List of Black Rock Shooter episodes

Black Rock Shooter is the name of both a 2010 original video animation (OVA) and a 2012 anime television series, based on the character created by illustrator Huke. Produced by Ordet,^[1] the series, which both feature their own story lines, focus on two worlds, the human world involving the life of a girl named Mato Kuroi and her friendship with Yomi Takanashi, and the other world, where a mysterious girl known as Black Rock Shooter fights fierce battles. The OVA, directed by Shinobu Yoshioka,^[2] was first announced in August 2009, with a pilot edition released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc (BD) on September 30, 2009.^[3] The full 50-minute OVA was bundled with various magazines from July 24, 2010, before receiving a retail release on DVD and BD on December 17, 2010.^[4] The ending theme for the OVA is "Braveheart" by The Gomband.^[2] The anime television series aired on Fuji TV's Noitamina block between February 2 and March 22, 2012. The series was released on DVD and BD on June 22, 2012 in a box set containing the original soundtrack and an Insane Black Rock Shooter Figma figurine.^[5] The opening theme is "Black Rock Shooter" (ブラック★ロックシューダー Burakku Rokku Shūtā) by Supercell sung by Hatsune Miku, while the ending theme is "Bokura no Ashiato" (僕らのあしあと Our Footsteps) by Supercell sung by Koeda.

OVA

No.	Title	Original Release Date
OVA	"Black★Rock Shooter" "Burakku★Rokku Shūtā" (ブラック★ロックシューター)	July 24, 2010
Mato Kuroi makes friends with a girl named Yomi Takanashi who recently moved to the town. Mato quickly joins the basketball club, which incites Yomi to join the volleyball club since both clubs practice at the same time in the gymnasium. The two spend much time together over the following year, and during one outing Mato gives Yomi the same phone charm she has. In their second year of junior high, they end up in different classes, reducing the amount of time they can spend together. Furthermore, Yomi starts to become jealous of Mato hanging around her basketball club manager and classmate, Yuu Kotari. When Yomi seemingly disappears, Mato becomes concerned when she does not show up at school the next day or respond to her text messages. Mato becomes further depressed when she receives word that Yomi has been reported missing and is asked about her whereabouts by two detectives. One day, Mato receives a blank text message from Yomi and goes to her favorite spot in town where she finds the phone charm she gave her. The charm starts to glow and transports her to a strange world where she meets Black Rock Shooter, a mysterious girl with a blazing blue eye. As Mato tries to find Yomi, she merges with Black Rock Shooter and duels Yomi, who was possessed by an evil being called Dead Master. As the possessed Yomi is about to fall to her death, Black Rock Shooter saves Yomi from falling, and embraces her, causing Yomi's body to be free from Dead Master. The events of their lengthy battle are dispersed throughout the anime. Yomi and Mato return to their normal lives, but Yuu begins to act strangely.

Television series

Each of the episodes are named after lyrics from the eponymous song by Supercell.

