During her summer holiday at her grandparents house Tamai Shiina, a young and cheerful schoolgirl, meets a strange looking creature. They befriend each other and Shiina names it "Hoshimaru: The Round Star." When Shiina returns home after the summer to go back to school, she starts meeting other kids that also have befriended a strange creature like Hoshimaru. But she soon finds out that not all these creatures and their masters are as friendly as Hoshimaru.
(Source: ANN)
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Prede
(this review may have some slight spoilers. I apologize) Now here is an anime, that decieved the masses completely. The opening, and the entire first episode, leads one to believe this is a childish anime. It gives off a little "pokemon" or "hamataro" feel to it, and apears that there is little here that will apeal to older veiwers. BUT, this anime is nothing like that. It turns into the most distrubing, scary, dark, insane, and twisted anime series ever made! This anime should NEVER be watched by children, and only mature veiwers, ready for some freaky stuff should watch it. Don't look for a happygo lucky series, this show is very depressing at times. The anime makes a change at the end of episode 2, and with each episode it gets darker and darker. The final few episodes will make the most insensitive people cringe. Horrible things happen in this anime, and they happen to kids 12, or 13 years old.
Plot/Story:
6/10
This anime is about a girl named Shiina Tamai, and her new-found "friend" Hoshimaru, an odd creature (known as a dragon child). The anime follows Shiina and her eventual encounters with other children who have also befriended these creatures. Some of these children have planned horrible uses for their dragon children.
This is a really great anime, but not without lots of faults. One of the major problems with it, is the plot. There apears to be little direction in this anime. The plot goes all over the place, and opens up multiple plot lines, that by the end of the anime, only one is "solved" or completed. In fact what apears to be the "main" plotline is not even closed. It feels very "thrown together" at times. Perhaps the inexperience of the director is to blame, or the low budget, or both. Perhaps the director was hopeing for a sequel, or thought the manga had too much going on to properly adapt... Whatever the reason the plot has major problems.
However, for what it is it's pretty interesting. The story starts off a little slow and childish, but picks up by the end of the 2nd episode and start of the 3rd. From then on, it's mad decent down the rabbit hole. This entire anime has you questioning "how far will they go", and by the last episode, you finally know the answer, although you might wish you didn't. For what it is, incomplete and badly directed , the plot is decent. It gets you very interested at what's going to happen, and has lots of surprises and plot twists. Sometimes it is a little hard to follow, but by the middle of the anime, it all starts to make some sense. It's still a good story, very brilliant, just the incomplete story and directing really brings it down.
Characters:
8/10
Just like NGE, almost all the characters seem to have something mentaly wrong with them. From sadistic freaks, to suicidal teens, to unfeeling mothers, to Khmer Rouge wannabees. This anime has a characetr for almost every mental disease on the book, and makes them all very interesting. It may seem a bit out of place, unrealstic, and forced, but it does work. Sure some more work may have been needed to develop the characters, but they do their best with the short amount of episodes. I have little if any problems with the characters, besides the fact it feels a little forced to have almost every character sick or crazy in one way or another. Shiina, the main character is remeicent of Shu, from Now and Then, Here and There . Her endless optimism, cheerfulness, in the face of danger, while dealing with horrible things, while not being the brightest lightbulb in the pack, makes me think of Shu all the more. And just like Shu, Shiina will have to grow up real fast, as some horrible things are about to happen to her and her friends. This is not a bad thing however, as she is still very much her own character, she never comes off as a copycat character. If anything she feels like the most "real" character in the anime, and you can't help to feel for her. Her father is another great character, and it's like you can almost touch the love they have for each other, it's just oozeing from them, and it feels so very real. Hoshimaru, the main dragon child, is a cute, yet some-how spooky little creature. The expression on it's face, while first silly, later comes off as more disturbing then anything else. Akira Sakura, a friend of Shiina(from fencing class), is a very timid and shy character. She is two years older then Shiina. The director described her as a very "inward" character and Shiina, as her foil, a very "outward" character(straight from the director's commentary on CPM's dvd box set). Akira has no other real friends besides Shiina, is sick (she passes out and throws up inexplicably), and is very depressed. Hiroko Kaizuka (often called "Hiro") is another of Shiina's friend (from her school, they are in the same class), who is very bright, yet is bullyed in school (unknown to Shiina of course). Her parents only want her to get better grades, no matter what, with her father especially putting a lot of pressure on her. Both of her parents seem unloving, and the only real friend Hiro has is Shiina. There are many other interesting characters in this anime, but I won't go into them all. I will say this though, that you get a really eerie feeling when you notice a character has just SNAPPED, gone out of their minds, and starts doing something insane and disturbing! A factor that probally inspired those who later created When They Cry(something that anime seems to focus more on, it's not however a main focus of Narutaru, althought it is there). In fact there are many things that link this anime to When They Cry...
Art:
4/10
This anime's biggest problem is it's art. While it shares many things with the much later anime When They Cry, amazing animation and art is not one of them. The art while passible, is just plane bad in this anime.I've seen worse, but even long running series can have better animation then this has. Sure the character designs are "ok" and the dragon-child designs are decent, but everything looks bad together. There are problems they wait all flows together, and it's noticable. I guess this helps with the illusion that this anime is for children in the first episode, but it really weakens the series as a whole. At times the characters legs even seem streched way out of proportion. While this anime screams low budget, I still think they could have done better. The opneing and closing animation look very nice so I will discuss them as well, sense there is not much to say about the animation of the episodes, besides that it is pretty bad. The Opening is very interestingly done, in a "child-like cute" manor, useing paper cut outs of the characters. The Ending is also nicely done, but done in the style of the anime, rather then the opening sequence.
