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「東京イリア防衛戦」 (Tokyo Eria Boueisen)
“Defending the Tokyo Area”
After an episode full of loli-goodness, I was left speechless.
Children are the True Victims
This might get a little philosophical but the ending of this week’s episode left me a bit bitter. After watching a huge group of underprivileged girls get the opportunity to let loose and temporarily forget the horrible life they were randomly given because of bad luck, I don’t know what to say about some scumbag planting a veranium laced bomb to leave no survivors. Looking passed the obvious plot point to push Rentaro toward doing something to fix the social problems that the Gastrea pandemic created, I just couldn’t get over how this whole ordeal mirrors the vicious cycle our own society has. Maybe it’s because I spent a lot of my day asking my co-worker questions about how he decided to raise his kids but it pains me to think that all the “normal” children that exist in Black Bullet’s world are going to grow up and share the same unwarranted malice that the current adults have.
But at the end of the day, as much as I hate anything involving the death of children, I’m hoping that Rentaro (who to me represents all the hope we have in society) will somehow manage to avenge all those young girls by shaping the world to be a better place for all the people that inhabit it. Not necessarily because the show is painting him as the hero but because it helps me believe that the real life Rentaros are out there doing the same — trying to make the world better however they can.
Collapse of Monolith 32 and Looking Forward
Even though I think we brushed over a huge plot point involving the Tendou family and the possibility of politics getting in the way of constructing a fully functional monolith, it finally looks like things are about to get real. With Rentaro, Kisara, Enju, and Tina fueled with a deadly combination of angst and disgust, I can’t wait to see just how crazy the last two episodes get. Throw in the surprise reappearance of Kagetane and it looks like all the major players throughout the entire series are going to get a piece of the action.
To be honest though, as much as I’m looking forward to the crazy amounts of action that should be coming our way, I’m a little nervous that there won’t be enough substance to back it up. Maybe the appearance of Kagetane will manage to do something about that but if this episode was any example of how Black Bullet is going to handle the heavy things, I don’t think action alone will be enough to satisfy us.
Random Thoughts / Disclaimer
Don’t get me wrong though! As negative as I may have sounded up there, there were plenty of things I really enjoyed about the episode. Besides the obvious cuteness of a handful of lolis just being cute, I’m stunned that Kisara and Rentaro seemed to make some progress in the romance department. Because last I checked, holding hands in an anime is almost the same as like 2 and a half bases! Also, I hope I’m not the only one who’s happy that as broken as Enju must feel she managed to wipe the tears away to keep the danger that lurks at bay!
Preview
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It feels like there is a trend toward darker events and consequences in quite a few adaptions lately.
It was a very sad episode none the less, which I think it was right to prioritize over the Tendo family corruption, as that can be drawn out a bit over time. We also have Rentarou’s limited perspective to a degree as I see it.
Knowing this anime, I held some doubts as to what would happen with the class, but well… You know… I didn’t expect this.
Rentaro: “Now pass these around”
Loli: “‘My dream for the future’?”
Rentaro: “No, just a giant collective death flag”
It was annonced in the first two seconds and, sadly, the show did deliver.
FCKED UP EPISODE……
That´s a understatement.
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2028.jpg
Malice at its worst.
(Contrasting that to this episode’s 0:00:01 a.k.a. very first shot for harder impact)
i knew it… i felt there’s something weird when the episode started out with light scenes. and yeah… i was right… the effing hysterical people killed all the lolis!!! RAGE RAGE RAGE…
OT: if LAST ORDER is among the lolis who got killed i bet ACCELERATOR WOULD RAGE, and all of the gastrea are doomed
on the other hand, looks like the kagetane pair is back… which would mean more burden to rentaro. #SMH
If Accelerator was there, he’d probably have joined up with Kagetane and destroyed the city in Ep 1 already.
The reason being Cursed Children would probably be safer without all the haters.
Let’s not be too hasty about Kagetane’s motivations this time round. For all we know he may actually turn out to be an ally…
Kagetane is back, now I wanna see some humans who should not even be called humans get brutally
murdered
Kagetane just got back at the right moment, even after all that Kisara said to give hope to Rentaro you can´t avoid but to wonder if Kagetane is in fact right about that hellish world they live in. Kagetane represents the complete opposite of Rentaro but they have such similar origins that if Rentaro takes the wrong turn even by a little he will end up the same as our resident Masked Man and I wouldn´t blame him, that world is way too crazy.
Kagetane might be insane but that insanity is the only possible result of a world that is a million times crazier than him. Take into consideration that there´s a 99.99% possibility that the Gastre were man made and yo might to wonder if that sick world is worth saving.
what happppened? i thought these lolis lived underground and hid how the hell they get bombed? isnt that site just a classroom not where they live? so tehy got bombed just before he met them? but its all taped and policemen already there?
The hunch will be, they were waiting eagerly outside, in the outdoor classroom, that Retanrou was suppose to teach them
The bomber was possibly a xenophobic person who hates Gastrea, hence targeting CC, because of “gastrea virus”
The L/N summary has this scene even worse, click if you really want to know and is willing to stomach it
Show Spoiler ▼
Which volume is this?
I will add to your hunch with mine.
The hater was probably from JSDF or something, since the bomb was laced with Varanium, i.e. a specialized anti-Gastrea weapon.
Doesn’t have to be JSDF. IEDs are filled with nails and other items that can be used as shrapnel. Someone at a Varanium mine or even just picking up fragments from a Monolith construction site can give/take/provide it to a bomber.
Easy to hate and difficult to love, the people of Tokyo
Threearen’t helping their case for being redeemable to save.My take on all of it (meaning I copy and pasted from my blog):
Episode Thoughts:
And so what seems like a pre-battle getting your wits together devolved into a small study on man’s inhumanity to man. The TvTropes page does mention specifically that the manga and anime are highly toned down. Cursed children in the Tokyo area are granted SOME rights, compared to ones in the Middle East and Africa where they are treated as subhuman and made into prostitutes and slaves, to Europe and America where they are weaponized and implanted with Varanium-made/encased cybernetic limbs and pushed to their utter limit.