No.	Title	Original airdate
1	"How Much More Do I Have to Scream?" "Ato Dore Dake Sakebeba Ii no Darō" (あとどれだけ叫べばいいのだろう)	February 2, 2012
In another world, the eponymous Black Rock Shooter battles a mysterious red-eyed opponent. Meanwhile, in the human world, Mato Kuroi enters middle school and takes an interest in her classmate, Yomi Takanashi. The two quickly become friends due to their common fondness for a book from their childhood. After inviting Mato to her house, Yomi becomes worried when Kagari Izuriha, a wheelchair-bound girl who wants to keep Yomi to herself, arrives and acts with hostility towards Mato, causing her to become frightened. Meanwhile, in the other world, Black Rock Shooter follows a green trail to a wasteland filled with broken toys where she is attacked by a girl resembling Kagari named Chariot. After speaking with the student counselor, Saya Irino, Mato renews her determination to become good friends with Yomi and invites her to go to a festival with her. In the meantime, before Black Rock Shooter can prepare a counter-attack against Chariot, she is stopped by a girl covered in chains named Dead Master.
2	"Dawn Envelops the Sky" "Yoake o Idaku Sora" (夜明けを抱く空)	February 9, 2012
As Black Rock Shooter continues her struggle against Chariot and Dead Master, Mato waits at the festival for Yomi, but she never arrives, since Kagari wouldn't allow her to leave. That night, Mato dreams of the fight between Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master, who has a heart carved into her chest, discovering Yomi has the same scar the next day. After consulting with Saya, who explains dreams serve as bonds between friends, Mato goes to Yomi's house, but Kagari stops Yomi from seeing her by throwing herself down the stairs. As Kagari is admitted into hospital with a broken wrist, Yomi's mother explains to Mato that Kagari was hit by a car while running after Yomi. Although nothing was wrong with her legs, Kagari used it as an excuse to become more dependant on Yomi. Determined in her belief that Yomi shouldn't suffer for that, Mato voices her pleas to go home with Yomi, calling her by her first name, helping Yomi realize her true feelings, which are to be earnest friends with both Mato and Kagari. After Dead Master manages to break free from her chains, she is captured by a woman named Black Gold Saw. As Chariot launches an attack against Black Rock Shooter in the confusion, she is killed, which causes Kagari to shortly outburst before calming down, seemingly returning to normal.
3	"Tears Held Back Threaten to Spill Over" "Koraeta Namida ga Afuresou na no" (こらえた涙があふれそうなの)	February 16, 2012
As Mato prepares to go to training camp with her basketball club, Yomi starts to become jealous of Mato's childhood friend, Yuu Kotari. Mato has more dreams involving Black Gold Saw during camp, and at the same time, Saya takes an interest in Yomi. Upon returning to school, the basketball coach, Arata Kohata, discovers a love letter she wrote for a boy she liked had been posted for all to see. Although she holds back tears in front of the crowd, she comes to realise those laughing behind her back when she is taunted by Saya. In the other world, Black Rock Shooter attacks Black Gold Saw's hideout, killing her minions, one of which resemble Arata. Simultaneously in the human word, Arata experiences a sudden pain in her head and falls unconscious in front of Mato.
4	"The World I Once Dreamt of Closes" "Itsuka Yumemita Sekai ga Tojiru" (いつか夢見た世界が閉じる)	February 23, 2012
In the other world, another being named Strength is seen throwing Chariot's corpse off a cliff. Meanwhile, Kagari starts going to school and starts making friends which, on top of Mato's duties with her club, causes Yomi to feel unwanted. As Kagari asks Mato for some advice on how to cheer up Yomi, they stumble upon Yomi arguing with Kagari's friends, saying something she soon regrets and locking herself in her room, ignoring Kagari's visits. The next day, the boy Arata confessed to the other day tries to apologise to her, but she has no memory of him. Meanwhile, Yomi falls further into depression when she receives a text from Yuu. Believing Kagari to be the only one who would need her, Yomi snaps when Kagari mentions that she has no memory of ever needing her. This has an effect on the other world, as Dead Master emerges with a darker personality and stands off against Black Rock Shooter.
5	"Black★Rock Shooter" "Burakku★Rokku Shūtā" (ブラック★ロックシューター)	March 1, 2012
