Alternative Titles
Narutaru
Information
Type: Manga
Volumes: 12
Chapters: 67
Status: Finished
Published: Jul 21, 1998 to Dec 22, 2003
StatisticsScore: 7.891 (scored by 255 users)
Ranked: #4422
Popularity: #490
Members: 482 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
supernatural |
SynopsisThe story could basically be split into two halves. The main story is about Tamai Shiina, who is an energetic middle-school teenage girl. She visits her grandparent's over the summer where she runs into a very strange creature. Shiina has had lots of strange dreams as of late and also when she was younger, and this strange creature is somewhat related to her visions. She names the small cuddly star-shaped creature, Hoshimaru.
Little did she know that this cuddly creature is really part of herself. After her vacation, Shiina goes back to her home, living with her father. She runs into other children with similar creatures the following days. However, these children have developed their creatures, and they have complete control over them. They mostly use these creatures for their own destructive pleasure and not for good. There is a group of teenagers that all have these strange creatures, and they plan to basically conquer the world, creating a utopia of whatever they desire. Will they succeed? Will Shiina ever develop Hoshimaru? |
Related MangaAdaptation: Shadow Star Narutaru
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Because it's from the same author, it uses a similar drawing style (Doh!). And both are kinda creepy, and that's what everybody loves about his stories.
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Being done by the same author, both have the same feel, art, style and similar genres. Both start as a small, simple and apparently childish story, and develops to amazing plots of epic proportions. Definitely two of the best manga ever written.
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Art |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
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Sep 15, 200867 of ? chapters read 8 of 11 people found this review helpful Shadow Star (Narutaru) is a unique blend of Supernatural, Military, Action & Drama with a really promising story, which was let down by the way things concluded. Just like this mangaka’s other works, Shadow Star revolves around kids but that doesn’t make it any less disturbing.
It all begins when an energetic young girl named Shiina Tamai discovers a star-shaped creature, whilst visiting her grandparents over the holidays. Ever since then she becomes involved in so...me strange and dangerous incidents, involving other kids who have similar creatures to hers. It is later explained that these things are known by the term Dragon Child/Shadow Dragon and the kids themselves are mentally linked with their respective Dragon Child, allowing them to do what they want with them. Shadow Star is just one of those manga where you are left in the dark about all the important stuff and it just shuffles between Military and Dragon Child issues. Although when it does explain things, the explanations can leave you with a feeling of bewilderment. At least it is possible to grasp an understanding of what this manga is all about and the story finally gets interesting, but being drawn back into confusion is inevitable once it reaches the halfway point. After the sudden change in the story, it just feels like trying to understand this confusing premise all over again.
The manga revolves mainly around a bunch of kids/young adolescence, all different in some way, but they share the same bond of being a Dragon Child bearer. Shiina Tamai is just one of the kids the manga focuses on and just like all the others, the reader will become familiar with their family & social life, as the story progresses. There are various other characters that come into play as you advance through the story, but not only can some be hard to figure out, there are also those who’s motives aren’t made clear.
Just like with Mohiro Kitoh’s other works, the artwork of this manga has a similar style. Nonetheless this comes with its problems; the details of the characters are very inconsistent and some of the character designs lack any distinctive features so you can find yourself constantly wondering, “who is this again?” The military hardware and the Dragon’s designs are about the only note worthy thing about the artwork, having a lot of thought and detail put into them along with the scenery.
Overall Shadow Star is certainly a great read but when reading it; expect to experience lots of confusion whilst trying to comprehend the purpose behind the story. The story itself has a simple structure where each volume focuses on its respective arc. Though there are a few complications along the way and by the end you will be left with a bunch of unanswered question like: why are only kids Dragon Child bearers? And what was up with that ending? We’ve all heard the term “Kids can be so cruel…” Well that term is put into practice with some really intense and disturbing moments. If these words have put you off from checking out this fine manga, then there’s no point in giving it a try.
^_^ read more
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Related ClubsBattles to Death and Secrecy, Dark Horse Manga, hardcore violence and gore, Mindfuck-Anime-Club, Mohiro Kitoh, Scary Girls Club, seinen & josei, Unusual is Better
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