In reality the cursed children of Japan, or just Tokyo, are treated fairly. In comparison. But that does not escape the fact that every day, every hour, the remnants of humanity see them less as fellow humans, but enemies. The fact that cursed children have a determinable shelf life before they turn into Gastrea only makes it harder for people like Seitenshi and Rentarou to change people’s minds. The fact that there are many, from the high and powerful like Tendou Kikunojo to the common street punk, that wish to commit a genocide against the cursed children, to police inaction and even brutality, it is harder and harder to hold faith in humanity.
This is why I think I agree, not wholeheartedly, but agree with Kagetane Hiruko’s view that humanity does not deserve to be saved. And that the slow grind to extinction is inevitable regardless of what Rentarou does. So he decides to speed things along until he himself is consumed by it, leaving Earth to be nothing but a planet inhabited by the next inheritors of the land.
The savage brutality that men would do to the cursed children, now that their certain doom is upon them, is annoying and jarring. The very definition of irony, the people they hate stands the best chance to defend them from their deaths. And the remark the mob makes that Civil Officers had sided with the monsters made me chuckle, sadly I might add, that without those same civil officers, many would be dead.
There is no doubt the military is at least more effective in dealing with the Gastrea (but the series, set on the sliding scale of Hollywood tactics, seems to be set in the lower unrealistic scale) but on a one on one encounter, as we’ve seen in the beginning, police issue revolvers and semiautomatic pistols are ineffective against Gastrea. Promoters with some skill, along with their Initiators, are much more effective. Though some can become unhinged lunatics like Shogen Ikuma (Kayo Senju’s Promoter, the meathead with the sword) and Kagetane Hiruko.
Speaking of Kagetane, it is no doubt that we will see him. Their really lackluster duel in the beginning of the series seems to be primed for a rematch, though no doubt that Kagetane was either recoveirng or watching Rentarou in the few months (in-universe) since his supposed demise. And what had happened to Kohina? I assume we’ll see soon.
I am liking the series, and as someone has said before, Rentarou shows his best when it comes to protecting those he loves. With the loss of his class and any chance of Enju or Tina on gaining some semblance of a normal life, it is hard without an absurd amount of willpower to live on. Rentarou has turned his hatred into Gastrea into love for the cursed children. A hard pill to swallow that many of the Stolen Generation cannot do, unwilling, blinded by their hatred to see the cursed children as nothing more than the enemy, rather than the human beings they are.
Call it a futile gesture, especially since they are all eventually going to die or turn into Gastrea, but I consider it showing one’s humanity. One’s soul, that you can comfort someone born into a curse, and showing them an approximation of normalcy before that curse consumes them.
I think I think too much. ><;;
As for Kagetane’s appearance, I reckon it’s mostly to cover any loose treads while leaving the possibility for a new season. But leaving us satisfied if such plans do not come to fruition.
Volume 4. Don’t spoil yourself or you may not want to watch anymore lol.
I watched and read through SAO, Accel World, Log Horizon, Campione, Index and Baka-Test. I’m sure as hell I’d like to do the same for this(so I can get a clearer impression on this show) and Blade Dance(next season).
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2014.jpg
L-Lewd! Think of the children browsing this site!
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
>loli harem
A short-lived dream but living the dream regardless.
I had a feeling that something bad will happen to those girls but for it to happen in the same episode. I wasn’t ready. And I didn’t ask for this ;_;
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
Being a Kaji Yuki character is suffering.
Despite how dark and grim the episode was, it’s also probably my favorite one so far out of the series, though it’s mostly feeling for the kids more than Rentaro. (Though kind of sad that it took this long for me to actually like an episode. Earlier episodes with Kagetane were, frankly, bad overall, while the Tina episodes were mostly okay.)
Nice build-up with the class and their real child innocence (talking about dreams of their futures and such) which only serves to shock and hurt even more after they’re ruthlessly robbed of those futures by other “humans” for nothing more than being born differently (and possibly revenge against Rentaro over stopping their beating up of the blind beggar Cursed Child, assuming it was that group responsible, though with Kagetane clearly being in the next episode, I wonder if it could’ve been him just to screw with Rentaro’s head to get him to join him), so you can actually understand Rentaro’s questioning of his duties in protecting a city full of similar-minded people who don’t deserve it.
This also sort of goes back to Rentaro being warned not to get to attached (to Enju anyway, but similar).
Then there’s the whole “humans are more monstrous than the monsters” thinking. As far as we know (that the anime tells us anyway, not sure on the source material), the Gastrea don’t seem to have any real agenda. They just seem like mindless, instinctual creatures just doing things for no real rhyme or reason. The humans on the other hand CHOOSE to hate the Cursed Children and do such horrific things to them simply for being born the way they are, something beyond their control. And now we have more Tendo family problems with purposely building a flawed Monolith, possibly for more political dealing or something and caring more about their positions or something rather than really protecting humanity from the Gastrea.
Also more build-up of Rentaro X Kisara, with her being able to be his anchor in such a dark time when he clearly could’ve just turned his back on the city.
That despair
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%2038.jpg
Those bastards that kill them should just …die…
Force drama by killing the few things that protects humans. Yessh. Aside from feeling bad about this episode I’m continually reminded how dumb the whole thing is and how much the author belittle human intelligence. Humans can’t be this dumb, even when humanity’s in danger of extinction. If it were to happen in our reality, we’d either get government funded institutions for the girls to help them or gov’t funded genocide for them so we don’t have to deal with them, no fuss, no worries.
Except they get tossed out in areas where they can survive, told to fight for humans while they stabbed in the back. Now that’s dumb. I don’t know how dumb the author thinks humans are but this is just ridiculous.
