Bokurano - Mohiro Kitoh-san's latest manga series

[Shiroth]

When i hear 'alternate world', i keep thinking that it'll be apart of the game we get in the original story.

May have to order the first volume myself.

[Diedrupo]

Originally Posted by Shiroth

When i hear 'alternate world', i keep thinking that it'll be apart of the game we get in the original story.

May have to order the first volume myself.

Haha it'd be pretty bizarre if these kids are who Machi ends up fighting against. Though she won't be fighting against her alternate self since she's not in the alternate story.

Anyway I doubt that will happen since although Kitoh did the illustrations for the light novel, someone else is writing it.

[Child_of_Sierra]

Beware of Machi ~

It would definitely be interesting after Kenji's battle cause Machi would hear the tell-tale sign that she's next and deduce the biggest jerk gets away easy.

Kenji is afraid (for his friend) that she may just go berserk knowing she have to die so Ushiro can live?

[kuruzen]

My lurking in this thread is at it's END! and hello, this is my introductory post.

I'd like to say, while being in this topic, this is certainly a great anime/manga for me. Kitoh's works touch me in some strange ways... I laugh, I cry, I get completely outraged... and sometimes I just don't know what to feel. He's certainly talented; first Narutaru hooked me (for some reasons more than the story, so I may be giving it too much credit), then Wings of Vendemiare (I never spell it right...), and now, of course, our Bokurano.

Bokurano started so simple. 15 children who thought they knew everything about the world take part in a "game," involving a giant robot...

And now, nearing it's end, I need to say that this series deserves much, much more than a thumbs up. Its emotional, its endearing, its not entirely sappy, terrible things happen to good people, good things happen to bad people (considering the above post saying Ushiro may get away with it all, and Hatagai's offenses won't go unmentioned)... Here's to endgame, everyone.

Our final contestants, Kanji and Machi, and then...we can only imagine.

Ganbatte!

.... and the anime,
"UNINSTALL! UNINSTALL!" (sorry.) I'm wondering how it will go along. It looks great though (I was worried, since Narutaru...ehh), sounds even better, and everything is done rather well.

That aside, OMG, Kanji! I've been dying to know his backstory....

[I'll shut up now. I love you all!]

[Iriliane]

I'm not entirely convinced that Ushiro isn't bound by the contract. Especially given Kanji's line just before his confession...

I'll post the dialogue from MangaScreener's scanlation:

Spoiler:

Kanji: Don't you get it? I'm going to die before you. You can at least tell a little white lie.
Ushiro: Kanji. You're my friend aren't you?
Kanji: Oh, come on. This is getting silly. I'm gonna get pissed off in a moment.
Ushiro: Then I need to tell you something...
Kanji: Oh? Go on.
Ushiro: I'm not in the contract.
Kanji: Huh? Umm... WHAT!?
Ushiro: I never touched it.
Kanji: Then the one who wasn't contracted... Was you?
Ushiro: So I won't be fighting.

Given that Ushiro's confession is prompted by Kanji asking him to lie and make him feel better he may be doing just that... or not.

[Diedrupo]

Originally Posted by Iriliane

I'm not entirely convinced that Ushiro isn't bound by the contract. Especially given Kanji's line just before his confession...

I'll post the dialogue from MangaScreener's scanlation:

Spoiler:

Kanji: Don't you get it? I'm going to die before you. You can at least tell a little white lie.
Ushiro: Kanji. You're my friend aren't you?
Kanji: Oh, come on. This is getting silly. I'm gonna get pissed off in a moment.
Ushiro: Then I need to tell you something...
Kanji: Oh? Go on.
Ushiro: I'm not in the contract.
Kanji: Huh? Umm... WHAT!?
Ushiro: I never touched it.
Kanji: Then the one who wasn't contracted... Was you?
Ushiro: So I won't be fighting.

Given that Ushiro's confession is prompted by Kanji asking him to lie and make him feel better he may be doing just that... or not.

Well I think Kanji wanted Ushiro to lie about taking piloting seriously/taking care of Kana, since Kanji and the others knew Ushiro would not care and probably kill them all if he piloted. Ushiro doesn't seem like the type to flat out lie about not being bound by the contract, but you never know. If he was going to lie, he would have just said he'd take care of Kana.

We'll know in a few months though. Damn, Bokurano is going to end in less than a year. Now that's depressing!

