Story. Bokurano, translated as "Our" or "Ours," is a new manga by Mohiro Kitoh, the author of Narutaru (Shadow Star) and others. It's running in Shogakukan's monthly "alternative manga" magazine, Ikki. I originally started this as a favor to an online acquaintance, and it has since turned out far better than I ever would have thought at the time. Like Narutaru, Bokurano is a series that combines fantastical science fiction concepts with children. Kitoh enjoys exploring the darker side of human nature by illustrating what might happen if children, at the time of their greatest flexibility and widest range of emotions and ideals before the process of adapting to adulthood funnels them into rigid states of mind, are given great and terrible powers. Not only does it feature the same kind of terrible pain and suffering that made Kitoh infamous in Narutaru, Bokurano also comes with a very interesting type of story framing, introducing the 15(!) main characters at the beginning and slowly filling in details as it goes along. There is a very precise and methodical flow of clues to the reader to encourage speculation about the truth of the story before it is revealed, which means this story is not only emotionally gripping and exhausting, but it tickles the logical side of the mind as well. Bokurano began in 2003, and there are currently 8 volumes. Enjoy.
Status: Proceeding monthly.
Contents
Volume 1 (Chapters 1-6)
Volume 2 (Chapters 7-12)
Volume 3 (Chapters 13-18)
Volume 4 (Chapters 19-23)
Volume 5 (Chapters 24-29)
Volume 6 (Chapters 30-35)
Volume 7 (Chapters 36-41)
Volume 8 (Chapters 42-47)
Chapter 48 (Ikki #1, 2008)
Chapter 49 (Ikki #2, 2008)
Chapter 50 (Ikki #3, 2008)
Chapter 51 (Ikki #4, 2008)
Chapter 52 (Ikki #5, 2008)
Chapter 53 (Ikki #6, 2008)