Bokurano – 24 – End

Final Impressions – Series Review

It’s finally over and when it’s all said and done Bokurano was the most unique of the Spring Anime 2007 lineup. Bokurano was much more than a typical mecha anime. It was even much more than a non-typical mecha anime, even if that’s possible. When you experienced the opening theme song of “Uninstall” for the first time you knew Bokurano was going to be special.

Bokurano was about the story of 15 ordinary school children with a not so ordinary underlying force in the background driving it all together. By no means was it flashy in its action, rather relying on plot twist galore and down to earth characters to hook its audience. Animation wise it didn’t stand out at all when placed against its competitors, but it was said that the ordinary character designs emphasized how normal these kids really were. They weren’t unique, had no special powers, nor were they geniuses; they were just typical school children caught up in something much bigger than them.

What makes Bokurano stand out is how delves into so many questions of life …

“What would you do if you know you are going to die?”
“What legacy would you want to leave your loved ones?”
“Is this world truly worth saving?”
“How much do you want to live? Would you throw your entire humanity to keep living onto the next day?”

These and many more were prominent themes of the series. How each child dealt with it kept the series fresh every week. That’s not even mentioning the fact that they were literally fighting unimaginable battles in a survival of the fittest and paying the ultimate price for doing so.

If I had to say something negative about the series, I would have to shun the sub plotline/theme of corporations taking advantage of the economic disaster the country was placed in. I did not appreciate it, for it didn’t seem to fit, and since it focused the story away from the children. The episodes that dealt with this plotline was the major reason I stopped watching Bokurano at the half way point and picking it up at a later date. I understand it actually had to do with the overall story in the end but it was somewhat an inconvenience.

On the whole, the entire series was rock solid, on a very creepy and eerie level that is, and I wholly recommend it if you didn’t bother picking it up before. Even if the thought of killing off 15 children doesn’t please you, watch it anyway, you’ll thank me later.

No related posts.