“Your eyes can deceive you, don’t trust them”. This quote from the famous Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi, can be applied to a lot of things. Take Anime for example. With the enormous amount of shows on offer, there are definitely going to be series that might on the surface look like another familiair or even classic show. It might even seem that it would try to cash in on the succes of such a show, instead of being original. However, that this might not always be the case, and that sometimes you just need to look a bit further, is definitely proven by the anime Bokurano.

It is summer vacation when a group of 15 children go to the beach in order to enjoy themselves. Not before long they discover a strange and mysterious cave, where they meet a man called Kokopelli. He tells them that he is a designer of videogames, and that he is currently working on his latest game. In it, a giant robot will take the role as defender of the Earth, against 15 other enemy robots that will appear. Kokopelli asks the children if they might be interested in testing the game. All they have to do is place their hands on a device, and with that they sign the contract as exclusive gametesters. Ofcourse thinking this is a truly awesome chance, they are more than happy to agree. Soon after though, they discover that this “game” is the real thing, and they become locked in a struggle for the very survival of Earth….and themselves….

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When Bokurano first started, I found it to have more than a striking resemblance to a certain classic animeseries called Neon Genesis Evangelion. However as the series progresses, it became something completely different indeed. This is without a doubt one of the darkest animeshows I have seen to date. Without spoiling things, let me just say that the stakes in this series are very high, and that you at times might not believe what these young children are put through. The cast of characters is awesome, but besides that being one of the shows greatest strengths, it is also one of it’s greatest weaknesses. Because the cast of characters is so large, it is at times hard to keep track of who everyone is. Stick with it though, because that definitely improves with each episode. The mecha in this show are pretty oldschool, and not as sleek as for instance the robots in a series like Gundam Wing. These are giant lumbering behemoths, as shown in the picture above, where the ground shakes with every step they take.

Speaking of oldschool, the animation of this series has a bit of a classic feel to it. As I highly enjoy the classic Animeseries such as Macross and Starblazers, I found this only added to the dark tone of this series. The opening music is one of those songs that pretty much will stick around in your head all day after you hear it. I have included it here for your listening pleasure (and to make sure it will stick around in your head as well). All kidding aside, this series will not be for everyone. It’s dark tones, and sometimes truly depressing episodes, will not be enjoyed by people who at least would like to have a few bright points in a show. That said, overall I liked this series. It certainly had a few episodes where the pace slowed down a bit, but this also served to shed a good background on some of the characters. Before I give the final grade, I want to thank Karandi from 100wordanime , who recommended this series in the first place. If you have not yet discovered her amazing blog, do so. It is truly awesome!

I give Bokurano a 8 out 10 score.