Kaiju Girls Black (2018) Review

...So there are girls in this world that are reborn Kaiju and can access that power to a degree. You have these young girls with the power to spew acid and hallucinatory gasses, sprouted multiple deadly tentacles, gain premonitions of the future, and create a black hole that will suck everything into the Dark Zone. And by using these powers the group called Black Star uses these powers to harass people on the street and avoid paying rent.

Right there is enough to tell you if you are going to enjoy this show or not. But if you need more, effectively the main character is bullied into joining this group after it is discovered she is someone born with a Kaiju's power. She has problems saying no, so she just goes along with it and tries her best to help them succeed at invading the earth. It's clear everyone but the commander is just here to have fun and isn't taking this seriously. Our lead character, Satsuki Hiriga, decides that since she feels needed, she is going to commit entirely to these even though she realizes how silly it all is.

Beyond the comedy, that is the charm of this movie. It's this absolute dedication to something despite knowing how stupid it is. Weirdly, the entire premise of this movie is kind of why I love a lot of anime. In ways that you don't often see here in the west, there are a lot of shows that will straight up commit to some insane premises and treat it seriously. Stuff that would be a one-off gag episode there will be an anime that makes something like that the focus, see Kill-la-kill for one of the more obvious examples.

It makes it kind of hard to be critical of this one, because the whole premise of the lead character speaks to me. The actions of other characters, plot conveniences, and anything else are just part of the absurdity that she has decided to dedicate herself to. It's a really short movie, clocking in under an hour, and it just boils down to nothing more than 'look at these shenanigans, but they are some really fun shenanigans and I recommend the watch.