As Black Rock Shooter fights against a huge army under Dead Master's control, Yomi behaves strangely at school, cutting her hair in class, causing Mato to become concerned, even lashing out at Kagari. As Yuu becomes cautious of Saya's actions, Mato sees the battle between Black Rock Shooter and Dead Master in her sleep. As Mato visits Saya the next day, she tries to strangle her, leaving her confounded. After seeing the painting Yomi drew of her, Mato comes to realise that is because of her that Yomi is suffering. She soon discovers that no-one in the basketball club remembers Yuu, soon finding her own memories of her to be false. Yuu then appears before her, telling her that the other world in her dreams is real. She explains how the people in the other world represent the sorrow upon their real world counterparts, and if they are killed, the person forgets about their attachments that caused them that grief, meaning if Dead Master is killed, Yomi would forget all about her. Offering Mato the chance to save Yomi without resorting to fighting, Yuu puts her into a deep sleep, sending her mind into that of Black Rock Shooter, only to find she had just killed Dead Master. The shock of this causes Black Rock Shooter's blazing blue eye to become purple.
6	"Hope That Time There Shouldn't Have Been Any" "Aru Hazu mo Nai Ano Toki no Kibō" (あるはずもないあの時の希望)	March 8, 2012
As Mato breaks down from what she had just done, Black Rock Shooter transforms into a more psychotic and armored form known as Insane Black Rock Shooter and stands against Black Gold Saw. As Black Rock Shooter rips off her own arm to fight against Black Gold Saw, Mato passes out from the pain, preventing Yuu from calling her back to her body. She brings her to Saya, who wanted to prevent Black Rock Shooter from causing destruction in the other world, but can't bring herself to kill Mato in order to do so. Instead, Saya has Yuu transport her mind to Black Gold Saw's so she can try to talk with Mato. Saya talks about how she befriended Yuu, who had been constantly bullied at both home and school. One night, when Yuu's house caught fire, Saya wrongly assumed Yuu was responsible and felt guilty. When Saya found her the next day, she asked Saya to protect her and awakened her connection to Black Gold Saw. Back in the present, Strength steps in to fight Black Rock Shooter in Black Gold Saw's place, allowing Saya to return. As Strength overwhelms Black Rock Shooter in battle, Yomi returns to school with no apparent memory of Mato.
7	"Make a Wish on a Star Racing Through the Darkness" "Yami o Kakeru Hoshi ni Negai o" (闇を駆ける星に願いを)	March 15, 2012
As Saya finds she is no longer able to connect with Black Gold Saw, Yuu sends her own mind to that of Strength's to try and talk to Mato, who finally regains consciousness and attempts to hold back Black Rock Shooter. However, Mato starts to hesitate when she realises how she had been running away from her own feelings. Just then, Strength starts to speak and goes berserk on Black Rock Shooter, revealing she is actually the real Yuu. Strength, the Yuu that Mato knew, explains how she gained emotions when Yuu, who was filled with an extraordinary amount of sorrow, was able to contact her, stopping her from dying at the hands of Black Rock Shooter. Finding a world of fighting better than the world she lived in, Yuu decided to switch places with Strength so that she would have to face reality instead. Meanwhile, as word reaches school that Mato had not returned home, Yomi feels a pain in her heart and remembers her friendship with her, which in turn causes Dead Master to reawaken.
8	"Let's Go Beyond This World" "Sekai o Koete" (世界を超えて)	March 22, 2012
As Strength prepares to sacrifice herself in order to stop Yuu, Mato becomes determined to stop Black Rock Shooter from killing her. She ends up inside a blue world, where she herself is Black Rock Shooter, standing against Insane Black Rock Shooter. As Kagari and Arata also recover their painful memories, the revived people of the other world combine their strengths to give Mato the power to defeat Insane Black Rock Shooter, uniting the world as one. Upon regaining herself, Mato finds Strength in a weakened state, who assures Yuu that she'll be able to make friends in the real world and gives her thanks to Mato before disappearing into the wind. Afterwards, Yuu returns to her original body whilst Mato, having regained consciousness, reunites with Yomi. As life returns to normal, Mato, Yomi, Kagari and Yuu all become friends together whilst Strength returns to her place in the other world, alongside Black Rock Shooter. The episode ends with Black Rock Shooter saying she will continue fighting.

References

1. "TV Animation Black Rock Shooter | Staff/Cast". Noitamina. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
2. "Black Rock Shooter Animation | Cast/Staff". Ordet. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
3. "Black Rock Shooter Anime with Yutaka Yamamoto Confirmed for Spring". Anime News Network. August 22, 2009. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
4. "Black Rock Shooter Animation | Item". Ordet. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
5. "ブルーレイ・DVD" [Blu-ray/DVD] (in Japanese). Noitamina. Retrieved March 22, 2012.