(L) Bokurano

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

There's no way it could possible get good after this.

Well, seeing as though the full story hasn't been explained..

Just wait, you'll see.

[Scribble]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Well, seeing as though the full story hasn't been explained..

Just wait, you'll see.

Heh, he's referring to the reaction towards Narutaru when episode one aired. Because it seemed like your typical Pokemon ripoff and generally generic (lol), people thought they knew what it was all about and wrote it off as lame and childish.

How wrong they were, lol. The first episode of Bokurano (the series is also adapted from Kitoh's works) isn't as misleading as Narutaru was.

[Sorrow-K]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Well, seeing as though the full story hasn't been explained..

Just wait, you'll see.

Irony much? What Scribble said.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Scribble

How wrong they were, lol. The first episode of Bokurano (the series is also adapted from Kitoh's works) isn't as misleading as Narutaru was.

Its funny how i've never come across Narutaru before --- Bokurano was my first encounter with Kitoh. :3

Anyway, there's something that i'm really confused about. Its not a spoiler, though i'll add it into spoil tags.

Spoiler:

In the manga, the mecha seem to move at your normal mech speed --- though they move so god damn slow in the anime. Maybe its just the first episode thing, but i can't get my head around it. I've also spotted a lot of changes from the first/second chapter of the manga to the anime --- but i can't get my head around this one.

[Jiji]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Spoiler:

In the manga, the mecha seem to move at your normal mech speed --- though they move so god damn slow in the anime. Maybe its just the first episode thing, but i can't get my head around it. I've also spotted a lot of changes from the first/second chapter of the manga to the anime --- but i can't get my head around this one.

Well, for one thing, Zearth is 500m tall--that's much, much larger than almost any mecha in any anime or manga (so I've been told, anyway. I'm no mecha fan.) The point is that something that big is going to *look* like it moves slowly. It's like when you see a super carrier sailing out to sea. From shore where we are, it looks like it's putting along, when in fact it's really hauling ass. It's a matter of size and reference points.

As for it being a "change"...I'm not sure where you're getting that from. This is more-or-less how I pictured it, myself. Although I think the sounds of Zearth really made it come more "alive" to me, and the sound design of this show is outstanding so far.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Ueda

Well, for one thing, Zearth is 500m tall--that's much, much larger than almost any mecha in any anime or manga (so I've been told, anyway. I'm no mecha fan.) The point is that something that big is going to *look* like it moves slowly. It's like when you see a super carrier sailing out to sea. From shore where we are, it looks like it's putting along, when in fact it's really hauling ass. It's a matter of size and reference points.

Yeah, it is one of the biggest mecha's --- but i don't think that matters here. They're all made differently, so its hard to judge speed between them all.

Originally Posted by Ueda

As for it being a "change"...I'm not sure where you're getting that from. This is more-or-less how I pictured it, myself. Although I think the sounds of Zearth really made it come more "alive" to me, and the sound design of this show is outstanding so far.

No, you don't understand what i meant --- i'm not getting at anything like that. The changes i have mentioned are to do with the story, not the mecha.

[7Th]

Originally Posted by Ueda

Well, for one thing, Zearth is 500m tall--that's much, much larger than almost any mecha in any anime or manga (so I've been told, anyway. I'm no mecha fan.) The point is that something that big is going to *look* like it moves slowly. It's like when you see a super carrier sailing out to sea. From shore where we are, it looks like it's putting along, when in fact it's really hauling ass. It's a matter of size and reference points.

As for it being a "change"...I'm not sure where you're getting that from. This is more-or-less how I pictured it, myself. Although I think the sounds of Zearth really made it come more "alive" to me, and the sound design of this show is outstanding so far.

Well, probably from most planet situated mecha anime.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by 7Th

Well, probably from most planet situated mecha anime.

What's more interesting is that Zearth (oh wait, that's a spoiler. like anyone cares, it's the robot's name... and the title of episode 2 ) doesn't LOOK like any mecha I've ever seen. It's humanoid, yes, but only really in the bipedal sense. The proportionals and joint systems are just weird, and it doesn't really have any hands or feet which makes it unlike almost any other giant robots out there.

Just why Zearth (and the enemy robots, for that matter) look like they do is a big mystery. I hope it gets some sort of explanation at some point.

