Narutaru: Mukuro Naru Hoshi Tama Taru Ko
Shadow Star☆

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You've heard the rumors, this manga is famous for being on the list of series that appear cute and innocent, but are actually extremely disturbing. I went into Narutaru knowing this, and I expected a typical horror series filled with parasitic monsters that slowly consume the mind of their hosts. I was dead wrong. The shadow dragons aren't the truly horrifying thing about Narutaru, the real monsters are humanity itself. This manga exists to display the most depraved and twisted aspects of the human race, and it does so beautifully and unashamedly.

Story: 10/10
The story is very confusing. You will almost certainly be left thinking ... "What just happened?" by the end. The events are often presented in a random way, and very little is explained. I cite this as one of the manga's strongest aspects. This manga is NOT confusing because it was poorly made. Like Evangelion or Serial Experiments Lain, it is filled with symbolism and references that are easy to miss the first time you read through it. You will not be able to truly understand the story until the very last panel. As for the things that are left unexplained, (the biology of the shadow dragons, many ambiguous character interactions, and almost all the character's backstories) filling in the blanks has been a major contribution to my ongoing obsession with this series.

Art 8/10
Hey, it's nothing special, but the author's distinct style fits the macabre tone of the story quite well. Other reviewers have noted that many minor characters are difficult to tell apart, and I agree.

Character 10/10
Beautiful. The characters in this manga are so realistic, so human. That's what makes them terrifying. Every character commits some kind of unspeakable act by the end. All of them. No exceptions. Each of the dragon holders has serious psychological issues, except the main character Shiina, who stands out as one of the most patient, kindhearted, and tragic characters of all time. The characters Norio Koga and Hiroko Kaizuka will burn themselves into your permanent memory. It's hard to tell sometimes who the good guys and bad guys are, and the message by the end almost seems to be "everyone is beyond salvation."

Enjoyment 10/10
Like a fine cheese, my appreciation of Narutaru has improved over the two years since I first read it. From the beginning the series blew my mind, but I was initially put off by the strange, but intriguing ending. Yet I have never been able to completely forget this manga, and I have read and reread it's chapters more times than any other. It leaves you wanting more, not a sequel, but to delve as deeply as possible into the rich and complex story. There's no other series quite like it, the closest thing out there might be Evangelion, although Narutaru in my opinion is far more poignant. (Bokurano, while being just as fantastic, is quite different.)

Overall, I cannot recommend this manga enough. At this point you've had plenty of warning that this series is not for the faint of heart, not because of the violence, (while there's still a decent amount present) but because of how dark and morally depraved it can get. However, If you can stomach it, this is one of the most fantastic stories you'll ever read.

Narutaru was beneficial enough to have been made in an era where deconstruction series was gaining traction. If it were to made now, it'd probably be labeled as edgy without any mention of the actual quality of the story. It's notable that the genre being deconstructing is the Mon( Digimon, pokemon, etc) genre. Unlike magical girl and mecha shows of today, Mon anime are still generally fluffy and childish so a darker take on the genre was definitely in order.

Everything seems to be pretty standard at first. Protagonist Shiina meets a shadow dragon she names hoshimaru and quickly bonds with it. They go flying ... together and have fun adventures. For about one episode. She meets a boy who wants to use his shadow dragon to kill anyone he deems useless to society to create a better world. His sick grandmother is on the list. Things end badly and Shiina soon loses her innocence.

To give a little backdrop on the creator Morioh Kitoh, he's pretty much a nihilist that rivals gen urubuchi in cruelty. His other works include a giant robot that steals the life force of children to destroy the multiverse and a psychic who mass murders anyone who drives irresponsibly. He's that type of guy.

