Ranked #471

Bokurano

Title: Bokurano

Manga, Light Novel, Anime: Bokurano was originally a manga done by Mohiro Kitoh. It began running in Shogakukan's Ikki magazine in 2004, and is still running at present, at a total of eight collected volumes. It has yet to be licensed Stateside.

A light novel entitled Bokurano ~alternative~ written by Renji Ohki and with character designs done by Mohiro Kitoh began running in May of 2007, and is still running at this point in time, with three volumes released this far. It also has yet to be licensed Stateside.

The anime series clocked in at a total of 24 episodes, and was done by Studio Gonzo (famous for Gankutsou: The Count of Monte Cristo and Saikano) and directed by Hiroyuki Morita (famous for his work on The Cat Returns). It ran from April 8th to September 25th, 2007 on Japanese TV, and has been licensed Stateside by Funimation, though they have yet to say when they're actually going to release it. EDIT: As of this time, Funimation has only ordered cease and desists to fansubbers on behalf of Gonzo, but a NA liscensor has yet to be announced for this series.

Story: So, there are these fifteen kids, all in middle school except for one girl in fourth grade, and they're at this summer camp. They end up finding a grotto with a random guy in it, and he enlists them in a "game" involving robots. What he fails to mention is that the game is real, and that they actually do have to pilot a robot. There are fifteen robot enemies, one for each kid. They have to beat them, or the Earth goes bye-bye. The robot they pilot runs on their life forces, though, so even if they win, they die, too.

The story focuses on the backgrounds of each of the kids as they're called up to pilot initially, but there are subplots involving the government and the overall game added in after the halfway point, along with some AMAZING plot twists.

The story isn't quite as good as Gankutsuou was, but this is up there with Gonzo's better works. Yeah, the story's just a bit depressing, but there are little rays of brightness that peak in every once in a while, and it's enough to keep you going through. Each kid gets development enough that you care as they go to face their deaths, and you'll at least be able to remember either their first or their last name, as do other people who become involved in their situation.

It's a good story and all, but it didn't quite have the impact on me that I thought it would. I mean, just looking at the show's description, I thought it would be Saikano-esque levels of depression, but it never quite reaches those.

The show's also very self-aware at times, and pokes fun at the mecha genre (the kids naming the robot, shouting out their attacks, getting "uniforms" to wear as they ride in it, etc).

If you're going into this as a mecha fan, though, be aware that the robot fights aren't central to the story; there's at least one every episode, but the story's more centered around the children than it is around the robot.

Also, let's cover a big controversy that came up while this was being released, and contains slight spoilers, so read ahead at your own risk. The creator of the manga, Mohiro Kitoh, made a blog entry while the show was being released that claimed that the author hated the source material (he did dislike it, admittedly, which begs the question of why he was even chosen to do this), and has asked if there was a way that he could save the children. Kitoh supposedly gave the go ahead, but asked for fans of the manga to stop watching the anime, because it wouldn't be anything like the manga. Well, I went and compared what I could find for information about how the manga unfolded and how the anime turned out, and the only real difference that I could find was in how some characters were handled and the order in which they were called to be pilots. Again, yes, different from the original, but the children were not freed from the contract and the fifteen who are contracted do end up dying, and the changes that did happen were nothing that would call for Kitoh to ask fans to boycott the series. I think this is a case of overreaction from the original author. It's all the more ironic and hypocritical since he's involved in a complete retooling of the story (the Bokurano ~alternative~ light novel).

Art: The style that Gonzo chose to use for this is a bit simpler than I've seen with other productions that they've done. It just doesn't look very good, honestly -- I've seen other series that have done simple well, like Kino no Tabi, but it just doesn't work as the series goes on.

3D is obviously used for the mechas, and it looks pretty good. Yeah, it stands out quite a bit, but then again, it's highly doubtful that one could do a robot entirely in 2D, and the thing's SUPPOSED to stand out.

Music: The background music for this series is, like Toward the Terra and Elfen Lied, one of the few scores I've actively listened to and noticed since Gankutsuou. Excellent recurring themes.

The OP, "Uninstall", is done by Chiaki Ishikawa, and is an absolutely beautiful piece that fits the series perfectly. Both of the EDs are also done by her, and are more of the typical female JPop ballads, but I like the second one ("Vermillion"), more than the first one ("Little Bird").

Seiyuu: Kenji Nojima, who replaced Takemoto's seiyuu in the last episode of Honey and Clover, plays one of the children, Tomokazu Sugita (Soldier Blue in Toward the Terra and Mayama in Honey and Clover) also appears as one of the children, and another child's seiyuu also appeared in Paranoia Agent as Shounen Bat. The rest of the cast gives excellent performances, as always.

