Black★Rock Shooter (TV Anime)

Black★Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター, Burakku Rokku Shūtā) is an anime series based on the Black★Rock Shooter Concept and is the second animated project to do so. The opening theme is Black★Rock Shooter, written by members of supercell and sung by Hatsune Miku, while the ending theme, Bokura no Ashiato, is written by supercell and sung by Kodea.

Plot
In spring, two girls meet: Mato and Yomi. They each sense something in the other that they lack in themselves, and are drawn to each other in spite of their contrasting personalities. Though initially hesitant, they form a strong connection. But they both have secrets - and in an empty world, two girls fight: Black★Rock Shooter and Dead Master. A strange being Black Gold Saw, watches their mysterious battle, laughing. This is the story of two girls, in two worlds, entangled by the threads of fate.

Production Staff

 * Original Concept: B★RS Project
 * Director: Shinobu Yoshioka
 * Series Scenario and Screenplay: Mari Okada
 * Character Concept: huke
 * Art Direction and Character Design: Yuusuke Yoshigaki
 * CG Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
 * Animation Production: Ordet, Sanzigen

Development
Ordet, the studio that previously worked on the Black★Rock Shooter OVA, collaborated with a fellow member studio under Ultra Super Pictures named Sanzigen to produce the 8-episode TV anime series. While much of the TV anime series' setting took roots from the OVA, it featured a different story in a new setting as well as new characters.

The main motif of the TV anime is the portrayal of feelings of girls in emotional pain and suffering. Screenwriter Okada Mari commented that the girls in the story are akin to soft-shell crabs, when puberty poses greater vulnerability in mental health after shedding the "shells" of early childhood.

Most, if not all, of the scenes that featured the Hollow World were CGI work produced by Sanzigen. According to Sanzigen's Hiroaki Matsuura, he originally participated in about ten cuts for the OVA, using CG models as reference material for animation staff to draw, while jokingly considered the possibility of brushing up their quality and using them for the actual animation. When the TV animation project was about to start, Good Smile Company's Takanori Aki suggested to go ahead with the idea.

Over eight years after the anime series originally aired, Discotek Media licensed the anime series for a 2021 release in North America on Blu-Ray Disc. This release came with a new English dub by Sound Cadence Studios.

Other Media
Lord of Vermilion Re:2 and Witch Arms collaborated with the TV anime series and featured playable guest characters in their games. Docomo offered characters from the TV anime series as MachiChara interactive characters on their phones.

Blu-ray

 * 1) July 27, 2021 (Canada and USA). https://www.rightstufanime.com/Black-Rock-Shooter-TV-Series-Blu-ray

Gallery

 * Full article: Black★Rock Shooter (TV Anime)/Gallery