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Honestly, I didn't expect it to be so bad. Beautiful poster, good rating, interesting tags for me. Here I will say that I regretted the time spent and would hardly recommend anyone to watch it. In short, firstly, you can’t look for logic and an exciting plot here, secondly, there is little action here, and I would not say that it was done with high quality, thirdly, although there are several interesting characters and relationships between them, all the rest are just dummies with whom it is impossible to empathize. And, fourthly, the technical part also nothing to write home about: the drawing is ordinary, ... the animation too, the music left me with ambiguous sensations - if you are interested, read about it below.
Let's move on to the positives.
1) 13 episodes. Believe me, there is hardly anyone brave enough to watch this during 24 full episodes. I treated this series like dishes in a sink. You don’t want to wash them and it’s tedious, but when you see the fruits of your labors, you can breathe a sigh of relief, put a tick on the invisible list of achievements and go about your business.
2) Rentaru’s relationship with Enju and other damned children (albeit with reservations) can be called a ray of sunshine in the darkness of what is happening. You can believe and you can even be a little sad when some of them pass away. I will describe all the negative nuances below.
3) I liked the charismatic character of the Joker. He largely added a certain zest to the scenes associated with him and even helped move the plot forward, although here too one cannot do without reservations.
4) I would note the design of the monsters as a relative plus. While watching, I caught flashbacks to Pacific Rim more than once. It was interesting to get to know them better and find out how they function and how they can surprise you. Unfortunately, in my opinion, there aren’t enough of them to make the story more exciting. I would like them to be, if not in every series, then at least in every second one.
5) This is a relatively controversial point and may not apply to everyone, but I was very impressed with the English dub. Everything is made at the highest level, the voices and characters are perfectly matched, there is a lot of emotion in the speech. Not once did I feel like switching to Japanese with subtitles.

Well, now to the cons. Let's start with the most serious ones and end with the barely noticeable ones. Get ready, as we are about to dive deep in a pit with utterly unpleasant moments, to say the least.

1) The main character. Also known as the ultimate killing machine, cyberdemon, lover of younger girls, and harem collector. He is also a good-natured person, very empathetic and ready to forgive everyone. He also really enjoys swearing. With all this, everyone comes to him, helps him, wants to become his concubines and wives. In general, the impression was that he was literally a god. He's got a bunch of cyberpunk prosthetics built into him, his eyes have cameras from the latest iPhone, and he's incredibly lucky. The doctor tells him that this experimental drug has a 20% chance of becoming a monster, then he injects FIVE of these drugs into himself at once (through simple mathematical calculations one can come to the conclusion that he deceived the system, unless of course this 20% does not depend on the number of uses , but this is not even said anywhere). He is shot in the stomach, shoulder and other vital places. But he survives because he is a protogonist. Moreover, he is a beggar, but after each skirmish with monsters, when he exposes his metal limbs, skin then appears on him every time. Is it regenerating? NO, he is not infected, which means he is not able to regenerate. In general, an unpleasant character, if he personally made the reference to Armageddon in the finale, I would not feel sorry for him at all. He only uses his flying leg when the script calls for it, by the way.

2) The general mood of the series. It seemed to me that the creators wanted to please absolutely everyone, because elements of many genres can be seen here. From drama and detective to romantic comedy with a harem component. They crammed TOO much in here, in my opinion. It would be worth focusing on one thing and developing it well, rather than spreading across a bunch of genres and trying to please everyone. I have too many examples of this, ain't no way I can describe even half of them here. There is little action, and when there is none, you might as well fall asleep. The battles do not look large-scale, much less threatening to the whole of Tokyo. The drama is underdeveloped, interrupted by stupid moments and illogical actions. Each time the heroes shout out the names of their moves before attacking, as if they were straight out of Hogwarts, and each time I couldn't care less about it. And the heroes really love their first and last names, because they pronounce them at every opportunity. And I would also like to note the absolutely dumb and irrutating habit of repeating the last words of a sentence with a questioning intonation, or issuing HA, AH, OH NO, and similar sighs after each sentence of the interlocutor, accompanying this with a close-up of their faces. I’ve seen this in many shows, but here it’s very noticeable and, frankly, infuriating.

