in a complete circle within the windows thereinto, the eyes. Kagari has been thus completed; it is the apparent purpose of BRS to likewise behead the remaining effigies of her friends’ internalized turmoil in realized catharsis, thereby uniting each warring soul fragment with its counterpart in its respective vessel.
There is absolutely no symbolism in this cartoon, correct?
It’s like a love triangle, except it’s jealousy being thrown around instead of love. I find it difficult to believe the levels of jealousy of all these people, but it does seem a bit more justified since Saya has been adding high octane fuel to the fire from the start.
It is a fact that Saya guides students to develop bad feelings
Saya’s gotta be putting something in that coffee.
I’m gonna write something my friend said about this series which I thought was pretty funny ^^
“I understand that they’re all lesbian for each other, but I just want to see the fight scenes”
Super obsessed girls… *sigh*
Sawashiro’s foley work this epsidoe was amazing. That is the sound that is made when a person’s soul is crushed.
I feel like the key to ending this, would be the break Saya’s cups.
No coffee = no business = Oops no more little girls to torment.
I just realized her name is Saya and she hands out lots of coffee. If she busts out the pink Guimave, I’m done.
To be frank, the plot can really use work. The characters are way too inconsistent. The bat shit crazy cripple, who was completely absent from episode 3, is now the completely sane idol and now Yomi’s the one who’s crazy? This isn’t dynamic character change; this bipolar disorder!
FYI, I’m actually still enjoying BRS. But the writers really have to get their game back together.
Not sure why it is inconsistent to you. Saya planted the idea on Yomi that she isn’t needed anymore. Kagari finally got over it and was slowly recovering. The time just moved too fast so it seems that the change was quick.
Still though, their characters are going through way too radical changes in short gaps of time. Kagari’s change in character is brutal; she’s a completely different person. Like, Gasai Yuno-to-Yukiteru different. Plus, the sudden amnesia is way too convenient of an excuse for such radical change. The same goes for Yomi. Yomi’s become so emo and needy that she’s become everything she hated in the first place. Yomi’s so paper-thin and insecure that it’s hard to sympathize with her or believe what’s going on.
Dynamic characters are great, heck, necessary even for a strong story. The problem is that the change within needs to be believable, and BRS hasn’t been able to convince me that it is.
@Mirai37 I like that explanation, and while I’m absolutely certain that you’re right, it just feels so, so convenient and seems like an easy way to force shifts in personality.
….way too radical changes in short gaps of time.
Short gaps? I had the impression that 3-4 days past between episode 2 and episode 3, though we don’t have any proof of that.
Also time past too between episodes 3 and 4. And days passed inside episode 4.
To be fair though it does look like the reason for Kagari’s sudden shift in personality is because Chariot was killed by BRS, so it seems like this is very much on purpose. Given the situation with Kohata (who can’t remember the guy she liked and confessed to) and the fact that Kagari now wants distance from Yomi it seems that when BRS kills the girls otherworld selves she erases the source of their pain/grief/whatever issue they need to resolve; which naturally affects the character’s behavior. Kagari no longer acts like a psycho or pretend to be a cripple because the embodiment of her pain is gone, but the people who haven’t had their memories altered (like Yomi) still remember things and it obviously affects them. So while BRS may have ‘fixed’ Kagari it actually ended up breaking Yomi more.
Add to the fact that Saya’s special coffee blends might to be so innocent an offer to the girls as a means to effect them in the physical world as well.
It doesn’t seem inconsistent to me. Kagari had plenty of time during her rehabilitation to reflect properly, after that very intense confrontation with Mato. Yomi’s change wasn’t sudden either… Heck, she had problems interacting with others from the very start. Even though Kagari was the one who created that obsessive relationship, let’s not forget that Yomi accepted it. Her concepts regarding friendship are completely distorted and no one really gets them, that’s why she suffers.
The way I see it, Arata and Kagari became stable by losing most of their memories of the things that were making them unstable. Arata doesn’t remember the crush that embarrassed her, and Kagari barely remembers the time she was faking being a cripple with Yomi. The reason they seem like new people is because they sorta are, expecially in Kagari’s case where her memories of the past several years was altered.
The problem is not so much that it’s inconsistent; the problem is that the characters change WAY too quickly (can’t blame them; it’s only 8 episodes). It feels to me that one episode Kagari is crazy, Yomi and Mato are good friends; then onto the next episode Kagari is friendly and likes Mato, Yomi is crazy.