Your points are correct, however do note that the people are living in fearful time, when people are scared or in hysteria, they tend to start pointing fingers and blaming people quickly, calming them down will sometimes take ages, minority of people will understand quickly but majority will still not understand until time has passed
Sure the government can spare enough time and money to support the children, but does that bode well for the people that have survived the gastrea war? major riots and anger will be expected when the government tries that.
A good example will be the current Ukraine crisis in our real world, we people from outside countries see or hear what is displayed on the new or through conversation, but what about the people that actually live there?
You must come from a very lovely country. Humans can be that dumb, and are that dumb if you read the news in many countries around the world. I won’t go into details as it is general courtesy to avoid politics in forum discussions but I assure you that there are many societies who support those who don’t contribute to society and try to tear down and displace those who probably hold the country up be it in the form of economy, welfare, health, education or military. It is sad, and contrary to your statement I asked myself ‘Can humans be really be that dumb’?
You talk big, but – how old are you?
If you seriously think that in the real world, there are no places where minorities are declared as enemies, harassed and then lynched, you seriously need to get out more end educate yourself.
and*
Society is capable of being this fucked up. Look at how the homeless are treated in America and England and you’ll know.
@whryder, @Vandsy, @Mentar, @Dude
Sorry guys. I’m really just disappointed by how the author presented an edgy situation where Rentaro is presented by the worst of society then kind of just forgive and forget about it because they have to handle Gastrea after that.
Also we aren’t just talking about minorities here. We are talking about a means of protection against Gastrea. The humans killed off the kids that are meant to protect them. That idiocy is equivalent to humans destroying the veranium structures themselves. That’s what stupid here. Not just killing minorities. Not just killing children even(we had that in WWII).
Because, really. When you have huge-ass monsters surrounding you, you’d like to have allies. Strong allies that can help in anyway. You’d like to keep them alive and help in anyway, in return for protecting you. The most incredibly idiotic thing to do to your possible protectors is to stab them at the back. Can you hear how dumb that is? Where in our world has anyone bit their protector’s hand? It would have been a bit justified if the kids are also attacking humans to be superior to them/for fun(that bit in the early episodes don’t count since the kid was stealing food since she’s hungry). But no.
So we have sick kids, who are in danger of dying/turning into monsters, that were told to go protect humans while living in squatters and being discriminated against.
I know humans can be dumb. They can be complete monsters too. But you have to question the author’s angle on this and why he assumes humans are dumb and monstrous enough to act the way they did in this story.
So we have sick kids, who are in danger of dying/turning into monsters, that were told to go protect humans while living in squatters and being discriminated against. Quote from Moondoggy
Ironic isn’t it? Me and my buddies have thought this for awhile now.
I think we’re just supposed to roll with hysteria.
I would like to see some retribution against the bomber/s once the dust has settled, though. At the very least, from a utilitarian perspective, that’s at least twelve potential Gastrea-fighters gone from a hate-crime.
I really hope this changes Rentaro. I hope this (on top of all his other experiences) makes him more proactive in protecting the Cursed Children. His passiveness in this matter is really frustrating to watch.
Seriously, what’s your problem? What exactly are you complaining about?
That people are singling out groups, label them enemies, and then spend their lives harassing and persecuting them? This is par for the course even nowadays. Most political movements define themselves by uniting against The Enemy ™. Some religious fanatics glorify their atrocities this way (Jihad). It rings all too familiar.
That they are targeting a group which is actually an ally against a mortal threat? Doesn’t matter for some people who only see them as a threat and enemy (since they ARE a threat once they turn). It is not unrealistic at all that people will concentrate on the threat and delude themselves that the defense forces will protect them.
That Rentarou/Kisara and particularly Enju still fight on regardless? What else can they do? Yes, they are inherently protecting the murderous scum, too, but what about those normal people who don’t share the hate? It’s impossible to protect selectively, and – as Kisara put it – IT IS THEIR DUTY TO DO SO, DO YOUR JOB! And what distinguishes them from the scum is that they don’t let their hate overcome their reason. In my army time I was once abused as “murderer”. Am I supposed to disregard my duty because I don’t want to protect people like him?
What the author does is putting the ugliness of hate and discrimination to full display. In fact, this is something I want to commend, because the underlying problem is all too actual. Look at modern media (think FoxNews for example) which is all too often purposely used as a tool to _foster_ hate and discrimination instead of exposing it. The seed for lynch mobs like this are sown by that.
This isn’t unrealistic. This is in fact highly actual, even in our own current times.
@Mentar
You can’t tell? How old are you?
That’s dumb. There are ways to prevent them from harming people once they turn(most notable is killing them), and plenty more might be discovered if they just helped and supported these kids. The treatment those kids get is very dumb, even for a very unrealistic, post-apocalyptic setting. The only reason I can think of as to why the author would go this far to portray unrealistic stupidity is to force drama. It’s like when authors use rape to force drama.
@zztop https://randomc.net/2014/06/11/black-bullet-10/comment-page-1/#comment-1323495
Here’s how his style differs from Gen’s, because people have been saying lately he’s copying Gen since the author is a Urobuchi fanboy: Gen would have stopped at the kids getting killed by the monsters/turning into the monsters(Madoka, 1st series). It would feel more natural and would concentrate on the plot more. The author went as far as to put an unnecessary element/conflict just to make it edgier and give it more drama. It’s a total turn-off for a lot of people, for a couple of reasons.
@TheMoondoggie
I think you just said it yourself.
They do pose as a potential threat to the general public, so why not remove that potential (prevent them from harming people) before they actually become a threat. Prevention is better than cure, no? So the earlier the better.
Of course, I see where you’re coming from saying that their reaction and treatment of these children are dumb but I think you’re overlooking the fact that the general populace has been exposed to propaganda against Gastrea and these unfortunate girls. This has been generally glossed over in the anime but they do mention it. Kisara’s grandfather is a huge player in the Black Bullet world, and he’s part of the faction against those girls. I think it’s been hinted that he is fairly active in withholding the actual contribution the infected girls actually give to keep the public safe from Gastrea.
