Sometimes it takes a story about children to deal with adult issues.

Bokurano, an on-going manga and now an anime, is such a story.

What makes it special? The premise of the plot seems simple: 15 very ordinary children at a summer camp stumble upon a strange man, Kokopelli, who invites them to play a game, in which they will control a giant mecha to fight against invaders and save the world.

But it’s certainly not so simple as that. I’ll leave the gut-wrenching spoilers out of it, but I trust you will be shocked at least once during the course of the story, even if you can predict some of the things that’ll happen. Bokurano enters into dark territory that the atmosphere of the beginning only hints at. Issues of abandonment, betrayal, murder, sex (including prostitution and rape), family, and especially, what it means to be human — the value of life and the reality of death — all are part of the characters’ lives.

Though it involves mecha, Bokurano is first and foremost a drama that delves into the psyches of its characters, bluntly revealing their strengths and weaknesses. There are characters who you’ll sympathize with and characters that you’ll want to slap in the face — and sometimes you’ll have both reactions to the same character. The “heavy” problems some of the kids face are almost too much to believe, but they are balanced with lighter problems that I could relate to very easily.

And if you’re not so much on the characters (though with so many there’ll be someone you’ll like), there’s still the science fiction story backdrop to admire, which manga-ka Mohiro Kitoh has revealed bit by bit in the manga, complete with physics-related explanations and enough mystery to keep the story interesting.

Kitoh’s art may be a drawback for some. A few of the characters’ designs are so plain as to be ugly, but this isn’t reflective on Kitoh’s skill as an artist. The art is clear and it’s fairly easy to tell the characters apart; if the characters are plain, it only emphasizes how ordinary they are.

I can’t talk much on the anime since it has only begun, but if it stays true to the manga, it will certainly be something worth watching. I can tell you that it has decent (if not spectacular) animation, some great voice talent in the cast and an opening song that is fitting and completely addictive (I liked the opening so much that I hunted down the manga while waiting for the English sub of the first episode and read all of it I could get my hands on).

A warning, though: If you didn’t get the idea from the earlier paragraphs, this story is not for the faint of heart. There will be death, and there will be lots of it — not only the deaths of many civilians caught in the crossfire, but the deaths of the characters you have come to care for as well. But if you can handle the emotionally draining aspects of Bokurano, I would highly recommend it for its characters and its complexity.

(As an afternote, I’m Senna, one of the new staff members of this blog. Nice to meet you all and thanks for reading!)

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Category: Manga & Comics

Senna is a college student majoring in English and minoring in Japanese. Her favorite anime and manga include Escaflowne, Please Save My Earth, Scrapped Princess, Nana, and Boogiepop Phantom.