First off I'll say this, the manga is flawed and not perfect, and I will go further as to say No the original is not automatically by default better than a revised adaptation of the given product. Let me get those flaws out of the way first (Will refrain from revealing any major spoilers). The manga is a very event based and action driven story at least initially & to that extent the first couple of chapters is incredibly rushed in comparison, the dialogue stale, the environments forgettable and the characters arcs impatient. The anime however is far more patient in emphasizing more character driven story and with more elaborated dialogue and scriptwriting, giving us a substantial more amount of time to soak in the atmosphere, the environments, and the individual motivations of each given character. Initially in the first few chapters, the manga's dialogue is extremely stale, and I find that Moriha Kitoh's story writing for the first few arcs was too heavily fixated on fast plot developments and event based story telling - With 15 characters at is disposal, it's depressing how placid and robotic character interactions and communication seemed, again opting to use event based storytelling to push his cast and story forward, instead of expanding upon individual character motivations and given curiosity.
- Dialogue should be used to reveal character & in turn exposition, not the other way around.
There's little to resonate with at first to the lopsided pacing and sequential story composition regarding when to omit and reveal details, and telling 2 occurring story-lines at the given time. There's no variation or dynamics in the pacing of events at first, as he just opts to throw story developments ay you like soggy pancakes, while dragging his seemingly stale characters along the ride. The first few individual character arcs just make this even worse, since the vignette's of Kodaka, Daichi, Waku, and Chizuru's arcs we're just blatantly rushed and completely impatient with it's characters, as I find Daichi's and Kodaka arcs particularly a disservice to the amount of potential their character arcs could potentially have, which was far more elaborated on in Daichi's and Kodaka's case in the anime. In Chizuru's case, in the anime while not as explicit and violent for that matter, Hiroyuki Morita's version is far more compelling in detailing how and why Chizuru fell in love and was seduced, also far better emphasizing her sense of betrayal better there afterwords, rather than being a loud but hollow quest for revenge and bloodlust, but one over the confusion of love and betrayal.
Only until Mako Nakarai's arc did Moriho Kitoh made a breakthrough in his storytelling as her arc was admittedly 10x better and more badass in the manga, and it's where he truly elaborated on his comedic, piss and vinegar storytelling ability, and despite all my initial bagging of the manga it just gets better from there. As Moji's arc was quite a bit more touching, able to utilize the involved characters in his arc quite bit better, particularly with Moji's friend Tsubasa [Ah So Romantic] - Though some of the foreshadowing was a bit rushed in the manga, though I digress. I'm a little indifferent about Yousuke Kirie's arc, though I think I'd probably chose the anime over the manga in this case, as I find the anime utilized the involved parties with his arc a bit better and more interactively, especially with his mom. Though in the manga I still do like how Tanaka was more involved with his story as a whole, though I find his motivations in the Manga vague and obtuse, as he's seems like far more like this misanthropic and detached character, rather than a more normal character with relatable struggles. I also feel the same towards Maki's arc as a whole in both versions.
Komoda's arc I feel was a tad bit better in the manga, because although she's a relatively passive character in both the versions, I feel in the Manga she's sees more development is able to blossom, breaking out of that mold in the most pivotal of moments. I say a tad bit better because of the parties and dynamics that were'd introduced and involved in her arc regarding the anime. As I feel the addition of having Tanaka, Tomoetsu, Tokosumi & Yoshikawa more involved in an effort to deal with the political aspect of this story was compelling as well. I've got hand it to the anime regarding Aiko's arc in the anime, as I personally feel her relationship with Kanji and the moments that occurred afterwords was a bit more compelling than her issue's with her father, though it's a close call!! as I find the additional reporting done by her father inside of Zearth's cockpit greatly affected the course of the story and coming events. Though my preferences is just a personal matter, as it's probably more appropriate to say both arcs are split even.
Kanji's arc is far more compelling in the manga thanks to his pivotal role in Ushiro's and Kana's abusive relationship. He almost plays a brotherly role to Kana, and maximizes Kana's cuteness X Ten Thousand (Yes, it's over 9000). He serves as an outlet for Kana's feelings and her narrow-minded and stubborn brother. Thanks to this relationship with Kana and Ushiro, their collective story is much more meaningful and elaborated on in the Manga, and it's just one of the things I wish Director Hiroyuki's would have actually kept. Kana Ushiro in the manga is just.. Cuteness overload. In a sense that she just so sincere and innocent, and in that has the strength to borne all of Ushiro's feelings, excepting her role as Ushiro's abusive outlet, while still loving him all the same. Her story is just so heartbreaking and touching in her sense of sacrifice, her strength as a character, and the beautiful clarity she brings to the story as a whole. Thanks to this shared relationship between Kanji and Kana, Ushiro's story is lifted as well, though Kana's story sadly ends in fashion a bit too cruel and abrupt for me. Whereas in the anime contributes far more to a coming of age theme, that's far more hopeful, emphasizing the variety in the development in characters, not just the cruel and fatalistic tale that the original has to offer.
I'll pick the Manga version of Machi over the anime ANY DAY, Why you ask? Romance Baby! that's why!! Along with that her travelling with Ushiro and growing a small relationship with him was touching, as they visited the parents of their deceased friends that died protecting the earth when piloting Zearth, something that Never occurs in the adaptation, like WHY!?! along these trips across Japan riding on the train, she gets to know and like Ushiro better, and is able to bring out a more honest and compelling version of Ushiro we haven't seen before. Up to this point the manga despite the awful start, was on a roll at this point, as it felt raw and cathartic, only until Moriha Kitoh had to do the stupidest thing I've ever seen - He finally makes a true a breakthrough in the story offering the potential for a awesomely super climatic event in the story only just to troll us the very next moment with more Pointless tragedy - Like Facking Fack Fack!! Are you serious right now!!
