「静寂の月夜、夜明けの空」 (Shijima no Tsukiyo, Yoake no Sora)
“Moonlit Night of Silence, Sky of Dawn”

I absolutely loved this week’s episode. Even with some awkward moments that could have been made so much better with just slight changes, I wouldn’t mind if the rest of the series kept up with this pattern.

Tina vs Rentaro

While I can’t seem to find the right words to describe it, the entire fight between the two felt a little strange. Maybe it’s because common sense says you shouldn’t run straight toward a sniper or maybe it’s because it was more like a battle between Rentaro vs remote controlled assault rifles up until the very end but the whole thing had this awkward feel surrounding it.

But as we got toward the end of the fight with Tina and Rentaro all up in each other’s faces, things started to get interesting. Sure you could cough up that the flash bang suddenly going off as a lucky break for Rentaro but I’ve heard from a few friends that it isn’t all that uncommon for grenades to have awkward release times. That and how could you not hnng a little when Rentaro dropped all the resentment and fear he had toward Tina and embraced her for who she is?

That said, I do have a small issue with how the show completely glossed over how Tina’s going to handle actually failing her mission. You’d assume that someone who’s literally chock full of technology would have something in her to take her out if she went AWOL, right? That and I’m pretty sure Ayn Rand told Tina to kill herself should she fail. But you know, I can look past these smaller things if it’ll mean we get an great arc overall. I say that with some reservations though because I still remember what Enju’s infection level was at and I really don’t want the story to just skip over that huge point.

Dirtbag Second Lieutenant Yasuwaki

Not much to say here besides he got what he had coming. After watching him shoot Tina square in the chest right after Rentaro finally managed to win her over was a cardinal sin in my book and I’m surprised Rentaro didn’t take the opportunity to smack the guy across the face a few times. The least he could have done was given him a good ol’ falcon punch after getting the permission to literally do whatever he wanted directly from the head-of-state.

Looking Ahead

As I said earlier, I can look past all the glaring holes that have slowly begun appearing since we first saw Kagetane. From things like what after effects the serum Renaro nonchalantly injected into himself has to revealing what happened in Muroto-sensei’s past, I’m really hoping the latter half of the show will make some kind of attempt to explain some of these things.

But with the monolith protecting the Tokyo Area somehow getting taken down and thousands of Gastrea just waiting to feed on some yummy humans, it looks like we’re on the road toward more action. Hopefully they’ll make some time to feed us some exposition somewhere among all the fighting!

 

Preview

57 Comments

  1. https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
    >12900%
    *insert DBZ power level joke here*

    https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
    >punching a loli
    Going too far there Rentaro. Lolis are for tender loving. Even Touma isn’t that violent.

    https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
    The development in this part was weird but that guy got shot so it was just as well.
    Rentaro should have punched him while he was at it. What use is that bionic arm for(besides fapping).

    https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
    Loli get!

    https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2038.jpg
    Rentaro is not pleased though. His wallet is probably the first thing complaining about this.

    belatkuro
    1. But Miori needed to give necessary information during the fight; iff he was using a hands-free one, he wouldn’t be able to get the map showing the location of the remote-controlled turrets and Tina’s location when he downloaded it from Miori.

      Dualash
      1. I was thinking that a HUD (Head-Up Display) would have worked nicely here. That way he could have kept his hands free while fighting. I would have laughed if Miori had called him in the middle of his finishing combo.

        ReverseTales
      2. Actually there might be a problem linking it directly to his mech eye. The tech in his body belongs to the military, and his eye in particular is linked to his brain. There might not be an easy way to connect other devices (like a computer) to it; plus, it might be bad to mess around with that software.

        What I meant is that he could have something like a G**gle Glass: an external HUD.

        “Glass, find me that sniper!”

        ReverseTales
  2. Rentaro’s little shop of lolis!

    I’m so glad they didn’t kill Tina off and she’s part of the team.

    I feel it’s wrong of me to laugh when Rentaro’s rank got increased and he blew off the finger… but Yasuwaki was a dick so it was well deserved bwhaha.

    P Ko
  3. Rentarou the harem master… Am I jelly ? Yes. Am I happy to see Tina live and join the harem ? Hell YES! Plus she would be grat asset to the agency with her power.
    Apart from that, I loved how Seitenshi-sama simply field-promoted him to superior rank of that douchebag from her security detail. One of the coolest “CINC” moves since “You’re fired!” in the original Robocop movie.

    ewok40k
  4. Seitenshi: What’s your wish Rentaro?
    I swear I thought it’s gonna be something like please save tina etc
    But NOOOO, I want power
    So now he gets to save Tina AND shoot that yaza something whatever his name was. NICELY DONE RENTARO!

