[personal profile] lucathia
...finished watching Bokurano yesterday. I've been meaning to watch it since last year after I heard Ishikawa Chiaki sing the opening Uninstall at AX. I really love that song. It's one of the first I downloaded into my Band Brothers DX game. So far I've only filled 10 slots out of 100 for that. I hope more people come out with songs I like...

Anime spoilers

Some random thoughts

Daichi was the first to make me cry. ;__; He didn't even get to go to the amusement park. Just one more day...same went for Maki too. Her baby brother was going to be born soon...she almost got to see him. These stolen chances hit me the hardest.

Moji...I really wanted to see his friends' side of the story. How are they going to cope now that there are only two left out of the three who were always together? And...does Tsubasa suspect who the heart donor was? (Well, she wasn't given much to suspect in the anime). This makes me want to see if anyone has written any fics about those who were left behind.

Kirie was the best at piloting Zearth. *___*

...Aiko and Komoda were chosen much later than the rest as pilots. This felt more for plot's sake than anything else since their parents are in the government and in the media.

I thought Kokopelli was more of a mastermind than a pawn at first. Totally wrong about that. Poor him. T__T;;

The ending felt rushed (what was with all of Machi's explanations near the end???), but it was satisfying enough. Or maybe not enough, since I then went on to read the manga. =P

Ushiro Jun

I was surprised that Jun turned out so central (rarely do characters I like end up being the main ones...and in a story with 15 children...). But, starting from the episode where Kana asked Tanaka to search for Jun's mother, I started to think that Jun was going to survive until the end. He has a more involved storyline after all, and a sister and a mother who both got into the mess too. Also, everyone in the anime gathers where he lives for meetings...even though he lives in Kanji's basement. I wondered why...was it because Jun and Kana didn't have any parents around at their place??? All the kids also went to Tanaka a lot. Seems like they still need an adult figure, and she was there for them. (She kinds of remind me of this one military officer from FMA...)

By episode 19, it was almost a given that Jun was going to be the last one. He even had an entire episode dedicated to his back story (well, the story of his parents) without even being the assigned pilot. Tamotsu was a pretty cool anime-only character. I sort of started hoping that he would survive through the entire thing and not just to the end. ;__; I thought it was endearing when he asked Tanaka to buy clothes for Kana. He looks good in the jacket Tamotsu bought for him too. =P

I felt it was really sad when Jun piloted Zearth. Before...everyone had all the others around them. All Jun has are the memories of the ones before him. The flashbacks did make for a good last episode though. Waku probably has it the easiest...he didn't know anything about dying after piloting Zearth, or that the enemies were piloted by people and that they were destroying entire Earths.

I'm thinking that what let Jun survive until the very last was because Dung Beetle thought Jun was cruel enough. Dung Beetle saw a brother who was always hating on his sister, a person who didn't get along well with others. He even wanted to make Jun into the next Kokopelli. Good for Jun for deciding to protect Kana instead. ;__;



Manga spoilers

My first surprise was Kako and Chizu. Kako actually pilots Zearth for a bit...and Chizu is a lot more ruthless here. Her sensei is even more of a bastard in the manga.

The manga fulfilled my desire to see Moji's friends' side of the story a bit more. Nagi and Tsubasa talk on the plane a bit...that talk is really ironic. Both of the guys think Tsubasa likes the other more. *sigh* It's almost like any normal shoujo romance conflict...but with the entire world at stake for one of the guys. ^^;;

Mako's story, I felt, was less poignant in the manga. Haha, she actually finishes all the uniforms! The manga uniform looks nicer.

Shoot. Komoda. What a twist that the other pilot ran away. The piano recital...what a way to go. And for the entire world to think that she's the only pilot...seems like the anime starts diverging from the manga around this point, since Komoda has an entirely different story in the anime, though it's just as sad.

Aiko. Her story in the manga hit harder for me. Her last words were great. ;__;

Kanji's story is really different too. The building is still involved, but his parents are dead. And here's where the story starts shifting towards focusing on Jun, in my opinion. Or well, I noticed that various people have tried to spark motivation in Jun to fight. Like...Maki, telling Jun about being related by blood and so forth.

