Rising Zan here, now before I begin I have to apologize and explain for the delay in the October review. The reason is I wanted to do a review that had something to be Halloween related however I would still like to not delve into Sennin manga so quickly. So I thought up of some good ideas for Halloween themed manga but I came into problems of they are either too well known (thus defeating the main purpose of Otaku Underground) or not very Halloween. I then eventually forsake the idea of doing a perfect unknown Halloween related manga and just wanted to find a good review for me to do. And it was my Vice Leader of Otaku Underground, Seraphie, that recommended the following manga to review. And although this manga doesn't follow in any Halloween tradition it is pretty unknown and excels in one factor, the twisted spin on the idea of team Mecha that is Bokurano.
Your a kid at science summer camp, away from your friends, family and home town for a whole week. You make new friends, do some paper mache' sculptures and find a cave to where a weird scientist lives and asks if the 15 of you would like to play a little game. DON'T TAKE THE CANDY KIDS! But what they do take is a once in a life time opportunity to ride in a giant mecha and save the word from 15 monsters bent on destroying the world! What's that? You heard this story in 500 other anime? Well... sooner than the kids like... they find out that this game isn't as fun as they were led on. As reality hits them hard, and soon their fragile little lives are then crushed in an instant when they see the giant mecha hovering over their house, waiting for them to pilot. For their first time. Published by Shogakukan in Japanese and Viz Media in English, with story and art done by Moriho Kito. This is Bokurano: Ours
Presentation : 8/10 Good!
Bokurano is a mecha based manga, I wouldn't call it Shonen but wouldn't call it Senin either, but maybe somewhere in between. There isn't much if at any blood except when needed to get the realistic idea across. And no nudity (except maybe that one chapter). At first, I found it odd how the chapters were named and found out that they were named after the characters that the manga was focusing on. Each character gets an 3-5 chapter arc that explains who they are, their personality and their personal life as in the end they are personally tasked to defeat the monster that threatens to destroy the world which results in their hometown. At first I groaned when this trend was taking place because right before I read the chapter I had a basic idea of what was going to happen in the long run. However, I very quickly got used to it as I then was so enthralled with the character development in each chapter, and it was then that I realized that each chapter wasn't as predictable as I thought it out to be. And the cover art is cool, showing us the kids the volume is going to be focusing on. With some volume covers adding people who won't be focused on and some even skipping people who were focused. It's very inconsistent and somewhat annoying. Also other than the first volume, the covers don't have very good background illustration. But hey, at least there is one right?
Art: 9/10 Great...
Now the catch with Kito-sensei's art styles is this. His backgrounds are AMAZING! Simply stunning. You can take most of the pages from one of the volumes (like the one you see to your left) color it, and then put it up in an art museum and not many people would look at if funny. He gives great detail to the cities, the beaches and even the ocean itself and makes it look great. The mechs also follow this trend as the kids mech "Zearth" (that's pronounced like how the french would like "ze earth, ho ho ho. I will now eat a crepe and twirl my long mustache.) looks highly detailed and reminds me of the angel mechs in Evangellion. And even the art in the monsters is really good as how they look also shows the kids how the monsters will fight and how they need be able to defeat them. However then comes in Kito-sensei's weakness, drawing characters...
In the begining of the very first chapter, you are introduced to the characters by your basic run of the mill character sheet drawn on a piece of lined paper, it looks exactly like a doodle sketch someone drew during math class. But y'know this is a basic drawing of the character drawn with pencil might I add, the characters must look better when Kito is drawing them with a pen. And... no. No they don't. NOW, for the record, the character drawings aren't that terrible. They just look a little unprofessional, with some outlines not being thick enough, some noticeable awkward faces and other little problems. Now I'm don't have any problem with his art style, however I feel I need to point this out for all you hardcore Art critics. His character art isn't bad, just different from the average. One thing I especially like about Kito's color style is his seeming use of watercolors when doing color for covers or even color pages, it's very new for me to see this instead of solid colors on covers and it's very original to see this in a manga. Story: 9/10 Great
Well here is the big one, characters and story. This manga really prides itself on it's brand of storytelling.