    But it bugs me a little, I hope they didn’t omit details or throw out a lot of stuff like they did with the previous arc. The fight between Rentaro and Tina felt a little short. Manga isn’t there yet so I wouldn’t know until it’s released. And I don’t read the LN (don’t even know is there LN for it, pretty sure there should be tho). But whatever, yaza whatever got what he deserved so I’m happy.

    1. I agree. I thought he was going to ask for medical assistance, or taking into account Cursed Children’s regeneration and endurance, a lighter/no sentence for Tina instead.

      And first thing he does after getting promoted? Shoot his subordinate…

      Although, to be fair, Yasuwaki was both incompetent and a jerk:

      “We’ve got another plan to protect Seitenshi! It involves dropping Seitenshi from orbit with a pair of rocket boots and a parachute. This time it’ll work for sure, I know it will!”

      I was wondering throughout the entire arc, does Black Bullet have any specific anti-sniper techniques at all? Things like tinting the windows, anti-sniper systems, or even acoustic location. Or even Seitenshi decoys. Or full-body Varanium armor (joke). Of course, I don’t know how well they’d actually work, but you’d think they’d be at least mentioned…

      I think they omitted Seitenshi traveling to the third meeting. I mean, it doesn’t show how Rentaro tricked Tina with a fake route. They just skipped to the abandoned buildings. I’m fine with it; just a bit confused is all.

      Also, the power levels were slightly confusing. Is 100% supposed to be a normal human being?

      Then there was the “Your sniper is in the other building. Plus, she also has the higher ground.”

      ReverseTales
      1. Yeah, I totally agree on Yasuwaki being useless. First time sniper incident, ok fine he wasn’t in the same car so he couldn’t do much. But I suspect even if he was, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. Partly because Rentaro could react most likely due to that super computer eye he has that can even be used to snipe with a pistol. And then what? Yasuwaki decided to form a circle around Seitenshi with his gang and just stand there in the open cause their body would totally block sniper bullets. And the second time, he was just standing there while Rentaro pushed Seitenshi away from the line of fire.

        As for the anti-sniping technique, they did show multiple cars driving along and I assume outsiders are not supposed to know which on Seitenshi is in. But Tina found out anyways. And yeah, I was hoping that they will show some planning and smart strategy etc to outsmart Tina and probably lead her to the abandoned buildings so Rentaro can fight her one on one. But it certainly feels like they are omitting a lot of details and rushing this series too much. Imo, it feels like they are trying to finish the whole LN in one series (I might be wrong, never read the LN so I don’t know how long the LN is). But yeah, I wish they’d spread it out a little, add some more details instead of “boss fights” one after another. With such frequency in “boss fight” it doesn’t feel as significant anymore. In the manga, it feels like he struggle so much more in his fight against kagetane, giving more significance when he finally defeat kagetane. Having the fight over in one episode gives me the “oh it’s already over, that was quick” feeling.

      2. Yeah, but aren’t those just standard anti-assassination/anti-terrorism techniques? I was looking for something a little more geared towards snipers in particular. Especially since they’ve got all that tech…

        ReverseTales
  5. For me, the antics of Rentarou’s developing harem are the highlight of the show. Rarely I can remember as enjoyable characters as Kisara, Miori, Seitenshi with the loli additions of Enju and Tina.

    More of that, please 🙂

    Mentar
  6. Was anyone else a little off put by the fact Rentaro was just beating the crap out of Hina near the end of the fight? Now firstly don’t take this comment wrong. This is a fighting show so having guys beating up girls is perfectly fine with me (actually i’d like to see it more in SOL shows instead just seeing the guys getting punched by annoying tsunderes!).

    But he really didn’t hold back on her at all. I thought maybe a few hits would have been fine but he freaking kicked her through like half of he building! I know she’s a cursed child but dang……seems to me someone like Rentaro wouldn’t exactly go that far and would make more of an effort to restrain her instead. Of we all knew he wasn’t going to kill her but it still felt off to me.

    leatherhead333
    1. you’re forgetting the fact that Tina, like Rentarou has varanium parts installed in her so her fighting
      ability is far greater than a normal cursed children, Rentarou had no choice but to go all out on her
      or he’s going to get the crap beat out of him once Tina recovers from the flash bomb

      lol
      1. Yes i know what she is ranked and that she is significantly more powerful than a normal cursed child. I just kind of see it being a little out of his character imo that’s all.

