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THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS (for the ending)

Instant Bullet showcases something that most people can't understand; humanity is a horrible mess. Humans are selfish, sapient beings. Understanding one another is impossible as different beings. I like this manga, but you can't understand how much I like it.

So here's the problem: the majority rules the planet. If the laws and norms don't suit your tastes, well you're out of luck. The characters in this manga are victims of this atrocity, and I really mean atrocity; the laws and norms in our world are horrible (the manga's world largely mirrors our own).

I won't use examples from the manga ... so I'll use equivalents to show just how horrible the world is. I hate racism. Laws across the globe protect racism. Racists have rights; if you kill someone for being racist you will be punished. Racism exists because there are racist people. Racism is not something people decide; it's part of the genetic code/makeup of human beings. In the same way you don't consciously decide what flavors of food you like, you don't consciously decide whether or not you are racist. Humans and their personalities are nature, not nurture.

What's the solution? Well one of them is wiping out humanity, as you can see in the synopsis. This is extremely appealing to antinatalists such as myself. However... this manga really botched that with the ending. The ending would've been much better had they wiped out humanity or gone with another solution. Other solutions would be putting all desirables in a location completely separate from undesirables, such as another planet or eliminating only the undesirables. However, these seem much less feasible than just wiping out humanity with the characters' limitations.

Instant Bullet shows the problems with unregulated procreation. You can have a world where antinatalists and pronatalists both exist... what a disaster. Instant Bullet is also great in how it doesn't do that garbage where delusional optimists gush about how life will get better by living, regardless of who you are. The reality is that the world is trash for some people and will never get better. Can you understand how evil things like procreation, religion, marriage, family values, etc. are?

I gave Instant Bullet a 10 despite its imperfections because the vast majority of manga don't care about real problems and just gloss over them. Not everyone fits into a disgusting society, and if you understand that then you might like Instant Bullet.

Beautiful. In many manga series, the character will experience the bad so that the good seems so much better when it comes. Realistically, some people just have completely terrible lives. The transition from seeking solace in life to seeking solace in death is beautiful and convincing.

Along the way, the reader is reminded that less fortunate people have unexplored characters and stories that are often overlooked. Many undeserving people are beaten down by life. Though the protagonist may have been naive, she tried to live with others and just couldn't stand up to the world by herself. She took a bad path in life, with no ... one to help her at any turns she took, and she eventually found herself stuck. The world is as foul as people make it.

Though the story is experienced in third person, it really is as Saki experiences things. The lack of her thoughts make the story so much more tragically beautiful. We see Saki convincing herself that she is okay, we watch as she despairs when hope is taken from her, and at the end there is no after story, no epilogue. When life ends, it doesn't matter what happens afterwards because to experience something, you need to exist. Even if the people who made Saki's life miserable were meted out justice, she will never get to experience that happiness.

I really appreciate how this manga shows that life can be worse than death. The ending for this manga was a happy one. After toiling through life, she got the eternal reprieve she deserved. She may not have ever gotten to enjoy life, but she won't have to suffer through it ever again.

The first Utawarerumono is vastly superior to this one. What made the show very enjoyable were its characters. In the first series we have Hakuoro, who is much more mature and intelligent than the protagonist, Haku, of Itsuwari no Kamen. Haku is in possession of a middle schooler's brain while Hakuoro has a mature one. This goes for the other main characters to a large degree as well. I realize that some of them aren't that old, but the sheer stupidity of some of the things they do is unfitting of someone with slightly above average intelligence. Average and below average intelligence are not enjoyable ... to watch. Keep in mind that i write this review considering someone with average intelligence to be frighteningly stupid. There are times and places for characters that are stupid, but this show is not one of them, especially not in the places of the main characters.

This show is very character reliant, and as such is very disappointing after having seen the first Utawarerumono. That being said, it's still much better than the average anime show.