I'm not sure what I expected from Brynhildr in the Darkness, but it wasn't what I got. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, but given the fact that I had only truly skimmed the summary when choosing the show for coverage, I shouldn't be surprised. A story about childhood friends, coincidences, and clairvoyance was what greeted me, but it seems to be falling victim to some familiar tropes. I'm interested if it eases up on them, as the first episode was able to keep me entertained enough to ask questions at the very least.
High schooler Murakami was friends with a girl he knew only as Kuroneko back during childhood. The two would hang out together, talk about aliens, and look at the stars. Kuroneko is insistent upon the fact that aliens exist, and one day asks Murakami to go with her so she can prove it to him. The two edge across a dangerous cliffside, and with one wrong move, Murakami falls. He reaches out to grab Kuroneko's hand, and ends up taking her with him. Kuroneko dies, leaving Murakami to grow up lonely and searching for the truth about aliens, until one fateful day.
A transfer student shows up in Murakami's class who looks just like Kuroneko. With an outburst he tries to get her to "remember" him, only to be met with the girl's cold denouncement of their ever having known each other. Her name, coincidentally, is Kuroha Neko, but there's one distinguishing mark missing that would make her the Kuroneko from Murakami's childhood: moles in her armpit. It's easy enough to explain away (maybe she had them removed) but Kuroha Neko is also super strong and seems to be able to predict the future, saving a high school student from certain death and warning Murakami about his. In the end, she claims to be a witch. That would explain all of her weirdness, but in true anime fashion, you know she has to either be Kuroneko or some reincarnation of her.
Murakami is at least a brash kind of hero, quick to say what's on his mind, but Kuroha Neko is the worst kind of female character stereotype: standoffish and even a little dumb, as it quickly becomes clear she doesn't even know her multiplication tables. There's an annoying mixture of her trying to be gruff and "OH SO TSUNDERE," but you can't have both and still have an engaging character.
I'm not so much a fan of her or Murakami to be honest, but I am pretty intrigued at what the "alien" was from childhood. I'm hoping it doesn't turn out to be Kuroneko or something equally boring like that, but given my recent luck with anime series letting me down, I am cautiously optimistic. I also hate Kuroha Neko's skintight school uniform, because it's impractical, and I'm sure no school would allow her to dress like that even if it were from her old school. I mean really.
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from Japanator http://ift.tt/1sBOIQW
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