Not sure if I can attribute the good parts of this show to the directors intrinsic skill and professionalism, or to the source material’s quality, but I sure am curious to hear more about the conflict there. If the manga is even better I’ll definitely have to track it down. Watching this has already made me order the Shadow Star : Narutaru manga off Amazon. *Looks at wallet and sighs*

P.S. I told you StrikerS jumped the shark!

The manga has indeed blown me away. I don’t think I’ve cried so much reading manga since getting through Fruits Basket vol 16. I understand why the anime has made the chances it has done – putting the more disturbing character deaths early to catch our attention – but I’m not too sure about the chances made to individual character stories. For example, I think Chizu’s story was made less meaningful in that her motivation was reduced hugely (arrgh! Can’t remember if there are spoiler tags and what they are! I’ll settle for being vague). In the same way, Mako’s story lost some of its edge in that we didn’t get the full rendition of her journey up to her death – the slicing open of the love hotel in the manga was just priceless. This story cutting may be due to time constraints, and I understand if that’s the case, but if we get any sniff of a filler episode, I will not be happy.

As for the central concept – now that I’m as far through as I can be, it feels a lot better. No nightmares last night. Rather than being disturbed by the childrens’ mental scars, we’re actually getting a glimpse into how anyone would act knowing that they’re going to die, and all the different way that one might be affected, good and bad. And there are some very good ones, especially with the more mentally balanced characters. Nice mystery elements later on as well, so it’s not like it’s all just watching children die one by one. I find it kind of interesting that none of our heroes thus far have sought religious solace – I would have thought that would be an obvious trope to go for – but their responses feel emotionally real and the story carries you along. Not sure why the director would hate the manga, but he seems to be doing a fairly decent job thus far (with obvious and allowable cuts for violence, nudity, sexual content etc.). I’ll definitely keep on watching to the end. Fingers crossed that he keeps the quality all the way through!

As a result I had *actual* nightmares. Good grief. I’ve not been this affected by an anime… well… ever. Not sad, just disturbed. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to take watching them all die one by one, although it won’t stop me trying. If I have to go into therapy afterwards though, I doubt my other half will be terribly understanding. Thus far (three chapters in) there’s no appreciable difference between anime and manga. I’m looking forward to playing spot the difference later.

In love with the OP as well. Best I’ve heard for a while.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!!! That’s so rich. It’s a pity though. No hope indeed.

And even if the show seem decent remember it’s the ENDINGS (or at least the 2nd half) that GONZO tends to screw up.

http://zepy.momotato.com/2007/06/13/bokurano-director-hates-the-original-work/

…

oh, let’s just be realistic, it’s freaking Gonzo. No hope

imo, the adaptation isn’t perfect, but nowhere near the fuckups GONZO usually do. The death of Kaku (oops spoiler) was more shocking in the manga, but more realistic in the anime.

the “kids fighting evil robots” is a clichèd theme, but this is Kitoh we are talking about. Of course he is going to give it a fucked up spin (read: NaruTaru).

not all the kids are fucked up. some of the more touching stories are about the more normal people, like Mako (short haired girl) and Daiichi (guy who looks like he’s 30).

If Gonzo decide to add a reset ending, though, we must all hunt them down (as soon as they finish animating Romeo x Juliet, that is).