[Rion]

Yeah, what a weird feeling. Bokurano must have started at the beginning of 2004 or end 2003 - and now it's nearly over. To me, it feels like it was yesterday that I've started reading this manga (and that Narutaru is over). Nevertheless, I can't wait to see the end of the series - my disappointment of Narutaru's rushed end is just too big, so I want to see Bokurano ending properly ^^;

[stpehen]

I don't think it's going to be ending that quickly. Within 20 chapters, most likely. But within a year... I don't see it. He would need to really amp up the pace quite a bit - and I'm referring not strictly to the number of chapters per character but the overall plotting and climax of the story. This month's chapter was a big step toward an accelerated pace but he usually spins out the latter chapters of a pilot, and I think he would really be truncating things to finish the manga entirely within a year. Unless I'm greatly misjudging Bokurano, Kitoh hasn't pushed it to the point where the shit hits the fan yet, and it's too early to talk about endings until we reach that point.

[Diedrupo]

Originally Posted by stpehen

I don't think it's going to be ending that quickly. Within 20 chapters, most likely. But within a year... I don't see it. He would need to really amp up the pace quite a bit - and I'm referring not strictly to the number of chapters per character but the overall plotting and climax of the story. This month's chapter was a big step toward an accelerated pace but he usually spins out the latter chapters of a pilot, and I think he would really be truncating things to finish the manga entirely within a year. Unless I'm greatly misjudging Bokurano, Kitoh hasn't pushed it to the point where the shit hits the fan yet, and it's too early to talk about endings until we reach that point.

Well I was just assuming that it ends after Machi's story, so that would be less than 10 chapters left at the current pace (of 5 chapters per kid). But Kitoh might pull a fast one and have stories for Jun and Kana, so then it'd be 20ish.

[Proto]

Beware of Machi ~

Since that phrase was preceded by "I don't even care if Koemushi hears me", I wonder if this doesn't have to do with Nakama's earlier speculation that Moji was with Koemushi in somethin g deeper. Despite it being wrong, Koemushi was afraid of the rest of the children considering the mere possibility of him being allied with someone of them.

[materiared]

I have a lot of doubts and beliefs about this manga..wich is awesome..

first.. its really hard to think that Jun is really lying... if thats true then why does he have a chair in the game and Kana doesn't... I suppose Coemushi must know wich kids are bound to the contract and wich not.. or maybe it is Zearth who have that data( i think this one is more possible) so if thats the case then Jun was lying and he is still in the contract.. also in the anime.. we see that he actually touches that thing that bounds you to Zearth when saying his name (but this is not seen in the manga in detail....).

For Machi... I dont really know what to expect from her.... She seems to me the less symphatetic character in Bokurano... and I even believe that she is afraid of Jun somehow....

For the ending I have a very interesting teory...
I believe that the world that Bokurano is taking place is another alternate dimension from the actual earth.. so probably.. they will loose...(or will detroy our earth)
The other one.. I believe that somehow the Ushiros are going to work out the game.. but more than a theory this is a hope...

another possibility could be that in fact everything thats happening is just a game as Kopopelli said(very unlikely now that I see the last chapters)
well thats pretty much what i believe so far.. the manga is still great and I cant wait to see chapter 44

[Diedrupo]

Originally Posted by materiared

I have a lot of doubts and beliefs about this manga..wich is awesome..

first.. its really hard to think that Jun is really lying... if thats true then why does he have a chair in the game and Kana doesn't... I suppose Coemushi must know wich kids are bound to the contract and wich not.. or maybe it is Zearth who have that data( i think this one is more possible) so if thats the case then Jun was lying and he is still in the contract.. also in the anime.. we see that he actually touches that thing that bounds you to Zearth when saying his name (but this is not seen in the manga in detail....).

For Machi... I dont really know what to expect from her.... She seems to me the less symphatetic character in Bokurano... and I even believe that she is afraid of Jun somehow....