Music:
10/10
If anything is perfect in this anime it is the music. The music is amazing in setting the mood. From a childish (yet later eerie) opening, to amazingly creepy background music, to a spooky yet some-how settling ending theme. I have not heard any other anime where Susumu Ueda has done the music, but I think he is a master at what he does. I hope that he is in charge of the music in anime in the future, becuase this was just great! Sure not everyone is going to acually like the music, no one ever does, but it sets the mood of the show, and feels a perfect fit to the series. While I don't think people are going to listen to the music from this anime, like they would from FLCL or Cowboy Bebop, the music is still perfect.
As far as the dub goes I didn't include that in with sound. I ranked music a 10/10, the dub would have brought that down a lot, and it's just not fair to include it in this review. I normally include dubs (since I am a dub fan after all), but for this I'll make an exception. The english dub was pretty bad overall, with a few spotty actors, and great actors giving their worst performances of recent memory. Although at times it really does sound good, but sadly not for the majority of the show. So I have to question jut what the hell happened? Shiina is a like it, or hate it kinda voice, althought the acting is decent, it won't win any awards. However I will say this, Kelly Ray (Yuri Otani in "Alien Nine") is perhaps the best person on the planet to play Shiina. So the casting of her had a lot of thought in it. However, half the time she seems like she is giving it her all, and other times it feels like she doesn't know where she is going with it. Shiina's father, played by Josh Mosby, is very well cast, and the actor does a great job when he gets a chance. Overall I find Mosby to give the best performance in this entire anime (which sadly doesn't mean much :( ) . I always felt Flora Stanberg was a little miscast as Hiroko Kanzuki personally. She does do a decent job some of the time, and a terrible job at other times. Which is a real shame as she seems to have a lot of talent, sad it's wasted like this. Renee Gloger however, was a perfect fit for Akira Sakura! Her voice really maches well with that character and I couldn't ever imagine another person playing her. And her acting is alright as well, at times. Other times the quality of her acting slips to pretty bad levles, like most of the actors in this dub. Renee Goldstein is very well cast as Satomi. She fits perfeclty. Her acting is very strong all the way through too. So it's even sadder that she almost is always too far away from the mic when recording her lines!!! And you can even hear background sounds when she speaks sometimes (Like really WTF background noise? I mean I hear her moving around in the booth! Your shouldn't hear such things in a dub!)!! The school bullies (shown in the last acrh) seemed to fit perfectly with the japanese actresses, despite what other critics have said. I found they did more then justice with all the scenes involving them (and they are very important). The side characters are sometimes alright, and other times outright terrible. It's not consinstent at all.
Personally I place the blame on the ADR directors Kip Kaplan (who did the terrible and unintentionally funny dub for "Garzey's Wing", so it's no wonder he is responsible for this train wreck) and Ross Lefko (who luckily enough for us has not directed [and ruined] anything else). I actually think the director wasn't really there for some recordings, as I can almost "hear" the actors directing themselves sometimes...
Another problem with the dub is many of the characters talk (as ANN calls it) in a Shatner-like way. (They...talk like...this...just to match the...lip......flaps...which...makes...me...very mad.) Really what the hell was up with that? Also so many times as I watched this I thought to myself "that line should have been re-recorded" or "That line somes awkward" or " WTF background noise??" or even "GET CLOSER TO THE MIC!!!". While there are moments of greatness, most is not impressive. The dub is really something that gives New York City a bad name for dubs overall.
And before anyone thinks I hate all dubs, I don't. I watch most shows dubbed, I like almost every dub I've ever seen, and I LOVE dubs with fresh voices in them. I am even a huge New York City dub fan, and love when a dub goes to that city, as I feel they really give us something LA and Texas fail to sometimes. Vancouver is also a favorite of mine, but like I said, I like almost ever dub I've ever seen. And I'm very sad to say this is one of the worst ones, on one of the best series too :( . I would have liked to see more work go into this dub, but I can still some-how watch this. As although there are a lot of problems, there are moments of sheer awe, that inspire me, and make me hopeful that this isn't a total bust. I'll watch it dubbed, but I won't like it.
Enjoyment:
10/10
I can't say I "enjoyed" it, in the same way I would enjoy a comedy or action anime. In fact many scenes make me wonder if the creaters should be alowed to roam the streets, rather then rotting in jail! It makes me feel like these people are insane, and could do real harm to others! I mean WHAT in the hell where they thinking?BUT I did LOVE this anime!! I loved it in the same way people like movies like Saw, Schindler's List, or The Silence of the Lambs. I loved this anime, in the way people like When They Cry, Now and Then Here and There, Kite, Ganzt, or Grave of the Fireflies. It's not like I enjoy seeing horrible things happen to people (many of them innocent, and/or children), or that I "enjoy" watching people get hurt, bullyed (well they call it bullying in the anime, I call it something far worse), or die in horrible ways, but I did like this anime. It's stunning, twisted, demented, and disturbing. But it's still amazing! It's also very interesting to note this anime adresses some issues (most involving children) that many people are afraid to address. It gets a little deep, but don't look for the emphases on it, like in NGE or Kino's Journey I won't spoil what exactly they are...
Final Vertic:
Some major problems with the plot (directing needed major work, many plot holes/plot lines left open, incomplete ending), and the animation is weak, this anime still exells at breaking the norms of anime, and blows you away. This anime pushed what was acceptable to put in an anime at it;s time. The anime is a clear inspiration for the anime/game When they Cry (and sequels), among many other anime. It has some very interesting and messed up characters, and amazing music. It has some real gruesome scenes, and at times will make you very uneasy. Kitoh (the original Mangaka) is know for taking innocent ideas and corrupting them to hell. In this anime he takes the idea of having a pokemon-like pet thing from something innocent and just cool, to something disturbing, terrible, and sickening, and much more realistic. I mean what would really happen if a bunch of children could get powerful creators? Not Pokemon thats for sure, probally something more like this. And after this series, Kitoh went on to write Bokurano, which disects the mecha genre, and corrupts that. I mean it must be really cool to pilot a giant robot and fight bad guys right? I mean that be really fun right? No! Kitoh writes what it would really be like. Just like how William Golding wrote "Lord of the FLies" to write a realistic story about what would really happen if children got stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere, Kitoh writes his mangas to show what would really happen if children got pokemon-like creators, or powerful mechas to pilot. And just like Golding he wrote his stories partly to criticize other works (and as a response to them. And FYI Golding wrote Lord of the Flies as a response to "The Coral Island").
