I’ve noted before on this blog that my experience with mech shows is limited, and that I had never really found a reason to explore the genre at all. After watching Eureka Seven, and also having seen just three episodes of this, I’m reminded that there plenty of great shows in the mech genre.

Bokurano’s story of a game turned reality involving 15 kids who get sucked into a war that they can’t leave is attention-grabbing. Not only are the kids very different in personality, their sense what to do in the situation that they are in is also diverse. Some are hesitant to start piloting a robot from a game that appeared without any explanation. Others, like Waku, innocently assume that it’s all still a game and that nothing will go wrong.

It’s also fairly obvious from this point which characters are probably going to be the most interesting. Masura, who’s arc looks to be coming up in the next episode, is implied to be very demented based on what he’s said so far. Although we don’t know much about, Yosuke also seems like someone who’s character will be a lot more interesting than implied. His shyness, while making him look innocent enough, might also be a sign that he is hiding something he doesn’t want others to find out about him. Takami, whose father is a member of the Japanese Diet, also looks like she is hiding something about herself in favor of appearing as a dignified daughter.

A topic that comes up in a lot of anime, this one especially, is the idea of doing something for the collective versus doing something for the individual. So far, the show has portrayed the idea of doing for the collective in a very negative light. After all, when they tried to work together to save the world from the first of the 15 aliens that are going to attack earth Waku ended up dying just for piloting the ship, even though he won.

Aside from the ideological aspects of the show, it still has some things to like about it. while the animation is older, and the CG doesn’t look as good as it probably did, It still holds up in quality. The character designs overall are a little plain, and at times it can be hard to tell characters apart.

Musically the show is nothing to ride home about so far. It works for setting up the scenes that it needs to, but aside from that, it hasn’t shown any outstanding qualities so far. The opening is nice to listen to and is somewhat reminiscent of Evangelion’s opening, albeit much less up beat.

I’m definitely excited to move forward with the show. I doubt I will be excited with anything animation or music wise that the show has to offer, but I am genuinely curious to see what the show does with its setup and what it has to say about that setup.