        leatherhead333
      2. No it isn’t. He only killed her because

        1. She asked him too

        and

        2. She was already on the verge of turning into Gastrea so there wasn’t much he could have done for her.

        If you compare it to this situation it’s vastly different so i’m afraid your objection is overruled for not making any sense.

        leatherhead333
  7. Some of my thoughts:

    Rentaro has officially obtained the title “LOLI BEATER” but also at the same time obtained the title LOLI MASTER
    Master of Tendo style, Kisara + #98 in IISO ranking, Tina Sprout, I smell OP pair forming
    Is it just me or someone else also feel that the naming of attacks sounds awkward?
    I feel that the “child abuse” done by rentaro on tina is a bit lacking. My point is rentato should have punched tina abit more

    The Last Idiot
  8. Everybody just forgot about Senju Kayo already. What a cruel world!

    On a side note, as much as I like this show, I must also admit it’s so full of holes and wtf moments it’s getting painful to watch. Lucky It makes up with tons of loli-harem, so who actually cares of the holes?

    Solaris
    1. No problem, just think of Tina as Senju who got resurrected by some varanium dragon balls or something,
      i mean they’re both blonds, have BFG’s as their main weapon and both speak in that low tone voice, lol

      lol
  9. I think it feels just wrong when Rentarou suddenly went weak, being restrained only by two men after destroying walls. Rentarou even said “I’ll kill you” to that megane.

    dero_dero
    1. We can only assume that Rentarou is dead tired after the battle with Tina and that he has already used up all of the power that is needed to fuel his cybernetic arms, hence he is easily restrained without any effort

      whryder
    2. As much as I want to say that they might have been holding him in just the right way or that Rentaro used up all his energy, I think you make a pretty good point that one of Rentaro’s arms should have been able to break free pretty easily.

      I can see where whryder is coming from though — Rentaro had already pulled that special lever that unlocks his arm’s abilities.

    3. that bothered me the most out of this whole episode. he takes out Kagetane with relative ease and beats up Tina, who’s pretty powerful, but two of Dirtbag Second Lieutenant Yasuwaki’s (DSLY) regular non-super powered goons can hold him down (even if he’s tired?). It’s power as the plot demands.

      it reminds me of the stupid crap from One Piece where little Luffy is seen taking on (and beating) a gigantic tiger or some mega beast, only to be seen getting held down by two regular men later on.

      it’s just cheap and exploitative. though this show’s all about being exploitative.

      a box like Hippo
    1. I am conflicted, while it’s true one does not hit a loli, one also must do something to protect themselves against a loli trying to kill you, we can all only imagine the pain and conflict rentarou made when he decided to fight tina :,(

      TrapMaster
  10. Re the connection between Saitake and Prof. Rand:
    YES, they were both involved in planning Seitenshi’s death.

    Specifically,
    Show Spoiler ▼

    zztop
  11. wish there were little boy characters in this show. I’m getting tired of “girl has to have crush on older guy” thing instead of boys her own age. sigh I wish anime would start doing grade school romances again

  12. This show so far is not bad, although Tina is a poor replacement for Senju, that little girl stole the show when she held her stomach and asked for food despite her leasher being in the same room.

    I have no idea what direction the show is going on, it kind of feels like it want to be attack on titan but there is no ultimate goal it seem like for anyone just living out your daily life and solve the cases as it comes up.

    I guess there is no singular bad guy just making due in a bad bad world. and the focus is on those people. It’s nice but the lolis keep me coming back to see if their ultimate fate could be changed.

    Duzz
  13. Mixed feelings about this episode. I have to disagree with Takaii a little in that IMO, the good parts did not fully make up for those multiple awkward moments. TBH, the whole episode had a scripted feeling.

    While I can’t seem to find the right words to describe it, the entire fight between the two felt a little strange.

    Agree. I actually thought the remote controlled “anti-material guns” were a pretty good little twist, but the “hidden” fourth Shenfield (floating “robot eye” thing) wasn’t a surprise at all to me. “Three is the limit.” As soon as that phrase was uttered, I thought “OK, there’s at least one, if not two, more (i.e. 4-5 total).”