So the question is, are the general public fully informed? I would guess not from what I’ve seen, they probably think the Initiators are there to police the girls and keep them under control.
For example, imagine you see two people on the street. One of them is clearly a police officer, but the other is dressed in a straitjacket, what would you think is happening?
What would you think if everything around you tells you that people in straitjackets are crazy and indiscriminately massacres anything that breathes?
Yet from the police officer’s point of view, his companion is just another misunderstood individual and could even be his best friend.
@Mentar
Your missing the point. Even if there is barely anyone against this we still need to actually SEE them at work. You can just casually browse the internet and TV stations to come across stuff that is ANTI-government, ANTI-war etc.
People voice their opinions on stuff like this all the time. It’s extremely unbelievable that people would just suddenly cool their jets and be fine with this kind of thing. End of the world situation or not this is still a very modern society. This isn’t the dark ages. People are much more capable of understanding one another despite their backrounds than they were in the past. If people are insane enough to play around in a cage full of lions and crocodiles i doubt there isn’t going to be some group of people against blowing up a bunch of kids or people actively trying to kill them in public.
But as I said the reason we aren’t seeing any public resistance towards this issue is because the story is painting all humans has scum and not worth protecting. It just feels like an incredibly heavy handed way to deliver that message. Humans can be capable of this sure but then again humans are capable of ANYTHING. Which why it comes off as a cheap writing to me. You can literally just say “there is no proof humans would all act like this but the fact that they COULD makes the situation justified”. To me it doesn’t. At least not the way the anime has presented it. And give me that crap about what we’ve done in the past. You can’t compare the past to a situation that never has happened. We’ve never been in an end of the world situation and we’ve never had super powered lolis running around so that argument is invalid.
They have been delivering the same message since like episode 2? So at this point it feels like it’s going for shock value instead of actually looking at discrimination in a rational fashion which i hoped they would have done since there could be a lot more depth to the situation than “oh geez those humans heartlessly killed a bunch of kids again” lol.
Anyone could write a story like that.
@Moondoggie: Of course the treatment of the cursed children displayed by the mob is “dumb”. But unfortunately it is NOT unrealistic, like you think. There are tons of examples in our modern world which are perfectly similar to the scenes displayed in Black Bullet.
o Like the suicide bomber running into a cafe because they are serving alcohol
o Like the militia leader shooting hospital staff for treating their enemies
o Like the Boko Haram fighter shooting schoolteachers for educating women
All of this are “dumb” reasons, but people with sufficient hate will DO “dumb” things. In all cases, the victims “helped” society, and still they die. This is the whole point: Hate kills, humans with hate can turn into monsters in no time.
Sorry, man. This isn’t unrealistic in the least. It’s only unusual, since it dares to confront viewers with the unpleasant reality: Left unchecked, hateful humans are dangerous. You don’t have to like it, but please don’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
@leatherhead33: No, the show doesn’t display _all_ humans to be scum, not at all. Our intrepid bunch of heroes, their support characters, the guy taking care of the cursed children… all of them are nice, decent people. It’s rather that only those people adhering to the “cursed children are monsters” are questionable, and even from those, only a select handful are responsible for the atrocity.
That’s also the very point which Kisara has been making implicitly: They are officers whose duty is to protect EVERYONE. Not all of the humans they are protecting are rotten.
However, it’s the underlying unchecked hate for the cursed children which is corrupting people. At least this is the message I’m picking up from the show. And lord knows that this is a message which is every bit as relevant in our modern times.
Yes I’m only seeing ONE group of people against this and they happen to be in the main cast……that’s not going to cut it. Considering all them besides the old man work with the CC it’s only natural. We’ve only see one Promoter treat his CC like crap but most of them are pretty respectful.
So again why is everyone in the public so idiotic? Because there are rumors the CC have been working with terrorists? So what? Kids are forced to work with terrorists and commit horrendous murders all the time in this day and age. But no one actually blames the kids for that. They blame the people who raised and made them that way. Sadly in this worlds logic the kids would be to blame for it either way. The children did not choose to have the Gastrea in their blood and they are clearly capable of normally interacting with humans if Enju wasn’t a good enough example. But no one tries to sympathize with them. No one is outraged by it their treatment. Everyone thinks they deserve to die. No one supports fair treatment of them. It has been brought up there are people that do care but we never see them. Why do you think that is? Because of the message of humanity is scum would be mucked up by them showing up. The writer doesn’t want his pretty image of discrimination mucked up by logic.
That’s about as cheap as you can get imo. No one asks why the government protects the CC, no one asks why they are allowed to roam the city if they are such a threat, no one asks how the government is even fighting the monsters………basically everyone is a brain dead hater of children and nothing else. THAT’S the unrealistic part. Everyone is just accepting everything they are fed by the media and that is absouletly NOT the case in this day in age. People do not simply listening to what they hear on the T.V and news anymore. Lots of people question the legitimacy of what they are given. But not in this world. That would make it TOO unique. It would make it TOO believable. It would make it……….make sense.
I guess that’s not what they are going for here though. As i’ve said I don’t care that there are a number of people that hate them. That I get. But there should be a reasonable number of people against their treatment too. That notion holds true in every country regardless of nationality.
Forced or not, the original light novel writer gets points in my book for having the guts to push all notions of political correctness aside in pursuit of his personal artistic vision for the series- probably knowing full well that this sort of flak would be what was in store for him if he did…
OR he’s just an edgy fanboy and went retarded after deciding that being edgy sells. It’s funny since it looks like it worked for him. Then again, Japan isn’t known for it’s good taste in literature.
