User blog comment:ShadsRocksMySocks/Best Understanding and over all review of the Black Rock Shooter OVA/@comment-112.201.158.53-20100730125909

NOTES: I honestly think the world Strength is in is part of the general Otherworld, just another place in it.

I think that the Otherworld/Real World thing is just a comparison, you know, like parallel universes that run like reflections of each other. The timelines of events may not be exactly aligned, though.

My total review is this: Art: 9.5/10. The Otherworld's texture is absolutely wonderful, but if you noticed--the smoke that blows with every catastrophe there clashes with the overall design. The human art for the Otherworld is also smoother and less graphite-like than the background, though that adds a nice effect. In the Normal world, the art is nothing spectacular, really.

Soundtrack: 9/10. The soundtrack pleasantly surprised me. I was expecting a nothing-special-so-so job, but this was a cut above the rest. Although not as mind-blowing as some of, say, Kajiura Yuki's works, it did fit the scenes very well. (That and I wish the metal bits were louder.)

Plot: 8/10. I'd read past reviews and of the plot being just so-so-yeah-whatever, so I was completely struck by how complex it really was. In my interpretation, the Otherworld is heavy, action-packed symbolism that also represents an alternate reality that, I hope, will merge with this one more cohesively. I really hope this turns into an OVA series, because the ending...it's not exactly an ending, is it?

Anyway, overall merits 8.5/10. I hope to see more of it soon. .