Highly recommended, especially to When They Cry fans (and other fans of the "killer loli" genre ).
kekekeKaj
I can't figure "Narutaru" out - this is one strange, strange series. It succeeds to be both lighted hearted and dead creepy, and in fact, it succeeds in doing a lot of things that it's meant to do, including freaking me out, but it kind of fails as a whole because its many aspects doesn't quite come together. "Narutaru" follows the adventure of a happy-go-lucky school girl Shiina as she meets and bonds with a rather dopey looking creature. You would think this would lead to something in a similar vein to Pokemon, but no, soon after the odd encounter in the beginning, "Narutaru" thenpromptly switches to a kind of pedestrian, slice of life mode. This kind of thing doesn't just happen in the beginning either, as "Narutaru" is a bewildering mixture of many genres - one moment, it can be pretty normal and laid back, but then the next moment everything goes a bit crazy, only to return to the laid back state soon afterwards. If it's possible that an anime can suffer from schizophrenia, then "Narutaru" is surely one such patient.
The style of the artwork in "Narutaru" suits its more laid back moments, but its animation is often flakey. Characters often seem disproportionally drawn and move around as though they are made up of elbows and knees. It works out for the main character since it appears to me that she is meant to be a lanky tomboy as opposed to a more graceful girl, but all the other characters suffer from the awkward movement issues as well. The character designs are also not distinctive enough as it took me a while before I figured out who's who.
The cheesily cheerful opening credits is hugely misleading. It's either not very well thought through, or it's the production team's idea of a very sick joke. Looking at it, you would never guess how horrifyingly dark this series gets later on. In fact, I would say that the main strength of the "Narutaru" stems from the fact that its creepier side is done extraordinarily well. It's incredible at building up suspense and atmosphere. Even when everything looks to be relatively normal, hints dropped by the anime such as the eerie background music and also the creepy looking fonts used for episode titles gives it a sense of almost constant anticipation, as though it's teetering on the edge of darkness. I was not disappointed - in the last few episode it finally falls off as all the tension that had been built up to that point is finally released, and it turns into something akin to a full blown horror. The stark violence is shocking, sickening enough to tie a knot in the pit of your stomach. It makes makes "Elfen Lied" look tame in comparison, despite not being as graphical... and it was absolutely brilliant...
...but at the end of the day, the question still remains - just what are the creators trying to do with the show? It has a barebone premises that seems to miss out more than it reveals (it's basically crying out for a sequel); it's all over the place, trying to be a lot of things (sci-fi/fantasy, horror, slice of life and er, Pokemon) and ends up being neither here or there; it has quirky characters that are mostly undeveloped and even more under-used that their introductions seem bordering on pointless. Basically, this anime is a mess... but it does have its merits. Perhaps the horrifying and monstrous intensity of the last few episodes alone is enough to make watching this worthwhile. It's not a great anime, but it is great in places.
literaturenerd
This is less of a traditional review and more of a public service announcement. DON'T. FUCKING. WATCH. NARUTARU! This isn't a warning I have to issue to my offline buddies or any casual anime fans. Normal anime fans tend to watch stuff that they hear about from friends or that get super hyped online like JoJo or Academia. We MAL users are a bit different. We want to watch super old, obscure shit because Osamu Dezaki directed it or because Isao Takahata was in charge of storyboarding. Even if you don't identify as an "elitist", you'll find yourself doing this if you hang out on MALfor more than 6 months. That's just the culture here.
So why did over 8,000 MAL users watch NaruTaru with thousands more planning to watch it? The answer is Chiaki J. Konaka. One of the most beloved and celebrated screenwriters in the history of anime has his name credited on this piece of shit. I saw the low rating, but that didn't scare me because MAL's ratings are pretty unreliable. They aren't totally random, but probably 25 percent of the time I'll completely disagree. With Letterboxd, that number is 5% at the highest. Letterboxd ratings are largely consistent. You never have to worry about Dumb and Dumber 2 being rated a 9.4/10 because memes and Sansho the Bailiff has a 3.4/10 because some Youtuber shit on it. However, that's exactly the kind of nonsense that can and does happen here on MAL.
So I went into this at least partially expecting it to be good. This is going to be an unpolished diamond. A hidden treasure that time forgot. NO! This was one of the most painful experiences I've had with a show in a long time!
Konaka was in charge of dialogue, but the man actually writing the plot and scenario was Mohiro Kitoh. The same man the brought us Bokurano, which I utterly despise. Once again, Kitoh attempts to be as tryhard edgy as he possibly can, only this time he's writing a dark subversion of Pokémon. This is a series where 10 year olds find powerful Pokémon and use them to rape and murder people. Awesome. The ONLY thing that sold copies of the manga was the body horror and gruesome dismemberment of underage children. The anime in its infinite wisdom decided to remove all the gore! That's because the anime director, Toshiaki Iino, thought that the gore was a distraction and the strong story could stand by itself. This was Mr. Iino's first job directing and as of 2019 his last. This anime did quite poorly in Japan and was made by a tiny studio that didn't have great finances to begin with. Fortunately for Studio Planet, the absolute lunatics at Central Park Media decided to license this shit and sell it in America during the height of the anime boom in 2004. Of course this anime was saved by a CEO whose favorite anime is MD Geist, fucking of COURSE it was!
I've largely avoided talking about the plot, but that's because there isn't much to say. It's just an idiot trying to make the edgiest Pokémon series ever. The big finale revolves around a girl whose classmates hold her down and rape her with a glass test tube. Then the bullied girl finds a pokemon and orders it to kill the main bully, who is at home banging her older brother. These kids are all under 12 BTW. After it murders the bullies (which we don't get to see clearly because that would distract us from the masterful plot), the pokemon is ordered to kill the girl's parents for being overly strict. Then she has her Mon murder a classroom and tries to murder the main character's father, all so she can force the main character to kill her and commit suicide by Mon. The main character's Pokémon BTW is a dopey looking starfish that strangles the bullied girl with its tiny, barely prehensile arms. This looks very laughable, but they storyboarded this shit. They knew how stupid it would look, and they did it anyways!
Konaka added a few creepy lines for some evil kids to say, then he went out to lunch and phoned in the rest of the script. He knew this project was doomed and didn't put any effort in to save it. I can't believe he used his real name! Does Japan not have an "Alan Smithee" or other pseudonym people use to distance themselves from dumpster fire projects?
Did you think the art and music would at least offset the rest of the anime being shit? NOPE! The animation is trash, the character models suck, and the soundtrack barely makes an effort. At least the guy in charge of music later went on to work on RE: Cutie Honey and redeem himself.
Overall:
This anime is 6 painful hours you won't ever get back. I don't care if you're the biggest Konaka fanboy or fangirl on the internet, it's simply not worth it. It's not even that funny kind of bad! The only positive thing I'll say about this anime is that the villain of the 3rd episode is voiced by the main character from the Garzey's Wing dub. So if you want incredibly bad voice acting, the English dub is pretty special.
RoarkTenjouin
In the early 2000s, there were 3 anime that came out that were extremely controversial. The first of these 3 is obviously Elfen Lied - which, similar to how Cowboy Bebop is the most popular (and has the most critical acclaim) of the 3 "Space Western" anime, is the most popular and highest rated of the 3. The second one is Gantz, and it's one that I wouldn't be surprised if you had or had not heard of it - it's the "middle of the road" title in terms of popularity and critical reception. So, what title is the Outlaw Star ofthis group? Narutaru.
Story - 2/10
Did you think that Digimon Tamers wasn't edgy enough to be a deconstruction of the "mon" genre? Then this show will be right up your alley!
The show actually starts off decently - it shows what you would expect of a typical "mon" show: our heroine, Shiina, gets her Dragon's Child (the name of the "-mons" in this show) and names it Hoshimaru. However, the next episode is extremely jarring - it shows someone attempt suicide! That's not the most shocking thing. I would go into further detail, but I feel that you should watch it if you want to see how shocking it is.
Art - 5/10
The art is actually passable. It's not great, but it's not terrible instead. I just don't particularly like the style they used here.
Sound - 3/10
The sound mixing is actually pretty good. However, the sound used is very jarring - especially when it comes to the opening. I expected a show that was basically Pokemon meets Mushishi when I started this. I got something that was basically Pokemon meets Mnemosyne when I was done with this. And while a combination like that is something that sounded awesome before I started watching it, the end result is absolutely terrible.
Character - 2/10
Most of the cast is very unlikable by the end of the show - the only characters who I really found to be likable were Shiina and her dad, since they were the only good people on the show (sure, some of the other people were nice, but Shiina and her father were the only people who didn't do anything extremely shocking in the show).
Enjoyment - 1/10
This show was way too jarring for me to enjoy. I found myself suffering from whiplash by the end of this series.
Overall - 1/10
Did you think the anime adaptation of Akame ga Kill! was edgy? Narutaru makes Akame ga Kill!'s anime adaptation look like Chi's Sweet Home. Did you find the original ending to Neon Genesis Evangelion to be a letdown? It will look like the ending to Gunbuster when you compare it to the ending of Narutaru. Did you find the cast of Gantz to be unlikable? You'll find them to be as likable as the cast of RahXephon by the time you're done with Narutaru.
I know what some of you are probably going to ask: Is this worse than Master of Martial Hearts (which, for those of you who have not seen my reviews in the past, I declared the worst anime of all time)? I'm going to say no. Mainly because this show does deconstruct the "Mon" genre without being guilty of most of the things that it's trying to critique. So if you're looking for a really shocking deconstruction, give this a shot - you might enjoy this more than I did.
Alternative recommendations: Mnemosyne, Bokurano, Madoka Magica, Higurashi
Phill-z
Ah Narutaru. One of my first "killer loli" anime experiences...except it's not really killer loli...it just gives off that really creepy vibe. However it never really achieves the effect that it tries to create. Story: Storyarcs. There are a couple of them, all of them about pain and suffering. The first one really doesn't count all too much, but the second is where they show what they want Narutaru to be. However it comes off as immature, they try to create a disturbing aura, an effect that Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni achieves perfectly, and it falls flat on it's face.The problem is that the stories are shallow and don't really shown too much real pain, they explain things too simply, they skip over alot of the details that create that painful emotion and sense of sympathy with the characters.
Art: I did not like the art all too much. It was bland and did absolutely nothing to support the mood of the piece. The character's designs are also deceiving, but definitely not in a good way. They seem like nice and kind, not necessarily innocent-looking, and then they try to change and warp other characters into being in alot of pain, which doesn't work. The worst character design is the dragon creatures. They're just there.....the good thing is that they don't remind me of pokemon or digimon, but they're still....terrible. There are some that are meant to be "evil" but they just look stupid.
Sound: The sound is creepy, the only emotion I felt in this entire anime was due to being manipulated by the music. They definitely did a great job on the music and leading to some tense moments (music-wise).
Character: Boring, Flat, 2-D, Shallow. Those are the best adjectives for the characters of this series. I found myself not caring about them at all, it was always "Wow, this girl hates herself (that's not a spoiler...that's pretty much every character) see how little I care!" Every character was just so incredibly annoying and stereotypical that I wasn't entranced by them at all.
Enjoyment: In case you can't tell already, I didn't enjoy this anime at all. 13 episodes of pain. After watching it and thinking about it for awhile I came to the conclusion that the creators were just too lazy to put a serious amount of work into this anime. I guess that people who enjoy the whole cute girls killing sub-genre might enjoy this.
If you watch this and aren't satisfied, which I wasn't, and totally write off this deeply frightening genre, don't. Watch Higurashi no Naku Koro ni instead. It does a MUCH better job at being supremely frightening and disturbing than this does. Narutaru pulls punchs, softens things down, makes characters shallow, which greatly diminishes the effect of the entire piece.
Yukariki
Prepare to wet your pants for one of the most astoundingly boring horror works in this planet. It is that scary. Horror is one of those enigmatic genres that seeks to break boundaries. Today’s horror -- gory in the West and romantic in the East -- are vastly different compared to, let’s say, the German Expressionist period, when surreal imagery was enough to call for mommy. I grew up with H.P. Lovecraft and Neon Genesis Evangelion; thus, I am more scared when sane characters turn insane in horrific, unexplained situations. While most people think Puella Magi Madoka Magica is just plain depressing and not spine-chilling, my17 year old self jittered and wanted my blankie.
Arguably, both horror and comedy are as subjective as you can go. What is frightening or hilarious to you may change in other people’s perspectives.
On the other hand, Shadow Star Narutaru should not be at the very least frightening; instead, it should look pretty silly to the average viewer.
You may have found this work’s premise to be intriguing, exclaiming, “A work that fools people to think this is a children’s show, but instead it is a work of pure horror? Radical, duuuuuuuude~!”
(Or if you’re a Prinny from Disgaea, you will end the exclamation with “radical, doooooooood~!”)
That is indeed true, albeit rather in an unentertaining fashion.
The show starts off first, looking like an innocent anime. Blasting cheery music from the OP to the end, the first episode is FLCL on mood stabilizers. If you have watched Digimon, then the first episode should look remarkably similar. Enter Tamai Shiina: a cheery blue-haired girl. During her summer vacation, she accidentally meets a pet dragon and an actual dragon itself. She decides to keep the pet dragon and hilarity ensues.
Hilarity, of course, refers to the confusion of what is supposed to be scary and the terrible art direction this work has.
One of the biggest questions surrounding this work is simply this: “What am I, the viewer, supposed to be scared of?” In the first season of Higurashi, paranoia and suspicion causes the main character -- and the audience -- to think his friends are out there to kill him. While it may not be scary to some people, this has direction. Contrast that to Narutaru’s astray direction. It has trouble finding which ones to focus as purely frightening: existentialist angst, the fear of the unknown, deconstruction, bullying, and tons more. This is not to say the work must limit itself into one or two; rather, the work dances around these themes so much it becomes confusing. A good horror work should, at the very least, find something to step on and stand proudly towards the audience.
The nature of the presentation may puzzle viewers as well. The first half of the show is fluid, but the second half jumps from arc to arc. One episode suddenly features new characters and themes and acts like a side-story; it’s like reading an omake in the middle of a manga. Recurring characters appear and disappear; Hiroko only appears for one episode in the first half and becomes the main focus at the last few episodes. Everything about the plot structure is messed up.
Characters in horror works either drive the story forward or serve as allegorical symbols for the themes of the work; in this case, Shiina, Hoshimaru, and Sakura are the primary focus.
Shiina’s character is nothing spectacular. The pet dragon, Hoshimaru, is like the Freudian concept of id; it holds Shiina’s repressed and suppressed mental thoughts. After all, the work should be about this character. Instead, the work, as noted from two paragraphs ago, waddle in its presentation. This character is often ignored and used in the most necessary moments; it is a waste for the premise of the work to be unnoticed. Sakura is similar to Ikari Shinji from NGE; a human being valuing herself as nothing more than garbage, she has the tendencies to make hysterical faces -- the double entendre is intended. All of these characters suffer from the misdirection. If they were handled better, they not only feel more realistic, but drive the story forward. Again, I must emphasize the lack of fluidity in the work.
The art direction is one of the most horrendous aspects of the work. This is something truly frightening to behold. Characters feel stiff -- obviously copied and pasted from character model designs and sparing as little cash as possible -- and their motions are mannequin-like. Backgrounds are generic and too bright for a horror work -- we get it; we know it’s meant to be ironic. Some of the animated techniques feel dated and cheap; in a chase scene, Shiina rides a bike and the road spectacularly “moved” by using changing the gradients’ color value. It looks fake. You don’t have to be a genius on Adobe Flash to be able to do that.
Its soundtrack is mystifying. When it’s a cheery scene, it does well; the OP makes a particularly strong case. Everything else is a total mess. Whoever is the pianist for this work deserves a congratulations; he has deceived the studios for making “atmospheric classical music.” All of the piano tracks are just fiddling around the keyboard:
Let’s play a melody, but wait! Suddenly right here, we play a scary half-note! Repeat until it reaches 2 minutes. I’m a genius! Call me Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It’s right there on the resume.
The work drags on like a professor’s lecture without the university credits. I believe it’s the studio’s incompetence is at fault; the mangaka wrote Bokurano, which is one of the best works out there. I have no opinion on the manga of this work, but it should be better than this anime. It’s not that hard to be better, really.
Masochists, beware of getting bored by the time you start episode 4. Other viewers should stay away. Hardcore horror addicts like me may find this disappointing. Granted, there are scenes that may disturb you, but there are better works out there.
If anything else, run away from this work. It will hunt you down and bore you. That, to me, is the most harrowing aspect of this work.
So run.
Baka-bear
Narutaru is an anime that I became interested in due to some reviews that gave me hope that this was some kind of hidden gem that was similar to Evangelion. Little did I know it would be no where near that except maybe in tone alone. Narutaru provides more questions than answers with various things that add some charm and direction, but never really ties anything off, and to that point, nothing really felt relevant to the overall plot despite it somehow progressing things. There are many times where you're introduced to new characters or information regarding the cast, only for that information to end there,leaving you confused not at the information, but rather what the point even was in revealing it if it meant that nothing of any real impact would come of it; not even a real, definitive answer to previous questions the viewer might have had.
The show has an almost interesting premise. It's an adult-themed shows that deals with individuals and their issues and how those issues unfold going forward. All of this with the extra aspect that some of the characters either have or are aware of the existence of the monsters or 'dragons' that inhabit the world.
The pacing, information given without payoff, and the ending have a cadence that's very much that of an anime that was given only 13 30-minute episodes to try and tell the entire story, and thus, was unable to make a decent show given how much they had to cut.
I wouldn't recommend this anime to anyone, but it does have some interesting aspects in it's adult themes despite seemingly being meant to be a children's horror show. That being said, this show is definitely not for children, and if you're looking for something "messed up" just to sate that urge, it still falls flat for adult viewers.
If you do watch this anime, you'll for the most part be disappointed but could maybe takeaway something from it in viewing.
Napalmbrain
At first glance, Narutaru appears to be some sort of shoujo 'mon series for kids. It has the most upbeat opening theme you've ever heard, and starts off fairly relaxed and uncomplicated. But initial appearances can be deceiving, and soon enough themes such as suicide, rape and genocide all start to feature prominently, all involving young teenagers. It's an interesting subversion of the whole Pokémon-esque genre, and one which had the potential to work out really well. However, Narutaru is held back a number of problems, chief of which is that it only adapts the first half of the manga and doesn't compensate for the lossof the other half. Story arcs are set up and then abandoned, characters get involved and then just disappear, and most of the mysteries go unresolved. Because of this, the majority of the characters' motives and personalities are not sufficiently explored, and as such end up being rather shallow and two-dimensional, making it hard to care about what happens to them.
The art is rather poor and in need of work. The dragon designs are not bad and are fairly varied, but that's about the best thing it has going for it. Everything looks rather bland and uninteresting, and times it looks like the artists weren't really putting the effort in at all.
The background music is well done, helping to reinforce the dark, unsettling atmosphere of the series, which juxtaposes neatly with the deliberately ironic theme tune.
Ultimately, Narutaru is a series with great potential that is let down by some shoddy execution. The story arcs are fairly good, but for the most part they don't go anywhere because they don't get a chance to finish. Had the series been expanded into a 26 episode anime, it could perhaps have resolved the lingering plot threads and allowed some time to analyse the characters and their motives. Add in some better art and this series could have been a quite interesting take on the Pokémon-esque genre. But the way it is, Narutaru is average at best. If you're a fan of horror anime it's just about worth checking out, but don't expect anything spectacular.
Dietrologia
Narutaru (the anime, by itself) is a series with a lot of potential; the premise, the exploration of the inherent problems that would realistically arise from a 'mon' scenario (like Pokemon, Digimon, etc), is a fairly interesting idea that lends itself to good storytelling very well. In a few key moments it kind of does live up to this potential with acceptable delivery, but for the most part I feel like most of it was wasted with poor execution. To begin with, something terrible about the series that becomes apparent right off the bat is the art direction/presentation is total garbage. In terms of art style,it's extremely generic, and not even acceptably so; it's downright amateurish. Something that particularly irked me is it seems like Mohiro Kitoh doesn't know how to draw hair; Sakura's, Shiina's, and several others bangs in particular look so bad it seems like they were drawn by a 9 year old trying to draw anime. Overall everyone is just very poorly drawn.
As for the design of the actual monsters, it's usually hit or miss: Shiina's and Akira's look fairly derpy (though I actually don't mind because I don't think they were meant to look cool anyway), but some of the others look kinda neat. There's a bit more variety with the monsters in this series because not all of them look entirely beastial; one of them looks fairly humanoid, even.
In terms of music, I don't have much to complain about, but also not much to praise. It's not godawfully bad, but entirely forgettable. The OP and ED are alright.
Now, I wouldn't mind the above nearly as much if the series had a solid plot and cast to back it up; Higurashi's art wasn't very spectacular but I loved the show because the plot was very engrossing and the characters were extremely well-defined (though if you ask me, despite the art in both not being THAT great, Higurashi's is noticeably better and entirely acceptable even without comparison; Higurashi's musical score was also VERY memorable and added a lot to the enjoyment factor).
That's where we hit another snag.
A lot of the characters have interesting problems and personality quirks and the premise seems like it would be able to carry the show forward, but that's not quite what happens. Unfortunately, the plot seems to skirt around without a tight focus and the plot gets at its most interesting in only the last two episodes. Until then it seems like we're headed somewhere eventually, but by episode 8 or so the plot they seemed to be building up until then is dropped entirely; all of the villains introduced up to that point completely vanish and cease to be relevant; it seems like they should have just carried on with that instead of going on an entirely different tangent. The anime ends ambiguously with a terrible tragedy, and we're not exactly sure what's in store next.
Obviously a LOT of the problem is, the anime is an incomplete adaptation; six volumes of the manga were left out because they only adapted the first half. This wouldn't have been so bad if the part they chose to adapt could arguably stand on its own (see: Berserk), but a lot of the foreshadowing, minor characters, plot threads, and generally things that added depth and focus to the original story were cut out. As an adaptation of the first six volumes it's relatively faithful, but that part of the manga simply cannot stand on its own as a self-contained story.
That said the anime wasn't entirely bad. For what it's worth, it's a short enough series that at the very least gives a bit of insight into the deconstruction of the mon genre; i just wish they went ahead and adapted the entire story so it could have turned out better.