Forced or not, edgy or not, fanboy or not, sell-out or not is all beside the point. You’re missing my point- I am, here, entirely unconcerned with the questions of why he did this and whether it was the right call quality-wise. Whether he did this for the sake of selling out or whatever it takes a lot of guts to write something that you know is going to get you a lot of flak- look at that fiasco with Oreimo where (Most fans seem to say) it was clear that the author’s original intent was to have Kyousuke and Kirino be together in an incestuous relationship, and all the negative press he got for chickening out with an ambiguous, politically correct ending. I expressed and am expressing no opinion as to whether I thought this bombing event was example of “good writing”- I was and am simply stating that I admire Shiden Kanzaki’s creative courage in uncompromisingly bringing his artistic vision for Black Bullet to fruition, political correctness be d*mned- regardless of whether that vision was born from a desire to “sell out” or “emulate his idol (Urobuchi)”…
Do you really think he planned that out? That he had this clear artistic vision and just went ahead with it? I’m doubtful on this because some authors tend to just throw in ideas whenever just to try invoke emotions and feels.
I don’t know what’s he’s trying to say. I’m finished with volume 2 of the novel and all that I can still hear is “Monsters are bad but Humanity sucks!!!!!!1!” and nothing beyond that.
Even “Just throwing in ideas whenever just to try invoke emotions and feels” is an artistic vision of sorts, albeit a short sighted one- he wanted his work to have a certain effect on readers and was brave enough to pull no punches in attempting to evoke it. I can respect that because it’s a quality that’s sorely lacking these days with all the clinically politically correct, committee-written, industry-edited drivel that hits the shelves nowadays. It’s courage, even if it’s foolhardy courage- and I can respect it because most authors these days don’t even come close to having that much of a creative spine, let alone being able to actually do something profound with politically incorrect elements by planning way ahead…
In our reality, this episode is what happen every day when a rich, developped country (mainly the USA) decide to go to war and ‘liberate’/bring democracy to a third-world country.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4PgpbQfxgo
You need a reality-check.
Children in Iraq =/= to Gastrea Children in the show. That is all.
You mean Iraqi children’s deaths aren’t as real as anime’s children deaths ?
No, I mean Iraqi children don’t have super powers.
Your example pretty much contradicts your point. If that video had taken place in the Black Bullet world they would have both just said “Oh well those children sure deserved to die cause you know we fear them and junk”. The lady asking the question obviously was appalled by such a thing happening but in an interview you can’t really just start spouting off about how horrible you think someone’s way of thinking is. But when you have talk shows like “Nancy Grace” who look at things like this from a moral standpoint and you can talk however you want again I doubt you’d see this stuff sliding. Just look at how outraged people were about the girl who got ran over by TWO VANS and people were just walking around her. While it did take a while someone finally came to her aid and saved her life.
That’s kind of what I wished this anime would emulate. I don’t care if the majority of people hate them but give us more citizens who ARE willing to help them and look past their DNA. Humans are very capable of that. But in this anime they for some reason aren’t.
That was a Urobutcher worthy episode.
Word is Bullet’s author is a fan of Urobuchi’s writings, & all the LN suffering is a tribute to him.
The author said he wanted to Rentaro be a character just like Kiritsugu Emiya but he realize he wouldn´t fit in this kind of story so he changed Rentaro to what he is now, thank God for that.
Though he have pointed out in recent Author notes that Rentarou is on his way to becoming an similar entity as Kiritsugu Emiya.
LN readers, was the girl with purple hair and stuff doll someone significant? She was drawn slightly more detailed, thus the question
And while we’re at it, anyone knows what happened to the Manhole Girl from episode #2? I don’t see her among the 18 students. Just looking for possible survivor here.
So first the there was Game of Thrones, then the latest SnK chapter…now this.
Wow all the stuff I’m currently following just decided to kill people off at the exact same time.
Excellent episode. First one that managed to squeeze a tear out of me in a long long time.
What BB really managed to do well was to make me care for the main characters. Few shows in the recent years can make that claim.
Humans are worst than beasts. I was seriously pissed when the underprivileged kids got killed and the worse is this actually happens in our society itself. This episode brings a grim reminder to all of us who have had the opportunity to live a decent “normal” life and taking it for granted…aside form that, well executed episode i would say, esp kisara x rentarou. Can’t wait for the next episode…i hope the people who are responsible for the children’s death gets punished…
Does the writer have some fetish with killing young girls for no reason?
Seitenshi stated that there are people who support the cursed children but they are the minority. To me though it doesn’t matter if they are in the minority. We really need to see them. Talking on the internet together, having secret meetings………..SOMETHING!
But the reason we aren’t is simple. The story is trying to paint humanity as a bunch of evil pricks who aren’t worth protecting. Sadly I can’t really buy into that. I don’t really have a problem with what Rentaro said but it makes me think this episode was just a forced way to drive in that point. I mean the issue has already been brought up before.
Kagetane talked to Rentaro about it and Rentaro also brought it up again during the second arc. We get the point…..humanity sucks. But I don’t really approve of how these innocent girls are being killed just to make that point. It seems really unnecessary. I know this episode was supposed to be emotionally gripping but in all honesty it’s giving the exact SAME message we got like 8 episodes ago. And forcing the majority of humans to suddenly be ok with publicly killing these girls still isn’t believable to me. It doesn’t help that they are STILL constantly shoving down our throats that Rentaro is one of the only people actively helping them therefore we should care about his otherwise bland character (Eren 2.0).
Sadly doesn’t seem like the anime is going to change it’s standing on this issue so I guess this is just a contrived situation I’ll have to stomach. I really wish the anime would actually try to dive deeper into this issue because there is a lot of potential there. But no let’s just go the “Everyone’s evil not worth protecting blah blah blah”.
Yeah, and that’s lead to us saying how it really feels like they’re trying to just shove Rentaro and his goodness down our throats.
Of course, he and the others are the main characters and it’s understandable that they’d get the spotlight most of the time, but it feels like they’re the ONLY ones in that spotlight and everyone else is put into the “RAWR! HATE!” spotlight. I mean, the only non-powered/influential/whatever person to show kindness to the Cursed Children is the old man, and even that’s extremely limited from what we’ve seen.
Even Seitenshi, despite her wishes to change things and such, comes off more as an idealistic figurehead than an actual “leader” of the area, especially when you consider how easily she was being bullied by that other leader, and probably would have caved in if Rentaro didn’t happen to be there as a guard.
