BOKURANO

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaBokurano

REVIEWS

• 

  brSheep

  79/100
  Takes some getting used to, but is really good!

  Bokurano Anime Review
  Episodes: 24
  Genres: Drama, Mecha, Psychological, Sci-Fi

  Disclaimer: Light spoilers

  Plot: 9.5/10
  Hands down, Bokurano has one of the most interesting plots I have ever come across in anime. With a lot of the same recycled plots coming out, this was a breath of fresh air. The basic plot consists of 14 7th graders, and 1 4th grader, that are tricked into piloting a mocha to save the world from aliens! Now, this may seem normal for a show, but Bokurano is far from that. The kids are told that it’s just a simple game and they act with that mentality for a while until they realize that they did not sign up for a “simple game”. There’s a big twist with piloting this mecha, and that twist is the mocha runs on your life force. So, when you win your battle, you die (To put it simply). This leads to interesting psychological problems with the kids. Do they pilot the mecha to save the world? Or do they run the risk of keeping themselves alive in case their world is not destroyed? From the very beginning, the kids are set up with a dark future, and they deal with it in different ways. In the end, how many of them will have to die for the Earth to be saved?

  Art/Animation: 6/10
  So I’m very strict with the whole 1-10 grading scheme. 10 being it cannot get any better and 1 being it cannot get any worse and 5 being just average. Bokurano’s art and animation can only be described as that, average. Why it gets a 6 and not a 5 is because it’s lackluster character design actually works for them. Bokurano seems to pride itself on the realistic aspect of the show, despite it being giant robots fighting to the death. The cast, though different personalities, look realistic and act in a realistic way. Besides that though, there are times where the animation is great and others where the animation is horrible. So… Average!

  Music: 7/10
  The music suffers from the same fate as the art and animation sadly. The differences between the two are that the opening and ending themes to Bokurano are outstanding. “Uninstall” is a perfect opening theme for a show so dark and twisted, while the ending shows the more human side of the characters and calms you down. There’s nothing special about the insert songs. Actually, I don’t remember any of them…

  Characters: 9/10
  This is where the show needs to shine since like other survival anime, it has a huge cast. 15 characters (plus a couple more that show up later) that need time to develop and grow. The show does a surprisingly good job at developing its characters too. Not all of them had enough time to develop fully, but for the time they’re given, it was pretty impressive. As said above, the kids find out that to save their Earth, they need to die, basically become a martyr. A lot of the time in anime, you don’t receive realistic reaction towards situations like this. Maybe some disbelief and light shock at most. These characters cry, kick, scream because they are kids. It’s a good choice that the main cast is kids to because their views on morality and the situation they are in are mostly unfiltered. Overall, a great cast of characters (Especially Ushiro).

  Overall Score: 7.9/10

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• 

  BurnsyCEO

  80/100
  An underrated gem dealing with despair, death, life and suicide as well as bravery in the face of death.

  Bokurano is a show that nobody seems to have heard off. I think its one of he most underrated animes ever. The entire anime revolves around tragedy and thus its not possible to make a review that doesn't spoil everything. Hell telling you what happens in the fist episode will spoil stuff so I have to be as cryptic as possible.

  The story is about a group of 15 children/teens who follow their friend down into a cave where a stranger who asks them to play his "game??" where they have to pilot a giant robot one by one to defeat a "monster?". Is it only a game? Who or what are those enemies they need to defeat? Why can the whole world view their battle?

  If there is one emotion that describes what you feel watching this anime,its despair. Its worse than what puella magi ever made me feel. Being chosen to pilot the robot "Zearth" is no gift,its a curse. But they have no choice but to get in as they learn what not doing so would mean when they learn what they are really fighting for. You can watch as our characters slowly get broken mentally and emotionally and how they find the resolve to step into the machine.

  Considering the show is supposed to be about fighting robots, its art and fight scenes are nothing to look at. It's honestly quite poor if you compare it to the other anime that came out in the same year. But thats not why you watch bokurano. Its the story and characters,who will make you really feel like you're rooting for them till the end. The show also has one of the most unlikeable villain in any anime I've seen.

