Black Bullet

This article is about the light novel series. For the aircraft prototype, see Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet. For the confectionery, see Black Bullets.

Black Bullet
File:Black Bullet Light Novel Cover Volume 1.png Cover of the first light novel volume.
ブラック・ブレット (Burakku Buretto)
Genre	Action, Dystopian, Science fiction
Light novel
Written by	Shiden Kanzaki
Illustrated by	Saki Ukai
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Demographic	Male
Original run	July 10, 2011 – present
Volumes	7
Manga
Written by	Shiden Kanzaki
Illustrated by	Hon Morino
Published by	ASCII Media Works
Magazine	Dengeki Maoh
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	August 27, 2012 – present
Volumes	4
Anime television series
Directed by	Masayuki Kojima
Written by	Tatsuhiko Urahata
Music by	Shirō Sagisu
Studio	Kinema Citrus, Orange
Original network	AT-X, Tokyo MX, SUN, tvk, KBS, TVA, BS11
Original run	April 8, 2014 – July 1, 2014
Episodes	13

Black Bullet (ブラック・ブレット, Burakku Buretto) is a Japanese light novel series written by Shiden Kanzaki and illustrated by Saki Ukai, published under ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Bunko imprint. The series began publication on July 10, 2011, and 7 volumes have been published as of April 2014. A manga series began serialization on August 27, 2012 in ASCII Media Works's Dengeki Maoh. An anime adaptation by Kinema Citrus and Orange was announced at Dengeki Bunko's Autumn Festival 2013 on October 6, 2013. It aired from April 8, 2014 to July 1, 2014.

Plot

In the year 2021, mankind is decimated by the epidemic of Gastrea, a parasitic virus, and is forced to live within the Monolith walls, which are created from Varanium: a metal that is able to subdue Gastrea. Soon, children who were born with the Gastrea virus and obtained superhuman abilities as a result, are discovered and dubbed "Cursed Children". Due to the Gastrea virus' intervention, the Cursed Children could only be female. Civil Securities are formed to specialize fighting against Gastrea, operating with the pair of an Initiator, who are cursed children, and a Promoter, serving to lead the cursed children. Ten years after the epidemic, Rentarō Satomi, a high school student who is also a Promoter in Tendō Civil Security Agency owned by his childhood friend Kisara Tendō, along with his Initiator, Enju Aihara, conducts missions to prevent the destruction of the Tokyo Area and the world.

Characters

Tendō Civil Security

Rentarō Satomi (里見 蓮太郎, Satomi Rentarō)

Voiced by: Yūki Kaji

Rentarō is a second year student in Magata High School and also a Promoter in Tendō Civil Security. Rentarō's parents died in the war against Gastrea ten years ago, and was adopted by the Tendō family, but left the family along with Kisara. Rentarō lost his right leg, right arm and left eye in a fight with Gastrea to protect Kisara, and was saved by Sumire's "New Human Creation Plan" which replaced his lost limbs with Varanium. He uses an XD and is a beginner in Tendō style martial arts.

Enju Aihara (藍原 延珠, Aihara Enju)

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka

Enju is a Cursed Child, and is Rentarō's Model Rabbit Initiator in Tendō Civil Security. She lives with Rentarō and went to primary school normally until her status as a Cursed Child was revealed during the incident involving Kagetane Hiruko, and thus was forced to transfer. When first introduced to Rentarō by the International Initiator Supervising Organization (IISO), Enju had severe trust problems, but this has since improved through getting along with Rentarō and eventually becoming infatuated with him.

Kisara Tendō (天童 木更, Tendō Kisara)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Kisara is the president of Tendō Civil Security. Originally from the Tendō family, she left the family after a certain conflict along with her childhood friend Rentarō. Kisara's kidneys are barely functioning due to witnessing her parents being eaten up by Gastrea. Believing that her parent's death is related to the Tendō family, she swore revenge and is extremely skilled at Tendō style martial arts, but is unable to fight for long periods due to her body condition. Kisara holds feelings for Rentarō who also displays signs that they are requited, but their attempts to improve their relationship are usually interrupted by someone else, specially Enju. However, her obsession with enacting revenge upon the Tendō clan is a source of concern for Rentarō, who fears it may one day lead to them parting ways.

Tina Sprout (ティナ・スプラウト, Tina Supurauto)

Voiced by: Tomoyo Kurosawa

Tina is a product of Ayn Rand's mechanized soldiers and formerly his Model Owl Initiator. Tina was ordered to assassinate Seitenshi by Ayn but was instead foiled by Enju's interference and eventually defeated by Rentarō. Seitenshi gave her special treatment and only ordered to keep her under observation, and was hired by Tendō Civil Security when she was released. She later on forms a pair with Kisara, while becoming infatuated with Rentarō just like Enju, with whom she competes for his attention.

