Bokurano Chapter 65 Discussion

I would say the ending was overall pretty great. Though it would've been more satisfying to know who made these mecha and for what purpose did they decide to make it. And also the purpose of why these battle type scenarios are taking place. But that's just my opinion. These types of ending usually do leave people with strong impression about the series and i can understand why some might find this ending a 'masterpiece'.

Great manga!



Loved the ending, it's really interesting - the whole goal of old dung beetle was to find out who was behind this, but he ended up with nothing, but a decision to sacrifice himself for the world, which his sister wanted to save.



Also, since people keep wondering if it's Ushiro or Sasami being new 'Dung Beetle'- I will give a clear answer to that, it's Sasami. It's revealed if you read the manga from start to end in one go or have good memory:

In the middle of last chapter - they discuss how they should call each other and decide on Kokopelli and Dung Beetle. Then new Dung Beetle makes remark: I'd prefer if you add 'sir' to that.



This is related to how old Dung Beetle made Sasami call him sir, back when military first met Dung Beetle. A sort of nice reminisce.



Sasami is the main government guy, who helped the pilots, but wasn't contracted, in case someone forgot.





Also - reason the children are getting chosen over adults is because the younger the person - the more power the Mecha can get, at least it was mentioned in the manga and it's kind of logical..  It's a little weird how some fight may last for 30+ hours and some end in a few minutes with barely any action, but also almost an immediate death of pilot.



The whole power balance/life claim theory was done with quite a few flaws.

I immediately started reading the manga after finishing the anime, so I'm going to do a little comparison here and reflect on some of the characters. First off, I can definitely say the manga is much better. But that doesn't mean the anime is bad, or I hate it. I'm actually glad that I watched the anime first, so that I could enjoy it for what it was. If I had read the manga first, then seen the anime, I would have just been nitpicking at everything and wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. Also I think watching the anime first helped me to get to know the characters better, and their names. I would have been super confused and would have to keep looking at character lists in order to remember everyone if I had just read the manga.



Also, I found the manga to be much more sad. It's rare for me to cry with manga, but I cried a lot during Bokurano.



Now as for characters...First off is Daichi's story. I actually liked it better in the anime, since I felt they had a little more time to develop, so it was sadder in the end. But I was shocked and happy at the end of the manga, where they show that Daichi's father came back.



Mako/Nakama - I was shocked with how much her story was rushed in the anime. In the anime, her and Maki were the only stories that I cried for. I cried even more with the manga. I think the whole thing with Mako finding the schoolgirl during the attack added a lot. When she found her and said "I'm going to hit you" and punched her in the face, it was glorious. "Next time, help with the cleaning". Those words were so powerful. The uniforms she made also looked much better in the manga. Right before the battle where she screamed at Kako "Do you think I want to die?!", it's one of the few moments where a character outright screams about the situation. But unlike Kako, she didn't let her emotions get the best of her and kept fighting. When Yoko and Ushio are going back to everyone's family, the part with Mako's mom also made me cry. How she regretted letting Mako slip away like that, but then started crying in the uniform, when she learned that they nicknamed her "Nakama". Since the whole reason she was at the summer camp was to make friends. Mako is definitely my favorite character.



Kako/Chizuru - The anime and manga versions were really different, but I prefer the manga. I thought Chizuru's story comes across better. In the manga, Kako goes absolutely crazy and ends up being killed by Chizuru herself... And in Chizuru's story, the part where the teacher just left her there to get raped by those guys was painful. Even though I think it was wrong she trampled over the innocent people, I did support her in killing those people who raped her. If I was in her position, and I was going to die anyways, might as well go out, taking the people I despise with me.



Maki - I just love her story to death. I cried while reading it. In the manga it's clearly shown that her and Komo were childhood friends. The fact that she never got to see her baby brother in her Earth is heartbreaking. And even more heartbreaking is learning that her parents were searching for her, not knowing the truth. The visit with her parents at the end though was good closure.



Kirie - He is really developed in the manga, and his battle is also different. I loved the story with his cousin, and at the end where it shows she started eating again, another thing to make me cry. I loved how he tried to stab the teacher, although he didn't succeed. And him going out onto Zearth for the battle is risky but it really showed everyone that in the other cockpit are people just like them.



Komo - I was so shocked at how different her manga and anime versions are. Her anime version is like 1 episode, but her manga version is so much more developed and better. It was interesting to learn that Maki is her only friend and that she drowned the world out with books. I cried when she is reflecting on the world right before her fight, and how it took her so long to notice how beautiful the simple things are. And during her piano recital, the way she died right in front of her father was another thing to make me cry. Really, really sad. She was another one of my favorites.



Anko - Her manga version is also much better. I noticed that in the manga, she is more comical. But her story was simply amazing. She wanted to be an idol, and because of her message during the fight, she became the most famous girl in the world. She finally got what she wanted, but in a twisted way. Her fight was really interesting, and her legs got damaged :c. Another character that I cried for.



