Review: Bokurano: Ours V.01

Title: Bokurano: Ours
Volume: 1 (of 11)
Creator: Mohiro Kitoh
Format: Right-To-Left
Original Publisher: Shogakukan
US Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: 2/16/2010
Pages: 200
ISBN: 978-1421533612
MSRP: $12.99
Genre: VIZ Signature
Rated: T+

Description: SAVING THE WORLD IS HARD.
SAVING YOURSELF IS EVEN HARDER.

One Summer, fifteen kids innocently wander into a nearby seaside cave. There they meet a strange man who invites them to play an exciting new video game. This game, he explains, pits a lone giant robot against a horde of alien invaders. To play the game all they have to do is sign a simple contract. The game stops being fun when the kids find out the true purpose of their pact.

Contains Chapters 1-6:
-Chapter 1: Kokopelli 1
-Chapter 2: Kokopelli 2
-Chapter 3: Kokopelli 3
-Chapter 4: Takashi Waku 1
-Chapter 5: Takashi Waku 2
-Chapter 6: Masaru Kodaka

Cover Art: The main artwork for this volume features a wrap around cover that has three of our kids standing in front of the Zearth robot. The remaining kids are in the background, looking over the ocean of the summer camp they are currently going to in the first few chapters. The back cover has one of the fighter jets that the military summoned to try and take down Zearth as it was fighting the alien. The title logo and the volume number are presented in a way that is very eye catching; not at all distracting from the beautiful water color style artwork.

Artwork: The artwork of this series is very simple, but it isn't something to be disappointed with. The majority of this volume centered around the summer camp, while the last chapter dealt mainly with the kids back at home. There was a bit of action, but the majority of the first volume was a set up of the things to come in the future, so the action sequences were detailed, but there was not a whole lot of actual action to really shed light on the beauty of destruction in this series (which from the looks of it there will be tons).

Extras: We get a Character Data Sheet which shows the 15 kids that will be the center of the series.

Content (Warning - May Contain Spoilers): The series is basically set into arcs. Each arc is centered primarily around a single character, but it involves everyone. Our story begins with the 15 kids finding a cave where they want to explore the inside to see what they can find. When they reach the back they find a brightly lit room filled with computers. A strange man named Kokopelli enters and tells the kids about this new game that he is making and that he needs testers, 15 to be exact. All the kids agree to play the game, but Jun tells his younger sister that she can not participate, so 14 of them decided to give it a try. They must make a pact to play it though, and when they do they all black out and are left outside the cave.

Later, Kokopelli resurfaces when a giant alien appears out of nowhere and he must then pilot a huge robot to stop this being from existing. He shows the kids what to do (each kid is apparently given the chance to pilot the robot and the others must basically be present to watch the fight as well) and in the end, after killing the alien, disappears entirely leaving the kids clueless to what happens next.

A few days pass and a new alien appears. One of the 14 kids, Takashi Waku must pilot the robot, who they now name Zearth, and stop this alien before it destroys them. With a bit of a struggle, Takashi manages to defeat the alien. Right after the alien dies, Takashi does as well, and a new mystery to this mystery game surfaces.

A few weeks go by and we learn the kids were sent home from summer camp. A new alien shows up onto the scene, and its now the next child's turn, Masaru Kodaka, to pilot the robot. Masaru doesn't really care about the city that he is fighting in and thinks its all just a game, until this volume ends with Masaru accidentally killing his own father.

For the first volume of this series, it was a refreshing read. I have not read something this good in quite a while. It has the flair that Evangelion had for me when I watched it as a kid. The story was captivating and the kids all have a personality of their own, as well as our other side characters and mascots. I am very intrigued at where the next volume will take me and every volume after.

Overall: 10/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 4 - Masquerade

Well this was an interesting Episode as we got an almost exact retelling of the Manga Act 4, until we learn a couple of things...

This episode begins with us learning that a Princess is visiting our heroines town and she has some Legendary Crystal that she will be unveiling to the world. When all sides (Senshi, Dark Kingdom, and Tuxedo Mask) find out about this they all become very interested and all try to find a way to get into this Masquerade Party being thrown for the unveiling.

To our surprise, everyone seems to be invited to this little party except for Usagi (even her father is), so she has to use her Disguise Pen in order to transform herself into a princess herself so she can infiltrate the party.

After everyone is inside, we learn that Nephrite, one of the four Dark Kingdom Generals, is body swapping with his spirit and trying to get as close as possible to the Princess so he can take the Crystal for himself. This however doesn't turn out how he had hoped for and is eventually beaten by Sailor Moon and her new Moon Tiara. The Sailor Senshi once again save the day and enjoy the rest of the Masqueade after finding out that the crystal was not the one they were actually after.

I wouldn't have minded this episode, as I did enjoy the original chapter. My problem though is that Jadeite is shown again, alive and well, with the other generals and Beryl. Nephrite also does not meet his demise in this episode as well. I'm thinking they won't be dying until a bit later, with now probably some kind of filler arc, which I was hoping they would not do. Since the series is 26 Episodes, and we will be getting Jupiter in Act 5, it is still kind of a big mystery what they are actually doing since for the most part the Episodes and the Chapters are still somewhat following the general outline of the manga, but they have something they will be needing to explain come future episodes of the series.


Rating: 5/10

Some New Manga Reads...