Call me a heartless bastard, but all I felt was a combination of relief that I wouldn’t be subjected to more of the loli-harem’s disturbing lust for their teacher and irritation at how blatantly the show was trying to emotionally manipulate me. Whatever works for the rest of you I guess…
lol… why feel bothered by the loli’s “disturbing lust” if you are heartless… or is that jealousy ?
oh and “irritation at blatant emotional manipulation”? Welcome to “K-drama”, where K can stand for Key or Korean.
Did I say I was heartless? No just that everyone else would call me that. Which given the number of downvotes seems to have been a rather accurate prediction! Sorry for not enjoying this show in the exact same way you do… and for finding a bunch of fetishized prepubescent girls wanting to marry their teacher awkward and disturbing to watch. ’cause there are absolutely no unfortunate undertones or implications to that at all, nope! Nice try at calling me out, but different people actually do interpret things differently.
And I thought of marrying my mom when i was a little kid, and it’s not exactly unheard of for some little girls to think of marrying their brothers when they were young. I also remember one of my younger female distant cousin being really attached to me when she’s young (and she still is sort of…) These CC girls were treated crappily by most human, then come this handsome guy who treats them really well, so it’s not exactly surprising for them to act this way toward Rentarou. But nice job overreacting at this when you want to act like a stoic dude on the other end.
I would agree with you if those girls act as aggressively as Enju (which WOULD be unnatural), but that’s not the case with those school girls. And it’s also clear that Rentarou’s more into Kisara than other little girls, so that makes your point even less valid.
I think we need to differentiate a bit between reality and the show here. There’s nothing wrong with kids getting crushes on their teacher. I taught in Korea for several years and I had numerous students that developed a bit of a crush on me. It happens.
That said, let’s not pretend the show is just being innocent in this. While they have at no point actually had Rentaro behave as though he actually has a lolicon, the show LOVES to play up the humor and weirdness of the lolicon type situations. And that is probably the one thing that weirds me out about the show.
I did comment on how Enju was acting “out of line”. I am just saying that doesn’t really apply to the other school girls whom were the ones Hochmeister referred to in his initial statement.
.
@kension: So it’s OK since it’s not as blatant as the other cases? As KaleRylan said this show plays up the lolicon themes, and for me emphasizing that aspect of the students was probably the worst way to try and make me care about them. Your different background and perspective make it easier for you to emphasize and engage with these characters and story. Mine do not, which lead me to not react to the bombing the way the show intended.
I don’t need anyone to remind me of how this show plays up the lolicon theme. That much is obvious the moment it’s revealed that only little girls can become CC but not boys. And your background is about you being ignorant of the real world and different culture (as it’s well documented by sociologists that the west are more sensitive to the whole pedo issue and how single fathers get treated unfairly in school by other female parents whenever the single father’s close to their young daughters), well that’s fine, noone knows everything afterall.
And no, I am not really sad at the death. As mentioned, I am already used to all these cheap emotional manipulation from Korean drama and Key VN/anime (angel beats, little busters).
Let me rephrase my “criticism” a bit as I think I sound too harsh there and probably jumped to the conclusion. My issue is.. why overreact now when Enju has been acting in a worse way for much of the series already. If you have already complained about Enju in the past, then there’s no need to complain again in this episode. After all, Enju is still alive.
So, by now you’ve essentially called me a pedophile, accused me of trying to “act stoic,” and now tell me I’m ignorant about the real world and other cultures. All because I had the nerve to post about my dislike of this episode. If you want an example of real overreaction, check this out, or take a good long look in the mirror. I’m outta this conversation.
I knew this was coming and it wasn’t any easier to watch…
first off DESTORY THOSE SCRUMBAGS! secondly I feel Enju has been really downplayed as a character. we haven’t been shown her perspective of anything or has Rentaro included her in a serious conversation. The end of episode 2 and start of episode 3 would of being a great way to show things from her point of view.
Le Me after watching the episodes
-lies down
-tries not to cry
-cry deeply
-after 20 minutes, gets up and goes to closet
-takes out hammer
-walks out the door with righteous loli fury
Tina & Enju’s radio show:
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=5142339&postcount=1242
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
Rentarou: Oh wow, I’m finally getting my own loli harem. W00t 😀
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2030.jpg
Rentarou: NOOOOOOO!!! T___T
Whichever bastards did this to these poor lolis would pay dearly for incurring the wrath of a lolicon.
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2006.jpg
Tina and Enju were objecting…
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
but the girls have overruled their veto in overwhelming vote for harem!
And damn, whoever planted this bomb… Rentaro, DONT hold back on him.
“Whatever you have done to those smallest amongst us, to me you have done it.” – Jesus
Well, it must be some one that had supply of these special Metall. And not all can get that, even in this Time of near Riot
But, yeah. Even i was guessing what will come from last Preview. But then actual see it, hit me deep. I was on a inside Rage… I needed some time to clam me down (it helps we you know this is a Anime)
Well, and he goes still there an want to save the Humanity? Well not all are that full of Hate. But mostly of them do not care. The only one that should Hate the Humans, should be the Old Men. That taken care of them
(Perhaps this is the Masked Guy?…. Nahhhh…)
Or the Masked Guy, wished to give Despair to rentaro. the same despair that he witnessed
What i not get it, why it is a Big Deal. if the Monolith was build with connections? Are this Monolith not really 100% Anti-Gastrea Material? and some of these Blocks are fakes? Can someone guide this Level 5 Gastrea Mob, to destroy?
Kisara Death Flag???
Dude everybody in this story has a huge death flag hanging over them.