Kanji - I'm glad the manga didn't have any of that stupid stuff like the anime, how his mom is a professor and stuff. His fight was great. Seki sacrificed himself, but it was awesome how he went out singing the theme song to the anime that made him join the military in the first place. You also get a better sense of friendship in the manga with Ushiro and Kanji. Cried for him too, he was my favorite male character.



Kana - I never expected her to die in the manga. Only 10 years old... And the thing with Tanaka, where she pulls out the gun...I thought she was going to shoot the tentacles, but then I found out what she really was going to do. Big shock.



Yoko - She's an awesome character, but her ending was so jipped. Right about to sleep with Ushio, and gets killed. I wanted to see her pilot Zearth.



Ushiro - I really hated him at first, but by the end, I thought he was a really likable character. I thought he was going to survive till the end, but the author chose to take the route where everybody dies.



Dung Beetle - I can't fucking believe it, the author actually turned him into a likable guy at the end. I thought I would never like that jerk. Good job, author.



Anyways, as for the ending, I thought it was perfect. I didn't need to know WHY these battles where happening or anything like that, it's just the way the world works. I was expecting at least somebody to last until the end, but they all sacrificed themselves for the sake of their world. As for the other Dung Beetle at the end, I don't believe it was Ushio.



I'm going to be rating this 10/10, one of my favorite manga series. Saddest one I've read too. I need to make room in my favorites list on MAL to add this in.

cephalopedalis said:
@ duelistbluerose



Dung beetle was contracted so he represents the "main world" of the series, not the one he originally came from . So if he loses, the new group will be revieved, but the "main world" will be destroyed.

The old group stays dead.



I don't think so. "that" seems to refer "the next Earth", and since Kokopelli had to have been the last pilot for the original Earth and it doesn't seem possible that they overrode each other. Otherwise, what would have happened if Kokopelli died? Or in any situation in which there are a greater number of pilots than battles.



I think that it has to be determined that way since there would be far too much confusion. What if one hundred people randomly contracted? Then that world would be safe from harm, relatively, for a while given that the technical battle would not be over for a long time and the risks would be relatively few given the time period.



I think that the interpretation is literal; if Dung Beetle dies, then the children of the new world would all be revived, as they would die in the cockpit, and the old world, of the series, would die a horrible death. It also makes the most sense since the tenth pilot would technically be fighting for the main world, but the series played out in a way such that the most removed character was apparently forced to sacrifice himself out of kindness.

I am left a little unsatisfied with the ending, but not because I wanted a happy ending. I was just expecting too much from other reviews I'd read of the ending being mindblowing. I perhaps expected a darker ending, where they failed despite the lives and efforts of all those children. I know we don't really know whether they failed or not, it's up to the reader to decide at the very end but it's kind of implied that (old) Dung Beetle will be successful in this last battle. In a way that is a happy ending, even if the cycle continues. I was half expecting all the battles to be won, but having their Earth end nonetheless because of some cruel twist, or maybe having Ushiro fight against another Kana (or someone else close to him) in another Earth (I know Dung beetle said it wasn't possible for there to be another 'you' in another world but I find it to be too much of a coincidence that Machi had another her- it was way too convinient)

I was completely drawn into the world of this manga - especially because of realistic characters and their believeable psychology portraits. Even though they were only kids, they had distinguishable personalities and completely different outlooks on their life and situation.

I feel like this could have a better closure though, something more meaningful than just simple 'and so battles continued endlessly'. After 11 volumes I got used to people dying (though still, that last massacre by Ushiro hit me hard, damn).



Btw, I'm surprised that I actually liked Koemushi in this version, especially during the last two volumes. He cared for his sister a lot, and even decided to sacrifice himself at the end. Much better than his anime version, where he was even bigger asshole than Kako, ughh.



Ana said:
I am absolutely speechless at how retarded the Honda family is until the end. Just wow. Seriously.

Agree, this one bothers me a lot... Seriously, this guy pretty much set up gangbang for his daughter, humiliated her, threatened her to the point she wanted to take her own life... No wonder she wanted to kill all those people, she was just desperate and emotionally unstable. AND 13 YEARS OLD! They are just horrible parents, one of the worst I came across - same thing with sister.



Because of this and few other problems I have with this manga, I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. Still, it's really refreshing, made me ponder on my life a bit, think what I would do in these kids' positions, how would I behave knowing I have only short period of time to live... 9/10

so... i just finished reading the whole manga in 24 hours after i finished watching the anime. for once, im actually not sure which version i liked better, and thats quite peculiar. yoko's death really made me stand up out of my chair and yell at the screen: "REALLY!?!?" Jun was finally gonna get some, then some bitch has to shoot her in the goddamn face. what the fuck. xD



ahhh im gonna miss this series D:

The hell? This is an ending.. ?

What exactly ended?



Maybe i'm missing something but i just don't like this.. I need conclusion

Even the anime ended better than this, imo