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| Hiroyuki Morita |
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| Mohiro Kitoh |
Though I find Tanaka's role and involvement with the children much more interesting the anime, especially regarding how her story ended in the manga and her relationship with Ushiro as a whole. I also find his relationship with Tomotsu (A new character) a great addition to the story, as he offers a lot of emotional exposition while reminiscing about his past and Ushiro's parents which he knows little about.
Though I find his character story a little anti climatic in both versions, though in the Manga's case, it offered a far more horrifying reality to the overarching narrative, that previously characters tried subvert their eyes from - very gripping.
Although Koyemeshi or rather Dung Beetle made a pretty fantastic main villain in the anime, in the manga however, his story of redemption, sacrifice and remorse really brought the story full circle, as he was far more relatable and human in the later chapters, while still being sour and bitter, showed development throughout the story, offering insight and empathy, rather than just being a tyrannically abusive & morally bankrupt character who really is just pathetic without his given powers , but someone who also openly admitted to being just a cog in the machine, cannon fodder to the mysterious origins of Zearth and the cosmos. Though I have to say Machi getting revenge against Koyemeshi was pretty sweet as well - Though that's a point for Machi & the story, not Koyemeshi.
On my closing thoughts, while I don't think either version is perfect regarding it's overarching narrative and plot, I find both offer interesting and compelling stories unique from each other. While I find Hiroyuki's improvements great, some of his revisions were a disservice to the original, as some things within the story and regarding the character Shouldn't have been changed. I think if someone wrote a hybrid between the two still keeping the interesting political aspects that the original had, while keeping the great character arcs that the original had, while possibly changing some of the endings and replacing the obviously poorly written one's in the original, I think it would have been the best solution.
Thankfully Hiroyuki's always offers a decent alternative to the original when making revisions to the story, however I dislike how he changed rewritten some character arcs that really didn't need to be changed, and rendered the military in the manga completely useless, as characters such as Seki we're far better done and prominent within the manga.At the end of the day the main factors that would influence my decision is whether or not I either feel like reading or watching the Bokurano, whether or not I want a more solid storytelling experience, or a more extreme and fatalistic one worthy of crying for. The one thing that sticks the manga ahead of the anime for me is Ushiro, and his relationships with Kana, Kanji & Machi. Though like I said, I find Moriho Kitoh's impatient and lopsided storytelling very bothersome and unfocussed at times, despite his characters capable of being very cathartic and raw.
It's through the avarice and greed, the tumultuous perils and past memories, that each character is able to find their own convictions unique to them as characters, to why they'll live, fight on, and serve protect the world. Despite being a decade old now, having watched Bokurano over again, it stays true to how flawed and human the characters seem, telling of great screenplay and writing in general. I feel while not the most known of Japanese animations, Bokurano absolutely plays a large role in the early 2000's depicting Japanese domestic life, problems that were had, and hidden abuse. It was one of those rare times in the industry where a collective of both content creators of both literature/manga's and animations moved in one truly artistic direction.
The Lost Decade
It's era in that started around the mid 90's to the mid 2000's that converged into a movement representing themes such as nihilism/psychedelia and technocracy. Also depicting themes such as hidden abuse within the home and even abroad of government power. Just remember animations such as the psychedelic Paranoia Agent (2004) from Satoshi Kon, Ghost in the Shell S.A.C (2002), Texhnoloyze (2003), Serial Experiments Lain (1998), Neon Genesis Evangellion (1995) and now Bokurano in 2007 - If you're wondering, the air dates aren't a coincidence and I'll explain why. You see Japan was going through a recession through these years, thanks to the growth of excessive debt, eventually lead to the crashing the Japanese stock market and economy - This was coined as "The Lost Decade". Though Miyazaki films will remain dominant as some of the highest grossing Japanese animations of all time, these feature films didn't really speak to what was possible within a T.V animation. This period of both economic and cultural malaise is clearly depicted in such animations, and I feel it's thanks to this genuine artistic movement that truly propelled Japan's T.V animation industry to the national level, particularly in 2007 with animations such as Death Note, and as you know the rest is history.
Though the early and mid 2000's was also a transitional period within the animation industry technologically speaking. This era, which is golden to me, was the last generation of animation that used traditional cell animation within their productions, and only had begun to optimize their work flows with digital colouring solutions and 3D - Telling of Bokurano's use of 3DCG when animating "Zearth" & other giant robots. Of course as you know and I've touched upon before, this caused a lot of trepidation and conflict between animators loosing their jobs to 3DCG specialist for difficult high animation work and special effects. Though more on that later, and back to the topic at hand. Bokurano serves to shed light on the children who continue to grow more alienated by the rapacious and fiercely competitive technocratic society we're forced to embrace and live in - The process of natural selection. Though in somewhat done in a dramatic fashion, with abnormal stakes at hand, Bokurano's story is none the less about adolescences that have fallen through the cracks of society - Where the ends, justify the means.
You see when a character is chosen, they are essentially given the death sentence, following this of course is temporally condensed foreshadowing of their past events in their lives, often always relating why or why they don't want to die/fight. And it worked! It's just that to start caring about a character only to have them killed off is a little off putting. Though that is just to say that Moriho Kitoh is far more guilty of this and impatient with rushing foreshadowing and detailing character arcs. It's already a given that having more than 15+ characters will lead to cutting some corners regarding screen time, though what I personally suggest is that specific characters should have been prioritized or perhaps a just a small 3-4 episode bump to the count would help in addition to this. Though I still feel satisfied as Bokurano stands now, however I still feel a little bit of potential was wasted regarding some potentially unique character and relationship opportunities. That goes for both versions/mediums, anime and manga alike.
