Bullbuster Ep 2 Review: It’s Rebrandin’ Time!

October 19, 2023Episode Review,  Mecha Discussion,  ,  
Well here comes the desk work! After the brief action in episode 1, we get to the meat of the series: the financial and administrative side of capitalism. Bullbuster is definitely a more drama-heavy and sort-of slow burn. If you expect action every episode then you will be caught off guard. The series even dwell into more legwork than Daiguard did, but in a whole different direction. For one, Daiguard focuses on the employees while Bullbuster emphasize on a holistic view of the entire company.

Of course, after every sortie, it’s time for every accountant’s favorite job: expense calculation. The ammunition cost, the transportation fees, the property damages, etc… The way they argue about such things show what a hassle running a company is. It helps that Aoya…I mean Kouji is a very understanding boss and he understands that sacrifices must be made if they want to do their job while keeping their employees safe.

Tetsurou is probably us when we get thrown into a mecha show. He’s astonished at all these admin stuff and the cost of all the stuff he used. His only thought before coming to Namidome is just to show off his cool mech, not to keep in mind how many bullets he shot and how much fuel he waste. It also remind us of Armored Core with the debt system.

Now we get to something new: rebranding. This is something we didn’t see in Daiguard. A company must change its image if they want to switch to a totally different business direction. And once more the pressing issue come into view: cost. The cost of designing a brand concept and all that is extremely expensive. Kataoka is very much like people who are new to commissioned design work – freaking out at the exorbitant cost. This is pretty meta as in real life we also get many situation where concept artists and designers were yelled at and belittled because “anyone could have drawn this simple thing” mindset. The series show that it is reasonable to pay the designer their worth – although a head of a company straight-up agreeing with the price is something we can only see in fiction…

And Tetsurou here just want to flat out engage in copyright infringement lol. The guy is a walking union disaster waiting to happen. And of course he also has to be the guy with no tact. He’s basically a mecha fan that have only admired giant robots without being put on the spot or experience the losses from the Giant Beasts’ attack. Tetsurou wasted no time offending Asami whose family prob was caught in one of the attacks. The report Tetsurou read right after contains lots of sensitive info. Coupled with how Pres Kouji looked in his apartment might hint at a darker background. The company’s employees might have all been victims of Giant Beast attacks and have suffered losses at their fangs, and now they are determined to protect their hometown.

Well Tetsurou quickly smartened up and corrected his wrongs. And the Namidome Company finally put on a new coat of paint after a successful rebranding. However, all the issues still remain – lots of expense accounting and deskwork. But at least we can look forward to crucial development to our characters.

Aaron
Check our more reviews here: