If I had to summarize what Bokurano is, it's a mix between Neon Genesis: Evangelion and Gantz, sans blood. The story follows 15 high-school students, who are tricked into piloting a giant mecha, fighting off periodically arriving enemies to save the world from certain doom. Now, as far as basic premise goes, this is as simple and cliché'd as it gets. But what sets Bokurano apart from all the tons upon tons of mecha anime is the tone and the underlying story behind the mask, full of symbolism and metaphors.
See, Bokurano is built entirely upon the "Reluctant Hero" trope. The 15 kids never asked to be the saviors of humanity, they never wanted to fight or bear the enormous responsibility, having the destiny of the entire world resting upon their shoulders. (This is why I mentioned NGE up there.) They were all tricked/forced into this situation, and from then on it's "do or die", there is no going back. But unlike many other similar anime, this is NOT a heartwarming coming-of-age story, not in the slightest. The 15 kids didn't know each other beforehand, they kind of only just met. And now each of them faces the same predicament of having to fight to save the world with a bunch of (almost) complete strangers. (Hence the mention of Gantz.) Unlike other mecha anime, and the case of Shinji from NGE, these kids are NOT a team. They are but a bunch of confused and terrified children, who want nothing to do with the whole thing. They fight, but not because of some lofty goals of justice, valor, heroism, or because "it's the right thing to do". No, they fight because...what's the alternative? Let it all just end? They don't even try to be heroes, Bokurano tears down the pretentious, overblown morals of other such anime, and replaces it all with true grit, the feelings of how a real human must feel when thrown in that situation. These kids never really come to terms with what is demanded of them, they each have to muster some kind of reason to fight. Some personal reason to fight for a world they barely even had the chance to experience.
There is a resaon I haven't mentioned the "big mecha battles" yet, because those are but a tiny piece of the whole story. Bokurano is NOT about mecha battles, but the people involved. So, if you came for that, you'll be sorely disappointed. It's almost entirely a character driven piece, where the mecha fights are nothing but backdrop, without any flashy "attacks" or "moves", only a means to an end. Don't get me wrong, Zearth and the other mechas look fantastic and full of symbolism, but they are only there for show, this tale is not about them. The story itself is very slow-paced and structured like a Lego house. Each episode follows a single kid's story. As we progress through the series, we get to know the 15 kids, their backstories and their personal battles in their lives. Broken and dysfunctional families, child neglect, bullying, tarnished friendships, hard life choices and a LOT of anger, fear, angst, regret and "could've/should've/would've". The drama is real, and mostly well written, but it's really nothing to cry on or get a feels trip about, unless some of the kids' stories hit a little bit close to home. It is very diverse and has many thing going on at any given time, but sometimes the scenes just drag on too long with unnecessary exposition and side-arcs that ultimately lead to nowhere, and it sometimes makes the whole thing confusing. I guess the creators bit off just a bit more than they could chew. I feel having so many central characters in a regular length (24 episode) anime is just a bit too much. There are too many to really flesh them out individually and because of that I couldn't really get invested in any of them.
The animation quality is okay, and I particularly liked the character designs and the art direction. The visuals are well suited for the subject matter, there are no bright colors, flashy special effects or comical cuts and trasitions. This is a very down-to-Earth anime in this respect, discounting the futuristic setting and the obvious giant mechas. There is also an absolute abundance of symbolism and visual metaphors for the keen-eyed, a really good addition that complements the story in various ways. Well done!
A special mention goes to the music, especially the opening song, "Uninstall" from Chiaki Ishikawa. The very second I heard the song I fell in love with it. Such a beautiful song, beautiful voice, and the whole tone and the lyrics suit the anime so well, it's simply perfect.
In conclusion, Bokurano is a pretty unique piece of anime. It's a little tamer in tone than NGE or Gantz, but exactly that's why it's so powerful. It doesn't need the shock value, graphic and psychological brutality and gallons of blood and tears to get it's message across. The devil is in the details. Make no mistake, Bokurano is a pretty dreary anime with lots of emotion, and if the belt catches you, you will go on a feels trip. It really all depends if you can connect with the characters and the source material or not. There is also a lot of symbolism, both in the narrative and in the visuals (and the title itself), so the literately and visually inclined will have a field day with this anime for sure.