The manga is definitely a character-driven tale that dwells deep into the psyche of highly disturbed children. You have Akira who has depression and suicidal tendencies, Aki Honda who raped a girl with a test tube and the girl in question who snaps and goes in a killing spree. You could say that all of this bleakness is a bit too much but honestly, it felt refreshing. Mon series are generally really cheesy with bland one more characters and a story that only exists to sell merchandise. Narutaru breaks the mold and presents characters who are multi-faceted and lifelike. Contrary to popular belief, children aren't always innocent and they can be just as cruel as adults.

One major gripe I have with the manga is the art. Morioh sure can write but his art really isn't winning any awards that are for sure. Character designs are bland and minimalist. I admit the military paraphernalia is drawn in extensive detail and the dragons have cool designs but that's about it. There are other manga artists that can do sketchy manga art perfectly but Moriah isn't one of them.

I also wasn't too particularly fond of the second half of the manga. It drops elements of deconstruction and character drama to replace it with military affairs. I understand the writer is a military nut but having chapters littered with walls of text of JSDF members reacting to the shadow dragon was just so tedious. It would've been better if the plot focused solely on the children and how their actions affect their environment.

I highly recommend anyone who's curious to please read the manga. It's dark but not pointlessly dark. It's a thought-provoking social commentary on the nature of humans and how far their cruelty can go. There's an anime adaptation that isn't as good buts still a fun watch. Even if it's unlikely I'd to see the anime get a remake with a bigger budget and completely adapt the manga.For similar works, check out bokurano, devil survivor and selector infected wixoss.

Narutaru is perhaps one of the worst manga I've ever read, but that's probably because I stick to the ill shit. I see a bunch of praise for this manga, but I feel like that's just a misguided slap in the fucking face. This manga legitimately makes me angry, it is, very.... disappointing.

To understand why Narutaru is so bad, you'll have to read it yourself, however I urge you not to, because then you'll just get blue balled like I did. The premise is interesting, however it doesn't bother doing anything new. There are a few instances where the characters are intriguing, sure, and the ... structuring was cool in certain areas. An example would be the group dynamics for all the characters, they all belong to a group, while everyone is working for their own purposes. The series doesn't really treat it's characters as a collective, but rather just specific cases. I'm not gonna lie that I did skip certain sections of the manga, but that's because the pacing is really egregious. There's not much in terms of character development in this manga, the characters just never learn, or bad things happen to them just because.

The philosophical portion of this manga is weak. If you've seen any psychological anime or manga, it's all basically the same shit. This manga is seriously just Evangelion, with The 7 Psychics from Yu Yu Hakusho as the antagonists, with meaningless shock horror. It feels like this manga doesn't even have a point, the gore or whatever happens to the characters isn't insightful, and every conversation that talks about a characters "ideals" or what have you feels forced, like projection from the author onto the audience.

The Art Style sucks, it has this bubbly Pokemon art style, people call this a deconstruction of the Mon genre, which isn't really accurate. The only thing it could've possibly subverted is just being tailored towards a different demographic. The art style is especially heinous, in the fact that you it makes the tonal whiplash of the manga all the more apparent. There's down time, and then some fucked up shit happens, rinse and repeat, all the while this manga looks like some generic CLAMP shit. I'm only giving it a 3 because Kitoh IS competent when it comes to machinery like cars and planes, however: don't ask me how this is possible, but this dude can't draw in perspective to save his life. I have no idea how you can learn how to draw detailed planes right, but can't even draw a point of view shot of looking up a stairwell.

Spoilers ahead, but honestly, don't read this manga:

The worst part however, was the ending. The ending was rushed, and some BULLSHIT. The main character does a complete personality 180 and nothing makes any sense. Every character is quickly killed, for no reason, other than to justify the main character resetting Earth. This manga is seriously conflicting, it could've been cool, if the ending didn't just invalidate the entire story, and wasn't just so damn edgy and meaningless. The only "point", I could possibly divulge from this manga, is self reflection, but that's a cop out answer, because the philosophy is trite, the characters don't act like humans do, and this is a dumb fantasy story that doesn't seem to know it's target audience.