Well, she was ranting to Rentaro about how “she didn’t want these happy days to end” and he promised to protect her- so in my mind it almost looks like the author is setting her up to die in this last arc (Of the anime) in order to push Rentaro’s character development- maybe he resolves to fight for humanity in spite of their vile deeds because that’s “what Kisara would’ve wanted” and against the establishment which he blames for the current mess because (perhaps) they’ll have a hand in her death- because she uncovered their corruption in this episode…
At the risk of stating the obvious… damn that was grim/dark! And a little excessive IMO. The entire class killed on top of the blind Cursed Child (CC) getting more abuse!? Certainly effective – I definitely had feels here, but I do wonder about the clearly developing pattern and heavy handed method. There is such a thing as a reader/viewer becoming inured to that type of stuff in fictional works. I hope the author puts down the loli chain saw for a while… but I doubt it. Read comments that the LN version was markedly more grim/dark and personal. At least one non-initator CC survived which makes me suspect she has a bigger role to play then just “feels” fodder… I think.
Really liked Rentaro’s detective work. Why only monolith #32 indeed. Kudos for that. So who is Kazumitsu Tendo? Obviously related to Kisara – brother? uncle? Initially, I misread it as Kikunojo Tendo (old guy). Well, wouldn’t be surprised if the old guy is involved somehow. The varanium laced bomb is suspicious. Someone in a position of authority is behind the bombing.
Not sure how much I buy into Kisara’s speech to Rentaro about “justice”/purpose for fighting etc., and Rentaro just going “OK, this job sucks”. Changing BB society views about the CC is the right way to go for a long term solution, but don’t see how making a “small change” in viewpoint = “justice” (or “avenging”) mass murder. Personally, my thought was to move all the Initiators and any other remaining CC to some safe, hidden location, and let the JSDF/civilians defend themselves.
And… he’s baaaack! Not a huge surprise given Kagetane’s ambiguous “death” and the “mysteriously” cut down armored guy last episode. Looking forward to what he and Kohina bring to the situation.
Overall a pretty good episode, but I could do with less mindless CC slaughter. *holds sign: “Kill Gastrea not Cursed Children”*
Great episode!
I knew it was coming and enjoyed every moment of it. Anime deaths are always something to look forward to.
(This is why I watch Game of Thrones on Sundays!)
Funnily how after many years, I still go back to Random Curiosity as my main blog to read (and also Psgel’s Star Crossed Anime Blog). Sure I don’t agree with the author all the time but they make good criticisms compared to many blog nowadays which seems to be just a hateblog to look cool at hating “good” or “popular” things.
Anyway, back on topic, I noticed that there is a lot of consensus in other blogs that the discrimination against the lolis are over-the-top and unrealistic. Which may be the case but at the same time, I still think that there’s a good amount of hints as to why things are the way they are. People are living in a time that is fearful and where in the war 10 years prior to this, family and closed one were massively killed by the Gastrea. It’s not surprising that these people who later become parents themselves or already are parents would influence their children into hating the Gastrea and anything related like the cursed children. Therefore there are people who are fear the Gastrea and rightfully so but there will also be people who hate and discriminate the Gastrea merely due to influences or without any critical thinking and reasons as to why they hate the children. Even Rentarou himself might have become one of these people if not for Enju. But on the other hand he was also a bit more open-minded so was very willing to open up and learned about the cursed children. So while he and Kisara still hate the Gastrea a lot, they don’t have the problems of hate by association.
There’s also an issue with the extremists. So not everyone wants to go around bombing little children but the problem is that there are those who in power wants to support the cursed children which then spur crazy extremists into doing what they do.
So basically this show is funny in that we have big giant evil monsters that prey upon humans. To protect the humans, we rely on children which are infected with the same virus these monsters contain. The humans instead treat these children like crap just because of association but also without understanding that these children did not want to be born that way. Then there are extremists who goes around killing these children. So the monsters are monsters because they were born that way physically. Humans might not look like monsters but inside, they can be horrible monsters and scarier than those Gastrea because you think they’re your ally but they are not.
A lot of blogs are, unfortunately. I like RC and Star Crossed, as well, because the writers are much more mature and even-handed. I remember trying to debate with someone about this episode at one of the other blogs (without any insults, I might add), and the author basically told me “you are an idiot for making this argument. Screw off” without justification and banned me from commenting.
About the children, I would agree with you to some extent. The treatment of the Cursed Children do echo a lot of events from history (and is quite understandable when you think about it), but the story is at fault for being a bit heavy-handed in leading up to this. It could have done a better job portraying what led to this discrimination in the first place, but a lot of the backstory was stuffed into history and LN narratives that were sadly cut out from the anime. It’s a fault of the budget as well – Black Bullet really needed more than just 13 episodes to tell the full story, and as-is, we’re just getting a disjointed version of everything with a lot of crucial stuff missing.
So, we ended up with very disjointed information and discrimination that seems to have just popped out of nowhere when it’s quite a bit more logical with a bit more thought. Which is unfortunate – understandable, but unfortunate.
I’m not writing this for defending majority of Tokyo people (in anime), but something is fishy about the massacre of students. Maybe it’s a handiwork of someone who want to mentally break Rentaro&co. for some unknown reason.
True that many people and cursed children still don’t get along well. But with the monolith’s crisis at hand, it seems a bit silly for common townspeople to go outside the safe zone to commit such a thing, instead of finding their own hiding spot from the incoming virus.
It’s just that all the decent shelter was taken so those guys, having nothing to lose except their frustration, just rove around committing hate crimes. However, where did they get all that Varanium from anyway?
Yeah, it could be only sudden urge of some frustrated townspeople. But then again, something in this case along with those in the future LN volume kinda amiss. Who know, there might be some villian-type like Palpatine (Lord Sidious – Star Wars) waiting in store for us.
Yes, they most likely used these poor girls to drive the point(that could be better explained/shown obviously) that humanity sucks (again). Yes, they are trying to manipulate your emotions o so blatantly. And yes, Rentaro may be an overall bland character. But dammit all the nay sayers, I just can’t help but buy into all this. This episode was a well done tragedy in my opinion and despite every criticism I’ve read, I will still emotionally invest because, what just happened, is, flat out, just f*cked up.
https://randomc.net/image/Black%20Bullet/Black%20Bullet%20-%2010%20-%20Large%2007.jpg
At least you’re feeling it. I’m reading too many blogs that are too bothered about semantics and how it’s written. Some of them have valid complains but some of them even talked about the discrimination is too ridiculous and unrealistic because people are always rational… or something like that. *looks at WWII and also the Baptish church bombings*
Frankly, while it was good episode, though obviously freakishly tragic, I was a bit taken aback by Enju’s superpowered tantrum at the end.
