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Imagine a fantasy JRPG with super fun gameplay but with text box dialogue and cut scenes that add nothing to the characters or plot and have 0 stakes or compelling reason to watch or read them. This anime is 12 episodes of the text box dialogue and cut scenes. It has no redeeming characteristics.

I decided to commit to the show because I got the sense it was some kind of Romeo and Juliet fantasy drama epic. I figured I just had to wait for things to hit the fan and they would become more exciting. They never did. There are of stakes. The main ... character is as thin as cardboard. He is essentially an audience stand in as so many other cookie cutter anime like this are. He never loses, doesn't even break a sweat, every issue is resolved in that episode or the next. There is never a doubt he will succeed. All of the female characters in the show while at least are a little more thoughtfully designed are equally as empty and pine over just for existing. It is really as bad as the poster suggests. All of the tropes ala SAO are here in full force with nothing else to distinguish itself. If you like SAO, just stick to that.

I wish I had more to say about the great shows that I have seen this season but this one just offended me so badly I had to write about it. I am glad at least now I can clean my hands of this and move on.

Whenever I watch an anime I get an initial impression or a promise. The anime will usually promise me that it's going to be one way or the other. Just from looking at the cover and watching the first few episodes and the main gist if the anime told me I was getting into an anime full of inspiration about a group of kids trying to make their dreams come true through the building of a robot. It could have been that or an Angelic Layer style robot tournament. I wouldn't have even minded a slice of life with a little robot building hobbies on ... the side. However this anime so far has introduces so many concepts that for the sake of not spoiling anything I will not mention. Lets just say some of those concepts were pretty... earth shattering. Anyway, I really don't know what this anime is suppose to be, I don't think it knows what it wants to be. The reason why I brought up impressions and promises earlier is because I need to commit my feelings to something, at times it's ok to willfully betray the viewers initial impressions like in Madoka Magika, to get a certain effect, but this anime didn't seem to have a goal in mind as it popped question after question in my mind. Even at this point in the anime I feel like there were so many odd ball occurrences that were completely out of context that they could very well end up being plot holes by the end of the series unless they do some serious tying of the strings.

Another thing I would like to touch on is the Characters. I felt like in the context of this ever vacillating story, the characters could not plant their roots firmly enough to make significant development. The characters all have very strong personalities and they are all very likable. I just wish that I could come to draw even closer to them especially by now.

So far my mid series review is this:

Story: There really isn't much of one at this point, I am having a hard time even pegging it as a slice of life anime. There are too many themes that are picked up and dropped to be able to understand what the anime is trying to be.

Art: It's quite good. It;s very befitting of the overall mood of the story and it is quite pleasing to look at for long periods of time. Very smooth animations and pleasant backgrounds. Very Slice O' Lifey.

Sound: My hands are together for Asami Tachibana, Takeshi Abo, and Yuuki Hayashi for putting together such a wonderful soundtrack. If anything, the sound kept the mood relevant throughout the anime. I especially liked some of the more ongoing pervasive melodies as they were very nostalgic and just put me into a very good mood. I would definitely purchase an album if made available to me.

Character: The storyline aside, the characters were very lovable. They all stood out in their own way and if anything is the reason to watch this show as these character would probably make a better episode by episode anime rather than a show with an intricate plot that divides and ties together at the end.

Enjoyment: Frankly, I found my attention drifting. It really hasn't riveted me as much as I'd like. Nitroplus has been known to make other animes that have been more or less slower at the beginning like Steins;Gate which is probably one of my favorite anime ever alongside Bokurano which also has a slow beginning. The thing is, even those anime had enough promise to keep me watching the show until the kicker, when i was fully submersed. I can't say that even up to this point I am fully submersed in the show. I'd even go as far as to say that it's because of Steins;Gate that didn't get truly interesting until ep 11 that I am even giving this as much of a chance as I have (Along with the fact that once I have gotten this far into something it has to be really bad for me to not commit till the end. The only anime that bad was Star Driver but that's another review).

Overall: Once again this is a mid way review and my thoughts may change but usually the first half of the anime marks the point at which it will not get any worse and the first half of this has set the bar pretty low, so I am just eagerly awaiting. Until then, I will continue to enjoy the gorgeous soundtrack and lighthearted humor that this anime has to offer.

An aspect of Bokurano that I love is how well it executes the story effectively. The anime is an ensemble character study of fifteen kids who pilot a mecha to save the world and the anime makes efficient use of its 24-episode run. If you pay enough attention to the first episode, it does an excellent job of foreshadowing future events early. It gives hints of what the characters are like, these minute details help you understand why the characters react in certain ways later. As for the characters themselves, they are intriguingly distinct, in a matter of fact their personalities are almost polarizing. More ... than once, while watching this anime, I have seen nuances about their personalities that reminded me how I might react like them in comparable situations.

Mohiro Kitoh is great at expressions. In his original manga, every character on the screen has a unique expression that is essential to the character’s personality, and it translated well into the anime. There is a scene where all the characters are together during an emotional moment. The camera pans across the screen showing each one’s face. Just looking at each of them you can read their minds. Even with more than one person on the screen, every character has a unique expression, and the animation depicts it with authenticity.