    The stun grenade (“flashbang” grenade) was both good and bad. Good in that it was a smart idea. Bad in that said smart idea was not actually a preplanned tactic. “Oh yeah! She’s an owl Gastrea!” *sigh* I had hoped that Rentaro had more of a plan than rocket powered cyborg flying into attack. The conspicuously fortuitous timing of the grenade’s explosion and subsequent “explanation” didn’t help matters. WTF does “Is this a miracle you created, Enju?” mean? If Rentaro remembering Enju inspired him to fight on – fine. No problem with that at all. But do NOT see the connection between the grenade’s timely explosion and Enju. O.o

    I didn’t mind Rentaro shooting Yasuwaki since CLEARLY that guy was a threat (shot Tina, still holding a gun, stated intent to kill, etc.). However, the whole promotion = “Now it’s OK to defend yourself” was just too “over-the-top”. Maybe just me, but I would disarm the guy first chance, then talk about things. Also, another “fortuitous timing” event with Seitenshi to the rescue. Once in a while that sort of thing is fine IMO. Twice in one episode is pushing it too far for me.

    “…I still remember what Enju’s infection level was at and I really don’t want the story to just skip over that huge point.

    Yep – same here. I thought the corrosion rate secret might have been discovered with Enju in the hospital. Guess not. I’d like some resolution on that sooner rather than later. It’s a little distracting since that’s something always in the back of my mind while watching.

    As for Tina, she’s grown on me over the last couple of episodes. I’m glad she survived to join the team (they could use the help). Still, despite so much less screen time, I still prefer Senju a bit more. Not exactly sure why. Very glad to see Enju happily accepting Tina rather than a jealous outburst. Good job Enju *pats head*

    “…could have been made so much better with just slight changes…”

    A bit out of context, but that sums up my feelings on this episode. IMO this arc has been an improvement from earlier, but the show still doesn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders. Occasionally, the feeling that “something’s missing” (e.g. cut source material) still remains though not quite as frequently as before. Still, better is better and a trend in the right direction. Looking forward to the next week.

    daikama
  14. I don’t think the DSLY (Dirtbag Second Lieutenant Yasuwaki) got his comeuppance considering what a piece of trash he is.

    The fight wasn’t that interesting since you knew Rentaro was going to win somehow even though Tina massively overpowered him. I wish animes/mangas (any show and movie really) would stop doing that. it usually doesn’t make the fight winnable in a believable way and it removes all the stakes if we know the MC is going to win somehow, even if it is by luck.

    a box like Hippo
  15. This show is only slightly rated lower than Ping Pong on MAL…LOL
    So…why is this crappy show covered again and not ping pong? I think you guys should be covering different types of shows aka JoJo (I do appreciate that Sidonia is being covered though).

    Anyways, considering the bloggers are pretty old and actually pretty capable of writing, I wonder why they bother watching/writing about derivative stuff like this. Is it to cater to the readers? I don’t get it.

    1. There are people (myself included) who almost never watch sports anime. Looking at what shows are generally covered, it might be that the majority of the writers here also fall into that category.

      Conrad
      1. fair enough, although ping pong is less about the actual sport and more about human nature.

        People talk about “character development” a lot, but really, a lot of these shows puts their characters through some ordeals but the characters fundamentally stay the same. There’s not a lot of shows that truly puts their characters through deep changes like ping pong does.

      2. I don’t know if it’s intentional or not, but Ping pong does little to promote itself. It’s a sports anime, moreover, as a sport, ping pong is hardly a big thing even in Japan, much less in the West. The art style it uses doesn’t play in its favor either, at least as long as the wide audience is concerned. Those who, despite all of that, check the staff members will find that its helmed by a rather..polarizing director. If it’s not a niche show, I don’t know what show is, and RC, let’s face, is a mainstream site.

        Character development in anime is a pain point. It’s almost mandatory to have some regardless of whether the show really requires it or not, so the common trick you can often see is making the characters..underwhelming at the start, then “developing” them into how a normal person should be. Part of it is due to using teenagers as main characters, adults aren’t generally expected to “mature” over the course of the show, and it’s harder to come with an explanation why they suck in the beginning, yet are still relevant.

        Conrad
  16. I hope the power level of Tina isn’t going to thrown out the window like other shounen type animes. I know this is a bad comparison but it’s like how in Bleach, Ichigo powers up like crazy to beat his enemy but then another enemy comes along, beating him like nothing making all the previous “hard” enemies seem like crap. This also happens in Fairy Tail a lot. I just hope Tina maintains her power level and becomes somewhat of a trump card for the Tendo Agency.

    Zangkin
  17. Many owners used car transactions, the degree of taking care of
    your vehicle since the maintenance of diesel cars by manufacturers.
    1 Lenders can charge high interest rates on subprime loans as high as you possibly can,
    after all. Generally the flui level is correct, the fluid
    should be present between the car battery group
    size two types of fuels. They bring a lot to offer that is entirely different from the Chevrolet
    car. Again, you can allow him to approach it on his own.

Leave a Reply to Rick Anime Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *