Black Bullet – 05

We were expecting a bit of a slowdown after the big climax last week in which Satomi and Enju took out the biggest Gastrea with the biggest gun. But like the episodes that preceded it, this one built slowly and steadily, growing more interesting as the pair starts a very special job that makes them responsible for the most important person in Tokyo, Seitenshi.

She’s just one of the many cute young ladies Satomi crosses paths with this week. His classmate Miori and Kisara duel in his apartment, after all, while he and Enju calmly get the dinner table out of the way. Both are beautiful rich girls, and much of their animosity towards one another is their mutual affection for our half-metal protagonist.

But Miori and Kisara were mainly around for comedy and to show that Satomi is a sought-after fella. More important to this next arc is Tina Sprout, a tiny “nocturnal” girl in dirty PJ’s he happens to run into. He gives her his number, but having his own tiny ward, leaves her to her own devices, not seeming to be in any particular distress. And he’s right: Tina can take care of herself. She’s a cursed child, and her master would have her take care of Seitenshi.

Apparently Seitenshi’s existing personal guard was insufficient for her pending meeting with a very dangerous rival area president, Saitake, who wants to unite Japan by force. He’s confident the war with the Gastrea is already won, is already planning the next one; a war between humans. Seitenshi also wants to unite Japan, but peacefully, which means she’s in Saitake’s way. She means to stay there, which means she needs all her organs intact.

I’m thinking Seitenshi could have been a little more tactful in essentially demoting her previous number one bodyguard, but then again the guy didn’t seem like reliable material, as he’s easily overpowered by Satomi when he ambushes him, leading to him vowing to kill Satomi…someday. It’s a bit of a clunky conflict.

But that guy’s not Satomi’s problem; keeping Seitenshi alive is. Enju not only wakes up in the limo just in time to tell Seitenshi how Satomi only likes big-boobed women; she also senses danger. There’s a tiny flash from the background, then all hell breaks loose, but Seitenshi gets away. Little does the sniper (Tina) and Satomi know, they already met and are on different sides. I wonder if that will always be the case?