Black Gold Saw (TV Anime Character)

"Our kind feel nothing. And yet, we can love. We can hear the hearts of those we love, crying out to us."

- Black Gold Saw in Let's Go Beyond This World

Black Gold Saw (ブラックゴールドソー, Burakku Gōrudo Sō) is the incarnation of the Black★Gold Saw character in Black★Rock Shooter 2012 anime. She is the other self of Saya Irino.

Appearance
Black Gold Saw has red eyes, long black hair that fades to red as it reaches past her knees, and a pair of red horns on her head that curve outwards and back inwards. She wears a black high-cut jacket with wide sleeves adorned with red accents and white stars near the hems. Her jacket is tied in the front with a gray ribbon. She wears large red skeletal gloves, a pair of black biker shorts with a white belt, and thigh-high red greaves with crescent-shaped knee guards and foot armor. Her greaves expose the back of her knees and the base of her feet.

Her red eyes have a circular pattern with white pupils in them.

Personality
Throughout her appearances, Black Gold Saw is shown to be very dubious. Whereas most other selves fight each other on instinct for their human counterparts, Black Gold Saw does not actively participate in battles, preferring to keep a close eye from afar on activity in the Hollow World, especially on Black★Rock Shooter in particular. Whenever Black Gold Saw does make a physical appearance, she tends to disappears soon after. Her overall behavior is likely a reflection of the purpose given to her and her human counterpart, Saya, to protect the Hollow World for Yuu Koutari's sake, who had taken Strength's place there. Black Gold Saw's only direct standoff was against Insane Black★Rock Shooter, who was capable of threatening the Hollow World and even destroying it.

Black Gold Saw has the same love for her human counterpart that all the other selves have for their human counterparts. She has the closest bond with her human counterpart, acting almost entirely according to Saya's will to protect Yuu in the Hollow World.

History
When Saya was younger, she met Yuu Koutari, whom she took pity on after seeing her be bullied by a group of girls. After a fire broke out at the Koutari residence, Saya deeply regretted thinking that Yuu was the one who started the fire and driven to do so because of the constant suffering she underwent every day. When she finally saw Yuu again, Saya apologized profusely and swore she would do anything for Yuu if she forgave her. Yuu, admitting how hard it is to live in their world, has decided to let "that other girl" take all the pain for her. Taking Saya up on her offer, Yuu tells her that she needs Saya to protect her, and asks for her "other name". Although Saya doesn't know what she means, Yuu learns by looking into her (with eyes identical to her other self's), and declares that name as Black Gold Saw. At some point afterwards, Yuu switches places with Strength, taking on Strength's body in the Hollow World. Between then and the beginning of the series, Saya and Black Gold Saw worked together to protect the Hollow World for Yuu's sake.

One of the eyes of Black Gold Saw first appears in How Much More Do I Have to Scream?, sensed by Black★Rock Shooter at the bottom of an abyss in the Hollow World. A massive King Saw erupts from the abyss, just missing Black★Rock Shooter, who summons her ★Rock Cannon and fires at the eye of Black Gold Saw, whose grin is briefly seen. The eyes of Black Gold Saw are unscathed as they watch Black★Rock Shooter from afar, who disregards them and leaves to head off somewhere.

The eye of Black Gold Saw reappears in Chariot's area of the Hollow World, looking down on Black★Rock Shooter as she has been chained up against a wall by Dead Master. Black Gold Saw watches from above as Black★Rock Shooter looks back at her, silently screaming in pain as she is impaled by the legs of Chariot's vehicle.

In Dawn Envelopes the Sky, Black Gold Saw herself makes a physical appearance in Chariot's world just as it is about to be destroyed, halting the destruction using her King Saw before the other selves even realize it. Black Gold Saw then drives Dead Master into a fissure and looks back at Chariot, vanishing soon after. Black★Rock Shooter takes a defensive stance against the King Saw left behind by Black Gold Saw until it vanishes as well.

In Tears Held Back Threaten to Spill Over, Black Gold Saw stands in the deep colorless canyon that is her area of the Hollow World, holding a watering can. She sprinkles liquid onto the floor, sprouting forth a number of Incomplete Girls. She seems bemused by their creation, but the one she is particularly interested in is Arata's "Other Self", whom she holds her hand out to. Black Gold Saw lightly smiles at the other self, but tremors fill the area and the Incomplete Girls sense Black★Rock Shooter approaching. Soon enough, Black★Rock Shooter breaks into the area, and her entrance causes debris to fall on Black Gold Saw and a number of Incomplete Girls, the latter of whom are consequently killed. Black Gold Saw cuts apart the debris and looks up to see Black★Rock Shooter. The remaining Incomplete Girls are killed by Black★Rock Shooter herself, who fires at every one of them. Black Gold Saw escapes, leaving the Incomplete Girls and Arata's Other Self behind to be killed.

In The World I Once Dreamt Of Closes, one of the eyes of Black Gold Saw watches Yuu (in Strength's body) toss Chariot's head and body into a colorless abyss. The eye closes as Yuu turns back to leave. Later, as Yomi Takanashi's darker feelings grow and become more unstable as a result of Saya's actions, Black Gold Saw watches Dead Master in her area of the Hollow World descend into a vortex of chains from afar and smirks. She walks into the green liquid covering the world and disappears.

While Black★Rock Shooter's battle against Dead Master's army of the dead is well underway in Black★Rock Shooter, Black Gold Saw observes from afar, unbeknownst to any of them, and disappears into the green liquid once again.

In Hope That Time There Shouldn't Have Been Any, following the transfer of Mato Kuroi's consciousness into Black★Rock Shooter and subsequent traumatic breakdown, affecting Black★Rock Shooter herself, Black Gold Saw is surprised by the scenery of Dead Master's world reflecting Black★Rock Shooter's transformation. She watches her become Insane Black★Rock Shooter, and immediately takes a stand against her without hesitation. Black Gold Saw rushes straight for Insane Black★Rock Shooter and leaves a deep gash in her right arm. Completely indifferent to this injury, Insane Black★Rock Shooter rips her arm off and throws her Insane Cannon Lance, which fires an intense hail of bullets. Black Gold Saw shields herself from the bullets using her King Saw.

The fight continues as Black Gold Saw manages to rush past the Insane Cannon Lance constantly firing and being tossed around by Insane Black★Rock Shooter's chain. The Insane Cannon Lance stops firing as it lands in the ground, and Black Gold Saw uses this opening to attack Insane Black★Rock Shooter again. However, the Insane Cannon Lance opens up a turret on its backside that fires that blasts off Black Gold Saw's right arm, causing her to miss her attack as her King Saw falls in front of Insane Black★Rock Shooter, and Black Gold Saw herself skids across the ground. Insane Black★Rock Shooter takes the King Saw with a chain and turns around to approach Black Gold Saw, who retreats by dissolving into the ground. Before the opening she leaves behind disappears, Insane Black★Rock Shooter drives the King Saw, her Insane Cannon Lance and Insane Blade Claw into the opening and pursues Black Gold Saw, finding her back in her own area of the Hollow World. Using the same watering can from before, Black Gold Saw creates numerous Incomplete Girls, armed with weapons this time, to surround Insane Black★Rock Shooter.

The Incomplete Girls hardly slow down Insane Black★Rock Shooter as she slaughters all of them and closes in on Black Gold Saw. Just before she reaches her, Saya connects with Black Gold Saw and tries to call out to Mato within Insane Black★Rock Shooter. The latter suddenly stops, unable to lower her arm to attack Black Gold Saw. A slight reaction from Mato is triggered, and Insane Black★Rock Shooter is sent flying back against a pillar, restrained by the invisible force of Mato's reaction. Seemingly under Saya's control, Black Gold Saw uses her watering can to create a surface akin to a mirror beneath her, where Saya relays the memories of her past.

After her memories conclude with Black Gold Saw's name being declared, Insane Black★Rock Shooter shouts and breaks free from her restrains. She rushes to attack Black Gold Saw with her King Saw. Saya makes one last plea to Mato as Black Gold Saw closes her eyes, seemingly accepting her fate, but the King Saw misses its mark as Yuu suddenly appears to save her. She manages to catch Insane Black★Rock Shooter off-guard and sends her flying into another pillar. Insane Black★Rock Shooter wastes no time recovering and attempts to retaliate, but Yuu breaks the ground beneath them and takes Black Gold Saw to escape to her own area of the Hollow World. Insane Black★Rock Shooter gives chase until they all appear in Yuu's realm, a Rubik's Cube-style world with the cube structure floating in mid-air. Yuu sets the unconscious Black Gold Saw down, moving her elsewhere to keep her out of Insane Black★Rock Shooter's reach. Black Gold Saw is protected with a barrier strong enough to prevent Saya from connecting with her, making her unable to intervene in the ensuing battle between Yuu and Insane Black★Rock Shooter.

In Let's Go Beyond This World, Black Gold Saw is shown to be right back in her own realm. She raises her hand up to look at a light shining down on her realm, the same as the light that Mato sees in Black★Rock Shooter's realm as she envisions the bird from The Little Bird and Her Million Colors coming back to life. Black Gold Saw, along with the resurrected Chariot and Dead Master, are heard quoting their own feelings and how their only wish is to protect their human counterparts. They each pray as their respective realms in the Hollow World break apart, becoming colored rays of light that shine upon Black★Rock Shooter's realm. They are used by Mato to summon a gigantic ★Rock Cannon that fires a rainbow-colored blast at Insane Black★Rock Shooter, annihilating her and shattering the walls of her realm.

Now in the unified worlds of each respective other self merged into one, Black Gold Saw is last seen with Chariot, Dead Master, and the resurrected Arata's Other Self and the Incomplete Girls, watching Mato and Yuu around the dying Strength.

Abilities
Of all the other selves in the anime, Black Gold Saw has demonstrated the most power to affect the Hollow World itself. Using her King Saw, she stopped the flow of destruction in Chariot's realm in a way that seemed to be like stopping time itself, as everything froze around her and the other selves present, and the fissure she drove Dead Master into instantly transformed Chariot's realm into something identical to Dead Master's realm. Using her watering can, Black Gold Saw can also create Incomplete Girls, with or without weapons as seen by their appearances in Tears Held Back Threaten to Spill Over and Hope That Time There Shouldn't Have Been Any.

Black Gold Saw is also able to project her eyes to observe the other selves from great distances, and disappear into the ground to reappear elsewhere. The latter ability appears to leave behind openings, which Insane Black★Rock Shooter took advantage of to follow Black Gold Saw into her realm.

Trivia

 * Her blood is red, though the color of her blood is different from a human's blood.

Gallery

 * Full article: Black Gold Saw (TV Anime Character)/Gallery