I think the true plot they have presented is already good enough for 12 episodes. If they presented all of these more slowly, you wouldnt be complaining right now.
Yeah I agree if they made it longer MAYBE they can make a plot that doesn’t always involved only jealousy, I mean it’s getting old if every episode is like this… and for me it looks like the character take turn to show their jealousy in every episode lol
I don’t think it’s jealousy this time: Yomi feels that nobody needs her anymore. That’s different from Kagari who thought that Mato was stealing Yomi from her.
Pretty sure the inconsistency in character are involved in the BRS battle… something is lost in personalities… memories and it goes by the idea that experience shapes a person. Such as, the fact that Kagari is no longer so clingy is cause though she is thankful, the experience of being reliant on Yomi has disappeared as noted by her herself, which makes her seem like a completely different person as she doesn’t have the feeling of needing someone to rely on and can stand on her own two feet. Experiences changes people… I guess losing that experience literally caused those big changes. Not to mention we have Saya that is implanting seeds of doubt, jealousy, and evil in everyone… doubts that build up start distorting personalities, such as in Yomi case… as she starts doubting her relationship with Mato, and the fact that she feels unneeded causes rapid change in a person, like depression. You never know when it hits, but you’ll seem like a completely different person to people around you.
Either way… I have high hopes for this show.
They did a very good portrayal of how bad the people were feeling by using the other world. While Saya was making the student body psychologically unstable, Mato just mercilessly wakes them back to reality.
And they seem to forget about it just like how the captain forgot her crush on that guy she confessed to last week.
I’m loving this show; this episode was chock full of all sorts of emotions from the characters.
I’m surprised you didn’t take a screencap of what I considered the best expression of this episode, Divine…
That close-up-smile Yomi made when Kagari dropped the bomb about not needing her as a friend, just before going berserk. That was simply priceless.
I’m definitely enjoying this show for the wrong reasons. The drama is really ridiculous. The amount of insecurity Yomi has is AMAZING. I was laughing when she was abusing that poor cellphone. Mato really can’t get a break.
Surprisingly, Kagari ended up being more sane than I would have believed. Too bad she too becomes victim to Saya’s manipulation and Yomi’s bats*** crazy. Its interesting to note though, that people who die in the Other World suffer amnesia on the real world. So there is most definitely a supernatural aspect.
The cinematography of the Other World is still very good. But seriously we need more cool action scenes! And is Dead Master going Necron on us?
Well, Yomi’s other self is Dead Master, so “going Necron” is quite appropriate. XD
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Rock%20Shooter/Black%20Rock%20Shooter%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2038.jpg
^ Deadmaster’s “Monolith”
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Rock%20Shooter/Black%20Rock%20Shooter%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2037.jpg
^ Since you said she’s “going Necron”, we can consider her as a female Necron Lord. XD
he drama is not ridiculous, it’s hilarious.
Ridiculous? Come on. What if one day, you wake up to a world where no one needs anything from you? Like, you are suddenly expendable, useless to everyone. And the person you expect to be your friend isn’t even treating you right.
At the very least it doesn’t involve abusing a cellphone, screaming at the top of you lungs or going bat**** yandere on Kagari. You can’t possibly deny that Yomi’s freak-outs are hilariously over-the-top. These are the sort of stuff that land people on asylums.
Not really. And she abused the phone because the one who called isn’t Mato but Yuu.
I’m betting on the very likely possibility that their hilarious, narm-tastic freak-outs are somehow caused by the influence of their Other Self. Notice how it’s only the characters that have Other Selves that emote so strongly over the tiniest of things?
This is definitely a nitch view. I like it. The most difficulty I have
with the show are the dream sequences (mainly because I have trouble identifying
the characters). Despite that, they are my favourite part because they’re abstract.
With 8 eps, interesting to see where this ends…
Another interesting thing to notice is that when BRS kills one of the “other selves” their real world counterpart seems to lose all memory of the thing that was causing their emotional pain. Kagari forgot about when she was manipulating Yomi, and Saya forgot who the boy who confessed to her was. I like the fact that there is a trade off to BRS’ intervention, rather than it simply being a matter of killing the other self and everything is all better in the real world. The only way to completely remove the pain, is to forget, which has its own consequences.
Unbelievable how psycho these girls are. Altough some of that can be blamed on Saya it’s still pretty nuts.