3) The music itself is very good, but there is one big problem. It doesn't suit the style of the story at all and what's happening on the screen. There are very few compositions, literally a dozen, or it simply feels like it. In each episode, you catch yourself thinking that the same track was played in the previous episode or, worst of all, in the same episode. Plus, the sound engineer clearly messed up, this is especially noticeable at the beginning, because by the end you already get used to it. I'm talking about volume, sometimes you even have to listen carefully to what the characters are saying because the music interrupts their voices. Not so critical, but still.

4) The plot is very ordinary. A long time ago, a catastrophe happened and a war began with some mutated creatures. They flew, crawled, walked and wanted to kill everyone. And of course, they killed the parents of almost all the characters, because otherwise it’s difficult to come up with an excuse to fight the invaders. Yet another attack occures and our heroes in a mortal battle need to protect people and get rid the adversaries. In parallel, a story is told about cursed children who live in isolation and everyone hates them. At the same time, they are very useful when fighting monsters because of their features. In fact, there are only six such representatives here. You might object: what about those taught by Rentaro and Kisara? Well, keep in mind that they died because someone, acting in accordance with "very humane" thoughts, simply dropped a bomb on them. And it doesn’t matter that they are not at their desks all the time (as far as I remember, they lived in the sewer), and it doesn’t matter that, by coincidence, they end up being gathered in one place, and it doesn’t matter that all these ten years nothing has been said about them nor have they been rembered, This special someone (author) decided to kill them just at the moment of the story, in order to create pity for greater drama and hatred of people who do not want understand anything about their nature. Yes, we were shown that they had their own dreams and, despite all their shortcomings, they were cheerful children. To me, this is already clear, and no one deserves to be treated this way. OK now, would you be so kind as to tell me what role does the blind girl play? She just prayed against the backdrop of the city and that’s it. We also found out that she has a sister who is hungry. A very useful character, again, probably created in order to elevate Mr.God and show what a man of a broad soul he is.
There is also a parallel line with the princess (the most stupid and useless ruler I have ever seen) and her bodyguards. So these bodyguards are even more brainless than the princess herself. Not only do their personal superiority over others and well-being come before the safety of the first person in Tokyo, but they are also ready to jeopardize the entire plan and, with a high degree of probability, help the monsters destroy the city. At the end of the 12th episode, when they threw the batteries into the water, I caught the wildest facepalm and flew into orbit on jet propulsion from under the chair.
I won’t even go into too much detail about the role of Tina Sprout. She is needed only in the first half, and then both the beholder and even HER OWNER himself completely neglect her. Look, she went over to the side of the enemy, and... whatever, who cares, right? Although, to tell the truth, I was completely hoping that there would be some kind of plot twist and that she, already on Rentaro’s team, would start a riot. But no, she turned out to be an absolutely obedient little ball of cuteness with a sniper rifle and flying drones. And these drones, which also have a thermal imager, use it only when the scenario requires it. The ending also disappointed me, especially Kisara's actions, which defy explanation. I actually thought that Enju would mutate and Rentaro would have to shoot her. This would be a really dramatic end, and quite logical, please note, because her infection was already close to 50%. But no, she turned out to be just as lucky.