IllaRouge
Not often do I come into an anime and am this thoroughly disappointed. I think that one of the most misconceived ideas about this anime, that it is somehow subtle (thereby adding to all of the mystery you'll encounter within it), is a load of crap. This feels like an unfinished anime to me, a 13 episode pilot that someone pitched but forgot to make the rest of it. In terms of plot, it has enormous potential, but it never delivers. It meanders into vague and trivial subplots that should contribute to a more in depth view of the story, but again, it never returns tothose pieces. The characters are entirely forgettable. You're continually driven on to discover more and more about these "dragons," but again again again, you'll be disappointed. There's no tangible history that you'll discover, nor subtle hints, nor tantalizing detail that will leave you pondering over their mystery. What you'll receive are a lot of loose threads, a confusing ending, and more questions than answers, which in this case is not a good thing, as is the conventional wisdom.
Long story short: I'd avoid this anime, unless you're looking to have one of those horrible-anime-watching parties. Shadow Star Narutaru both promises much and has much promise, if only it were better planned. I reached the end of the series thinking there was a second season, a part two, an OVA that furthered our knowledge or explained something. Sadly and happily, there was none. Narutaru is pretentious enough to suggest that it is philosophical, a potential reasoning for the lack of information, but it cannot escape that all of its characters are foggy, its plot is confusing without any sort of vantage point with which you can gauge yourself (which any good story should have), and its blatant middle finger to the fans in its 'twists' should not be thought of as artistic, clever, or any potential synonym closely resembling anything positive.
InsaneLeader13
"Cut yourself to fit the world? Or cut the world to fit you?" Both please. Ahhhh, Shadow Star NaruTaru. I sure do wish I could give you a Shadow Star rating. And here I thought Evangelion 3.33 was going to be my lowest rated anime that I reviewed. Story: 1/10 The concept is amazing...on paper. Take the well beloved 'Mon' Genre and run it through the gauntlet of Deconstruction tropes! Our main character, Shiina, is spending a summer at a relative's place at a beachside. During the August that she spends there, she ends up meeting, and on some level bonding with, a strange creature. She quickly 'adopts' the creatureand proceeds to call it Hoshimaru, and take it back home with her. She ends up meeting other young teens that also have similar bizarre creatures, some which look similar to Hoshimaru, while others have about as much in common as a pile of feathers and a pile of bricks. These other teens have a very strong bond with their creatures, to the point of being able to direct them to commit acts from tens of hundreds of kilometers distance. Shiina never seems to find a bond anywhere near that deep with her Hoshimaru. Why? It's never answered.
There also are two different factions that want to take over the world and enslave it toward their own whims. The first 'faction' dies off in pretty much the same episode it/he is introduced in. The second faction...well, we never find out anymore about them after Episode 9, do we?
Another part of the story is how the Japanese Self Defense Force finds out about the existence of these creatures and their reaction to them. Slight spoiler, but after getting their asses handed to them in a long drawn out battle that ends with an entire city and a signficant amount of the JSDF chemically gassed (A blatant violation of the Law of Armed Conflict), the JSDF responds by...
doing nothing...
IN addition an interesting little subplot makes it's way shown in the series is basically an Anti-Bullying PSA stretched across three episodes. And while this one does actually conclude itself, the issue with this little story is that all the 'dramatic, edgy, horror' that occurs in this series really only appears in this part (Except for the Chemical gassing of an entire town). Oh, and did I mention that this little Anti-Bullying PSA trifecta of episodes take place in the LAST THREE EPISODES of the series? You know, after the ENTIRE GOVERNMENT now knows of these things?
And here is where we get into the first major flaw in this series. The order of events and lack of relation between said events. Serial Escalation never really takes place, as the series gets to it's highest and most dramatic point by episode 8, and only begins to try picking back up in the final two episodes.
In addition; there are not several several cleverly interwoven plots that lead from one bad possibility to another. In fact, most of these plots are quite isolated, and only interconnected because the lead character is somewhat involved. Episode 10 is the most egregious. In a short stand alone OVA it wouldn't have been bad. But the introduction of the main character into the events of Episode 10 actually are counter-intuitive. The information of what is going on is spoon-fed to the viewer, and the entirety of the events here have no effect on the main character, her 'mon', or the rest of the series, not even in a retroactive manner.
At this point, you might have noticed that my review seems to veer off into different directions rather then go along one simple all-encompassing tangent. That is because the story really goes in many different directions and can never seem to deliver a solid finishing point on either of them. Henceforth, it actually becomes a bit harder to judge the work.
Amongst the other works I have reviewed (and those I have watched and not reviewed) which received ratings of 4/10 or lower, there was at least a story. But Shadow Star Naru Taru fails at that, and only gets by via having a concept driving it, a concept which is free to take as many detours and side-routes as possible during it's brief run time, leaving us with an ending that isn't as much ambiguous as it is a mere fade out.
The overall lack of effort into a story leaves me to rate this section as a '1'. Sure, sometimes the subplots were a bit interesting...but there is no overarcing story. There is only an over-arcing concept.
And what is this concept, might you ask? It's the exact concept I expressed at the start of this review.
To compare, Neon Genesis Evangelion and Madoka Magica, two of the best known 'Deconstruction' works in anime, had a story. Yes, there was a driving concept in these series. NGE went through two of them subtly with one being the deconstruction of Mecha pilot(s) in the Mecha genre, and a bit more subtly, a deconstruction of isolation depression vs interaction depression, via the Hedgehog's Dilemma. Madoka Magica's concept is primarily to apply themes of deception to the typical Mahou Shoujou genre. But both of these series had a plot and a story, and stayed with them to the best of their abilities.
As opposed, Naru Taru never actually develops a story as much as it does 'attractions' based off of this theme...this concept.
A concept alone is merely the suspension and parts of the engine for a story. You can't drive a car with only a suspension and engine pieces.
