Bokura no

As fifteen children at a summer camp enjoy their carefree vacation together, they stumble upon a small cave near the beach. The group finds a mysterious room deep within its caverns, where they meet a strange man who calls himself Kokopelli. The man invites the children to play a game that involves taking turns controlling a robot to protect the Earth against aliens. Thinking it might be an interesting computer game, all but one of the children sign a contract agreeing to play.

Later that day, the giant robot appears in person and the children are teleported into its cockpit, where they find Kokopelli, who pilots a fight against a similar robotic creature that has appeared nearby. After winning the battle, Kokopelli tries to apologize but is interrupted as the children are teleported back to the ground in the midst of the carnage.

As the bewilderment following the fight settles, the robot suddenly disappears and the children are left scared and confused. Despite seeming like a harmless game at first, the children never anticipated the stakes of this game and how their pasts would intertwine with their decisions going forward.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Ushiro, Jun Main

Minagawa, Junko Japanese

Koemushi Main

Ishida, Akira Japanese

Yamura, Daiichi Main

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Moji, Kunihiko Main

Miyata, Kouki Japanese

Honda, Chizuru Main

Takahashi, Ao Japanese

Kirie, Yousuke Main

Asanuma, Shintaro Japanese

Machi, Yoko Main

Sanpei, Yuuko Japanese

Nakarai, Mako Main

Iguchi, Yuka Japanese

Ano, Maki Main

Higa, Kumiko Japanese

Yoshikawa, Kanji Main

Nojima, Kenji Japanese

Nagai, Masaru Producer

Nanba, Hideyuki Producer

Morita, Hiroyuki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Reviews

Feb 25, 2011

Aeterna

Recommended

“I have no choice but to pretend I am a warrior who knows no fear.”

Truer OP lyrics have rarely been attributed so well to an anime series.

Fifteen children are tricked into participating in a battle for Earth itself. However, don’t be fooled by video clips of huge mecha fighting each other – this is not a classic mecha series with epic space battles and the like. Instead, each child who comes to pilot the mecha known as Zearth faces not only the struggle to save the world but also a struggle of their own. What do they fight for? Some fight for their loved ones. ... Others fight for themselves. A few see it as their duty. Some don’t know why and struggle to find a reason to look death in the face for the sake of complete strangers.

Each story arc deals with the next pilot set to fight on Earth’s behalf. Each child has a story to tell, a conflict of some sort to work out before they fight. One wants to prove himself to his workaholic father. Another deals with bullying because of her mother’s reputation. Another grapples with his disappeared dad while supporting his three younger siblings. And so on and so forth. At first, getting to know all the kids all at once is overwhelming, but as each one is explored and developed, they become unique and well fleshed out. Each arc then becomes a “coming of age” story for each of the kids, culminating in their final battles as they reflect on their lives and the world they fight for. In the meantime, the group of children draw unwanted attention to themselves from the government and military and they must deal with the implications of their actions.

As you can imagine, it’s heavy on drama and it gets amped up even further as the story progresses and the children learn more about this twisted “game” (but to discuss them here would be very spoilery). Bring tissues.

For the more technical merits of Bokurano, it fares pretty well. Animation and art aren’t overly detailed and there aren’t any bright, glaring colours. Realism is what the animators seemed to be aiming for. Still, it slips up here and there, and sometimes obviously so. I also caught some re-used animation a few times, too. The mecha are done in CG and while it’s noticeable, it doesn’t stick out too much in a bad way, and Zearth and some of the other mecha designs are well rendered.

The OP and the two EDs are all sung by Chiaki Ishikawa. The OP, “Uninstall”, carries a rather haunting melody and is well-suited to the anime. The EDs are, unfortunately, more forgettable. Still, it’s notable that the lyrics of each song fit the anime to a T, so the translated lyrics are well worth paying attention to. The background music is, for the most part, unremarkable – not noteworthy but not bad, either. I have no complaints about the seiyuu as they all did a great job.

Overall, Bokurano was a surprisingly strong series that gives viewers plenty to think about. No magic tricks here, no fairy tale endings. Nevertheless, despite all the hardships the characters face, I can’t help but feel a bit hopeful, like I should appreciate life a little more and all the good things in this world. After all, we never know when it’ll all be over.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Mar 28, 2013

Orsonius

Mixed Feelings

I‘d like to start this review with this first thought.

Gonzo fucks up everything.

Now that this is out of the way let me explain why and how I mean it.

Bokurano isn‘t a bad anime don‘t get my wrong. I just feel it could have been a better one, when done by a different studio and different budget.

But I will cover this whole issue in the single segments of this review.

Also note, this review will most likely contain minor spoilers, so please don‘t read it if you don‘t wanna get spoiled anything, even if it's just slight ... ones.
This is due to my comparison with the manga (but only superficial I don't mention any characters and what happens to them, just themes and some emotions that might come across)

All I can say to you is, watch this show it‘s good, but bad presented.

And now let‘s review this show:

Starting with the worst first and then we gradually go to the better things about this show.


Animation

Lets establish what animation even means. It‘s not just moving pictures, it‘s also art and quality how it is presented.
Some of you who know about Gonzo might have heard about it, but Gonzo likes to mix some bad CGI into their drawn shows, and Bokurano is a good example for this bad habit. I even go so far and say that the animation is almost non existent for the most important parts of a semi-mecha show but was replaced by boring CGI robo-fights.
It looks so awkward to see 2 giant CGI robots fight slowly against each other, and is by far the most boring shit in the entire show.

But when there is no CGI it doesn‘t shine either. Crooked faces, movements, quality loss. You name it. It‘s all there. Basically the show looks like it was made in the early 2000s or even late 90s.
And it is especially sad when a show like Neon Genesis Evangellion from 1996 looks better than this show made in 2007! 10 years later and a show manages to do not even a half as good job in animating it as something else.
Why are the Evas animated in NGE but ZEarth is not in Bokurano, and was replaced by some shitty CGI model?

Despite that it doesn‘t offer anything else in return, no memorable, or especially well done moments, no great artstyle or amazing quality. The backgrounds look generic and forgettable, and the character designs (though very close to their original Manga version) are bland and forgettable.

My verdict: 1,5/10 (I give it a 2/10 out of mercy)


Sound

Moving on from the bad animation, the sound-department did a quite well job.

Starting off with the OP „Uninstall“ by Chiaki Ishikawa is by far the best piece of music this show has to offer. It‘s gloomy, melancholic and has a bit of a childish touch to it. It fits the show very well, the lyrics as well. I loved to listen to the song before very episode and never got bored of it.
The EDs were good as well but couldn‘t hook me like the OP did.

The rest of the OST fit well but wasn‘t outstanding. Decent tough but not worth mentionable or a good reason to get your hands on the OST.

The voiceacting ranged from average to awkward at moments. The most outstanding job in my opinion did Akira Ishida, who voice Koemushi. Who did an infinite amount of rolls already, but to be honest I‘m not too familiar with his works.

My verdict: 5,5/10 (rounded up to 6/10 because of it‘s overall fitting nature to the show)

Overall the presentation of this show is lacking and could have done (and should have been!) better. A different studio (like Madhouse, Sunrise or even Gainax) could have made a better job (maybe) with some other people in the staff.

Moving on to the content...

Story

Mohiro Kitoh, the original creator of the Manga Bokurano (ours) has some sort of weird fetish for shows with dark themes and children.
He seems to be obsessed with themes like, death, suicide, rape, depression and apocalypse.
Those are the themes presented in Bokurano. And not by adults, no by children. To be exact 13 year old middleschoolers.
At first the concept might sound overused. A cast of teenagers/children ride a gigantic Robot to save the world against invaders. But after finishing the show, it wasn‘t really about that but more about the implications of death and sacrifice.
Would you give your life for the world? Do you even think it is worth protecting? These concepts are in the spotlight and each of the 15 children reacts differently with these implications.
It all start out as a game but becomes all serious right in EP2. And this is where this show shines. Tension, cliffhangers, and bit of pieces of information that are feed to you.
There is every time something new that gets revealed and that is what gets you hooked.
So many questions so little answers, but it all (?) makes sense in the end.
It never feels boring (unless there is a shitty CGI fight but those never really drag on too long) and gets you truly involved with everything.
Hiroyuki Morita (who didn‘t really direct anything besides The Cat Returns by Ghibli) did a great job here.

Something else that is noticeable is the difference to the Manga. I have only read parts of it but the chronological order is very different in the anime, as well as some events and the behavior of characters are different. And I feel the anime might even be superior (even though the manga looks pretty good!). I will certainly read the manga and find out what is really different.

It‘s a thrilling experience and goes to all sorts of emotions. Laughter (though little), Anger (a lot of hate towards some characters), Sadness (some tears poured out) and also a sort of emptiness at some point.

