Bokurano is a series that has stuck with me for quite some time now. Not because of the subject matter it was tackling but rather because it's yet another example of the "Ergo Proxy" phenomenon that happens a lot in anime and manga. Where a certain story that does so much right, at the same time does so much wrong. It has great ideas and features some great artwork, but unfortunately doesn't capitalize on any of these qualities.
Plot
To start, what initially drew me to read Bokurano, as I believe would be the case for many others, would definitely be because of its depressing yet intriguing premise, reminiscent of another mecha series that shall not be named in this review.
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"The story begins when a group of 15 children inadvertently sign a contract to save their world by piloting a giant mecha named, “Zearth”, and battle other more menacing forces. The children are excited by the prospect of defending their world, but not everything is as it seems. The twist is that Zearth, in actuality, is powered by life energy, meaning at the end of every battle, the pilot in command dies. So now after signing their lives away, the children must use their time left on Earth not only to defend it, but also to rethink how they wish to spend their last moments alive."
Now the idea behind this premise sounds really good on paper, but as always execution can make all that difference. To its credit, instead of being a standard all actionfest, Bokurano chooses to place emphasis on the more psychological and existential aspects of its premise. But to do this, the narrative structure that binds Bokurano, is that it is divided into short narrative arcs (ranging from 4 to 6 chapters each) that focuses on one single character and their philosophical perspective on their situation. With all of them coming from completely different lifestyles, searching for different answers, but still starting from the same existential question.
Something, something, fruedian
However despite starting off strong, with the first half or so gradually raising its thematic questions while also seamlessly advancing the mystery and worldbuilding of the series. This structure can also lead to the more noticeable flaws in the storytelling. Such as at times, egregiously slow pacing and the whole thing feeling “on the rails” in the process. And although the chapters usually feel relatively natural, it can also come across as unnecessary padding required for the chapter to hammer home its point. But in the process of doing so, some of the character arcs and moments don’t hit with quite the same force it could have had. Especially as the later chapters become more and more convoluted.
For example, there will be chapters that would generally feature the characters in certain situations that are clearly meant for us, the readers to sympathize and relate to them. Such as seeing them have a flashback of their wasted dreams, monologuing about what would happen once they're gone, getting in touch with their loved ones, and things of that nature. Which are all good and are obviously there to give us pieces of information about the characters and the state of their world; however, that doesn’t excuse the existence of a large chunk of material that is basically information we already know and it’s just pointless to have it repeated verbatim.
What’s worse is that sometimes, the situation they are in would even come across as completely nonsensical. Like they’re was even one chapter where a thief stole the family car of one of our main characters and even broke into the house, but for some reason, the story was framing that said main character as the one in the wrong, like what? That's like that chocolate bar nonsense from Erased all over again lol.
Characters
But speaking of character stories. The characters of Bokurano are the very core of the series, and where some people argue that Bokurano stands out in, and what makes it worth sticking to the end. After finishing Bokurano, I can comfortably say I agree. Each of these characters are given focus in their respective arcs, with moments of introspection sandwiched between their battles with these titanic foes. All of them don’t feel like a hollow rehash of one another, as they all have their own set of distinct flaws, with the main crux of their arcs being about overcoming their insecurities or psychological trauma in the face of their dire circumstances.
However, that doesn't mean all of them are the same in terms of memorability. As the series has its fair share of duds and strong characters. Just to give a brief rundown, without spoiling anything. Characters like Yoko Machi, Jun Ushiro, Chizuru Honda, and Dung Beetle are obvious standouts imo, as they left more of an impact on the series. Given that they had the most amount of screen time. And comparatively, aside from Dung Beetle, the series takes it time to meaningfully explore these characters' relationships with their families, friends, and even fellow pilots. Grounding them and giving a sense of who they really are and how they internalize their situation. While the remaining other cast members can be a bit hit or miss, with their lasting impression being up to the reader. Except for Kodaka and Isao, fuck them lol.
But anyways, with that being said, this unfortunately leads to another one of my main gripes with this series, and this concerns a majority of the characters. Which is the overwhelming amount of unnecessary dialogue where it felt like the author loved the sound of his own voice too much. Like be prepared to hear a lot of “self-development is masturbation” or “we organisms live in a society” or some other pseudointellectual type bullshit like that lol. Obviously, there has to be an underlying theme or message about human nature or personal identity or something, but much like all other great works of fiction, it needs to be conveyed in a more intelligent and subtle manner instead of being like a hammer to the face.
Like seriously, who the hell talks like this lol
Symbolism, and other narrative elements that writers utilize in a visual medium such as anime or manga, though used appropriately in Bokurano, still doesn’t mean it avoids the pitfalls that many other stories suffer from. Meaning that a lot of scenes are filled with line after line of monotonous and inarticulate information that could have been communicated in a better and more efficient way through clever dialogue, discovery, or any other basic facet of storytelling.
Art
This looks really good ngl
Now in terms of presentation, the art by Kithou Mohiro is more grounded and somewhat minimalistic. With character designs maintaining a sense of identity between the cast but not at all making one more remarkable looking than the other. There is no strange looking hairstyles and characters don't have large eyes as they would have in other anime or manga. Which works in its favor, as for a series that's trying to tell a story about regular people in extraordinary circumstances, there needs to be a sense of normality in their world. Speaking of which, in contrast, the mecha designs by Mohiro are definitely eye-catching. As the mechanical art assists in enveloping these menacing foes with an aura of unpredictability that adds to the heat of battle with our protagonists. The amount of variety in their design also helps in negating any feeling of them being repetitive or uninspired.
I dunno, something weird and phallic
The result of this combination of the more earthly art and the occasional religious or Freudian motif here and there, gives Bokurano the kind of depressing and ethereal atmosphere that well reflects the nature of its story, and what most titles in the “dark sci-fi” mecha anime world would normally have. Thus giving the world of Bokurano a feeling of dread and suspense, as its almost like at any moment the world could end, but at the same time giving it a sense of the day to day lives of these characters before their fatal demise. Overall, the art I don’t really see any fault in it. Even when I was a bit checked out at some parts, the artwork definitely helped in keeping me engaged throughout.
Conclusion
On the whole, after reading this series twice, and making a review of it back then (where I completely shat on it lol), I can honestly say I would recommend it. Even with its flaws of flat and clunky monologues, at times surface level exploration of its themes, and being almost pretentious and patronizing at some points, I was still pleasantly entertained by this story. It's not a masterpiece by any means, it's not perfect at all, and I didn’t really take home some profound message that a lot of “deep” media supposedly have. No, the fun I had with Bokurano was in the intrigue of reading between the lines and trying to psycho analyze these characters. You know, see what makes them tick, and even though not all of them were that great, the ones that were, was enough to make it a good, memorable, and dramatic story about human weakness, death, desire, and sympathy for others.
