Ten years ago, Ryota Murakami along with his childhood friend Kuroneko set out to search for signs of alien life. Although Ryota is skeptical about her theory, Kuroneko insists that aliens are real. During their search, a tragic accident occurs which gravely injures Ryota but kills Kuroneko. Due to his strong memory, Ryota cannot forget about Kuroneko. Since then, he has been continuously staring at the night sky in order to prove that aliens exist, and also to fulfill Kuroneko's dying wish. Presently, Ryota is a top student at his school and the sole member of the Astronomy Club. Until, he gets the shock of his life when a new transfer student named Neko Kuroha arrives in his class. She bears a striking resemblance to Ryota's dead childhood friend, although she dismisses the fact as bluff. Ryota later notices something amiss about Neko. When a student almost drowned is saved by a mysterious force, Neko predicted that Ryota will also die. After displaying superhuman strength in saving his life, it is then revealed that Neko is a witch who escaped from an alien research lab. Ryota becomes a part of Neko's life, learning more about her dilemma and the hidden forces that exist in the universe. As he sinks deeper and deeper into a world of magic and artificially created witches, Ryota must use necessary means of preserving and sheltering other escaped witches, and allow them to live normally, despite knowing the scientists of the lab would kill any outsiders involved.
The institute meaning "witch castle" is the Organization that unearthed aliens in Germany by gold miners and a Japanese geologist in 1910, but never made it a public discovery, instead began the top-secret research over it to sought God's destruction. In conclusion of World War II, they moved to Japan and gained secluded authority. Sorcerian research no. A008; and Loki are kept in incubator chambers for the uprising fate of humankind. ;Chisato Ichijiku ;Black Suit ;Yuki Tsuchiya ;Onodera ;Makina ;Takachiho
A resistance group meaning "witch hunt" that is built by scientists who defected from the Organization due to the threat that they posed to God himself. Hexenjagd is responsible for the magic-users' escapee. ;1=Miki Neumayer ;Initializer ;Akane
Supporting characters
;Kogorou Hashiratani ;Kitsuka Hatta ;Risa Kashiwagi ;Masashi Takaya ;Mina Tachibana
Media
Manga
The Gokukoku no Brynhildr manga is written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. It began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump on January 26, 2012. The first tankōbon volume was released on May 18, 2012; fourteen volumes have been released as of July 17, 2015. The series ended on March 31, 2016.
Anime
An anime adaptation was announced on November 11, 2013. The anime is directed by Kenichi Imazumi at studio Arms, with Yukinori Kitajima acting as head writer and Hiroaki Kurasu as chief animation director and character designer. The series premiered between April 6, 2014 and June 29, 2014 on Tokyo MX and later on ytv, CTV, BS11 and AT-X. For episodes 1-9 the opening is "BRYNHILDR IN THE DARKNESS -Ver. EJECTED-" by Nao Tokisawa. From episode 10 onwards, the opening is "Virtue and Vice" by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. The ending song is "Ichiban Boshi" by Risa Taneda, Aya Suzaki, MAO, & Azusa Tadokoro.
Reception
Critical reception of the anime of the series has mostly been negative with many reviewers comparing it to the 2004 series Elfen Lied, also created by Lynn Okamoto, and the many similarities between the two works. In reviews of the anime the story has been called "shoddy" and "incomplete" with none of the characters being particularly memorable or having much depth. In addition they have also noted the overuse of harem antics and cliches to the extent that the series often feels more like an ecchi harem comedy as opposed to a serious sci-fi/horror series.