It just rubbed me the wrong way. The whole point of the discrimination is that the girls are dangerous monsters, while Rentaro and his side says they’re just people. But in that scene a little girl doesn’t like what she’s being told by older, wiser people so she just freaks out, goes super saiyan, and does what she wants?
That pretty much justifies the discrimination. Because life is FULL of moments when you don’t like what you’re told, or you’re angry, or you’re scared, and if you’re just going to lose your temper and turn into a potentially dangerous super being every time that happens, then there’s a problem.
I mean, I get the point and like I said the show was good, but basically in this world the upshot of that scene is now two cops are going to go home and think ‘wow, cursed children are freaking nuts and kind of terrifying.’
1. Emotion will always win over logic.
2. Group think\mob mentality will allow people to justify their behavior.
3. People will try to get ahead\increase power base even if it means sacrificing friends\family\neighbors\countries\others.
4. Ignoring a problem is easier than fixing it.
All of the above happens in reality. It’s why certain political ideas never die out. Why cities\neighborhoods\countries fall into decay. It’s why problems increase over time. And it happens in the anime.
It’s easy to say that if the survival of humanity was at stake that we would all come together. It’s easy to say that the government would protect the CC because they are the only ones who can fight the Gastrea.
So why doesn’t the government protect the CC? Simple. It’s not in the government’s interest to protect them. To eradicate all Gastrea, you would also have to eliminate all CC because they turn into Gastrea. So how would you justify protecting the very thing you want to destroy? You don’t. You treat them as weapons and use them, and when it’s time you discard them. You allow people’s perception of CC to be wrong. You allow protests and acts of violence against the CC.
People don’t like the message of “Humanity sucks!” Guess what, it does. For every crowning achievement of humanity there are ten monstrous ones.
That’s pretty stupid then. When the public continuously kills off your weapons what are you supposed to fight with when they are all used up? From what I understand there aren’t a limitless number of these kids since they were a result of something that happened in the past right?
Unless they have a factory pumping out these kids I don’t see the point in that. Plus what do the people of the world think the government is fighting these monsters with anyway? No one has questioned this? These things have poped up in public places you know. So no one has saw the CC fighting the monsters before? I’m calling bull crap on that right now.
The humanity sucks story has been done to death a long time time now so if you aren’t going to do anything meaningful with it by looking at it in compelling way it’s nothing more than a cheap attempt at being dark with no actual substance to behind it.
If these Kids would all be “Weapons” then the Humanity could break out of these Cages. Well but they would get more Space to life. But then, how dont like it? the current “protectors”… I saw many Animes and OAV’s, where last Survivors of Humanity struggle in a Save Zone, unable to get outside. Well they get told that from the government, and in reality the Outside is long recovered. The Government just dont want to lose the Control and Power of their underlings…
Right now, a OVA from the Akria writer, came in my mind. Living on the Moon. They would told Earth is death. but thats a Lie… i forgotten the name, it was sponsored with Cup noodles
examples:
Highlander 3
at last 2 Animes (Name forgotten),of Humans living on the Moon. Thinking they lost Earth forever.
Captain Harlock
an Anime with Womans and their Ship… argh my Mind fails me, of names. Sol Bianca?
A lot of details have been removed which explains the discrimination and more. If you ever have a chance, perhaps finding a way to read the LN is the best way. Anyways, that’s the funny thing! All cases about the children actually fighting does not seem to be very well known to anyone. They all think that JSDF are the ones that are protecting them and not the lolis. Plus the fact that JSDF are always on the front line and WANTS to stay on the front line, it makes you question whether people even know that these children are very important for their own survival since it seems they are not even needed. Hell, even the whole event with Rentarou saving Tokyo, no one other than civil servants and the government knows about it. They do not even know that Enju, a cursed child, was an important fighting partner to save Tokyo from a level 5.
Now the question is WHY are they hiding these information? Probably because of the public outlash if they find out that the government are using “little monsters” that they themselves were destroyed by. And other reasons…
I would agree with you if those girls act as aggressively as Enju (which would be unnatural), but that’s not the case with those school girls. And it’s also clear that Rentarou’s more into Kisara than other little girls, so that makes your point even less valid.
^That was a reply to Hochmeister from above, wish there’s an edit option here…
I knew that the children was gonna die because the deathflags were standing 100 m tall in the first half, but I really thought that it will be next episode in the earliest. So when they suddenly killed them at the second half… Ugh.
If that’s the humanity they are supposed to be protecting- then fuck humanity.
Let the towers fall, let the gastrea clear the city out.
If they kill the poor blind loli, I’m done with this show. And fuck those losers for beating her up.
This episode has been a bit better than some of the previous shows. Rentaro finally makes his ‘romantic’ move on his love interest by holding her hand. Cool! The cursed children get bombed though which was a sad turn.
This show is not shaping up to be my favorite anime by far but it has a certain quality that I like. Well I guess it’s the super power loli(s) (cursed children) that keep me coming back for more. I really liked the serious action scenes we had at the beginning of the show. Hoping the next 2 episodes will focus on that. But I do appreciate that the last few episodes took the time to dwell upon the current sad state of society. The way the Cursed children is treated is quite tragic and appalling. It helps rise this anime above ‘generic’ I think. Yes, Rentaro is crazy generic and bland but the politics is interesting and the action is likeable
1- Find a product to promote, something you feel passionate about
and that you know people will want to buy it. * Let you know there
are things you can do to improve y0ur ranking. But it seems Memorial Day wasn’t important enough to Google.