Jun is a lot more distant in the manga and a lot more...hardened (even suggesting to use a human soul as a marker for Kanji's laser!! I thought Jun himself might volunteer for this position). He treats Kana pretty badly all the way until the end. But...the part about him sticking around Zearth for Kanji was really sweet. See, first his friend, then his sister and mother...all those closest to Jun are the last to go in the manga.

...I did not expect that Jun wasn't in the contract. He said he didn't touch it, but I'm wondering if it's really true and if it even makes a difference at this point. Machi's not in the contract since she's not part of this Earth...so that means they're short a pilot. The manga hasn't done an info dump like what the anime did at this point, so I'm wondering how different things will be. It feels to me though, that if even one of the kids involved is saved, it's be a victory.

Gah, Kana. ;___; And Tanaka-san!!! Things look bleak. I want to know what happens next.

After reading the manga, I felt the anime had a good spin on things too. I liked how the anime showed more downtime. The kids gathered around outside of fighting too. I felt they were closer to each other in the anime. The anime fleshed out some characters better and cut back on some others, but it worked.


Is chapter 52 of Bokurano the latest chapter? ):

Date: 2008-07-27 12:49 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] slashed-dream.livejournal.com
I think chapters 53 and 54 have been released already, but so far I've had no luck in finding them D: (heard a few spoilers though @_@ )

I was surprised about Jun not being in the contract, too! Didn't we see all of them sign up? I've been wanting to look over the first chapter again, but somehow I always forget X'D

Jun sure did get a lot of pep talks from the other kids, kind of ironic that he isn't in the contract and only stuck around for Kanji xDD

The kids definitely had closer bonds in the anime, at least that's how it felt to me. Kanji saying that they were "one whole" and the whole last episode supported that, too.

Date: 2008-08-01 05:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] slashed-dream.livejournal.com
Ahahaha that's kinda ironic that we only see Machi's face, thanks for checking xD

I know that in the manga some kids came to him before their fight because they knew if Jun didn't fight then their battles would have been in vain too...I think Maki was one of them.

I do think Jun's going to join the contract, somehow I doubt that any of the kids will survive or maybe we'll have one sole survivor, kind of like Kana in the anime.

Date: 2008-07-28 01:14 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gem2niki.livejournal.com
Soo its worth watching?

Date: 2008-07-29 09:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gottis-chan.livejournal.com
Jun was pretty much my favorite from the start - it's almost a rule that I adore any person Minagawa Junko voices - but I never thought he'd take the role as the central character later on in the series, and picture me pleased with that development.

I think the only times I cried in the anime were during Daichi's episode and during Waku's funeral, because I really felt for his parents during that one, as well as for Jun. I wonder what it felt like for him, standing there...

The manga has always managed to hit home with me a lot more, and even here Jun shaped out to be my favorite character, even though he is - as you said - harder in this version.

I'm a person who likes both the anime and manga equally much, even though I can feel that both get too politically heavy at times. I'm more interested in the kids than the politics surrounding the entire Zearth business after all.

*cough* And uhm... So much more a Kanji/Jun fangirl than Kanji/Anko. >.> *cough*

(Also, could I please friend you? It's so rare to find another Bokurano fan I can talk with. ;o; And you even know about Uninhabited Planet Survive!)
Edited Date: 2008-07-29 10:02 pm (UTC)

Date: 2008-07-30 11:40 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gottis-chan.livejournal.com
Yeah, so did I! ^_^

It was good to see them get a closure of sorts, yes. Especially Futaba.

I watched the first episode of the anime, then read up to the last chapter scanlated at that time... 43, I think, then went back to watch the rest of the anime... And then read the rest of the scanlated chapters that had finished once I was done with the anime. ^.^

I really don't see any Kanji/Anko in the manga, so yeah, I think that's an anime only thing. ^_^

(Awesome! And yeah, of course, feel free to friend back! And yes, I do! I really, really love Survive, and Luna is one great female lead in my opinion. ^_^)

Date: 2008-08-04 12:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gottis-chan.livejournal.com
She was. XD I must say I didn't pay much attention to her, sadly enough. >.>

YOU DO. *_* I need to rewatch Survive as well, because yeah, awesome. *______* My favorite is Howard though. XD

Date: 2008-08-10 11:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gottis-chan.livejournal.com
Yeah, me too. =D

*nodnodnodnod* I think I love Howard so much because of his growth. *nodnod*