For the ending I have a very interesting teory...
I believe that the world that Bokurano is taking place is another alternate dimension from the actual earth.. so probably.. they will loose...(or will detroy our earth)
The other one.. I believe that somehow the Ushiros are going to work out the game.. but more than a theory this is a hope...

another possibility could be that in fact everything thats happening is just a game as Kopopelli said(very unlikely now that I see the last chapters)
well thats pretty much what i believe so far.. the manga is still great and I cant wait to see chapter 44

It all goes back to the chair theory. I think it's incredibly "jumping the shark" that the baby crib is for Chizu's baby (since the fetus is still in her womb, how would it know what a crib would look like?) but it's logically enough to assume. That means that Maki's chair really was the one that Machi picked, and that Machi's real chair is the one Jun took. If you reread that early chapter where they are getting their chairs, you will notice that Jun is just standing there while everyone gets their chair, and he doesn't take a seat until the others suggest that the elementary school chair would be his.

Also Jun yells at Dung Beetle for summoning him and Kana. The only problem with that particular page is that Dung Beetle replies to the effect of "You wouldn't want to leave your sister behind would you?" That would imply that he's part of the game. Perhaps Kitoh had not planned that far ahead yet when he made that page, but that page at the same time can be interpreted as Jun complaining that both he and Kana were summoned into the game.

[led]

I think that the crib was chizu's baby because if you read again the earlier chapters you will see that at first maki thought that her's chair was another one and then when she saw the baby crib she was sure its her's.
Then machi picked maki's real chair and jun was left with machi's chair.

[piccu]

Kitoh is seriously a genius, ch. 43 was excellent.
Kenji's "Watch out for Machi" almost confirms my theory that Machi is working together with Dung Beetle.

• She was the person who suggested to go in the cave where Kokopelli was hiding (chap 1)
• She hesitated touching that shovel-shaped thing which seals the contract, it was Waku who made her touch it against her will (chap 1)
• She was the last one who touched it (chap 1)
• chair theory

Another speculative theory I came up XD

Spoiler for my theory:

In addition I really have a bad premonition about Kana
On the last page of chapter 43 you can see that there are only 2 lights left.
Short recap: I'm a bit confused now, they have to win 15 battles right?
From the very beginning: 15 children-Kana= 14. Short one pilot. Chizu kills Kako before he kills the enemy. Short two pilots. Chizu's baby dies with her. Short 3 pilots. 2 SDF millitary officers join. Short 1 pilot. Ushiro is not in the contract. Short 2 pilots.

15 kids: 11 dead, 10 wins (Kako died before he defeated the enemy), 5 battles left.
Still alive: Jun, Kanji, Kana, Machi + Masamitsu Seki and Misumi Tanaka (6 people) but Jun and Kana are not bound to the contract. So there are 4 people, 5 battles left, but only 2 lights

They are short 2 pilots, which means that either Machi, Masamitsu Seki or Misumi Tanaka is also not bound to the contract. But there should be 3 lights left XD

Back to my Kana theory. You can see her holding the phone in ch. 43 and looking rather sadly. While writng the stuff above (and getting confused ) I came up with another theory:
5 battles left. 4 people, only 3 people in the contract. 2 lights left (last page of chapter 43)
It is possible that one of the 3 that are bound to the contract died within ch. 43?
So that makes. 2 people in the contract, 5 battles left, 3 pilots short.
My speculation is that Kana knows that Jun is not bound, which leads to Kana signing the contract to fill in. Poor Kana.

[Iriliane]

Originally Posted by piccu

Spoiler for my theory:

In addition I really have a bad premonition about Kana
On the last page of chapter 43 you can see that there are only 2 lights left.
Short recap: I'm a bit confused now, they have to win 15 battles right?
From the very beginning: 15 children-Kana= 14. Short one pilot. Chizu kills Kako before he kills the enemy. Short two pilots. Chizu's baby dies with her. Short 3 pilots. 2 SDF millitary officers join. Short 1 pilot. Ushiro is not in the contract. Short 2 pilots.

15 kids: 11 dead, 10 wins (Kako died before he defeated the enemy), 5 battles left.
Still alive: Jun, Kanji, Kana, Machi + Masamitsu Seki and Misumi Tanaka (6 people) but Jun and Kana are not bound to the contract. So there are 4 people, 5 battles left, but only 2 lights

They are short 2 pilots, which means that either Machi, Masamitsu Seki or Misumi Tanaka is also not bound to the contract. But there should be 3 lights left XD

Back to my Kana theory. You can see her holding the phone in ch. 43 and looking rather sadly. While writng the stuff above (and getting confused ) I came up with another theory:
5 battles left. 4 people, only 3 people in the contract. 2 lights left (last page of chapter 43)
It is possible that one of the 3 that are bound to the contract died within ch. 43?
So that makes. 2 people in the contract, 5 battles left, 3 pilots short.
My speculation is that Kana knows that Jun is not bound, which leads to Kana signing the contract to fill in. Poor Kana.

