[Anime Reviews]

2007 in 12 day 2: Bokurano

Posted by Martin  [Tags: ABC, Bokurano, Twelve days of Christmas]

Day 2: Uninstall, uninstall…

The series that launched a thousand flames…mainly in the direction of the hapless director, it has to be said. The choice of Hiroyuki Morita as director for Bokurano was an unexpected one considering the feelgood family-friendly nature of The Cat Returns, and as it turned out it was also a healthy source of controversy with his decision to deviate from a manga whose plotline he wasn’t too keen on. Cue fans of Mohiro Kitoh’s manga being up in arms and cries of sacrilege when he said he was going to change the ending. Wait a minute, guys…wasn’t the manga actually unfinished at the time of broadcast?

First impressions are misleading…

[7 Comments]

[OAVs, Movies and Full Series]

Bokurano: final thoughts

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

So, Bokurano finally reaches its conclusion. It’s disappointing to see so few of us have followed this show to the end after all that controversy, because all things considered the ending isn’t too bad at all. Hopefully these musings will help you see the show in a better light, or at least understand how its shortcomings are not necessarily as disasterous as they appear to be. I’ve also added a READ MOAR tag because this post is going to be a long one.

[7 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 21 and 22

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

And so, we lose one who is possibly one of my favourite characters in the show. His family issues are brought to a head and after a period of ‘they can all just die’ syndrome, he finds it in himself to fight for her sake - or rather, which is more telling, fighting so she can continue her work and allow the other kids to be freed from the contract. It echoes Kirie’s battle in some ways but crucially maintains the human element which could so easily be lost when there’s an entire universe at stake.

[3 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 19 and 20

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

This series really has shifted its focus and tone during its run. Whether or not I’d have noticed had the adaptation debacle not surfaced is a different matter entirely. That is to say, I expected a change in direction and therefore noticed one: it’s departed quite markedly from the episodic structure of the earlier days.

Tamotsu has a heart-to-heart with Jun

[1 Comment]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 17 and 18

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

“…in the back seat there was a gun/Words were passed in a shotgun blast/Troubled times had come…”

Wow, talk about plot progression! There appears no downtime from my change of domain name host either (I figured that since my web host now does domain names too, I might as well transfer the domain name over to them) so it’s business as usual. If there is any downtime this week, it’s not lupus. It’s because the transfer didn’t go as planned. So…happy second birthday to CB.net (hence the temporary celebratory banner image) and back to Bokurano and the angst. And more of why I fucking hate Dung Beetle.

[2 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 15 and 16

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

I now know what Peter S meant when he said in his comment that episode #15 had a plot twist! It all comes out after a gangster named Tamotsu is released from jail and returns to his former employer. The old boss suggests he ‘goes straight’ and sets off to look after an old friend and her kids instead of returning to a lifestyle which is apparently not what it was in the good old days.

[No Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 13 and 14

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

“You hide your eyes but the ugly truth just loves to get in the way…”

Ah, back to normal. My fave subbing group for this show seems to be really on a roll with releasing new episodes so expect more angst-ridden Bokurano goodness before the week is out. Anyway, these episodes reveal quite a bit about the nature of the war the kids are fighting, and it sure as hell knows how to twist the knife.

[5 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 11 and 12

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

Once again, I’ve left it for too long before continuing this show. Unlike the other fansub series I’m currently following, Bokurano is so powerful and tragic I can’t really sit through too much in one go - for that reason, this review took two days to write. I find it best to watch one episode, let the events sink in and think about it for a bit before moving onto the next one. But maybe that’s just me.

Three friends…and tragedy

[2 Comments]

[Anime Reviews]

Bokurano 8-10

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano]

“Bless the martyrs and kiss the kids for knowing better, for knowing this…”

My Bokurano catch-up and my first attempt at a ‘guess the lyric’ challenge aimed at you guys…it’s an album track from a double-disc record dating back within the last twelve years, which is the only clue I’m going to give you. In these three eps we get to see things from the points of view of three characters, which gives plenty of perspective on things at a personal level.

[3 Comments]

[Editorials]

Bokurano: Hiroyuki Morita on trial

Posted by Martin  [Tags: Bokurano, Rants]

A recent bit of news is Hiroyuki Morita’s controversial decision with Bokurano. I’m taking this on now because 1) it’s still relevant and 2) it’s straightforward to write with my current situation amounting to a laptop that’s out of action until the weekend, at the earliest. Bah.

[2 Comments]