Just like the art, the music sets the mood very well. The music was soft, warm, and reminiscent, almost like a dream or a memory. It is warm, yet somber. Listening to the soundtrack separately I can vividly recall scenes from the show. Each track is distinct but simple enough to tell you without words what each track represents in the anime. The music suggests images, places, and characters when listening to it.

Another element that I enjoy is how the anime depicts the characters. They are simple and average, which is how the mangaka, Mohiro Kitoh depicts all the characters in the stories he tells. There is no strangely colored hair, no cartoonishly shaped bodies, no one is too charismatic, too strong, or too smart. They are all drawn and written in a way you can relate to and that does not distract from their actions and motivations.

If you have seen Bokurano, you know that it is anything but a saccharin story. It addresses hard-hitting issues about individuals and society in general. Child abuse in blended families, grief, the burden of legacy. The anime discusses all these topics in an honest but non-exploitive manner. The cast is large and yet the story does not lose the characters in the background.

In the anime the mecha (robots) that the characters pilot are tools to teach the audience about the characters. These kids are not orphans or estranged children clamoring for the attention of their absentee parents which is a trope that anime that revolves around adolescents often exploit. They have families that come in different shapes and sizes. They have goals. It is quite easy to put yourself in the shoes of a Bokurano character, the anime grounds the angst in the story so you can empathize with the characters.

When I first started watching this I thought this was going to be Code Geass all over again with an Evangelion Cast. I thought "Shuu is Shinji, Ayase is Asuka and Inori is Rei" ... but.. it turned out to be nothing like what I predicted it was going to be. The soundtrack is the one of the best I have heard in an anime in a while. I was actually listening to it as I typed this review! One of the scores reminds me of like James Bond... like epic choral Bond, nevertheless the music is very unique and exciting, I haven't heard a ... score that kept me so riveted to the screen. the music draws you in and the art... Out of this world. Some of the art is so good I had to look carefully to decipher if it was CG or really detailed drawings, it glues you right to the seat. The characters although at the beggining seemed like cookie cutter characters, quickly developed in a way that I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting. It started of sort of silly to me and frankly kind of ridiculous. I can recall watching the first episode as Shuu was first trying out his powers and was hardly graceful to say the least about it. Even though t hat scene was well animated I thought it was corny and really highlighted all of the things I didn't like about Shuu at the time. I thought "This is sort of neat but I really hope that the rest of the series is not like this". I was expecting an unconfident complaining character as a lead who just barely manages to get himself out of a contemplative, self-questioning stupor in time to barely get the job done. I also recall that I had put this anime down at episode six and didn't catch up until the series got to about episode 14 or 15. Over all it's just so enjoyable to watch. It's a very attractive anime with a stylized, well choreographed type of action that's really refreshing to see. All the characters, especially those of the funeral parlor have this suave, professional coolness about them. Even the villains we very intriquing. Our heroes get out of these tight situations with such finesse and intrigue. And Gai, the leader of the organization you follow throughout the story is an absolute boss. All of these elements make this a very sophisticated anime to watch. So my final comments is that the music subtly draws you in, the art keeps you glazed over the screen in interest, the story really grows to epic proportions and changes what could seem like cliche characters at first into people that you will become very attached to and become concerned about, and the stylized action is just the icing on the cake rendering this anime a highly recommended watch on my list.

Thanks for reading my review and expect another one by the end of the anime in which i'll probably have spoilers and will be more like a summary and concluding thoughts.

Wonderful art, the music is ok, the characters still have time to develop but as of the first three episodes there isn't much there. Just on the colors, and the mechs alone does the enjoyment make a 7. I feel like Madoka didn't hesitate enough when her responsibility of piloting the "Vox" or the robotic/aircraft that she pilots was heaped upon her. Now i'm not saying she has to pull a Shinji Ikari from Eva or a Renton Thirston from Eureka 7 but she hardly hesitates at all making me think "ok that's a little unrealistic". I think why I was put off a little ... is because going into this anime I was expecting it to be partly a drama and there was very little in regard to her and the Mecha. So where is the drama going to come from. The most drama for me came when Lan overcame her disability to go into warrior mode in her Vox, but that only lasted for like two episodes. Anyway my complaints may come from expectations, in that case maybe I need to expect "different" not necessarily "less". I still think it's worth watching as long as they turn up either the action or the drama and give the viewer a since of suspense comes nd conflict.

Very interesting mix of genres. At first I didn't expect all the action that was to come and then "BANG". It seems like just a drama at first but then it kicks into high gear. I love the characters and it was sad what is happening to the characters. To be as ambiguous as possible there is one unfortunate occurrence and one unfortunate foreshadowing within the first episode. This seems like it's going to take a much darker tone than the introduction may make one believe, with the pop singing duo and all. Great art, the sound quality on the streams i'm using are ... not that great but being in the music genre I can only assume the sound to be above par, but mostly I like the charterers and can't wait to see them develop.