Not quite.

Spoiler:

Initially we have 15 kids - Kana + Kokopeli. Sufficient Pilots.
Chizu Kills Kako and we also discover her baby is part of the contract. Short two pilots because one of the kids is free.
SDF pilots join the contract but are not "loaded" yet and thus have no lights. Sufficient pilots again.

So far we have eleven victories. (Kokopeli, Waku, Kodama, Dai'ichi, Nakama, Chizu, Moji, Maki, Kirie, Komoda, Anko)
Initially there would have been 14 lights after the kids were loaded. (Waku, Kodama, Dai'ichi, Nakama, Kako, Chizu, Chizu's baby, Moji, Maki, Kirie, Komoda, Anko, Kanji, [Machi or Jun])
Twelve of those lights have been extinguished. (Waku, Kodama, Dai'ichi, Nakama, Kako, Chizu, Chizu's baby, Moji, Maki, Kirie, Komoda, Anko)
The remaining two lights are in line with this scenario. They represent Kanji and the remaining child.
The two officers, as I mentioned earlier aren't loaded yet so they don't have lights.

Originally Posted by Diedrupo

Well I think Kanji wanted Ushiro to lie about taking piloting seriously/taking care of Kana, since Kanji and the others knew Ushiro would not care and probably kill them all if he piloted. Ushiro doesn't seem like the type to flat out lie about not being bound by the contract, but you never know. If he was going to lie, he would have just said he'd take care of Kana.

We'll know in a few months though. Damn, Bokurano is going to end in less than a year. Now that's depressing!

On the contrary. While I'm not completely discounting Ushiro's confession I can honestly see him lying like that to reassure Kanji. Ushiro hates his sister, I can't see him saying he'll take care of her even as a lie (and I doubt Kanji would really believe it). However if Ushiro claims to not be apart of the contract whether or not he would have taken piloting seriously and defended her is a moot issue reassuring Kanji that everything will be fine.

Oh well, it doesn't really matter I guess. It's just speculation on my part at this point. We'll see if I'm wrong or not in a few months time. Feel free to laugh at me if I am.

[Diedrupo]

Originally Posted by Iriliane

Not quite.

Spoiler:

The two officers, as I mentioned earlier aren't loaded yet so they don't have lights.

Yep, and this somewhat bothers me, because it indicates that they didn't actually need 2 more pilots, since whoever signs the contract now will just get loaded in for the next round (after all, Zearth only has room for 14 lights at any given time).

It'll either mean:

1) Zearth will reload with 2 lights for the SDF pilots after the last kid goes. Then one of them goes and the last one alive gets to live for a while until another earth is ready for battle, in which case they will be transported to that world and have to find 14 people.
2) The last kid "lives" until they can get 12 more people to sign the contract for the next round, perhaps set in another world.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by piccu

Kitoh is seriously a genius, ch. 43 was excellent.
Kenji's "Watch out for Machi" almost confirms my theory that Machi is working together with Dung Beetle.

• She was the person who suggested to go in the cave where Kokopelli was hiding (chap 1)
• She hesitated touching that shovel-shaped thing which seals the contract, it was Waku who made her touch it against her will (chap 1)
• She was the last one who touched it (chap 1)
• chair theory

Another speculative theory I came up XD

Spoiler for my theory:

In addition I really have a bad premonition about Kana
On the last page of chapter 43 you can see that there are only 2 lights left.
Short recap: I'm a bit confused now, they have to win 15 battles right?
From the very beginning: 15 children-Kana= 14. Short one pilot. Chizu kills Kako before he kills the enemy. Short two pilots. Chizu's baby dies with her. Short 3 pilots. 2 SDF millitary officers join. Short 1 pilot. Ushiro is not in the contract. Short 2 pilots.

