Short Synopsis: This episode features the children returning to their home, and attend Takashi’s funeral.
Good: Only now, Takashi’s death really sinks in.
Bad: I couldn’t understand the people who talked about his autopsy.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Remember a random anime in which lots of buildings get destroyed? Chances are that during the aftermath, you won’t see anything that hinted about this. This definitely is different in Bokurano, as we still see the damages that Zearth caused. I’ll call it Zearth for now, as I have no idea whether Jiaasu really is a Japanese word, or a horrible katakanification of the word Zearth.
This is probably the first time for an anime to actually kill of its main character, especially so early in the show. Takashi does leave his traces, as the children are now beginning to realize that this game can really be able to kill them. In the current episode, we also get to meet the parents and the homes of the now fourteen children.
Masaru’s father is what you’d expect of him: cold and uncaring. With a father like that, I can imagine how he picked up that personality trait. I wonder what happened to his mother, as his father picking him up that his mother wasn’t able to (otherwise he wouldn’t have taken the initiative). He’s going to be the next one to pilot Zearth, which makes me really anticipate the next episode, as it’ll probably cause more and more conflicts.
Moji’s are shown only briefly, they seem to work at some kind of restaurant. I wonder what will happen once he gets to be the pilot. Takashi wanted to pilot Zearth because it’s new to him, and Masaru will probably not care about life or death at this point, but what will happen when someone who doesn’t actually want to pilot gets to pilot it?
Isao’s mother likes to scold him, but that’s only natural, as I can imagine him getting in more sorts of trouble. He doesn’t have that big of a role, but right after Zearth has disappeared, he did release his frustrations by yelling at everyone. I don’t think he’ll really be an antagonist. He’s just a bit too playful and likes to speak his mind.
Daiichi didn’t have a big role this time. We do see a bit of his father, but that’s everything. So far, he doesn’t seem to have any problems with his parents, but we’ve yet to see where he lives.
Kanji took things surprisingly well. Even after Takashi died, he still was able to still lie to the police without a worry on his face. He seems to live in the same building as Jun and Kana, and this episode showed that he’s got a “don’t worry too much”-personality. I wonder how long that lasts.
Jun doesn’t seem to have any parents, they’re either dead or they’re away for a long while. I’m not sure which of the two it is, but if I had to guess, then it’s the second. He spends the episode thinking about Takashi. He and Kana live in a really strange apartment, by the way. Even the beds are piled up strangely.
Yosuki also doesn’t have a big role. The only time we see a bit of him individually is during the interrogations, where he has trouble speaking, and when his mother comes to pick him up, from which the only new thing we get to see is his way too large backpack.
Mako gets a bit more screentime than last episode, but it still isn’t much. It appears that she’s more of a shy girl, like Yosuki perhaps. But unlike Yosuki, she doesn’t try to be more talkative.
Aiko has it the most difficult in this episode. She clearly is the most shocked by Takashi’s death, and she shows it when she starts crying, and avoiding her favourite chair when she gets home. I really wonder how her character will evolve, as she may be the first one to freak out, this also may cause her to be the first one to calm down again.
Chizuru Honda actually turns out a little sadistic. She also doesn’t seem to care too much about Takashi’s death, and talks a bit freaky. When her mother tries to comfort her, she just pushes her away.
I’m quite surprised that Takami actually told the police and her parents about Zearth. Obviously, nobody believed her, but this does show that she likes to be the goodie two-shoe. I wonder what will happen once the others find out that she tried to give away their secrets.
Maki’s father is just as energetic as she is. She had a small role in this episode, though. Not much news apart from this was given about her.
I’m still wondering about Yoko. Yet again did she have nearly no screentime for this episode. She only got one line for the entire episode. The only thing I figured out was that she likes to take care of Kana.
Speaking of Kana, I really like her, with a brother like that. She hardly ever talks, so it’s very hard to understand how she actually sees her brother. Does she hate him? Does she care for him? Does she find him annoying? Is it also me, or has she never spoken during this entire anime?
Anyway, this episode was really nice. The action-junkies will probably not find it that exciting, but the different characters were very interesting to see. :)]]>
Bokura no – 03
Now that you are mentioning it… it wouldn’t surprise me if Kana kills Jun one day. Like you said, she hardly talks and never opposes him – that might end in a, say, complicated way.
Kana had a few lines in the first episode but much less in the second episode.
As for Jun…yeah, I think I’ve said how much I don’t like that guy. I’ll probably be mentioning it continuously in my entries. :p
I think that’s an original anime episode that kind of “introduces” the lives of the characters (I haven’t seen it yet, but I remember the manga just went on to Masaru’s story). And btw, the action junkies won’t find the whole anime exciting at all.
hmm… kanna kills Jun….. and then gets Jun’s contract and uses the Zearth…. that might be fun 🙂
Minor corrections, it was Masaru’s older brother who picked him up. Isao’s older sister. Daichi’s uncle. Chizu’s older sister.
Diedrupo: Ah, thanks for the corrections. That indeed does make a bit more sense, yes. ^^;
The art reminds me of Narutaru o_o
That’s indeed right. The person who wrote the manga for Narutaru also wrote the manga for Bokura no. 😉
I watch a bit too much reality tv, but I somehow feel as though I could actually use my knowledge of it to analyze this series. In a lot of the competitive shows with a good deal of contestants the ones who don’t get too much attention in the beginning usually stay around for a while, and the ones who get quite a bit of screen time early on don’t really last as long. Using this, I predict Aiko to be the third to have to pilot the robot, as she’s been given a lot of attention in the last few episodes. I’m probably completely wrong on this, but predicting things is always fun.
Thanks for going through each of the characters. I’ll definitely have to keep up with your entries, just so that I can get their names down!
While I can’t do an analysis for each characters on the episodes which focus too much on one single character, the episodes that focus on the children as a group will definitely get one. Personally, I think Maki is going to be the next one, as she too got quite a lot of screentime due to her energetic character.