Tokyo Area

Seitenshi (聖天子, Seitenshi)

Voiced by: Aki Toyosaki

Real name unknown, Seitenshi is the ruler of Tokyo Area, one of the five largest areas in Japan after the war. She is idealistic and wishes for everyone to be able to live in harmony. Recently pushed through basic human right laws for the Cursed Children and has incited dissatisfaction from the Deprived Generation.

Kikunojō Tendō (天童 菊之丞, Tendō Kikunojō)

Voiced by: Tamio Ōki

Kikunojō acts as Seitenshi's adviser and holds the greatest political power. He is also Kisara's grandfather and also Rentarō's foster father. Due to his wife being killed by Gastrea 10 years ago, he is extremely unhappy about Seitenshi implementing human rights for the Cursed Children, thus requesting the Hiruko pair to create an upheaval.

Sumire Muroto (室戸 菫, Muroto Sumire)

Voiced by: Yūko Kaida

Sumire is one of the Four Sages and the person in charge of the "New Human Creation Plan" and a researcher in a medical school near Magata High School.

Miori Shiba (司馬 未織, Shiba Miori)

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu

Miori is the student council president of Magata High School and Rentarō's sponsor. She and Kisara hate each other due to the fact that both of them have a crush on Rentarō.

Kagetane Hiruko (蛭子 影胤, Hiruko Kagetane)

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama

Kagetane is formerly a Promoter in a Civil Security, but had his license revoked due to excessive killing. Kagetane is a product of the "New Human Creation Plan", and was requested to destroy the Tokyo Area. His pair is eventually defeated by Rentarō and Enju, but later reappear to assist them in the Third Kanto War.

Kohina Hiruko (蛭子 小比奈, Hiruko Kohina)

Voiced by: Aoi Yūki

Kohina is Hiruko's daughter and his bloodthirsty Model Mantis Initiator.

Shōgen Ikuma (伊熊 将監, Ikuma Shōgen)

Voiced by: Hiromichi Tezuka

Shōgen is a battle-crazed Promoter who die in a fight against Kagetane Hiruko. At first glance he is uncaring to his initiator, calliing her his weapon. In the manga only, in his last moments he revealed he viewed them as the same, beings who only had meaning in battle and together they proved each other's existence.

Kayo Senju (千寿 夏世, Senju Kayo)

Voiced by: Megumi Han

Kayo is Shōgen's Model Dolphin Initiator. She has an IQ of 210 but is unsuited to front-line battles. During her mission to eliminate the Hiruko pair, she was separated from Shōgen and met Rentarō. As she protected the area from Gastrea led by the Hiruko pair's battle, the amount of Gastrea virus in her body exceeded the critical value, thus she requested Rentarō to shoot her while she's still human.

Takuto Yasuwaki (保脇 卓人, Yasuwaki Takuto)

Voiced by: Subaru Kimura

Seitenshi's personal guard who is unhappy about Rentarō being hired as part of Seitenshi's protection squad from Tina's assassination attempts.

Kazumitsu Tendō (天童 和光, Tendō Kazumitsu)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu

Kazumitsu is one of Kisara's four brothers who conspired against their parents leading to their deaths. He is a politician who earned his position with money he embezzled during the construction of one of the Monoliths, by reducing the concentration of Varanium to cut costs. However, after the weakened Monolith is destroyed by a Gastrea invasion, Kisara obtains proof of his fraud and uses it to force a confrontation with her, succeeding to obtain a confession from him before he dies by Kisara's hands.

Third Kanto War Troops

Tamaki Katagiri (片桐 玉樹, Katagiri Tamaki)

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya

Tamaki is Civil Security's president who accepted Rentarō's request to join his support group for the Third Kanto War.

Yuzuki Katagiri (片桐 弓月, Katagiri Yuzuki)

Voiced by: Rumi Ōkubo

Yuzuki is Tamaki's sister and his Model Spider Initiator.

Shōma Nagisawa (薙沢 彰磨, Nagisawa Shōma)

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki

Shōma is Rentarō's longtime friend and senior in Tendō style martial arts. He joined Rentarō's support group during the war. He sacrificed himself to activate the bomb that destroyed Aldebaran.

Midori Fuse (布施 翠, Fuse Midori)

Voiced by: Yui Ogura

Midori was Shōma's Model Cat Initiator. She was attacked by a Gastrea that injected her with the virus to the point of shortening her life span to a month. She later committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head under a tree.

