Bokurano:Ours (24 Episodes Single Season) 8.58 out of 10 Stars
Bokurano Truly just about has a little bit of everything, there's a dash of a darker taboo of romance, has family dynamics, a little bit of comedy along the way, as well as being heavy in drama in it's science fiction & physiologically idiosyncratic premise. Though there's also more plush and sublime moments of happiness and peace, enough to actually bring me to tears on occasion, having the depth and urgent subject matter to sway my heart into a state of emergency. In Bokurano we have a full cast of characters that initially had me intrigued from the first episode, you'll find yourself asking " who's he/she, there's something interesting going on there, I want to learn more about his/her story" etc. Especially since the character designs are so humanely depicted in the most ordinary sense of the word. From the lush green environments, the city gardens, to the giant robots, this is something that you just look at and accept, and I feel that's a very key component to have.
From the start we're introduced to a gorgeous opening theme, with great lyrics, vocals, percussion, a tickle of synth & some guitar, just a little bit of every thing. I stepped back thinking "yes I've heard this somewhere before" such as Neon Geneiss Evangellion's soundtrack, or "Cyber bird" from Yoko Kanno's work on Ghost in the shell SAC. Coincidently, if you've watched both of those series, with both of their heavily Sci fi, idiosyncratic and psychological premises, you should absolutely check out how much Bokurano has to offer..
Plot & Narrative Aspects
Bokurano gives us a colourfully juicy but grim take on a great variety of 15 adolescents (16 sort of) from a summer nature school. Their time on Mitomo Island where the summer nature school is being held, their curiosity & eagerness to play leads them to discover a cave or grotto, which later on they discover to be someone's hideout, as computers and other working electronic equipment is scattered across the hideout. Soon after the owner of such belongings appears unknowingly before them, finding out that his hideout has been found. He explains himself saying he's using the solitude of the outdoors and this cave to increase his productivity he needs to complete a game he's developing, and out of convenience of the given situation, he offers the adolescent group to be the first beta testers for his game still in development. From there as they are deceived into a contract, 15 children's lives are changed forever, as their lives are now forfeit to the power of a mysterious towering Behemoth.
We watch a myriad of characters that are forced into a roulette deciding who'll be next to forfeit one's life one after another, disrupting the delicate lives they've lead until now. In Bokurano we get a span of a diverse set of ordinary and relatively humanely depicted characters, forced into the ethers of each of their own individually dark and terrifying coming of age story. Having to mature and grow up in an ever changing world, with their lives forfeit to the power of the unknown cosmos, and their parents no longer protecting them from the rapacious society that they live in, having to find the strength to exchange their lives to save a questionably ugly and damaged world, that continues to morally regress as the anomaly and appearance of far advanced giant robots such as "Zearth", leads to the avarice and greed, corrupting local governments to foreign powers for the potential profits that could be reaped, leaving few to stand and protect the children that actually have to pilot and sacrifice themselves for the sake of all on this earth.
In this respect Bokurano is somewhat akin to animations such as Psycho Pass, Ghost in the Shell or Ergo Proxy in terms of the use and presence of the government and politics. Though this only partly serves mainly as a function to shake up the plot later down the line, when the parties involved with "Zearth" decide to go public about there findings, conflicting various political motives and interest in the meantime. Though Bokurano isn't as much of a story emphasizing a technocratic or autocratic society, or perhaps a post apocalyptic society found in the likes of Ergo Proxy. Instead Bokurano uses this function as a mechanic to emphasize how the children caught in-between are left forgotten and abused, exploited for other means and interests.Character Analysis - Relation to plot
As I've mentioned prior, I definitely feel that Bokurano has quite a diverse cast, that feel human and real, flawed and imperfect. But I digress, because you see it's rather hard to offer coverage that's meaningful and informative, without spilling the details that would otherwise be more beneficial if learned them as you go, so bear with me. What makes it a bit more complicated alongside that is the sheer volume of characters, their roles, and simply how the story plays out as time goes on. This is because Bokurano doesn't center around any particular individual, though follows a series of character arcs that pay homage to the given character and their life experiences, and how they might relate to the issues currently at hand, so the spotlight if you will is quite frequently handed off, from one character to another.
I haven't actually talked about any characters so far have I? well on that note and the previous lets start with Tanaka Mitsumi - A Military officer who gets involved with the children when volunteering to be apart of diplomatic and investigative solutions to deal with the mysterious giant robot battles. The few adults such as Tanaka who do get involved, hold themselves responsible for protecting the children, and in Tanaka's case, she's willing to subvert her chain of command to protect and act in the best interest of the 15 children, eventually leading to some characters damnation. Displaying how fleeting and vulnerable childhood can be, and the sadness that comes for fighting for what's right. Two other important characters within Bokurano I feel are Ushiro & his younger sister Kana. They have a particularly sad relationship being that Kana's mom died in child birth, and out of spite Ushiro despises her, abusing her the way he sees fit, often sporting a sour and temperamental attitude. For reasons I won't reveal, Tanaka & Tamotsu (Tanaka's long time acquaintance) are instrumental in teaching him about his past, slowly leading Ushiro to eventually starting to learn how to care & love for Kana as his little sister and how to appreciate her as their lives grow more dangerous, and the stakes more perilous.
It's this developmental conflict that each chosen character needs to go through, a coming of age story as each child is cornered into a situation where they need to reflect and decide on their lives and if their life is worth exchanging for the price of the world, If such an ugly world is something worth protecting. This is where I feel Bokurano can have some truly human and heartbreaking episodes of tragedy or abuse, or perhaps moments of salvation or peace. Using elements such as family, romance or friendship to function as a primary touchstone to tell the story of life, and each individual character story one might have, something that I feel is disappearing from anime entirely. In that sense Bokurano is a little bit episodic in a way, though progresses in a series of 1-3 episode arcs in a semi linear fashion, while still emphasizing an over arching plot line that 15 were contracted and 15 will die. As well as the mysteries alluding to the far advanced technologies of "Zearth" and the purpose of the battles that take place between other similar giant robots. Along side being a tragedy and sci fi drama so to speak, Bokurano also serves as a mystery.
At first we know little about "Zearth" and what it means to be selected to pilot it. It's this steady learning curve of figuring out more and more about both the main cast, and the origins of these futuristic robots and why these battles are meant to occur. It's a character driven story that relies upon the familiarity and diversity of it's cast, and as each character sacrifices themselves one by one, the one's that remain slowly learn the secrets of these Zearth and these battles they have to fight.Bokurano the animation of course an adaptation of Mohiro Kitoh's Bokurano: Ours. As a side note you may already be aware that Director Hiroyuki Morita's adaptation of Bokurano is quite a bit different in a couple of area's, in fact the changes made altered the story significantly. Where Mohiro Kitoh's original manga resolves in a far more fatalistic and just dark fashion that emphasizes how ugly the process of natural selection can be, Hiroyuki's changes makes the story seem much more of a coming of age story thanks to the different resolution, being that it's much more hopeful and positive, though still acknowledging the struggles and sacrifices it took to get there, whereas of course the original is so damning, emphasizing the pain of regret and self destruction. So full disclosure for those of you who are sticklers for loyal anime adaptations, the anime is essentially a Rewritten version of Bokurano with a lot cannibalized from the original.
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Article Contents
- Plot & Narrative Aspects | Character Analysis
- Anime & The Manga - The Differences | The Lost Decade
- Production Aspects [Cinematography | Animation | Art Direction]
- Voice Actor Choreography | Sound Effects & Original Soundtrack
- Addendum
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