5) Stupid, funny and devoid of logic moments. There are so many of them here, I can’t list them all, but I will try to mention the most memorable ones. The worst thing is that I did exactly that, have been writing down more and more new entries in a notebook, and was not busy watching anime. That's how "interesting" it was.
Well, first of all, it is necessary to give a prize to the one who came up with the idea of ​​​​calling the monsters Gastrea - after all, this is literally a mixture of gastritis and diarrhea. This is a perfect description of creatures that are so vile and, moreover, leave behind a puddle of disgusting liquid and dark pieces of their flesh. Actually, this is a positive point, but I’m too lazy to move it higher, so let it be here.
A huge cannon and also the only chance to defeat a lvl 5 Gastrea found to be without shells and even with broken controls??? Who was responsible for this? The ground next to it shows that it has never been used. I mean, can you imagine someone built this thing, buried it underground and forgot to put supplies in??? And then, apparently, someone said: alright, that would do. If I managed to misunderstand something and it was somehow used before (although then why it was hidden there without shells later is unclear), then I am open to dialogue. Let me know and I will remove this monstrous inaccuracy.
When Tina talks to her owner on the phone, she uses an earpiece. But when the intrigue requires that she drop the phone and not hear the name of the princess’s guard, she completely forgets that she has something in her ear and tries to reach the phone.
Tina then comes to Kisara's office and shoots into... the sky? At the ceiling...? Is she really a sniper? She killed a policeman before without any problem, and now she’s afraid to kill this girl? Very strange behavior.
You will laugh, but after everything she has done, the state has NO QUESTIONS ABOUT HER and she calmly joins the team to PROTECT THE POPULATION. Rentaru, meanwhile, simply forgave her, well, because would yo-you-look-k at how cuuuute she is. And he thanked her for being who she is... It's so stupid I want to cry and luagh at the same time.
Now I will note a detail that is very important for the plot. When the barrier was collapsing and scientists were calculating how soon it would fall, THEY FORGOT TO CONSIDER THE WIND!!! WIND, KARL! I have no words, these scientists got to be truly outstanding.
I also didn’t like the sounds of Gastreas; they don’t feel dangerous, big and nasty. It’s as if I bought a dirt-cheap toy from China at the market and pressed the play button.
And finally, it’s unlikely that small flying baloon flashlights could illuminate the battlefield as well as many professional spotlights. This is an artistic exaggeration, but it still looks strange.

As a result, we have one big disappointment. I do not recommend watching it, even if you are a fan of one of the genres I have indicated. There are much more useful and interesting things to do than watching Black Bullet.

I'm really struck by the unpopularity of this title and the relatively low ratings. That is why first I will describe all the advantages, and at the end I will move on to the disadvantages and try to suggest what someone might not like here.

1. Visual
Very nice drawing. I never thought I'd be so happy to see characters' noses. Certain vibes of the nineties and early 2000s immediately appeared. In general, in general, the faces of all the characters are carefully drawn, emotions and all sorts of details are clearly visible. The environment is also well drawn. I won’t say much about the animation, it’s ... normal, sometimes you’re even surprised that the characters move (for example, when the scale is large and the characters are standing in the distance, or when the interlocutor doesn’t freeze and wait for the other to finish, reacting immediately to something). However, in several moments it was clearly visible that the animators had been lazy, and there was a feeling of static, as if you were looking at a painting. But this only happened a couple of times, and therefore was not too annoying.

2. I liked the music, but I didn’t find any favorite compositions for myself. Competent work with sound - in the last episode there is no music at all, and this incredibly immerses you in what is happening. This is exactly how the heroine saw everything around her. It is largely thanks to this that the last episode is so strong, I was naturally discouraged by what was happening on the screen, I could not take my eyes off, I could not think about anything else, I hardly even moved. It won't be a lie if I say this is one of the best final episodes, if not the best, I've ever seen.

3. Atmosphere.
I don’t know if this is a spoiler, but what I’m going to talk about happens already in the first episode, so I still think not. In addition, I will still describe the plot below, and without this information nothing will be clear. In general, when the characters fall into stasis, the viewer is actually transported there with them, and not just observing from the side. As I noted above, first of all it is dead silence. She is everywhere and with everyone. Further, at every convenient angle we are shown how people froze in a transitional state - just a moment before stasis they lost their balance or dropped something from their hands. Time stood still and they remained in this awkward position. (Here I will pick on the number of such people, as if the most clumsy people on the planet live in this city, but everyone understands that this is just an artistic exaggeration, and, moreover, it works as it should). In addition, you can interact with this frozen environment, which is what our heroes use, you can pretend to be frozen and carry out a vile attack from behind, when the enemy loses his vigilance, you can sit in the car and look like a passenger. The environment can be used as a tool, although there are caveats to this, which I'll cover at the end. A plus are incomprehensible creatures that prevent the disruption of the order of things in stasis. They look intimidating (although at the same time a little funny) and follow the main characters as invisible observers. The latter, in turn, should not forget about them and therefore they cannot feel like gods. This grounds them and makes them more realistic. And, of course, there are mysteries about the nature of this stasis, which are buried in the details and even in the characters themselves. In a word, the atmosphere is simply impressive.