[Nightengale]

I think the problem isn't even Zearth's movements, but rather how they're translated into animation. I didn't expect Gundam/Eva-level of fluidity, the manga didn't do anything to show that the mechas are capable of such movement after all. I think that the weakness in the CG was how the blockiness of the movement wasn't even potrayed as largely mechanistically blocky, but rather jagged instead. And not even uniquely jagged, but rather akwardly jagged.

I don't know how many people played Robot Alchemic Drive (( underrated PS2 gem )), or even watched the old Gojira movies where the enemies had the robotic-ish movements that was slow, but mechanistic, that's what I think Zearth is lacking.

Of course, the darkness of the night might've been a factor, but even so, I felt that it was very weak in potrayal.

[Shiroth]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

or even watched the old Gojira movies where the enemies had the robotic-ish movements that was slow, but mechanistic, that's what I think Zearth is lacking.

Yeah, i can see where you're coming from --- being a huge fan of the Vs series and all. We're just gonna have to see what we get from the next few episodes in terms of battles. I like the CG, but it needs to do a better job with the speed part.

One thing i do love about the CG, is how well it looks from far away:

[7Th]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

Yeah, i can see where you're coming from --- being a huge fan of the Vs series and all. We're just gonna have to see what we get from the next few episodes in terms of battles. I like the CG, but it needs to do a better job with the speed part.

One thing i do love about the CG, is how well it looks from far away:

I don't care about how the mecha looks, after watching a higher quality version, Triad's, on my SD-TV I really noticed how well done the animation on this series is. It may not stand out at first but beyond the average still prettiness everything is extremely charming in a quirky way, the movements are precise yet still playful, really feels like Konichi stuff. Shows the real power a good animation director has over the whole production.

[Child_of_Sierra]

Good thing the first episode sets the mood properly that this isn't your average kid-pilot-mecha show otherwise there would be a whole lot of such situations:


Kid A: Hey wanna watch Bokurano?
Kid B: What's it about?
Kid A: Class of 15 kids must pilot a giant robot to save the world
Kid B: cool, it has the same premise as Raijin-oh?
Kid A: Yeah that's the one

both kids run off and watch said series and become emo teens later in life...

[Skane]

Random Thoughts on Ep01:
---- ----

• First off, I have not read the manga, but I have been irrevocably spoilt due to brats who don't seem to understand the concept of hiding spoilers.
  .
• When I was watching the ED, it occured to me that it was deliciously set up to-
  
  Spoiler for future events. DO NOT CLICK UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN MORE EPISODES:

  
  - highlight the deaths of the children. They could like, slightly modify the ED by making the chairs empty and show emphasise on who's dead and who's not.
  
• I am confused on whether the civilian population can actually see the robots or not. They were fairly ambiguous about this.
  .
• I am a fan of depressing animes, and it seems this series will be one as well. Time will tell whether this becomes one of my favourites.
  .
• I was wondering why it was classified as horror, when I suddenly saw Gonzo's name in the OP, and man, let me tell you. That alone is enough to make any series fall into the horror category.
  
  j/k
  .
• It helps that Mamiko Noto is one of the VAs. I am quite a sucker for her voice.

Cheers.

[Zappster]

Originally Posted by Diedrupo

IMO the mecha part of Bokurano is really more part of the premise than the story. It's not really meant to be a visceral experience like in most other mecha anime.

I realise that (I have read a few chapters of the manga), I was just replying to Scribble's thoughts on the episode that's all.

Originally Posted by Scribble

I thought it was impressive the way they emphasised the "harsh realities" of piloting the Zearth after it was promoted as being a 'game' : No epic music, the fact that Kokopelli was so "meh, this is how it's done, I'll leave you to it" about it, general clunkiness and underwhelming aspect of it (This includes the shots inside Zearth) and the fact they showed the people suffering as the Zearth was doing its 'heroic thing.' (As opposed to them suffering because the 'evil mecha' shot a death ray at them) You may see what I mean as the story progresses.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the way things were done and the general feel of the first episode. I just wasn't as impressed with those aspects as you seemed to be. I still thought it was nicely done. Perhaps I should have added that to my first post... I think I'll just leave it at that.

[Scribble]

Originally Posted by Zappster

Don't get me wrong, I liked the way things were done and the general feel of the first episode. I just wasn't as impressed with those aspects as you seemed to be....