My Conclusion: 8,5/10 (rounding up to 9/10 for being a great show in regards to story)


Characters

The other strong points of this show were the characters.
Though most of them not really relatable or likable in the beginning, become later much more interesting and even relatable.
The show follows the LOST formula.
What does that mean?
Well if you‘ve seen Lost you might now what I mean, if now let me explain.
Take a bunch of different people and throw them into a mysterious dangerous situation. And then show everyone backstory as they progress to the story, while building up a desired emotion for each given character.
All of them have some sort of a dramatic or interesting background story. Some more dramatic than others but all are kinda dramatic.
But in the end everyone is kinda interesting and different.
Some characters change from unlikable to likable, while others make you wanna hate them even more, and then there are those you feel very sorry for. It tries to be realistic and not just makes you wanna love each one of them, or only hate the villain.
And as I said, some stories brought me to tears while other let me scream at the screen „DIE DIE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!“.

My Conclusion: 8/10

The last segments talks about the Values and my overall enjoyment of the show, as well as my final Verdict.

Value

The show sure got me thinking, and now I even want to read a Manga. Me who doesn‘t read manga at all! (almost non)
It‘s a remarkable anime and one of those shows that will leave a mark in my mind that will let me remember it.
Though it didn‘t do anything groundbreaking, it sure is one of those shows that are talked about when you look for something mature, dark and sad.

6/10

Enjoyment

As Mentioned, my enjoyment almost only came from the Content of the show and not its presentation.
A good show doesn‘t need good presentation, while a bad show with good presentation will still be a bad show, is the saying.
But I disagree.
Anime is anime because it‘s animated. If the animation sucks I feel as if it‘s a wasted medium and would have been better only as a manga or something else.
It offered some visual pleasing moments but it overall was crap from a presentation side of view and that lowered my overall enjoyment quite a bit.
That said the story, characters and overall experience was very much enjoyable and that‘s why I recommend everyone to watch it and bare with the shitty CGI and sometimes sloppy animation quality. The Manga is different and will not offer you the same experience as the Anime does.

6/10

My final verdict:

Bokurano was a show that ended up being better than expected, had me gripped for 24 episodes and was a themepark of many emotions, though all mostly on the sad spectrum.
It‘s something that makes you question motivation for your actions and your reason why you live.
It‘s not an outstanding anime, but a very good story, so watch it with that in mind.

6/10 Fair

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Feb 25, 2018

literaturenerd

Not Recommended

Overview:

Time for a totally random review! Today, I'll be covering the always polarizing Bokurano. One of my offline buddies loves this series, so he let me borrow it. I really wanted to like it but...yeah.


Story:

The story is that God is an utter asshole. He arbitrarily decides that there are too many universes and now a fighting tournament is needed to see which universe survives. This series has the same plot as Dragon Ball Super Tournament of Power, but plays it DEAD FUCKING SERIOUS! You are setting yourself up to fail if you create a plot that Akira "poop on a stick is funny" Toriyama would ... come up with and take it this seriously. Each parallel Earth chooses a bunch of random children and forces them to pilot a giant robot in a best of 12 contest. However, the robot is powered by the souls of children, so the kid dies even if he or she wins. The kids of our Earth decide to name their robot "Zearth" because I guess Dio copyrighted ZA WARUDO! Zearth is OP as fuck and easily wins each and every battle...then the kid dies. That's basically every episode. Our universe survives, the others die and...that's really it.

Characters:

Bokurano has a lot of characters...but they all die shortly after introduction and leave zero emotional impact. You're left going "oh no...so and so's dead...what a shock!" Let's introduce kid #1. He's an athlete who was sad that his dad never came to his games, so he quit sports. Then he pilots a giant robot and says goodbye to this cruel world. I don't even remember his name. I can't remember what he looked like. Is that the point? That we are all disposable cogs in the machine of this horrible existence? Is this anime just a sophomoric foray into nihilism? Maybe there is some deeper meaning the author intended, but I sure didn't see it. I was probably a tad distracted by how fucking stupid the plot is.


Art:

Did you think the CGI in Full Metal Panic aged poorly? You ain't seen nothing yet! I think this anime at least looked sort of acceptable upon release, but now it's a visual abortion.

Sound:

I at least liked the opening theme and its chorus of DELETE! DELETE! It sadly just reminded me that I could be re-watching Matt Hardy's The Final Deletion again, which is far better than this anime. Yes, watching 2 redneck wrestlers launch fireworks at each other and spew total nonsense is a million times better than this anime.

Overall:

I obviously didn't care for this anime, but maybe some other people found enjoyment or profundity where I didn't. That's cool. At least this anime started some fun conversations.

Me: "I'm sorry man...but this anime is just abject trash."

My friend: "Oh really? Coming from the guy who loves Elfen Lied? At least my anime doesn't involve a plethora of naked children!"

My other friend: "Guys! Guys! BOTH of your anime are trash! Instead you should watch a REAL anime...the first season of Slayers from 1995.

everyone: "Yeah...Slayers is pretty good"

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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