4. Characters
Again, I said above that the atmosphere grounds the characters to make them seem more realistic. However, this does not work the same for everyone, it all depends on the character’s personality, his desires and dreams. I really liked the main villain, whom you can more than empathize with, who is not a danger from the very beginning, who gradually reveals his cards and increases his strength. He is also charismatic, cold and reasonable. Simply put, an ideal and perfect antagonist for a healthy person. Who is opposing him? No less pleasant is the character of Juri, who is dragged here against his will and forced to fight. Nothing is more important than family, as Dominic Toretto would say, and the main character completely agrees with him. She is ready to do anything to keep her family safe. She gets here without a clear goal in life, but in the end, after going through all the trials, she finds it, and what a goal! In her adventures, she is helped by relatives and other characters, sometimes the most unexpected. Each of them is strong in something and none of them can do it alone. With each new step there is more and more hope, but at the same time the path becomes more dangerous. ----This sounds very textbook, but it fits perfectly here and I don’t remember describing all this with such delight somewhere. Okay, let's continue. ----
In general, all the characters are well developed, interact well with each other, without losing logic and, most importantly, you want to empathize with all of them.

5. Plot
Firstly, the whole story unfolds precisely in one single stasis. At first it seems that this is somehow wrong and they are about to return, but with each episode this feeling goes away and the viewer begins to explore this small world together with the heroes without a second thought about the intimacy of what is happening. There are a lot of unpredictable moments in the plot, which makes it even more interesting to watch. There are no fillers anywhere, everything that is shown will be useful in the future and, one way or another, will play its role. The secrets are revealed gradually, at the perfect pace, when you are not yet bored by the amount of information and do not feel irritated by the fact that you do not know or understand anything. Well, the ending is unlikely to leave anyone indifferent, it’s the perfect ending to the story. The plot, the climax, the denouement: everything is carefully calibrated and will never let the viewer go until it shows everything it has to offer. There are no awkward moments, no illogical decisions. Everything makes sense and looks real.



Well, now we can talk about the shortcomings. You can find something bad everywhere and this series is no exception. The only thing is that there is so little bad here that I couldn't justify deducting a single point from my final grade.
I had a few questions regarding the physics of stasis objects - why they do not freeze immediately when contact with the characters is lost, but after a certain time. What determines this time period? I’m even ready to agree that this was done for beauty and effectiveness, but I would like at least someone to say at least some phrase about it (maybe I misheard? Then tell me, I’ll be very glad to read it)
Physics also includes food and water. How do they drink tea if it hardens immediately when it comes out of the bottle? It looks somewhat fantastic, as if they are drinking and eating in space. A minor quibble, but, nevertheless, I want to know this world and its laws, and this is precisely what is not said.
In Seko’s memories of 17 years ago, cars from the early 10s of the 21st century are driven (read - the seventh Golf and Honda nBox). Perhaps the action takes place conventionally in some year 2030, and then everything will fall into place, but from the surroundings it is clear that this is our time, that is, the release time of the anime is 2018 and then the temporal discrepancy is noticeable. But again, this is such a minor flaw that hardly anyone will notice it.

What could the beholder dislike? As for me, it is not entirely justified for some characters to have superpowers. But for me personally, this is not at all critical, otherwise they would not have had the opportunity to confront the villain.
Someone will probably note the presence of 3D animation. Yes, it is present here. But, firstly, there is very little of it, and secondly, it is made quite well and is not disturbing. Moreover, it expands the possibilities of showing stasis in all its glory. This is not a minus for me either.
Well, for some, fleeting stupid jokes or strange thoughts of the characters will be critical. But, most of them come from Takafumi and reveal him as a character with selfish goals, short-sighted, but also caring for his family. His thoughts and jokes are like his grandfather's wrinkles. Nobody scolds him for this.