I assumed your previous reply was written in a "sorry to burst your bubble!" way, which is why I tried to explain further. I still think I'm justified in praising the aspects like I did, but each to their own.

[Nightengale]

Originally Posted by Scribble

I assumed your previous reply was written in a "sorry to burst your bubble!" way, which is why I tried to explain further. I still think I'm justified in praising the aspects like I did, but each to their own.

Well, I can understand where Zappster is coming in some ways. Your enjoyment of episode 1 seems to have some degree of bias since you knew what is going to come soon, and it helps reinforce positive excitement and feelings for what is coming soon.

I never take manga-knowledge into account when judging anime, and the only things I can truly praise about episode 1 is how they create an short, but noticable individuality for each character through good voice-acting (( I particularly liked Masaru and Daichi )), the music which helped the setting strengthen itself, and also the solid atmospheric feel atoned with the way Gonzo played around with the colour palettes and background image as such.

That might sound trivial, but any show that can create a solid atmospheric setting along with distinguishable characters within one episode is considered good for me.

I can see where you're going from, but most of those details really come later following what happened in the first episode, and like most good anime that starts off slowly, the first episode always seem wayyy better and understandable once everything clicks later, which for Bokurano's case...isn't that far.

[Scribble]

Originally Posted by Nightengale

Well, I can understand where Zappster is coming in some ways. Your enjoyment of episode 1 seems to have some degree of bias since you knew what is going to come soon, and it helps reinforce positive excitement and feelings for what is coming soon.

What I described in my post isn't based on what I know is going to come soon. In fact, I've forgotten about what happens in the few volumes I read in Bokurano. The fact that something DOES happen (relating to the reason I liked episode 1) just shows that they're doing that on purpose. My post didn't revolve around me anticipating what is "going to come soon", but praised the execution of the first episode - that they managed to capture the reason I liked Bokurano from the very beginning, and even made me like the anime better than the corresponding manga part.

Of course, the reason why I anticipated Bokurano in the first place was because of the manga, and I can't help that - a lot of members here have read the source material for Bokurano, as well as for other anime which have been discussed on Animesuki. As a result, there will always be some degree of bias...this isn't anything new.

The music was good, backgrounds, etc. etc. - other members here have expressed and analysed those elements better than I ever good. I am simply saying why I liked the first episode, and I did not wish to write a good animation ("Check!"), good music ("Check!") etc. post as that's not what came to mind when I watched the first episode.

[Child_of_Sierra]

Lyrics of the opening fit very well with the show.
However, the word "Uninstall" other than being the name of the song is kind of out of place within the song. Anyone mind explaining to me why? or what it's meaning might be within the song's context?

[Quajafrie]

Extremely satisfying first episode. I loved it to pieces. Though maybe it wasn't misleading enough to create these 'entertaining' reactions (WTF, MECHA CRAP), because the whole atmosphere was melancholic enough to hint that there's something deeper here. The music was great too, and I really hope they'll put some classical music here and there, like the Moonlight sonata on the first trailer. The animation was surprisingly fluid at some points, though the CGI were really meh (but who really cares?).

However, the word "Uninstall" other than being the name of the song is kind of out of place within the song. Anyone mind explaining to me why? or what it's meaning might be within the song's context?

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. While I like the rest of the song and the lyrics seem very suitable, when she's going "ANINSUTORU, ANINSUTORU!" I really want to cover my ears. Why do they think that using a random english word is cool?

PS. Dammit, why Mamiko Noto?!?! I just hate her, even when she's playing in my favourite anime (hell, I even disliked Nina in Monster because of her). Why would she play my favourite female character in this anime? I'm really worried that she's going to ruin her chapter with her irritating-as-hell voice.

[Matrim]

Dammit, why Mamiko Noto?!?! I just hate her, even when she's playing in my favourite anime (hell, I even disliked Nina in Monster because of her). Why would she play my favourite female character in this anime? I'm really worried that she's going to ruin her chapter with her irritating-as-hell voice.

Wow, I really didn't know that Noto-haters actually existed.

Anyway, everyone was saying this is going to be one heck of depressing series, so I couldn't help but check it out, mecha or no mecha. When I watched the (not so great quality) row it didn't impress me that much but now I tried the sub it seems something clicked and I got hooked. I didn't manage to remember the names of the characters but certainly considering there were so many, they were introduced in a good way and allowed the viewers to notice and remember bits of their personality.