Black Rock Shooter (anime)/Headscratchers


 * Why the hell did they bother making an OAV and then not include the song that shares its name, except as an instrumental?
 * Because just because huke put it in a song doesn't mean it has to be in the anime.
 * It was included as an instrumental. Explain why they didn't use it as a song instead.
 * Because any song with vocals sticking out would make you concentrate on the background instead of the actual thing going on visually; also, would you really want it to be the credits song?
 * Would I rather have it be the credits song? Yes, yes I would. And songs with lyrics aren't necessarily distracting... I'm sure they were around during some of the finales in Nanoha, and they were never distracting.
 * I believe that this is related to the licensing to use Vocaloid for anything more complex than music. If huke and co use the actual song by Miku, they need to cut a deal with Yamaha and it will not be cheap. The melody of the song, though, belong to the B* RS Project. This lead to another question why they can't simply hire human vocalist (i.e. from supercell).
 * As it turns out, it's been confirmed: Miku couldn't be used due to legal issues.
 * I never said that Miku's singing it was a requirement, just the song. There's lyrics, there's music... and they retain just the melody? Hmm?
 * Most likely because they wanted to use Miku, and not some human.
 * And now it's the ending of the anime.
 * What was the point of making an OAV and then leaving hundreds of unanswered questions? If there were, for example, plans to make it into a 13 episode anime or something, fine. But one OAV with practically everything left to Fan Wank... why? It was nice and all, but is a basic explanation for something an unreasonable demand?
 * Because that's for the sequel, of course.
 * This seems like a oneshot/teaser to see if BRS will generate enough interest to justify investing the money for a full-fledged anime season. Here's hoping the lackluster writing of the OAV doesn't kill said interest.
 * ...lackluster?...anyway, it is called a "Promotion Project", but let's face it, it's hard to keep this up after so much work has been put into this. It took one year to make virtually 2 anime episodes...
 * And things don't get easier with practice? Of course, if they turned it into a full series things would probably be Off-Model in places, buuuut...
 * What would the entire season have to be about?! We know the beginning (all that Romantic Two-Girl Friendship stuff), we know the middle (merging and fighting) and we know the end. Sure that other girl's presence messes it up (I'm really annoyed they had to toss her in just so we couldn't make sense of it) but I doubt the explanation would be that rewarding anyway.
 * You're assuming that it's an anime show about the same plot. That's not necessarily true; it could be a sequel OVA, or an anime show about the same concept/characters but with a different plot. Nobody said the plot's going to be repeated.
 * Welp, sequel just got announced. Here we go!
 * Yuu is said to have been a first year who was accelerated to second year on the website. However, she ends up in the same class as Mato in their second year. This doesn't make sense; in Mato's first year, Yuu would have to have at least been in first year to be the basketball team manager (it's implied she's higher with the "first-year ace" line). But in Mato's second year, Yuu is clearly in the second year with her (they're in the same class). Japanese schools are isolated by grade classes, and so unless Yuu had to repeat a year, at what point did Yuu get "accelerated to second year"?
 * This is corrected in the 2012 anime where Yuu starts school with Mato and is only aspiring to become manager of the basketball team.
 * One unusual inconsistency with how the Rock Cannon is wielded. In the OVA continuity, BRS holds it in her left arm, but in other media, such as official shots of the figma, she holds it in her right hand.
 * Actually, it's always been on her left. The figma is incorrect - huke's original drawings, along with the Nendoroid BRS and the concept art, put it on her left. (Note this.)
 * Okay, this is just me complaining, but why use Miku again in the broadcast anime's version of the song? To make matters worse, it's obviously a new recording both instrumentally and vocally.
 * Can't please everyone, apparently; I'm guessing they put her in after complaints that she wasn't in the OVA. As for the new recording, it's likely a by-product of ryo's new Vocaloid tuning style.
 * Oh, I think the new mix is much better, and Miku's vocals sound more realistic. It's just that it shows that they actually put some effort into it as opposed to simply using the original mix. And yet they go with Miku again. While the ED is a human-sung supercell song.
 * Well Miku did quite a bit for the popularity of B*RS
 * According to, the Other World is where girls' minds go to deal with their emotional pain. Among the hordes of dead bodies of other selves, we see not a male in sight. Where does boys' emotional pain go?