Black Bullet-episode 4- 7/10

Things are getting crazy in Black Bullet.  Cursed ten year old girls are sacrificing their lives for a city that hates them while Rentaro and Enju struggle to save the city from the biggest Gasteria to date. While the action scenes aren't as intense in this episode they are more hard hitting with consequences finally catching up to the villains and heart wrenching sacrifices by the cursed children.

So what happened?

Rentaro and Enju go on the offensive with the rest of Toyko's top civil officer pairs to capture the catalysis that will summon a creature capable of destroying the last bastion of mankind.  During the ensuing conflict the other civil officer teams are utterly destroyed except for Rentaro and Enju who arrive just in time to see that last of the officers fall dead to the ground.  Kagetane, the masked man and mastermind behind the recent crisis, and his crazy duel wielding cursed child reveal themselves and a fight takes place.

This fight leads us to one of the series reveals which is that Rentaro is more than he appears.
 It is finally revealed that during the Gasteria war Rentaro was a survivor of the fabled “New Human Creation Plan” which appears to be an attempt to modify humans to be living weapons to combat the Gasteria epidemic.  However the experiments to create these “New Humans” were in humane and barbarous leading man of the test subjects to die or be driven insane.

So why is that important?

By replacing limbs and inards of humans with Varanium, an element that is deadly the Gasteria, the New Humans were unleashed on the world to combat the Gasteria.  However with the discovery of the cursed children this strategy and the experiments necessitated by it were deemed inefficient and the current system was enacted.  Rentaro’s left arm and leg are both made out of Varanium and are completely mechanized.  These limbs give him augmented and enhanced strength and speed and also the ability to counter and break through Kagetane’s force field.

Rentaro kicks the every loving night out of Kagetane who after being mercilessly beat is hurled into Tokyo bay where he sinks to the bottom presumably dead.  After narrowly defeating Kagetane Rentaro and Enju are informed that a Class V Gasterea has appeared and is about to attack Tokyo. Now the barriers of Tokyo can handle basically any Gasteria other than the one that just showed it’s ugly mug.  Lucky for Rentaro there is the remnants of a old super weapon developed during the war right in his area.  Lucky break guys.  So the weapon is a skyscraper high rail gun that launches Varanium bullets at nearly the speed of light resulting in a huge mega explosion.  Of course when they get there the cannon doesn't have any bullets but does Rentaro let that slow him down, no!  He proceeds to rip his own mechanical arm out of the socket while the nerve connections are still attached, which you know had to hurt like hell, and load his arm into the cannon chamber.  So for those of you at home keeping score he is know aiming a giant gun loaded with his arm as ammunition and is pointed towards Tokyo were if he missed the giant monster he will be responsible for wiping out the remainder of Humanity...no pressure buddy.  Long story long he doesn’t miss and he kills the giant Gasteria and saves the day.  There is a sad note to the end of this episode though as one of the cursed children that we have come to know must be put down as her corrosion level reachs over 50% which means the infected blood in her veins will turn her into a Gasteria soon. Rentaro tells a sweet kind lie and ends her life with as much kindness as he can offer but it is still heart wrenching to watch.  The episode ends with Rentaro telling Enju another kind lie by telling her that her own corrosion level hasn't risen when it is only 7% away from 50%. Will she be the next tragic victim of Rentaro's kindness?

So what do you think?

At first I was definitely skeptical of this series.  The use of prepubescent girls as combat monsters seemed like a convenient excuse for the series creators to appeal to fans of the lolita style of anime. Alot of series that feature this kind a set up use it to constantly show the female character in compromising positions but I would say that Black Bullet has been refraining alot from that.  The series wants to talk about social inequality and how society is often support on the backs of those we most despise and misunderstand.  
The second class status of the cursed children even though they are the boots on the ground giving their lives during a Gasteria outbreak to defend the very people who hate them is heart breaking.  This is especially seen in the episode before last when Enju is outed as a cursed child and all of her class mates without exception turn on her.  We have been shown during previous episodes that the cursed children are existing outside of the boundaries of civilization and they have been shown in pretty good numbers.  Could you imagine if those children that you have oppressed and discriminated against decided to rise up against you?  Imagine thousand of super powered ten year old’s just ripping the city apart.  Even if you can stop them they are going to take a good chunk of the city first.  Why the cursed children havn’t already risen up in my opinion is a mystery.  Perhaps they are held in check by military or socioeconomic means and simply lack a method or drive to form a resistance since mankind does not actively hunt them down just push them away.  Personally I don’t think that’s true and I chose to believe that they are held in check by a love for Humanity.  That although these are the people how have hurt them the most the cursed children still seek their love and acceptance and that when mankind needs them most they shall rise.