PLOT: I can’t really say much about the plot without spoiling things completely. Much of the shock value of the early episodes would be lost if I broke down the formula here – but what I can say is that this series displayed excellent, very well balanced storytelling. So many issues are dealt with over the course of this show as each and every one of the 15 children that the plot revolves around are completely different to each other, but somehow they manage not to be stereotypes. All of them are perfectly normal kids with their own problems, family circumstances and ways of thinking – the fact that they are so normal really adds to the emotional impact that Bokurano has.
As the story comes from the same manga-ka as Narutaru there are a lot of quite dark themes and issues highlighted over the course of the show, but unlike Narutaru it isn’t all depressing doom and gloom – there are also genuine heart-warming moments and touches of comedy. But the one thing that shines through is the realism – we see the political and military response to the fact a giant robot is destroying massive portions of the city and we also see the destruction this causes in terms of houses, businesses and of course, lives. The anime also has a very satisfying conclusion and for a change I’m not looking for more, nothing more needed to be said really, even though we never discover the complete truth about everything that happened. I was really impressed with this show as just when you felt it was getting a bit formulaic it throws a load of well-timed plot twists at you and reached a natural feeling conclusion.
ANIMATION: This is an example of ‘Good GONZO’ and even the CG for the giant robots isn’t terrible – the fact that it doesn’t really mesh completely with the 2-D backgrounds adds to the otherworldly feel of the mecha. The mecha designs aren’t wonderful, but the fact that they’re so ungainly and oddly proportioned made for interesting fights. Character designs are very simple but this adds to the realistic quality of the children’s characters and they are animated consistently well over the course of the show. In fact the quality was quite consistent over the course of the 24 episodes, I particularly liked the backgrounds as there are a lot different locations covered and each manages to look unique even though its usually the middle of a city.
MUSIC & VOICE ACTING: I loved the OP & EDs, but particularly the OP, however the BGM was fairly unremarkable for the most part. Excellent voice cast for this show, it’s hard to pick out particular characters as the show was quite an ensemble piece, but I can say that not a single character was poorly cast.
Overall Bokurano was an excellent anime, I was surprised by how much I liked it. It is a bit on the heavy side though – I really would not recommend watching it in large batches as its really doesn’t pull any punches with the drama. But if you can get past all that Bokurano is a very satisfying watch.