Length: This feels about right, though there were some character's arcs who took more than one episode and probably could've been shortened a bit. Any longer and it just wouldn't have worked.

Overall: A good, solid mecha story centered around the children who pilot it, with decent art and length, beautiful music, and pretty good seiyuu.

Story: 9/10
Art: 8/10
Music: 9/10
Length: 8/10
Seiyuu: 9/10

Overall: 43/50; 86% (B ) read more

This appears to be a criminally unknown series. It's sad that shows that actually have deeper meanings and leave lasting emotional impacts on viewers are cast aside and simply ignored.

The first episode doesn't suggest that this could be anything more than just another mecha action drama series. It's when an unsettling pattern becomes a little too suspicious that the series really picks up.

The characters are forced into an extremely stressful situation and quickly grow because of it. Because there are 15 main characters, the focus on each of them only allows a couple of episodes at most. The character development is very impressive despite this. It's interesting to see what slowly causes some of the characters to reveal their truer and darker selves and what feelings of hopelessness can do to a person. The psychological aspect of the show is good at least in that respect. There is also no unnecessary melodrama (even though this of all shows should be the one to get away with it). The voice acting in general is very good. Akira Ishida in particular is both amusing and irritating(which is a good thing here) as the sarcastic and cruel Koyemshi. He is as appallingly hateful as he appears to be happy(just look at that smile!).

The show has a mostly dark and dreary atmosphere. To be honest, I think this show had the least moments of comedy I've ever seen. It was usually unintentional comedy and even that was a rarity.

I really liked the messages that are subtly presented by this show. It encourages viewers to look at their own lives more optimistically(which is something few people genuinely do) and to be open to the perspectives and struggles of others. Everyone has their selfish moments but what matters is realizing when this happens and swallowing your pride for those you love. Of course, the point of this show can be interpreted in any way depending on the viewer. This is just how I viewed it.

Lastly, the music. Unfortunately, I haven't seen this show in about a month so I can't recall how the soundtrack was. However, there was one song that was unforgettable. The opening song 'Uninstall' by Chiaki Ishikawa. There is a reason why she's in my list of favorite people. I can say without hesitation that this is my favorite song. This song is so good that I watched the show's opening all 24 times. I never do that.

This is a rare type of show. It may not be very popular but it's still a show that made me a little philosophical afterward. Although it also made me feel immensely depressed.

I'm sure that counts for something. read more

Bokurano was one of those shows that you can't really like unless you really look at the deeper meaning. If you're looking for a series that you can watch without thinking about, then you might as well stop reading right now.

STORY:
Bokurano's story is very unique and interesting. You may think of it as just mindless killing, but similar to Gantz, it is a psychological anime that shows what happens when normal people are put into hopeless situations and are forced to put their lives on the line.

ART:
The art was not as good as it could have been, but I had no problems with it. It was a bit annoying having to switch from 2d to 3d a few times in every episode, but it wasn't something intolerable.

SOUND:
I thought the sound was pretty good, and was able to partially cover up for the slightly disappointing art. There was nothing wrong with the sound in Bokurano, but I wasn't blown away by it in the least.

CHARACTER:
This is where Bokurano really stands out. There were 15 main characters in the series, and depending on how you look at it, there could even be a few more. At first, I was a bit skeptical, seeing as though there are only 24 episodes in the show. But amazingly, I learned about the back story of every single character and realized that each one was very much different from the others. And even though there was so much character development, it did not take away from the story.

ENJOYMENT:
I really enjoyed seeing how each character reacted. There may not be enough action for some people in Bokurano, but there was plenty of drama to keep you interested throughout each episode.

OVERALL:
With all that said, I'll give this series an 83/100, a solid score. read more

Well i thought a lot before picking up Bokurano.I don't quite remember why, but i did have some doubts about it.I feared it would turn out just your everyday crappy mecha.And the previews of the story line suggested so.
Anyway in one boring afternoon i decided to try out the anime.It tunred out very good.Way beyond my expectations.

The story goes on and unravels into something that you haven't quite expected,becomes really interesting and complicated.

The Art, well, what can i say about it.Some people find it quite ugly while others like it.As for me,it didn't bother a bit.It's true that sometimes the 3D can get under your skin, and that sometimes the art gets rather simple.But at the other end, sometimes the art is really helping you get into the "flow of emotions" if i may say so.

