Narutaru: Mukuro Naru Hoshi Tama Taru Ko

[JP, subtitle quality was ok, Triad_&_AonE recommended]

The purpose of this review is avoiding having you skip something you may enjoy under the illusion such a stacked not-recommended count incurs upon you. The one single shortcoming of this animation is it only had 13 episodes and never continued. This is not a condensed or summarized of compacted or rushed show. It moves at a pace matching what is happening which is what makes it good. Thanks to that pace it is unfinished because there is no way that would fit into 13 episodes, but because there was no maniac scramble to try and wrap everything up ... it maintains its consistency from beginning to end. This show is from a time when children's anime put hair on your balls. In my opinion this is what a proper manga adaptation should strive for with respect to pace and unresolved plot points. A desire to know more is planted in you.
For what censorship occurs they creatively skirt it so that you can still figure out what was hidden by those censors.

Animation quality is typical of early 2000's, no complaints.
Character art style is unique, not to the degree of something like Gilgamesh, but easily stands out visually.
Sound design was good overall. My only annoyance was use of gun cocking at strange timings.
Music went unnoted.

So by all means watch.

If you always wanted to watch a shonen turn into dark psychological horror that includes extreme violence than you have come to the right place.

This anime suffers from a dated animation that does not really hold up today. Which is why would like to see a modern remake. The story remains unresolved and rather feels like an anthology. At times the pace is rather slow and I felt bored. You probably wonder at this point why I still rated this 8 stars. The answer is that this anime really feels unique despite its shortcomings. Ofc I also might be a bit biased and maybe more ... accurate would be to rate this 6 stars. Or lets meet at the middle and say 7.

The mix of supernatural power vs modern military was intriguing.

The violence feels more like it was meant to offend viewers rather than being art.

Hoshimaru and his emotionless expression is the most uncanny thing in this anime.

Story wise I liked how the protagonist is an idealist whose ideals are challenged by the antagonists of this show that act very psychotic. There also philosophical parts in this.

I think that if more parts of the manga were adapted the anime might have been better as I think the story gets more interesting later.

I usually don’t write reviews, but this anime was such an unpleasant experience that I felt compelled to log into MAL and warn potential viewers. If you’re expecting a coherent plot or interesting ideas, steer clear.

This is supposed to be a monster-tamer series, but it barely explains anything. Instead, it floods you with characters and their dragon companions who appear briefly and are then forgotten. The story jumps all over the place—from military psychic wars with monsters to a revenge arc about a bullied girl. There’s also a lot of edgy content, especially in the final episodes, but it doesn’t add any substance. The sudden ... bursts of violence and suffering feel random and might catch viewers off guard, especially those who are already struggling to make sense of the confusing narrative. Every episode left me so lost that I’d often have to rewatch parts of the previous one, only to realize nothing important had happened.

I’d only recommend this for someone who enjoys early 2000s-style edginess and has already seen classics like Elfen Lied. However, keep in mind this adaptation isn’t particularly gory, as much of the graphic content from the manga was censored.