You hear a lot of things about Narutaru. It’s supposed to be sick, disgusting and disturbing. I decided to check this out for myself, and I actually found that these supposedly “horrific scenes” were pretty awesome. I can really say that I enjoyed this anime. It’s not perfect though, but I’ll get to that later.
The story: while on holiday at her grandparents’, Shiina runs into a strange star-shaped animal, with some very strange powers. When she returns, it becomes clear that there’ve been more children who ran into similar creatures. A majority of these children are alienated from society. When the anime progresses, it becomes clear that some of these children use their creature in order to kill others.
The story starts out very light-hearted, and turns darker as the episodes progress, and so does the level of disturbing material. At episode eight, the first major climax of the anime arrives. Afterwards, the story suddenly takes a huge leap towards a totally different focus. This continues up to the thirteenth episode, which finishes the series with a great ending.
The thing I love about this anime is the huge number of disturbing footage which is shown. And especially the reaction this has on the different characters. Seeing that most of the characters are just young kids, the shock of experiencing those kinds of things becomes huge, and Narutaru does a very fine job in portraying this. Whether the characters get angry, sad, or scared, all of this was portrayed in a really awesome way. I can really say that I had a great time watching this anime. Especially the episodes with lots of pain and suffering were awesome.
Still, the fact remains that Narutaru is an anime which could easily have been expanded to 24 or 26 episodes. It definitely has enough material for this, and it would have made this series a lot better. That’s because right now, the creators had to stuff this series into only 13 episodes. Some anime try this by having a huge pacing. Narutaru tried this by just omitting a lot of scenes. The result is that it introduces lots of questions, but only focuses at a select few of them, ignoring all of the others, leaving them entirely unanswered. For example, we see one of the bad guys preparing for some kind of plan, but then he suddenly entirely disappears from the screen. We never see any trace of him. And there are many more examples like these. Still, the points at which Narutaru did decide to focus on worked out great. ^^
Overall, it’s a very nice anime. If you like disturbing anime, you seriously should consider to check this one out. I had a great time watching this. It’s just that I wish there was more of it.
Yay, you finished it. I’m glad you liked it ^^
Well, considering Naru Taru’s popularity, I thought it’s a miracle that the manga even got an anime adaptation – I never even thought of 26 episodes (which might have been able to cover the whole manga). So with 13 episodes, letting it end at this place was already the best thing they could have done. ^^;;;
I like the series a lot, but I’m kinda bummed that it just stopped so suddenly like that. They didn’t give much of an indication for an ending. Oh well…do you know if the manga goes any farther than the anime?
From what I’ve heard about it, yes there indeed is a part of the manga that hasn’t been animated. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s enough for an entire second season.
I absolutely adore this series, even with the disturbing elements, which i suppose, didn’t effect me as much as they would most people. However, I must say that the manga is quite amazing, and very subtle. I couldn’t even imagine a good translation to an anime in all honesty. Its mostly dialog and soft subtleties that wouldn’t have been adapted to develop a solid anime. The manga is so incredibly solid, its a shame that it was so underdeveloped in the anime.
Natutaru’s anime only adapted first 6 volumes of the manga. There’re total 12 vols out there. You will surely find that the later story is far more disturbing than the earlier, especially the ending.
Anyone know how the manga ended?
@charizardpal: The manga ended with the end of most of the human race. The only people we know to still be alive are Shiina, the weird girl who was with the antagonist kid, and their babies.
That’s Kitoh Mohiro for you.
@charizardpal: Very poorly. Overall, Narutaru sucked hard. It is not amazing. It is not subtle. And far from solid. Recommendation: Don’t waste your time.
I hated this anime. One of worst ever. It had so much potential but unfortunately it ended prematurely. It was like the production company ran out of money and decided to close up shop.
I regret watching this…. It is very good…..but my heart cant take all of it (especially when u try 2 go 2 WIKIPEDIA or read the MANGA)…. its the type of anime/manga that youll end up not forgetting… after watching the anime/manga………
I shouldnt have watched this!….F**K…il end up thinking bout this anime 4 a while
and yes just researched…..I really h8 this guy Mohiro Kitoh for his works, but 4 some reasons im drawn 2 his works even if it ruins my GOOD mood.
well, she also wrote Bokura no which is similar in theme, but much more enobling of the human spirit and tragic in the grandest sense of that word, not melancholic like narutaru…
It’s easier to remember bad parts of your life than good ones. That’s why this anime get to many people. And also, why it will be remembered. Because it is soooo bad. It leaves viewer with only two questions: 1) Thats it? and 2) WTF?