Nagamasa Gadō (我堂 長政, Gadō Nagamasa)

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda

Nagamasa was the leader of the private security troops during the war. He disbanded Rentarō's adjuvant when the latter's team disobeyed orders and sent him on a suicide misson to kill the Gastrea Pleiades in lieu of capital punishment. He later died in battle.

Asaka Mibu (壬生 朝霞, Mibu Asaka)

Voiced by: Inori Minase

Asaka is Nagamasa's Initiator. Formed an impromptu pairing with Shōma as both lost their partners.

Hidehiko Gadō (我堂 英彦, Gadō Hidehiko)

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada

Hidehiko was Nagamasa's son and leader of Rentarō's division during the war. He was devoured by a Gastrea.

Kokone (心音, Kokone)

Kokone is Hidehiko's Initiator. She dies during the battle.

Others

Shigetoku Tadashima (多田島 茂徳, Tadashima Shigetoku)

Voiced by: Takashi Matsuyama

Matsuzaki (松崎, Matsuzaki)

Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura

Matsuzaki is an elderly man who cares for the Cursed Children in the Outer Area of Tokyo.

Sōgen Saitake (斉武 宗玄, Saitake Sōgen)

Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka

Sōgen is the ruler of Osaka Area, and an ambitious man who dreams of one day ruling the world.

Ayn Rand (エイン・ランド, Ein Rando)

Voiced by: Kōsuke Toriumi

Ayn is one of the Four Sages, and heads the American Division of the Mechanized Soldier Plan, "NEXT". Ayn breached the agreement between the Four Sages and mechanized healthy Cursed Children, creating mechanized Initiators called "HYBRID". Ayn is formerly the Promoter of Tina Sprout, but as Ayn does not possess combat abilities, he acts as a command tower instead.

Arthur Zanuck (アーサー･ザナック, Āsā Zanakku)

Arthur is one of the Four Sages, and heads the Australian Division of the Mechanized Soldier Plan, "Obelisk".

Albrecht Grünewald (アルブレヒト・グリューネワルト, Aruburehito Guryūnewaruto)

Albrecht is the leader of the Four Sages who assembled all of them, and heads the German Division of the Mechanized Soldier Plan.

Kihachi Suibara (水原 鬼八, Suibara Kihachi)

Kihachi is an old friend of Rentarō's.

Hotaru Kōro (紅露 火垂, Kōro Hotaru)

Hotaru is Kihachi's Model Planarian Initiator.

Atsurō Hitsuma (櫃間 篤朗, Hitsuma Atsurō)

Yūga Mitsugi (巳継 悠河, Mitsugi Yūga)

Codenamed "Darkstalker".

Rika Kurume (久留米 リカ, Kurume Rika)

Codenamed "Hummingbird".

Jūgo Katake (鹿嶽 十五, Katake Jūgo)

Codenamed "Swordtail".

Media

Light novels

No.	Title	Release date	ISBN
1	Those Who Aimed to be Gods Kami o Mezashita Mono Tachi (神を目指した者たち)	July 10, 2011	978-4-04-870596-7
2	vs Ingenious Sniper VS Shinsan Kibō no Sogekihei (VS神算鬼謀の狙撃兵)	October 8, 2011	978-4-04-870820-3
3	The World Destruction by the Flames Honoo ni yoru Sekai no Hametsu (炎による世界の破滅)	May 10, 2012	978-4-04-886477-0
4	Vengeance is Mine Fukushū Suru wa Ware ni Ari (復讐するは我にあり)	August 10, 2012	978-4-04-886797-9
5	The Fugitive, Rentarō Satomi Tōbōhan, Satomi Rentarō (逃亡犯、里見蓮太郎)	July 10, 2013	978-4-04-891761-2
6	Wanderer of Purgatory Rengoku no Hōkōsha (煉獄の彷徨者)	October 10, 2013	978-4-04-866008-2
7	Bullet of The World Revolution Sekai Henkaku no Jūdan (世界変革の銃弾)	April 10, 2014	978-4-04-866472-1

Manga

No.	Release date	ISBN
1	May 27, 2013	978-4-04-891196-2
2	July 11, 2013	978-4-04-891805-3
3	October 11, 2013	978-4-04-891970-8
4	June 27, 2014	978-4-04-866665-7

Anime

See also: List of Black Bullet episodes

An anime adaptation by Kinema Citrus was announced at Dengeki Bunko's Autumn Festival 2013 on October 6, 2013, and premiered in April 2014. The series was picked up by Crunchyroll for online simulcast streaming in North America and other select parts of the world. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks for a digital and home video release in North America.

The opening theme is "black bullet" by fripSide and the ending theme is "Tokohana" (トコハナ) by Nagi Yanagi.

External links

• Official anime website Template:Ja icon
• Black Bullet (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia