***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Black Bullet. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
In the year 2021, humanity is almost brought to extinction due to the Gastrea epidemic. Mankind survived the outbreak and took refuge behind the Monolith Walls. These barriers, made of solid Varanium, can repel the monstrous Gastrea.
To fight the remaining fiends, governments employ organizations known as Civil Securities. Each Civil Officer team consist of an Initiator and a Promoter.
An Initiator is someone born with the Gastrea virus inside them, thus giving them superhuman abilities. Unfortunately, these carriers hold the stigma of Cursed Children. As such, the society they are protecting shun them. Therefore, Initiators must rely on their Promoters to lead them through battle.
One of these pairs is Promoter Rentaro Satomi (voiced by Yuki Kaji) and Initiator Enju Aihara (voiced by Rina Hidaka).
The nature of this duo's work is always filled with danger and little appreciation. Despite that, these two fight to save a world that would sooner have Enju dead than accept her.
Series Positives
I have a lot of good things to say about Black Bullet. The major one being the genuine thrill felt while watching it. This series, on many occasions, was entertaining.
The Characters
In the beginning, and to be honest, throughout this series, there was a ton of exposition. Though coming on strong, this was done well during the opening episodes. As a result, this cast bacame a group worth caring about.
Let’s start off with Rentaro and Enju. Before anything else, a big aspect of their relationship was reliant on a lolicon theme. While nothing physical occurs, the undertones this show used was a bit much. To the point where some audiences won't be able to get past it. A shame since this overshadowed an otherwise strong connection between these two characters.
Rentaro and Enju went through a lot together. And most of their problems came from the public's discrimination of Cursed Children.
When that wasn't happening, the banter between these two was enjoyable and fun.
Too bad these two's positives were only as such when they were together.
Rentaro was strong on his own. That's a good thing too considering the egregious amount of BS he had to go through. He was likable and was enough of a bad ass to keep you rooting for him.
A counterpoint to that, Enju was on the sidelines whenever she wasn't with Rentaro. This was a missed opportunity given the hints of backstory we got concerning her. These indicated the existence of a much more interesting character.
Getting past our two mains, there was Kisara Tendo (voiced by Yui Horie). From a prominent family, she had a falling out with them after the deaths of her parents. But this was after she became a master of her clan’s martial arts. She was particularly skilled in swordsmanship. There wasn't much about her past, but the Kisara that was here worked.
Next, there was Tina Sprout (voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa). Introduced in this series' second story arc, she made up a lot of ground fast. For some reason, we learned more about Tina than we did Enju. This discrepancy showed in the quality of their characters.
Tina was much more interesting and was the strongest fighter of this series. Also, I would be lying if I said she wasn’t adorable.
Finally, there was Kagetane Hiruko (voiced by Rikiya Koyama). He was my favorite thing about this show. As the main villain of the first story arc, he was terrifying. His utter badass-ness made him a fantastic antagonist. Thus, it was disappointing to not see much of him in the later parts of this show.
The Action
Black Bullet was exciting. From beginning to end, this was the one element of this show that never got dull. Movements were fast. Punches hit hard. The vast majority of this action was big and great.
Most of these fights had something to them. They were important and losing one wasn't an option. There were many times where I wasn’t sure if someone was going to survive an encounter.
Aside from the painful and very out of place CG during the final battle, this fight animation was solid. While not the flashiest I've seen, this series was a treat to watch. Plus, the accompanying music will make you feel part of the action.
Series Negatives
As mentioned, this show's beginning had a ton of exposition.
I understand that a story needs to set up its world and in something like Black Bullet there was a lot going on. In fact, there was so much information attached to this story that it was sometimes hard to follow. In addition, it didn't help that some of what was going on had no bearing on the plot. Not only that, this series fell victim to the consequences of a complex narrative. Plot holes, inconsistencies, and conveniences were everywhere. If it wasn’t for the characters and the action, this show would have fallen apart. 
But since that didn't happen, I am more than happy to recommend this series. That is if you stop at episode seven.
I am dead serious. The first two arcs were wonderful. There is no reason whatsoever to continue afterward.
The Third Arc
What happened? Black Bullet went from fun and exciting to garbage.
From the start of the third story arc, this series went downhill. And as this story got closer to the ending the faster the descent was. This went from sliding to falling. Falling to plummeting. And then finally, this show hit self-destruction.
The first two plotlines succeeded thanks to their scale. Everything was dire, and the consequences of failure were heavy. Yet the challenges were personal. Then came this ending which tried to do this again. But with it, this arc brought in additions without any semblance of direction or need.
The climax of this series was on par with the final battle of some epic fantasy. Except here it was awkward. Not only were these characters out of their element, they were no longer in the same show.
Then this story tried adding more characters. Except it failed to give anyone any time to establish any kind of connections. Spoilers, the final blow didn't even come from Rentaro. It came from a person whose name I’m not motivated enough to look up because I know so little about them. People we only saw once got killed and this show expected us to feel something for them.
Despite this final arc being an absolute mess, it was forgivable. There were moments with characters we did know that were gripping. Plus, the action remained exciting and fun. Even with the myriad of problems that existed, this third section could have worked. That was until the last episode.
This show was over. We got an ending. So then why did this series keep going? It wouldn’t stop. And in the process, it brought everything wrong with this story to light in an attempt to close a few loose ends. However, this did nothing except hammer in the final nail.
I was so ready to give Black Bullet praise and admiration. Now I’m torn. The beginning to this show was good. But this finale kind of ruined it.
Final Thoughts
I stand by my recommendation of the first two story arcs. The characters were fun. The action was exciting. Though this story wasn't perfect, it was functional.
Black Bullet came to a nice, satisfying conclusion at the end of episode seven.
Yet, the final bit of this show is trash. It got too big. It tried too many things. It pushed its luck way too far. This led to one of the most misguided endings I have ever seen.
If ever a series needed a second season, it’s Black Bullet. These characters are worth following. The mess that was this ending needs cleaning up.
For the first time, I'm not sure how to feel about what I just watched.
For the first time, I'm not sure how to feel about what I just watched.
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