YMMV / Black★Rock Shooter

Dawn Fall can be found here.

General Tropes

• Common Knowledge: People say that the titular character is a Vocaloid or that her design is based on Hatsune Miku (or even that she's a dark version of Hatsune Miku herself). Miku sang the song, but Black★Rock Shooter is not a Vocaloid and has nothing to do with them.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Since no official names have been given, fans refer to the strange universe B★RS and the Dead Master are in as the "Otherworld", and the people who reside in it with human counterparts as "other selves".
  • Similarly, while there have been official names for some weapons, others do not. As such, the fans refer to them by terms describing their appearance:
    • "Cannon Lance" for the bladed, modified version of the ★rock Cannon used against Dead Master's Skulls in the OVA. Named after its resemblance to the officially named "Insane Cannon Lance", used by Insane Black★Rock Shooter in the 2012 anime.
    • "Sword and Shield" for Chariot's sword and shield, obviously.
  • For the game, some refer to the Apostle Twins SZZU and CKRY as the "S&M Twins" because of their skill Sweet Chat.
• Just Here for Godzilla:
  • Let's be honest here, we're not here just for the game itself, we are all here just because B★RS / Stella is voiced by Maaya Sakamoto.
  • A general reaction among the viewers, who watched the anime not for its emotional story and drama, but for the titular character and her CG-driven fight scenes between the "other selves". Being voiced by the popular Kana Hanazawa also helps.
• Signature Scene: In any of the Black★Rock Shooter titles, expect the titular character to ignite a blue flame on one of her eyes. To the point that it is one of the things being referenced by other media.

Black★Rock Shooter (2009 OVA)

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Mato just your typical naïve girl, or is she in denial and being forced to regain courage? Is Yomi a kind, sweet girl with the occasional disturbing thought, or is she a psychotic Yandere? And is Yuu just a Genki Girl who feels left out nowadays or is she The Chessmaster like other fans are considering?
  • Is the Otherworld just symbolic? Are its denizens awakened shards of the characters' psyche? Separate spirits that played Grand Theft Me and/or The Symbiote to the schoolgirls?
• Epileptic Trees: The story refuses to explain anything about Other World, or its denizens. As such, it is breeding grounds for Wild Mass Guessing.

Black★Rock Shooter (noitaminA 2012 Anime)

• Die for Our Ship:
  • Since Yuu's the main one getting in the way between Mato and Yomi, Mato/Yomi fans do not like her "interference". Even Yomi seems to feel this herself.
  • With Yuu getting a MAJOR Adaptational Badass in the anime, expect to see some Mato/Yuu shippers bashing Yomi.
  • The same thing happens with Kagari, with how she basically had Yomi on a leash. She made things even worse for herself when she tells Mato straight to her face that Yomi's heart is dead. She gets a nasty slap in the face for it.
• Friendly Fandoms: The show has this kind of relationship with RWBY ever since the early 2010's when both shows were still relatively new at that time, thanks to the various similarities^note The two shows feature Action Girls who wear color-coded clothes, and wield large weapons that can shift to several forms. At least in the opening sequence of this 2012 anime, the other selves have their own unique logos, much like the characters of RWBY have theirs. Oh, and the similarities are even obvious when one compares the protagonists of both shows and any other characters with similarities. Black★Rock Shooter and Ruby Rose wear hooded jackets that have contrasting colors (black-blue for B★RS and black-red for Ruby), they use high-caliber guns too (a cannon and Gatling gun for B★RS and a sniper rifle for Ruby) and said guns can transform into melee weapons (a large sword versus a scythe). The list does not end there though, as both series have characters that wield scythes (Dead Master and Ruby), sword and shield (Chariot and Pyrrha with Jaune), and gloves that also act as firearms (Strength and Yang). Fans of both series made crossover fictions and artwork between the two, such as this one.
• Growing the Beard: The first two episodes were mostly narmy melodrama focusing on the creepy but oddly boring Kagari. After that, she's Demoted to Extra and things start getting bizarre.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The fight scenes were choreographed by Hiroyuki Imaishi, who would later go on to make his own Magical Girl Warrior series, complete with its own Stripperiffic protagonist wielding a massive weapon.
• Iron Woobie: The aptly named Strength, who, after developing emotions, realized the impact of the pain she was taking on from Yuu, was suddenly catapulted by her human counterpart to switch places with her and forced into the real world, had to adjust to the strange new world with no friends until Mato's appearance, and generally had to cope with not really existing to people. She only wants to help Mato and the other girls, but quickly ends up losing Mato to (Insane) Black★Rock Shooter, and when trying to save her and Yuu from a potentially horrible fate, ends up scorned by Yuu herself.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Some fans dislike the fact that the anime appears to be an expansion of the OVA, when the video game adaptation could have taken the spotlight, as the game takes a more sci-fi approach, with a sizable cast and a more cohesive storytelling.
• Narm: Most of the fight sequences are pretty violent and dramatic, but an unintentionally hilarious scene in Episode 7 has Strength grab B★RS by the ankles and slap her against several walls like a wet towel.
• Ship Mates: Yomi/Kagari shippers and Mato/Yuu shippers.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat:
  • After Episode 5, Mato/Yomi shippers may have to deal with Mato/Yuu shippers. Or technically, Mato and... Strength.
  • Not to mention the Kagari/Yomi shippers against any other ship involving Yomi.
• Spiritual Adaptation: The show is actually quite compatible with the Persona series. It features a tarot motif, the viewpoint switches between high school relationships and a different dimension where shadowy counterparts of the characters fight one another, and friendship is a very prevalent theme.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The characters were redesigned between the OVA and the Anime, particularly Yomi and Dead Master (with the latter now wearing a wedding veil). Some fans were displeased.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The fight scenes between Black★Rock Shooter and the other selves. The environment in the "Otherworld" is vibrant and pleasing to the eyes already, but combined with fast-paced battles and a nice blend of motion CG, these became the most entertaining parts of the series. Indeed, some viewers mention watching the anime only to see these awesome battles featuring a Stripperific protagonist armed with a large cannon. To further explain how awesome they are at that time, the show even received technical awards for the animation.

