Bokurano
Bokurano: Ours

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No reviews for this? You're killing me.

Bokurano is a story about finding meaning in the absolute meaninglessness that is our lives.

In essence, it's a series of 15 short stories about these 15 kids who are trapped in a competition where they gotta pilot a 500m tall robot. If they lose, the world is screwed. Gradually, through a series of well written and shocking twists, everything about their mission ends up being bad for them and pretty much everyone around them. It's a brutally realistic depiction of what you'd get if you actually did put a bunch of middle schoolers in charge of this sort ... of thing. Some are wannabe heroes, others have mental breakdowns, at least one goes on a murdering rampage, and a few just don't care. It also turns out that people don't like it when you fight in the middle of a city and cause 10,000 casualties.

How tragic is this series? Well, sometimes you can actually hear the author chuckling in the background as one of these kids gets their lives or minds completely destroyed. On occasion a few of these tales end on a heartwarming or content note, but I suspect that's only because Kitoh had stomach worms at the time or something.

But the thing is, even though this story is soul crushing, it's continuously gripping. I read the whole thing over the course of a weekend in a feverish marathon, something I never do for anything. Each child's story is unique and interesting, and every time one ended and another one came up, my reaction would be "I don't care about this kid, that last one was so good how can this one compare?" and every time without fail, I would be blown away.That kid's unique struggle and subsequent battle would set them totally apart from everyone else, and be good enough to stand as its own story. Kitoh is that good of an author, and even though he's royally screwed up in the head(as shown by this, Narutaru, His Murder Plan, and everything else he's ever written) he knows how to put a method into his madness. The guy is a genius, but I don't think I'd ever want to meet him.

In terms of art, all the human characters are wirey and lacking in detail. Backgrounds are elaborate, but sharp and have a sort of blank feeling to them. Objects like vehicles are interesting and futuristic without being outlandish. The art style is perfect for Kitoh's style of writing, honestly. The main attraction is the "mecha" designs though. These things are not Gundams. They absolutely enormous, with styles varying between vaguely insectoid and completely abstract. Kitoh's mind is not limited to his eccentric writing, it caries over into his artwork. You generally do not see anything as weird as this guy's stuff in any comic.

Now let's talk about the anime for a sec. The anime version of Bokurano sucks. The director hated the manga's story because it was too bleak, and tried to rewrite it himself. It turns out that that guy did not have the ability to outdo our mildly psychotic author here. The result was a pretty show with an amazing OP, but a sucky story and a lame ending. Speaking of endings, the manga ending is incredible. It's not awe inspiring or anything like that, it's just a beautiful ending that completely fit the story.

In terms of being a realistic deconstruction of the mecha genre, this series completely stomps Evangelion through and through. And most other giant robot series for that matter. You actually might not be able to enjoy robot stories after this, since Bokurano turns them completely inside-out. It's almost the polar opposite of Gurren Lagann, but somehow just as awesome.

Viz is publishing this in the US starting in February 2010. I'm totally picking it up.

A title that will stick with you.

The story's main focus is a large cast of kids who are thrown into an almost inescapable death-trap, forcing them to rethink how they wish to spend their last moments alive. It is a concept that fascinates me to no end. Each character is unique and memorable in this anthology of death and misery.

The problem lies in its execution. Some of the twists and turns that happen in the story are truly impactful, but the characters experiencing these events simply feel alien. It is one of those titles where characters act deadpan most of the time. When the story ... is told through people that fail to represent basic human behavior, most of its messages fall flat. Add some clunky monologues about death and issues in society, and it all makes the story feel pretentious toward the later parts.

Without spoiling too much here are two examples. Out of all the kids, only one of them actually panics and thinks of how much he has yet to experience in life. Yet everyone around him acts as though he's abnormal. I can't help but think this character had more potential. Later on we also learn one of the girls was abused in the worst way possible, and yet everyone acts as if she's the villain in the drama. Heck, her parents seem to condemn her actions more than they condemn the men who put her in that situation.

Did I still enjoy it? I would say yes, the art was fitting, some of the children's stories do stand out and it captures a dire atmosphere. It makes the reader think and that makes it memorable and worth picking up if you want something that isn't just brainless entertainment.

Bokurano ours is a story about a man who convinces 14 (I think) middle schoolers to join his crew to fight aliens(?). However the man doesn't use traditional methods to fight aliens. You see he had sadly watched too much anime and decides the only thing capable of fighting giant aliens is a giant robot. Now these kids must randomly take turns to pilot this giant robot and save the world. But Unbeknownst to them piloting a giant robot comes at a great cost. A cost they must live with the rest of there life. So this becomes an Eeny, meeny, miny, moe game from ... hell.

Despite the complicated issues this series has (as well as the reveals later), the idea is pretty simple. Big giant alien needs to be defeated using the big giant robot. So the story needs to be carried specifically due the characters and there personality, likability and traits. However when the AI looking thing has more personality than literally any other character in the series thats when you have fucked up. Every character is this person who's suffering from this dark past or this guy who the most generic good guy type you can find. Its like the author one archetype and put them in each character without playing around. They were definitely some moments where these characters felt alive and fun. But majority wise they did pretty much what i expected them too and it was boring. Maybe the author wanted to say these are middle schoolers of course they are predictable. But he's also writing himself by not making them interesting most of the time. I think the only characters i liked was 1 of them. The rest felt acceptable and some downright bad.

The action i had massive issues with. They were 2 good fights in this series and they had barely any contact with each other why? Because they were supposed this tactical. People had to use there brain whilst knowing each second they waste is another innocent's man death. I really liked that aspect of the series. Most of the fights were just hit them harder and considering the scale of the series it wasn't really all that great. Each fight had a good moment but that was small considering the overall scope of the fights. There is also this massive issue with giving the characters more *depth* by giving them a backstory during every fight. No one wants a backstory during keep them separate. You are ruining both the fights and the story. It also doesn't help like i said some of them have the worst backstories ever. Like we are just supposed to suddenly like these characters now who have been predictable this entire way.

The art is also a mess. All the effort has been put into the mecha and aliens the characters themselves look like they were drawn by an entirely different inexperienced artist. This series also throws in tons of philosophical nonsense as if we are supposed to forget the weak characters, the mundane action the weak art. Some of the bad guys in the series get away scott free. I think the author wanted to imply that they are fighting not just for themselves but everyone on earth which means every life needs to be protected. Of course reality is often different but whatever.

My issue with the philosophical nonsense is that its all been done before. Nothing i haven't seen before. Its thinking aspect is probably its strongest suit but all these thinking has already done by series both better and older than this. I honestly don't understand what the author was thinking adding all that nonsense in it. Its also never really explained why they used middle schoolers at all.

I guess some of the good parts would be how each character has to deal with the cost. And i liked that part. Most handled as expected but the ones that handled differently. Those are the interesting ones. They are ones that kept me engaged and wanting to read this series. However too many issues with unlikable cast. Underage pointless nudity. Which i can't even call fan service because the author doesn't know how to draw characters. Too many issues, too many problem, too many complication. Every single one bringing the series down. This might have been worth it if you are massive Psychological fanatic. But don't expect anything knew. If you are a psychological fanatic you've seen all this shit before.

TLDR: Too many issues to make this series actually fun and enjoyable. The only consistent and real aspect of this series was buried under a mess of weaknesses. 3/10