41. Bokurano (Manga)

15 kids see Zearth for the 1st time.
Raw image from IKKI-Shogakukan, scanned by MangaScreeners, no infringement intended.

Summary:
Bokurano the manga, is a seinen-sci-fi-drama, which in itself already makes it unusual. The story focuses on each and every one of the 15 7th graders (8 boys, 7 girls). On their fieldtrip to the beaches, they discover a cave with a man named Kokopelli inside. Kokopelli invites them to sign a contract to play a game, they all do except for Kana, a younger sister of one of the boys. It turns out, from Kokopelli's example, they must each individually control a giant robot (later named Zearth) to defend their Earth from other giants robots teleporting from other worlds. Here's the catch: once they finish a battle, either win or lose, the pilot's life force is drained away, and they die. The drama comes along when each member is confronted with death, and clips of their lives are shown to better explain their personality and actions.

Review:

Kokopelli (close-up bottom)'s battle.
Raw image from IKKI-Shogakukan, scanned by MangaScreeners, no infringement intended.

The manga's drawing style is very simple: each person has a slender figure, and the faces of each person aren't exaggerated at the least. The use of negative space gets a bit boring, because the readers natually expect there to be lots of talking or BIG fight scenes --- but there aren't that many. The fighting comes at the end of each mini-story of each person, always after a dramatic telling of every kid's life. Since there are 15 different kids, their stories are vastly different: From a girl's affair with her teacher resulting in a pregnancy, to a brat who's father owns a construction company and thought his family was superior until he accidentally kills his father with Zearth. Therefore, the readers tend to focus much more on the plot than on the drawing.

Kako trying to rape Chizuru, who threatens him with a knife.
Raw image from IKKI-Shogakukan, scanned by MangaScreeners, no infringement intended.

The manga also focuses on the human goodness, because like DEATH NOTE, it deals with people who suddenly gain enough power to kill others. The blank expressions on EVERY character's faces also show their depressive states --- of the end of earth and the end of lives. It is quite a depressing story, actually, whenever a story deals with the end of the world, it gets depressing. (I know I've used that d-word too many times in this paragraph)

Chizuru, pregnant and losing hope, takes out her anger on the robot that looks like a round belly.
Raw image from IKKI-Shogakukan, scanned by MangaScreeners, no infringement intended.

However, it is a very reflective story. It makes people analyze every one of the characters, and look at the world from different people's perspectives. The evil of the world is also revealed through these middle schoolers... and can be quite shocking. This manga is being turned into an anime airing tomorrow, the night of April 8th (around midnight.. so that would mean early monday morning). GONZO is doing it, so I expect a bit of craziness added to the sci-fi. Man.. I'm getting tired of typing --- here we go with the ratings:

Bokurano Review Ratings
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Popularity:

-Male: [73%]
-Female: [27%]
-Japan: [89%]
-RoW: [11%]

Availability:

-ENG Manga Scans by MangaScreeners (Chp. 1-40 Available)

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Total Ratings:

Aesthetics & Plot

-Originality: [8.5/10]
-Manga Cover Art: [8.6/10]
-Manga Sketch Style: [8.1/10]
-Manga Plot: [9.3/10]
-Plot Progression/Speed: [9.0/10]
-Readability: [9.3/10]

-SS Ratings: [88.0%]
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Review by SilentMic, research with help from Manga-Updates, IKKI.jp, Mangascreeners, and WikiPedia. No directly copied text whatsoever. Copyright 2007.