So Kagari lost some of here memories of when Yomi was looking after her and Arata forgot everything that happened with that guy and the love letter. Also the sudden response Saya had when she cried after BRS killed that last little hooded thing. There’s more to the alternate world that meets the eye.
I wonder if it’s possible that the red eye in the sky is not actually BGS but Saya herself looking into the world(though not necessarily literaly). Just a thought.
I wonder how aware the girls are of their alter egos? Mato has dreams about them, and Saya seems to be aware on some level.
I did love Mato trying out the running with a piece of bread.
If she bumped into Yomi, I’d be perfect! But she bumped into Kagari instead.
i guess we could rule out DM as the final boss for mato.
truth be told, i like the story’s pacing. pretty much keeps you at the edge of your seat and frankly speaking, scenes of the girls breaking down is unlike what i’ve seen before. kudos to ordet for an awesome original rendition of BRS. they’ve done justiec to huke’s creations and the music. unlike one series….
man if BRS kills Yomi in the alternate dimension,she will forget all about Kagari let along
Mato and so another mental breakdown but this time for Mato and then WTF ?
My Guess is that When BRS finally beats DM, STR and BGS, their RL counterparts will forget Mato.
Either Mato becomes BRS permanently or BRS will shoot herself making Mato forget everything that has happen.
See, that’s where my mind went when I heard Kagari basically forgot about Yomi, but I’m wondering now if DM getting killed will affect Yomi’s memories of Mato or Kagari. It takes away the source of her pain and dependence, so maybe she’ll only forget Kagari since Kagari was the one that finally sent her over the edge. Strength seems like it’d make Yuu forget Mato for sure though… and BGS/Saya, who knows?
I know I’m probably fooling myself, but I really want something of a happy ending.
@shiki999 Mato goes “fuck em’ all” and BRS evovles(?) to IBRS
Right now, Yuu does not seem to have any problems. Strength is also just minding her own business.
Speaking of which, I wonder what will happen to the remains of Chariot? Will Kagari be able to reclaim her Otherworld powers?
Right now, I don’t think Black Rock Shooter is powerful enough to take on Black Gold Saw. It would be nice if she gained allies from the ones she beheaded…I’m mean befriended.
More battle scenes, please?
Uhm wow, they all have issues don’t they?
Looking at Kagari’s case, if BRS killing somebody’s “Other Self” immediately fixes all of their problems and issues, then BRS should really just shove a bullet into Deadmaster’s head and get this mess over with.
A good episode
It would have been epic if the quality is the same w/ the OVA
You have to admit though, for a TV series, the animation quality has been quite up there. I certainly have no complaints about the animation so far. Besides, who else thought Deadmaster’s entrance this episode was simply epic? Reminded me of a final boss with all the epic BGM…
I’ve questioned “why can’t all the characters just get along?” Then I realized if that happened, we’d be back to regular Anime series about friends like A Channel or K-on. In other words, bring on the crazy drama/jealousy! I also agree that the motives of Saya-chan-sensei also keeps things intriguing. However, I do hope everything ends well eventually (i.e. story, please do not screw up like so many other animes out there!).
A Channel or K-on.
Oh no please. K-On is one thing, at least it has music. But A Channel?
Well yeah
but seriously please show us more strength XD
My mind was blown when I realized Saya’s cup collection were heat sensitive color changing designs.
I’m slightly suspicious of Yuu/Strength who may be working for Saya/Black Gold Saw.
Divine, I think the full-length image is wrong.. you put image 27 instead of 37.
Oh wow, BRS is really surpassing my expectations (I’m looking at you Saya).
Also am I alone in thinking that Kagari was actually adorable in this episode?
i didnt think anyone could be crazy like what happened from last episode, boy was i wrong. epic
And here I was thinking that Mirai Nikki´s charaters were incredibly damage, finnaly a show that can illustrate how insane people could get when they control of their emotions. I´m starting to think Mato is the only sane one of all the girls.
Some crazy hilarious shit we got here.
I really love SawaMiyuki’s voice, even crazy and all still amazing! SawaMiyu!
……..Is it just me, or did the author based Yomi’s rather angry behavior off of Nina from code geass. Both wear glasses, and appear to be somewhat yandere.
Ah, them delicious tears. If they could psychologically breakdown like that with just jealousy among friendship, Makes me wonder what would happen if boyfriends became a factor.