So my packages came in earlier this week with lots of new stuff to read. I had a few volumes in my backlog of Pokémon Adventures (I read this series years ago when VIZ first released it in an oversized comic format), and since I ordered V.04-06 as well, I decided to read what I had of it. I remember only reading content up to about V.02ish. Some of V.02 and all of V.03 was practically brand new to me. I must say, the series is based on the original Game Boy game, but it puts a really cool spin to the series! So, I have chosen that this will probably be the next series I will be reviewing gradually just for fun, as it was a fun series to read. V.01-03 is basically Part 01 (Red/Blue/Green). What I read on wiki is V.04-07 is Part 02 (Yellow). So now I am debating if I will be reviewing this by volume or by parts. I only have up to V.06 though so I would need to get V.07 before I do a second review for the series if I go that route.

Anyways, keep checking back soon... Sailor Moon Crystal Episode 4 review is coming up, as well as Bokurano: Ours V.01.

Till next time... Later...

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 3 - Rei - Sailor Mars

Another awesome episode to this series that was basically straight from the manga.

The episode begins with the Dark Kingdom. Beryl is not so happy that Jadeite keeps failing in trying to find the Silver Crystal. We then get our first look at Nephrite and Zoicite. Beryl reveals tha she will basically give Jadeite one more try before she let's her other Generals step in. Enter Rei, who sees a vision of what is going on in the other dimension.

Jadeite's last chance at obtaining the silver crystal actually happens to be a local bus that picks people up near Rei's temple. Luna suspects it is the enemy because rumors are floating around Usagi's school that people are beginning to disappear off of the 5PM bus. Usagi and Luna begin to investigate the mysterious disappearances at the school where Usagi eventually ends up on the cursed bus with Rei, and the two end up going into Jadeite's dream world. It is there that Rei is revealed to be the third Sailor Senshi, Sailor Mars. Moon and Mars end up working together and defeating Jadeite for good.

With three of the Senshi now assembled, we see that the Dark Kingdom begins to move forward with an even more deadly plan in hopes of trying to stop our heroines from getting the Legendary Crystal before them. Nephrite heads to a masquerade where a princess is about to unveil a very rare crystal...

As this episode is another one that was featured somewhat in the original series (Episode 10 and 13), I wasn't going to go on a full breakdown of the entire episode. The real difference from the original series and this one that is pulled straight from the original manga is Jadeite dies in the same episode that Rei is revealed to be Sailor Mars. In all honesty, this series is by far superior to the original in terms of no fillers at all so far. I'm on cloud nine just watching these pages come alive on screen and can not wait to see if we continue to get the entire manga series animated.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 2 - Ami - Sailor Mercury

Act 2 of Sailor Moon Crystal is another episode taken straight from the manga. Although this story has been basically told over and over as well as the main origins of the original Sailor Senshi is the same in every version of the series.

Ami is a new student and a loner at the school Usagi is attending. All the other student's dont even want to go near her as they basically say she is weird and practically a nerd and don't want anything to do with her cause she has nothing in common with the other girls of the school. It's Luna who finds the interest in Ami, and kind of lures Usagi to her to try and be her friend.

The two girls end up hanging out together and going to the arcade, where we really see how determined of a person Ami is when she plays the Sailor V game and actually reaches levels unattainable by others, and actually winning "prizes" for herself and Usagi. She realizes that she is late for her after school study classes for her High School Entrance exams, so she runs off leaving Usagi a bit confused and worried.

We learn that the Dark Moon Kingdom is actually stealing energy from the students at this after school class, and Usagi then must go to the rescue by using the new "prize" Ami won her, the Transformation Pen, and her Sailor powers to once again save the day from Jadeite before he can cause to much damage to the rest of the class. Ami also regains her memories and transforms into Sailor Mercury during the battle with this episodes enemy.

For the most part, this series is still going on the right track. I know a lot of people complain that characters are not what they remembered from the original series, but this is how they actually were in the original series. The manga came first and it was much more fast paced then the original anime series.

I really also love the action sequences. We no longer get stock footage of the same attacks over and over every episode. Sailor Moon's Tiara finisher is completely different this time around from the last time she used it.

I honestly can't find anything wrong with this series at all. The character designs are beautiful; taken completely from the manga with bright colors used in every scene. The music used is both captivating, emotional, and nostalgic. The writing is superb. I actually feel like the pages are jumping off of the TV at me.

Only 2 episodes in so far, this is a series that will be remembered for many years to come in my book.

Rating: 8/10

Status Update and Stuff to Come!

No I am not dead, just been a bit busy with stuff, and I have not given up on this blog. So as I am starting to get back into the swing of things, I'm here to give a bit of update on what is to be coming down the pipeline. First off, I will be doing reviews for Episode 2 and Episode 3 of Sailor Moon Crystal. This I will try to have done this week before the new episode airs this coming Saturday.

I still love my comics, but I am getting a bit more back into Anime and Manga, so I will probably be reviewing stuff from these categories (most likely mangas over anime). I used to review Mangas and Anime a few years back on a site called ListerX. I may see if I can go back and find some of my old reviews and post them here in the meantime to give you all some stuff to sift through in between the new stuff.

Currently I just finished Pokémon Adventures V.01-02. I may not be doing reviews of these two, however it doesn't mean I won't just at the moment it isn't a priority. I did however manage to purchase V.01 of Bokurano: Ours, a series that intrigued me a lot from stuff I learned about from Anime Expo, and have the next 9 volumes ordered and soon to be shipped. This is where I may be doing the first of my new reviews. A series hasn't really piqued my interest this much since I first learned about Evangelion and Battle Royale in High School. Since I am not sure how long it will take me to get through this book (I take my time on stuff I enjoy), I may just do some reviews on other media that I recently read or viewed.

So please stay tuned, friends! New and exciting things are coming very soon!