15 kids: 11 dead, 10 wins (Kako died before he defeated the enemy), 5 battles left.
Still alive: Jun, Kanji, Kana, Machi + Masamitsu Seki and Misumi Tanaka (6 people) but Jun and Kana are not bound to the contract. So there are 4 people, 5 battles left, but only 2 lights

They are short 2 pilots, which means that either Machi, Masamitsu Seki or Misumi Tanaka is also not bound to the contract. But there should be 3 lights left XD

Back to my Kana theory. You can see her holding the phone in ch. 43 and looking rather sadly. While writng the stuff above (and getting confused ) I came up with another theory:
5 battles left. 4 people, only 3 people in the contract. 2 lights left (last page of chapter 43)
It is possible that one of the 3 that are bound to the contract died within ch. 43?
So that makes. 2 people in the contract, 5 battles left, 3 pilots short.
My speculation is that Kana knows that Jun is not bound, which leads to Kana signing the contract to fill in. Poor Kana.

Wait, YOUR theory? Ehem, I believe I pointed this out a long, long time ago, as my guess for who Dung Beetle said "was too perceptive" when he was talking to his boss, although it got deleted along with the forum wipe.
I'm glad to see I was right to be suspicious of that person though.

[Diedrupo]

Kokopelli stating the fight 15 battles may have just been a ruse/lie. After all, there are only 14 lights on Zearth, and on enemy robots, so why should they have to fight 15 battles, unless it always involves the last pilot of the robot, in which case people with the 15 battle speculation are forgetting Kokopelli.

Seki and Tanaka's lights were not added to Zearth. Remember when Kokopelli had the kids sign the contract the first time? Yet Zearth's lights did not refill, they remained at 1 left, Kokopelli's. This means that once Zearth's current lights disappear, Seki and Tanaka will get their lights, along with 12 more people who sign up for the next round.

Personally I think, and agree with current 2ch speculation, that the whole 14 battle thing is not necessary and that Zearth fights endlessly. The last pilot will simply be tasked to find more pilots for the next round (in this case, two pilots have already been picked to be loaded for the next round).

It is possible that one of the 3 that are bound to the contract died within ch. 43?

Not sure what you mean by this. Kanji and Machi are clearly still alive in 43. HOWEVER, I think there's a small chance that Machi will die in this battle, causing the group to lose their last pilot, and that might force Jun or Kana to step up and join.

Considering Kanji got NO backstory and is already jumping into action in the next chapter, either his story will be cut short (to 2-3 chapters) or, it will be extended by unexpected deaths. I really can't wait for chapter 44. It'll be out next week!

[Ronny]

Hmmm.. thing with Machi is though, before stating to watch out for her, Kanji said "I'm sure you figured it out yourself - I don't care if Dung Beetle hears this".. I mean, what's that supposed to mean, the former still could be a part of the joke, but for the latter, why would it be a big deal if Dung Beetle heard normally?

Anywho, I suspect more about Kokopelli will be revealed in one of the last chapters, maybe even Machi's storyline, as many speculations are out there but none have been actually confirmed (and it was strongly hinted that Machi was uncontracted, which turned out to be Jun so no matter how much sense something makes.. Kitoh can throw it all out of the window)

As it stands, 15 battle - 1 by Kokopelli, then 14 kids. Of thekids, 1 died to soon and 1 was not bound by the contract, instead some baby was, number reduced to 12. Tanaka and Seki signed up. There you have your 15 people for 15 battles again. This is all to it right now.

And about the Kana speculation, with the hints about Machi from the past (during the contract speculations) and now Kanji's warning, and the school chair that Jun uses.. maybe she is indeed in the contract while Machi isn't.

[tsurumaru]

Just thought I'd give the manga readers a heads up about the Gonzo animation director's decision to change the Anime series because he didn't like the original manga!

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...slike-of-manga

So I believe from approx epsode 9 onwards the series will start to diverge even more from the manga and the director has stated that fans of the manga should stop watching it at this point if they don't wan't to follow the anime's new direction. Apparently he felt it was too dark a story and wanted to save the kids, Kitoh agreed he could change the story as long as it didn't involve "magic".

I'm not completely sold that this will be another Gonzo disaster as so far the series has been treated quite well, but to change the storyline simply because you don't like the original material is, how can I put it, a little disapointing.

Oh wait its even worse, apparently the end quote of the directors blogpost "I give up" is:

“The director of the anime version of ‘Bokurano’ hates the original work. Viewers should not expect to see any aspects that they liked about the original manga appearing in the anime. So fans of the manga, please stop watching the anime’

LOL