  The opening of this show deserves special mention as I've never skipped it once. The music is hauntingly beautiful and it brings out the best of the show.Truly despicable.

  You probably won't get a satisfactory answer in the end as to how and why the events in the anime are orchestrated and the explanation might leave you with just as many unanswered questions regarding the "masterminds". Who are they? why do they look like that? Why is the metric worth of a universe determined by the victor of a robot battle? Why are the pilots chosen unwillingly? The number of universes is supposed to be infinite......and infinity divided by any finite number is still infinity.......therefore after the culling process there would still be an infinite number of universes therefore achieving nothing.Therefore all I can conclude is that it was done for entertainment and the masterminds are just assholes. But in my opinion it's no reason to not watch the show.

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• 

  AnimeHealsLifes

  90/100
  Summer Vacation Gone Wrong

  Bokurano

  

  When writing the outline of this review I was always finding myself rewriting it because of the simple fact that it is so easy to spoil. This hidden gem made by Moshiro Kitoh is by far a 24 episode that everyone should experience. Since episode 1 you are plunge into the premise of the story of a summer vacation gone wrong. For the rest of the review I will say it has some spoiler, so if you hate spoilers stop right here and go watch it because I give this anime a must watch. For the one that do not mind please enjoy the review.

  

  Contemplate this question if you knew you were going to die in a few days, what will you do? This is the whole premise of Bokurano. It starts with 15 kids entering a cave and quickly ask if they want to play a game. Already sounds like Saw, and lets say that is a fair comparison.
  

  Bokurano touches on many disturbing topics. Some include depression, income gap, so viewer digression is advice. Not to mention that these kids already have their own unique issues at home, so as the show goes on you see how the mentality that they could die next begins to chisel at there mental stability. What this leads to is to a very unique roster of main characters.

  Characters

  This is a hard one because all the characters are technically have main roles, but because they die as soon as they pilot the robot it seems the ones that are killed of at first are not as important. Yes, some of them leave more of impact than the others. So, I will go over some of the characters that had the most impact on myself personally.

  Jun Ushiro:

  

  By far one of the more complicated characters, and the one with the most character development. At first you think of him no more than an individual with a deep hatred towards his younger sister because he blames her for her "mother" death. As the story progress you will see how one individual can change a horrible life of a person into a somewhat manageable state. His character hit me the most because it applies to everyone because we have our issues, but all it takes a special someone to help us get through our issues.

  Koemushi:

  

  The comedic relief to the show, and personally his corny jokes somehow give you a chuckle. With him causing all sort of trouble in their life is it encouraging them to commit some evil, and Yeeting people for talking back to him. Those facial expression make me wish he was a plushy.

  Yoko Machi:

  

  A girl with a dark past that manifest itself in regret itself. Even though she is stale as cardboard she somehow grows on you, or not depends on the perspective you take.

  Masuro Kodaka:

  

  By far the one I was rooting to die, why? Because he felt he was entitled because his father was wealthy, need I say more. Which turns him into a straight up garbage thinking that he can hurt other living thing for his amusement.

  
  Bokurano, is not your typical anime that you can sit and watch without questioning moral judgement. It gives and interesting perspective on the difficulties that someone can be facing such as: depression, family issues, relationship issues, etc. The animation has not age well and for anime that release in 2007, but it puts to shame some of the current anime to shame *cough* seven deadly sins. 
  Then Follow by the amazing intro “Unistall” by Chiaki Ishikawa that reminds me of the intro of Evengalion Fly Me to the Moon. You have a winner that I highly recommend to anyone that is looking for anime that will get you invested to at least one of the characters. Definitely a must watch for any anime connoisseur. 
  <img width='' src='https://i.imgur.com/Vyy4vHw.jpg'>
   Have you seen it? If you have what do you think about it? Thank you for reading and liking!! See you on the next one.

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