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This is a recap and review of the finale of season 1 of Black Rock Shooter Dawn Fall, available on Hulu and Disney Plus.     

In this episode, it’s Empress’ last stand to defend earth!  

Spoilers to follow!

The episode begins with the continued conversation between Artemis/Lunatic and Empress. Lunatic informs Empress that there are 5000 moon flakes launching toward Earth. Empress claims if she can prevent at least one from striking ground, she’ll have given humanity hope. 

Colonel goes on a rampage, taking out dozens of robots, only to be saved by Charlotte when he’s overwhelmed. Rushing to save her in return, Colonel is shot in the gut. Charlotte, in rage, destroys all the robots and begins to carry Colonel off the field. Colonel sends Charlotte to retrieve a gun from his truck, an excuse to get her away from him so he can shoot himself (forcing her to leave him and save herself). 

Meanwhile, Miya and Noriko run into Monika. The latter agrees to take Noriko to help salvage ammo for the humans, leaving Miya behind. They run into Charlotte and convince her to leave Colonel’s body. 

Dead Master and Strength part ways so Dead Master can help Empress get to the elevator, with the understanding that Strength won’t make it. 

While attempting to get Empress to her destination, Black Trike is blasted into the arche ocean, which causes Empress to ignite her overdrive key in rage. Lunatic still manages to kick her butt, but Dead Master intervenes, with the result of being riddled with bullets. Dead Master admits her love for Empress before being disintegrated by Lunatic. 

As the moon flakes strike the ground, Lunatic gloats about how her body is just an avatar representing her, and that her real “body” is on the moon. 

Empress uses her overdrive key to enter into her final form, blasting Lunatic apart and destroying herself in the process. She spots her friends on a ridge, which gives her a few moments of happiness reliving their time together before she dies.

On the moon, Artemis talks to herself for our benefit, explaining that 70% of the earth was destroyed in her bombardment. 

Fifty years later, we are shown what appears to be child Dead Master and child Strength (clones?) playing catch on a snowy beach. Charlotte, looking great for a 65-year-old (must be those Hemiteos mods), is appearing to be raising them. 

At a new Kennedy Space Centre, Black Trike’s A.I. personality is being uploaded into a space ship. Inside, a grown-up Noriko is commanding the operation. Miya is preparing for her first mission, being couched by Monika, who is now a doctor. Monika gives Charlotte a callsign for the mission, Temperance, and Miya is given the name Fortune. 

Their plan is to wipe out the base on the moon.  They run into space gigantes, which Black Trike takes out with a plasma blast, but she is subsequently damaged. Empress, somehow, comes to the rescue and the show ends. 

What a frustrating climax. We get no answers as to how humanity has the technology to build this advanced ship when the bombardment would have near-destroyed the earth. We don’t know what’s up with the mini Dead Master and Strength. Where did Monika get her doctorate? How did Empress come back?  

I’m guessing they plan to make more episodes? If not, this is an entirely unsatisfactory ending. If so, I still prefer a more resolved ending to a season. At least this isn’t produced by Netflix, which is notorious for cancelling shows after one season, so maybe Disney +/ Hulu have plans to make more. 

Overall, in terms of the twelve episodes as a whole, the show definitely improves as it moves along, with some episodes that were quite enthralling. Despite the lack of pants on the women and gratuitous body shots (namely of Dead Master’s butt), I did enjoy the women-led cast, the fight scenes, the occasional humourous exchanges, and the emotional aspect of the storyline with Charlotte and Colonel. Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall is a decent, fast-paced, entertaining show that has its flaws but also doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’d watch a second season but I’m not dying in anticipation for the next one.   

What did you think of the show? Let us know in the comments, on our socials, or on our Discord server!

Tina S. Beier

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T. S. Beier is obsessed with science fiction, the ruins of industry, and Fallout. She is the author of What Branches Grow, a post-apocalyptic novel (which was a Top 5 Finalist in the 2020 Kindle Book Awards and a semi-finalist in the 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition) and the Burnt Ship Trilogy (space opera). She is a book reviewer, editor, and freelance writer. She currently lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband, two feral children, and a Shepherd-Mastiff.

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