That's all. I gave it a 10 without hesitation and added it to my favorites. And once again I was convinced that people with the same tastes as you yourself do not exist, and also that you should not blindly believe ratings and reviews. It's better to look and decide for yourself. I have no right to insist that you watch it, but I can give very strong advice you do. Cheers everyone and thank you for your attention.

While reading and immediately after, I was, of course, impressed, but as soon as I started to think about it, some problems surfaced - I’ll tell you about them now. Generally speaking, I definitely liked it and don’t regret the time I spent.

1. I personally liked the character design, art and visuals, there’s nothing particularly to complain about. The villain-strangler from the dreams is coolly depicted, he immediately reminded me of Belos from The Owl House. The characters' emotions are also very readable.

2. The characters themselves left an ambiguous feeling. Kazuya is well depicted. If you compare him with the same Makoto Ito, it's easy ... to sympathize with Kazuya and to feel sorry for him in a way. Here we follow his train of thoughts, see his dreams, his attitude towards everyone and everything: everything through his eyes. You can really feel sad when his plans don't achieve their goals or when he almost dies. Someone will argue, like, how can one feel sorry for him if he is a womanizer, does not value the feelings of others and is always looking for benefits for himself. Well, firstly, he himself understands this, and secondly, he really takes steps towards changing himself (albeit more for the sake of his life, but I note that insight still comes to him and in the end he turns into Makoto of a healthy person.)
As for the other characters, not all of them are equally useful both for the plot and for Ichijo himself. I honestly thought that since Hazuki was on the cover, she would be the driving force of the entire plot. What do we really have? She simply gives ideas for his self-development and his so-called “lifelong romance.” Why did she end up with Masaki? Okay, more on that in the “plot” section. Well, in general, as a character she is either not developed or not really needed.
Next up, Masaki. Ambiguous guy. I would rather call him a man of mystery. Because he cannot boast of logic, or, on the contrary, he is a misunderstood super-genius. He is extremely empathetic and this seems to cloud his judgment. In fact, his troubles are his fault, not Kazuya's. He was rejected twice - well then, think of it, maybe then you shouldn’t dwell so much on your unrequited love? If you don’t like what your friend is doing, tell him what to do, and don’t stand as an outside observer. To hate your friend so much for not saving your passion... well, strange. Save her yourself, at least try to act differently, as they say - start with yourself. Here he is exactly like Makoto, only as if the authors deprived him of super charisma and a female magnet.
Rika is a victim of circumstances, a strong character, well developed. It is clear why she behaves this way, it is clear why she told the truth to Ichijo in that life, it is clear why she refused Masaki. No complaints.
Other characters are Chekhov's hanging guns: some are loaded, but misfire, while others hang just like that, without being charged. Consider Reiko and Mitsuru. As one of the temptations and wrong choices at the beginning of the story, it is undoubtedly good. Helps the hero open a new chapter of his memories. But everything that surrounds her - Mitsuru and Katsuhiro - is worked out, in my opinion, worse. Yes, Kazuya gave Mitsura an understanding of what a normal attitude towards women is, and how not to behave himself. But the good guy here is not Mitsuru, but, in fact, Kazuya. Well, for some reason, we weren’t shown how this whole Santa Barbara thing with Katsuhira, Reiko and Mitsuru ended. It's a pity.
There’s nothing special to say about the rest; NPCs are NPCs. They do what they are told and don’t ask questions. It works just fine.

3. I definitely consider the plot a plus. It is interesting, with a good narrative pace and correct presentation. They don’t dump everything on the reader at once, but reveal what happened on the fateful day and before it gradually, as much as is needed at a particular moment. Based on the results of these sessions, which reminded me of the Supermassive Games psychotherapists’ offices, and based on what he remembered, he begins to build a course of thoughts, and then actions, sharing everything with the reader. Again, this makes it easier to understand him and begin to empathize with him. I did not always realize what exactly needed to be done and what exactly needed to be prevented, just like the hero himself. This made it more interesting every time. I couldn’t have guessed that Rika would be the root of the problem, and so it was a pleasant revelation for me. The ending only confirmed my positive feelings (although not without reservations). I was satisfied, the tension that had accumulated during these attempts to change the past was gone and I felt relieved.
Let's talk about its disadvantages now. The ending itself could have been stretched out over, say, another chapter to tell what exactly each of the characters did to get to where we are at the end of chapter 22. Whom became Kazuya, how he began to treat girls, what kind of relationship he had with them, who attacked Riku and for what, in the end. And I would also like to hear how Hazuki and Masaka got together. You know what, I can also mention about Ichijo’s “white room”, namely about its last appearance: firstly, who said that Kazuya "is a good guy in general", and "I say all I’m still guilty and... so I can leave in peace"?... And where did Masaki go? I assumed it was Ichijo himself from a past life. Although I'm not sure if he strangled protagonist in every dream, but what Masaki did there then. This issue is not very clear, or maybe I didn’t understand, then I’m sorry.

P.S. I think the title could have been better. Yes, it is moderately cringy and enticing, but it hardly corresponds to the entire plot, and certainly not the leitmotif.

As a result, we have a decent manga that is interesting to read. It also makes you think about your actions, and perhaps rethink those you have already committed, and this is worth a lot. My rating is 8, I don’t regret anything and recommend reading it.

I’ll note right away that although the tags indicate “crossdressing,” I expected to see the benefits of these changes being used more intensively and more frequently. So, this manga is unlikely to scare off those who are especially sensitive to this kind of stuff.

I liked the art, even if there were fewer moments here for which I would want to take a screenshot than in the same School Days, but it was still pleasing to look at the characters and effects.

Speaking of characters. What did they do to Makoto... He's really some kind of harem-type alpha male mixed with Satan. Although, it depends on which ... Makoto you consider canon. It seems to me that he is the most real in the manga School Days: moderately voluptuous and obscene, quite close to reality in thoughts about the feelings of others and perfectly reflected from the indecisive and dependent side. Those who watched the anime or completed the visual novel (only in some arcs), for example, will rejoice, because here he is shown as an even more selfish, disgusting and, frankly, rotten person. In general, to each his own. This version of Makoto seemed to me to be a serious exaggeration. Moreover, the authors themselves, realizing this, mentioned this at the beginning of the second volume.

What about the other characters - their actions are interesting to watch and they are well developed. This shows one of the situations from a visual novel, where two irreconcilable rivals nevertheless make peace and coexist together with the object of desire. Well, it’s a good decision, and it gives room for a plot twist and allows the authors to move away from this feud and more carefully focus their attention on other heroes - namely Roku and Yuki.
The creators have made a very pleasant duo that is easy to empathize with. Another thing is that throughout the entire narrative, certain kinds of questions appeared every now and then. I would like, you know, for my relative to not only to match me with a pleasant-looking girl, but also for this girl to change her thoughts from hatred to love in just one or two days. In a word, I DO NOT BELIEVE IT! However, if we ignore these moments, which are a dime a dozen in other stories of this genre, then the symbiosis between the main characters turned out to be very worthy.

I would definitely mention the plot as a plus. Whether it was the presentation or just the quality, it was very interesting to turn the virtual pages. And the ending completely pleased and satisfied me. It would be ideal if they presented the moment of Roka’s rescue of Yuki at the station somehow differently. I'm talking about the moment when she jumped right in front of a train to save him. It is shown not only like if she had jumped from the other side of the rails but she had also managed to stop the time to be able to reach him before the train comes. I mean, it appears to be funny and surreal, but I suppose that's not how it was intended to look like.
There are, of course, quite dubious decisions of the heroes and even more dubious results of these decisions. However, I can’t remember any of them off the top of my head, so I won’t focus your attention on this too much.

It is unlikely that anyone will read this manga without knowing the entire ins and outs of the franchise, but for those who would like to expand their knowledge in this area or look at an already familiar story from a different perspective, I think they will like this piece of art. It is far from ideal, but for me personally it is extremely interesting, sometimes funny and even, you will be surprised, although, like all the works of the franchise, it is instructive. The moral of this story is this: you shouldn’t help everyone who doesn’t ask for it, much less resort to extreme measures.