Yuri glasses on: Yomi, assuming Yuu has NTR’ed her beloved Mato, decides to fall back to her old flame Kagari. But Kagari too has decided to move on. Cue mental breakdown.
It seems everyone whose alter-ego got their heads chopped off by BRS ended up not just being free from their dark personalities, but they have also lost all their memory of whatever it was that pained them. Kohachi-sempai has no memory whatsoever of her ex-boyfriend that betrayed her, and Kagari now can’t exactly remember how Yomi has tended for her, leading her to misunderstand her relationship with Yomi completely.
I am completly numb-minded from the combination of hot battle action and heartbreaking emotional drama in the “rl”… Somebody stop that sadistic consellor!
Noto’s doing an excellent job voicing Saya. Playing innocent ole me at school and behind the scene, im a schemer. ^_^
BRS a perfect representation of my understanding of women mentally.
So, as I understand it, when the other self dies, that aspect of the character’s personality (the aspect that was in conflict with another) dies and memories related to this aspect of their personality and the related conflict are lost.
That aside, holy crap, Kagari was more adorable than expected…
Kagari so adorable. Insane!Yomi quite weird to me but still cute….
…and Dead Master appearing. NOW THAT’S YEAH!!!
What the hell is wrong with them!?
Yomi: I wish tht I be free of Kagari but I can’t cuz she need me to live. I want to make friends but I don’t want them to hv another friend.
Mato: Huh, I an trying to cheer her up, you know. ( Nice job breaking Yomi)
Kagari: I totally have no idea wht is the right word to say when Yomi is having a mental case.
Saya: I looooove screwing with their head.
BRS: I just cut their head off. Thing will be better right? (No.)
Wish they hadn’t added those ugly glasses to DeadMaster… Yomi is alright with them… but not DeadMaster 🙁
LOLZ. Made look like something close to “Hot Librarian from Tomb World”. Doesn’t pose a problem for me since I dig megane girls.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The true of the whole thing? Saya is not the Big Bad, its Yuu, Saya is just an unwilling pawn, its all part of the Master Plan of Yuu to get all the girls for her Yuri Harem. 😀
Gah. I was hoping for the reborn Deadmaster to be more like the OVA version. I hope that in the next episode at least she show us the trademark psychotic smirk.
Saya-chan sensei should just establish a coffee store like Starbucks or Seattle’s Best, etc. That way, she can prey on the emotions of middle to upper-class customers coming everyday, and she gets to earn money as a legitimate business too. Who knows, she might get a nice boyfriend and not need to resort to tormenting people (specifically middle school girls with issues) anymore. I mean, Black★GoldSaw’s body is kinda hawt for an older woman, surely Saya-chan sensei has a nice smoking body underneath all that school counselor clothing? XD
Does Saya’s coffee have some sort of hypnotic effect? I mean, Koha just suddenly brushing off the guy she confessed to a while ago is pretty unnerving, which suggests that Saya has a huge degree of control over the students she manipulates. But really, that’s more of a joke hypothesis than anything else.
Also, why do all of the alternate-world characters aside from Black Rock Shooter embody the negative aspects of the person they represent? Why aren’t any of the others heroic? Or is it possible that BRS is a negative embodiment of Mato’s kindness? Bah, another ramble.
Good luck BRS, I’m behind 7000 skeletons!
Man, this show really magnifies the ‘suck’ in relationships or something!
Makes me think if I should just shut out in a corner 😛
A sentence from Saya-sensei starts the crumbling.
The chains tried to suppress but the emotion escalates and DM becomes the mid-boss!
Kind of like how the emotion escalate throughout the episode.
Did Kagari become a better person?
Does having no emotional avatar make you a better person?
Does shouldering the pain yourself make you a better person?
Speaking of emotional avatars, Arata had her’s beheaded and she lost some memories.
Painful memories.
Perhaps she chose to lock them away?
Wonder if Kagari lost some too?
The cups.
Why is Yomi’s cup icon colored?
Still nothing about the mechanisms and workings of the ’emotional internet dream world’.
Is it witchcraft in the coffee?
Couldn’t be as Mato already has BRS before coffee.
Or is Mato special?
Zero-sum is an interesting interpretation. Indeed it seems as if they are tossing a given excess of negativ emotion from one to the other. Maybe they could invite Kyuubey to drain some of this excess of negative emotional energy circulating between them.
THIS WEEK! ON BRS: SNEAK PEEK!
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