Black★Rock Shooter: Innocent Soul

• Anti-Climax Boss: Ram is initially a huge threat, however Rock is able to see past her memories with ease and she's pacified after Rock gives some words of encouragement to her alive self. Not to mention her whole reasons for messing with the Black Rock Shooters over the years were her way to lash out at the world for being a defective firefly when she was alive.

Black★Rock Shooter: The Game

• Complete Monster: In the manga adaptation, White★Rock Shooter is the catalyst of mankind's extinction. Posing as an alien idol singer, W★RS has herself cloned by a scientist named Gibson while her forces attack the Earth. Gibson makes a failed attempt to kill W★RS after finding out about her appetite for her progeny, prompting W★RS to call for the destruction of the human race. She proceeds to kill all but two of the clones and beat one of the surviving clones, Nana, before falsely telling her that Gibson never loved any of them. Sensing that the remaining humans have found the final clone, Stella, W★RS orders her enforcers to kill them. She soon kills two defectors, along with their new human allies, and plots the destruction of the Earth just to spite a third defector. Afterwards, she forces another enforcer to kill Stella and Nana, promising her death should she fail or succeed. Confronted by the two surviving clones, W★RS strips Nana, fakes her death, beats Stella to near-death, mutilates her arm, and taunts her by spitting out the apparent remains of Nana. As their fight nears its end, W★RS asks Stella to help her conquer another planet and crush its people's wishes so she can rule over them for the rest of time. Cruel and self-centered, White★Rock Shooter would without hesitation or remorse kill anyone who she felt wronged her.
• Critic-Proof: Despite the bad reviews this game managed to be one of the best selling games on it's release week for the obvious reason (see Just Here for Godzilla).
• Hilarious in Hindsight: In the first Stage, Rothcall and Xiaomin both argue about Stella's combat abilities, with Rothcall comparing her to Joan of Arc and the other retorts to this. Phobos later tells both of them to cut it out. Maaya Sakamoto voices Stella in this game and years later, she gets to voice Jeanne d'Arc from the Fate Series.
• Moral Event Horizon: For both Professor Gibson and White★Rock Shooter. The manga adaptation presents how the apocalypse came to be. Professor Gibson drew White★Rock Shooter away from her clones after she calls them "delicious" by instinct. Of course, White★Rock Shooter is confused by this and asks what she did wrong but never got an answer. Feeling guilty, she returns home to the Apostles and postpones any plans of exterminating mankind... all for the sake of making up and asking forgiveness from Professor Gibson. One day, she returns to the lab and no longer finds the clones. Just before she can relay her message of living peacefully with the humans, Professor Gibson shoots her with specialized bullets, wounding her. Then he arms a nuclear grenade to blow both of them for his plan of safeguarding the clones. Being an alien, White★Rock Shooter naturally survives the explosion, and with her fit of rage and despair, she commands SAHA the command of "Destroy All Humans".
• Narm Charm: The first hour of the game runs on this, with the PSS best described as a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits who are desperate for hot chicks. Some of them got distracted after seeing Stella up close for the first time, which is understandable because humanity has been nearly wiped out, they are the few males left, and they admit needing girls to keep humanity alive. Once the Draco crashed however, things get bleaker.
• Nightmare Retardant: Sure, humanity has been nearly wiped out by the aliens, but when we actually get to see that the Armaments (the cannon fodder army of the aliens) look like blocky creatures made out things resembling LEGO bricks, they are no longer that intimidating than what the story tells them to be.
• Scrappy Mechanic: After every major boss fight, you have a Quick Time Event where you have to rapidly mash the X button until the bar is full, in order to deliver the final blow to your opponent. But what happens when you do nothing and let the bar empty for an extended amount of time? Nothing! You won't get punished for idling a Quick Time Event only in this game. This led players to wonder why these Quick Time Event segments exist when they actually have no bearing to the gameplay itself.
• That One Level: The 3 motorbike segments in New York can easily become this if you don't get the hang of things. And there are Records which require a No-Damage Run for all three segments. There's no way to upgrade the speed or parameters of the bike, and no methods to recover HP, making the sections look like separate mini-games. And while you have 1000 HP, each hit will actually take a significant amount of damage (50 from smaller Armaments up to 100 from the larger ones). At most, you can only take up to 20 hits. This might sound easy on paper but it actually isn't. The driving sections are long and the highways are filled with Armaments, most of which will deal a hundred damage later near the end of the tracks.
• That One Side Quest: Several of the Extra Missions can be this as well since many of them have instant game over conditions ranging from messing up the Escort Mission, getting hit by a particular attack, or fighting the enemies in the wrong order.