Black Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター Burakku Rokku Shūtā?) is a 2010 Japanese original video animation produced by Yutaka Yamamoto's studio Ordet and directed by Shinobu Yoshioka. The 50-minute OVA is based on the song of the same name by Supercell and its accompanying music video with illustrations by Huke. Musical composer Ryo and Huke, both members of Supercell, collaborated on the project. A "Pilot Edition" of the anime was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in September 2009, and the full version was released on DVDs bundled with select magazines from July 24, 2010 and is subtitled in seven languages.
Plot and characters[]
Black Rock Shooter begins at the start of the school year in April. On her first day of junior high school, Mato Kuroi (黒衣 マト Kuroi Mato?, Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa) makes friends with a girl named Yomi Takanashi (小鳥遊 ヨミ Takanashi Yomi?, Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro) who recently moved to the town. Mato quickly joins the basketball club, which incites Yomi to join the volleyball club since both clubs practice at the same time in the gymnasium. The two spend much time together over the following year, and during one outing Mato gives Yomi the same cellphone charm she has. In their second year of junior high, they end up in different classes, reducing the amount of time they can spend together. Furthermore, Yomi starts to become jealous of Mato hanging around her basketball club manager and classmate, Yuu (ユウ?, Voiced by: Kana Asumi).
When Yomi seemingly disappears, Mato becomes concerned when she does not show up at school the next day or respond to her text messages. Mato becomes further depressed when she receives word that Yomi has been reported missing and is asked about her whereabouts by two detectives. One day, Mato receives a blank text message from Yomi and goes to her favorite spot in town where she finds the phone charm she gave her. The charm starts to glow and transports her to a strange world where she meets a mysterious girl named Black Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター Burakku Rokku Shūtā?), who has a blazing blue left eye and a rock cannon which can fire 20 shots per second.[1] As Mato tries to find Yomi, she merges with Black Rock Shooter and duels Yomi, who was possessed by an evil being called Dead Master (デッドマスター Deddo Masutā?), who wields a large scythe.[2] As the possessed Yomi is about to fall to her death, Black Rock Shooter saves Yomi from falling, and embraces her, causing Yomi's body to be free from Dead Master. The events of their lengthy battle are dispersed throughout the anime. Yomi and Mato return to their normal lives, but Yuu begins to act strangely.
Production[]
The origins of Black Rock Shooter date back to an original character illustration titled "Black Rock Shooter" by the artist Huke, who posted it on his blog and the online artist community Pixiv on December 26, 2007.[3][4] Ryo of Supercell was inspired by the illustration and created the song "Black Rock Shooter" based on that character.[5][6] Huke joined Supercell and provided the illustrations used in the music video of the song, which was later posted online on the video sharing website Nico Nico Douga on July 13, 2008, which as of August 2009 had over 2.2 million views.[3] "Black Rock Shooter" features vocals from the Vocaloid singing synthesizer Hatsune Miku.[7]
Produced by Yutaka Yamamoto's studio Ordet and directed by Shinobu Yoshioka, an original video animation (OVA) project based on "Black Rock Shooter" and its music video was announced on August 22, 2009.[8] The screenplay was written by Nagaru Tanigawa and Shinobu Yoshioka, and character design was done by Yuusuke Matsuo. The music was composed by Ryo and the ending theme song is "Braveheart" performed by The Gomband.[9]
A "Pilot Edition" of the anime was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) on September 30, 2009 by Good Smile Company.[8] The pilot contains three short animated videos showing the same scenes from the anime while playing different versions of the song "Black Rock Shooter", much like in anime music videos. The first video uses the instrumental track from the original version of "Black Rock Shooter", the second video uses the "2M Mix" remix of the song with vocals by Hatsune Miku, and the third video uses the instrumental version of the "2M Mix". The DVD/BD also came bundled with an image booklet and a CD containing the vocal and instrumental versions of the "2M Mix".[10]
The full 50-minute version of Black Rock Shooter is subtitled in seven languages,[11] and was released as a free DVD bundled with Hobby Japan magazine on July 24, 2010. The OVA also came with Gakken's Megami Magazine on July 30, 2010, Animedia magazine on August 10, 2010,[12] and is also packaged with Figma and Nendoroid Black Rock Shooter figurines. Retail versions are planned for release on December 17, 2010 in special (BD+DVD) and regular (BD) editions. Both editions will come with a 30-second test short stop motion video as a bonus featuring a remix of "Black Rock Shooter" by Joe Hahn, the DJ of Linkin Park, as well as its making-of video.[13]
Other media[]
A role-playing video game, titled Black Rock Shooter: The Game (ブラック★ロックシューター THE GAME?), is currently in development by Imageepoch for the PlayStation Portable and will be released in summer 2011.[14] It will feature animated cut scenes by Ufotable.[15] Various Black Rock Shooter elements were made available in the Japanese PlayStation Home.[16]
References[]
- ↑ "Black Rock Shooter". Huke / BRS Project. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Dead Master". Huke / BRS Project. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "スランプに悩む自分を変えた「ブラック★ロックシューター」" ["Black Rock Shooter" Which Changes You Who is Worried About a Slump] (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. August 28, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "ブラック★ロックシューター" [Black Rock Shooter]. Huke (in Japanese). Pixiv. December 26, 2007. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "『流行りモノ調査隊 第54回 話題のネットスター PART2』" [Investigating the Latest Craze: #54 Net Stars Part 2] (in Japanese). Oricon. August 5, 2008. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ↑ "ブラック★ロックシューター :: supercell" [Black Rock Shooter :: Supercell] (in Japanese). Supercell. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "そばにいるね、キセキを凌ぐネットで最も再生された曲発売" [The Most Viewed Songs That Surpassed "I'm by Your Side" and "Miracle" on the Net Are Released] (in Japanese). meVIEWsa radio. December 25, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Black Rock Shooter Anime with Yutaka Yamamoto Confirmed for Spring". Anime News Network. August 22, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Cast・Staff". Huke / BRS Project. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Black Rock Shooter -Pilot Edition-". Good Smile Company. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
- ↑ "Black Rock Shooter DVD to Be Subtitled in 7 Languages". Anime News Network. July 7, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Animedia, Megami Mags to Bundle Black Rock Shooter". Anime News Network. April 9, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Black Rock Shooter to Add Extra with Linkin Park's Hahn". Anime News Network. July 26, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ↑ "Black Rock Shooter Gets Role-Playing Game". Anime News Network. August 15, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
- ↑ "Ufotable Makes Black Rock Shooter Game's Anime Footage". Anime News Network. November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010.
- ↑ "『ブラック★ロックシューター』×PS Home コラボレーション企画発動!" [Black Rock Shooter × PS Home Collaboration Project Starts!] (in Japanese). Sony. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
External links[]
| File:Commons-logo.svg | Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons: Category:Black Rock Shooter
| Black Rock Shooter ]]. |
- Official website
- Black Rock Shooter: The Game website (Japanese)
- Black Rock Shooter (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
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