Like I explained before, the basic story plot is 15 middle school kids go to a science camp and find a doctor who asks if they want to play "a game". They generally all agree and are then mysteriously teleported out of the gave they have discovered. They all then head back to their lodging only to soon feel and earth rattling tremor. They all rush out only to see the giant black mecha, that they will have to pilot.All of the kids have mixed feelings about the situation. Some excited, some scared and some hide their emotions on their predicament. That is until this little hell spawn shows up.
Dung Beetle
You certainly won't like this "adorable" little thing certainly if you are of one of the 15 kids. Dung Beetle is a foul mouthed, short tempered, and creepy as hell floating... bear head thing. Dung Beetle is the kids only source of information about the monsters, the black mech they are piloting and all such things. Even though he asks the kids if they have questions, he never answers all of them, and only answers them when it's convenient for him. He's a vindictive prick who is only there because he's obligated, but he still likes to add to the kids stress of saving the world in a giant mech against 15 mysterious monsters.
That's another thing I need to add, this isn't your typical Saturday morning Power Rangers knock off. This is a realistic mecha series with major civilian casualties with every fight. They move the mech one step. Boom! They just broke the one bridge that transports all the civilians out of the city. They take another step? Boom! The pilot just crushed his dad and is now having an emo angst attack and is completely helpless. Seriously, when the civvies see the robot and the monster show up, they don't cheer on the robot. They are scared of both of them and run for their freaking lives. This manga slaps the face of traditional robot anime, where the kids save the world with the power of love and friendship, and tells it to "grow the hell up!" It's frightening, it's gruesome and what's worse is that the fate in the world is in the hands of completely inexperienced middle schoolers.
Again, each time a monster shows up a different kid has to pilot the mech with no previous hands on experience. Lucky for the kid it's powered by the mind, but that doesn't stop some of the pilots from shouting "MISSILE FIRE!" anyway. But what's even more interesting is that each of the kids has a completely different mindset from the last. The first kid may be a sport nut and kick the monster and kill it in one shot, but the next may be a complete coward and run away as the monster devastates their hometown. That's another thing, the mech and the monster appear wherever the next pilot is at, and the other kids will show up there for the fight and then will end up where they originally are. I apologize if I haven't focused on the true main characters, the kids, enough. The problem is that this manga is 65 chapters long. And I have only just read chapter 13, which only barely fulfills my 10 chapters rule. And since I haven't been able to read the whole thing I can't tell you all about the various characters only the ones I have read. So I won't be doing a favorite character bit this time, for those who care.
Finish it!
To simply give you an idea of what this manga is as a whole, think all of the kids anime/shows you read as a kid like Digimon, Power Rangers, Voltron and etc. and throw it into a pot filled with the emo and angst of Neon Genisis Evangellion. Surprisingly, this works well. For starters it fixes the flaw of Evangellion that is Shinji and instead divides up the role of being the main protagonist between 15 normal kids with realistic lifestyles and values.
I greenlight this manga for anyone who is in Middle school and up. Sorry my elementary school follower base, your going to have to wait a bit to read this. And for those who can, don't just read it online BUY IT! The first two volumes are translated in English and are available for purchase at your local Borders and Barnes & Noble and other such stores. There was also an anime done by Gonzo that you can watch pretty much anywhere on the Internet *cough* illegally *cough*. However, the anime does things VERY VERY VERY differently from the manga so if you are expecting an exact replica of the manga, think again.
Now for those of you who have read this far and still aren't interested, then I need to tell you this. I have been keeping something a secret from you about this manga, a technical spoiler if you will. I was told this "spoiler" before I even began reading it. And the reason I don't tell you is because I want you to be surprised by what happens. I want you to feel the same fear that those 15 kids feel... or should I say... felt?
Overall... I give Bokurano and the 15 kids who pilot Zearth!
9/10 Great...
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