As for sound.Sound was so-so.It was there when you needed it and it wasn't sort of in the way.The opening was very nice.I personaly enjoyed it a lot.Pretty nice song.The two endings were nice both in visual and audio aspect.

Characters.This is where the series excels.At the start i thought that 15 characters would be too much of a number for 24 eps.I feared that the characters wouldn't be fully developed.All my fears were put to waste.Each and every one of the kids is so unique and different from the other.Each with it's own problems and toubles.And yet all of them bound by the same thing.

Enjoyment.Hmm what can i say i enjoyed it.Hope you do too.

Overall I'll give it an 8 because of the sound and art.

And if you're looking for your everyday mecha,this is NOT for you.If you want to see how people interact with each other in interesting situations and you want to see how kids can feel and act in their darkest hour, this is the anime for you.
read more

I started watching bokurano thinking it would have a good story and some cool fights but that proved to be partially wrong, it has a good story but the fights, not really good. I still enjoyed it but its quite different from the story summaries, previews, etc.
At start the story seems lame and rushed, just a little excuse to put some kids fighting for earth in some big robots, the fights are quite dull as well and the animation is quite average with some bad parts even but thats mostly at the start.
I'm glad I kept watching it because it gets much better, the story twists, or better, it unveils a completely different plot from the first appearances becoming rather interesting. The fights improve allot compared to the first ones but this is not a mecha style anime with lots of cool fights and moves, its a story driven drama where each episode u get to known one of the characters better, usually before their respective battle portraying their will and reasons to fight or give up. The mystery behind the robots and the battles is also unveiled slowly and I'm afraid I can't say much more to avoid spoiling the development, one of the good aspects of the show.
The music isn't bad, the opening becomes quite enjoyable after a couple episodes and theres the usual backtracks accompanying the crucial moments.
Overall its a good show, with a decent story about a couple kids who are put into a non desirable situation without even being asked, and are now carrying the burden to save earth, their own problems and doubts are explored while they find a meaning to fight for earth, themselves, protecting someone or simply giving up. Don't expect much action, its a show for people who like good stories with a slow but decent development and some epic moments filled with sadness, anger, and self sacrifice. read more

Ok when i first started watching this i thought the same thing everyone does... "WTH". It is not something you expect from a show about kids. It is well writen and almost scary. At the same time the author managed to draw me in with the sick story line. I found myself both appaled and atracted. He managed to take an old time dream of many children and twist it into a dark sinister thing. If you are looking for a good story to make you happy this is not it, but if you are looking for a deap story that makes you think than this is one you should watch. read more

I'll just comment on the story only because I feel this is most important. Firstly, I just don't understand why this particular genre (not mecha) but psychological drama has so many unanswered questions. Unlike "Gantz" the story was better explained and we at least know why they are fighting, and the ending was a lot better. However like "Gantz" an episode where everything was explained in it's entirety was missing. Even when one of the main characters explained how her and her brother ended up involved in this "game", her story did not explain some of the more crucial questions like...

(1) Who built the robots; (2) Who was really the mastermind; and lastly

SLIGHT SPOILER

(3) If the robots can move remotely using the energy from "Zearth's" technology why do they need the pilots life force to function. read more

i am a diehard giant robot junkie. but be warned. this is not an anime about giant robots. this is an anime about feelings. not just regular feelings. teary-eyed, near rape, sibling abusing feelings. these feelings get brought up every episode, giving each character a uniquely depressing flair. this drives them to literally pilot their hearts out, fighting any moral feeling they may have against killing enemy pilots.

this anime is terribly bogged down in cliche and emotions, with not a single climactic fight. the cg makes the action clunky and slow, leaving me wondering what the point of even having giant robots was.

this anime tries to combine a lot of better things, most notably neon genesis evangelion, but it comes up with something not worth mentioning.

if youre looking for true giant robot action, run away. read more

in my opinion, this anime is somewhat different with others. because i think its kinda touch the deepest of my heart when i watch it. its about what will you do if you face the similar situation. will you run away ? or will you fight to the end.

it makes me think about what will i do if im in one of them. will i follow the order of that 'toy' said ? or should i listen to myself and do as i wanted ? if i follow the order, people will die, if i dont, people will still have to die. so, which way should i take ?

this anime is not about good people or bad people, at least i dont see it like that. its about you, yourself and nothing else. its all depend of your decision and your decision only. non will affect your decision.

although the graphic is somewhat old and the opening music is somewhat non-sense, but the storyline is somewhat educational for me. read more