Art: 2/10
In most of my reviews my 'Art' rating is pretty consistent. And that is simply because I pay more attention to the story, characters, and message shown then the art. Yes, it is great to look in the background and see a living world. It's great to look in the foreground and see life through the characters and effort through the objects! And the better the effort, the fewer the immersion breaking errors, and the most amazing a world can become. But alas, Art is still the thing I pay attention to the least, unless it is executed well in a way that adds to the narrative (Like the sharp contrasts of Madoka Magica, the out-of-bonds roughness of Kill-la-Kill, or the smooth upper-class look of Code Geass). Or it has no effort whatsoever.
And this is the problem here. Save for a few scenes here and there the art, and to a greater extent the animation does nothing. Action scenes are muted by poor animation, character's ranges of expression is intensely limited, and the environment comes off more as a drawing then a world. The amount of effort put into this was nil. Granted, maybe this is because it came from a small studio. But...laziness blatantly set in.
For example, take a picture of all the female characters in the series within the same 'age' range. Now remove all of their hair. And suddenly, you notice that there is pretty much no difference between the character designs. It was as if the creators, to save money/time/effort/scotch, decided to just use five body models (Teenage girl, Teenage Boy, Adult Male, Adult Female, Overweight Adult Male) and swap faces and hair amongst them. To add onto this insult to the viewer, who I'm guessing they thought wouldn't notice, they try to give each character an identity by leaving them with primarily one facial expression type. This ends up severely limiting the expressiveness of the characters showcased throughout this show. Shiina always looks school-girl happy! Akira always looks about ready to cry (or she is showcasing a bizzare meme face), Takeo is always expression a smug grin, Aki always is expression a female smug grin, etc, etc. The list goes on, and on, and on. Couple this with the overall lack of total faces in the series, and everyone seems to be borderline...unexpressive.
In addition, the foregrounds are dull and lifeless, and the backgrounds are empty.
Sound: 2/10
Sound, along with art helps to make a world feel alive, and in many cases, bring it, in some way, parallel to our own world. Not to mention that the music within a work can heighten or depress the mood in tune with the latest turn on screen.
Naru Taru's non-musical sound is horrendous. I could give numerous examples, from the flat delivery from the voice actors (Flat Japanese voices, even from my monolingual English ears...) to the strange car sounds. Even the dull sound of the jets. If you have ever heard an A-10 Warthog in real life, and then hear the pathetic sound the A-10's in this series give, you also would be dissapointed. But I choose to sum up the poorness of the sound quality with a single sound.
The gunshot.
In real life, a gunshot is loud. Overwhelming. It blurs out everything going on. Multiple gunshots somewhat tend to dull this effect, as one's ears somewhat adjust to it and begin picking up on other occurrences (Assuming your ear drums are not being blown out). But a single gunshot is deafening, and in anime, is often used for dramatic effect.
In this series, a single gunshot is akin to a popping sound, somewhat like a single kernel popping in a popcorn bag. The most gun-like thing it could be compared to would be the handgun in Resident Evil 1 on the PS1/Sega Saturn. This might be excusable, if not for the fact that the gunshot IS used as a dramatic moment marker.
But in the process, it actually sucks all the dramatics out of the scene. Again, there are other examples, but this was the most prevalent one in my mind.
On the music side...it was similarly underwhelming. While the contrast between the music and the occurrence wasn't as blatant as Evangelion 2.22's was, it is bad in it's own right. The very few times it isn't contrasting with the mood or the tone of a scene, it becomes downright generic. Almost Hentai levels of generic.
There would be two exceptions to this, the opening theme and a few dread-inducing piano pieces in the middle parts of the series. The opening theme is actually pretty darn catchy, with it's little kazoo and spoken lyrics. Time and time again I find myself humming or whistling this catchy little bugger.
But two or three decent music pieces being the only pleasant thing across the entirety of a 13 episode series is downright pathetic.
Character: 1/10
The issue with Character is simple. No character is enjoyable, and no character does anything particularly memorable unless they are the arc villian. You'll recall Shiina only for being the generic happy-with-everything girl that the series is breaking apart. You'll recall Akira only for being the dull one that gives early Shinji Ikari and Yukitero Amano meaningful lives. Tomonori is recalled for wanting to kill everyone who has higher education. Hiroko snapped and killed everyone she knew. Etc, Etc. The characters are all one-note characters.
The only place where this is reasonably acceptable is the new characters tossed into Episode 10, who we spend less then 22 minutes with, so to expect more from them would be pretty darn foolish.
As one note characters, the interactions betwixt characters never really goes anywhere. Nobody really changes over the course of the series. Akira from episode 2 is the same as Akira from episode 12. As is Shiina. And every other character who had more then one episode of screentime. Even Hiroko, who snapped and killed everyone she knew, never really demonstrates much of a personality change in the event.
Enjoyment: 1/10
Hahaha, enjoyment? Minimal. It peeked to it's highest in Episode 8, with the interesting (Yet poorly showcased due to poor animation and poor sound) three way battle between two teams of mons and the JSDF. But it's hard to get invested into a series where every action scene is really subdued, and every character stuck in a virtually unchanging roll. If not for the shortness of the series, I likely would have dropped it by episode 12 and not bothered any farther. There is nothing in this series to invest in, and in the process, there is nothing to reap from the show.
Overall: 1/10
There are other things in the show I could point at. The blatant bashing-over-the-skull with a 'deep' theme is hyper prevalent, for instance. Events were played for drama...but never really came off as dramatic, and in some cases the problem would be fixed and explained away offscreen, which actually made the show invert the drama it was going for. And the schizophrenic usage of some of the supporting adults, from being well-intentioned yet strict parents to misguided store owners to abusive pricks...*sigh*. Rape is played as drama in the most sickeningly way possible, as if to ok the later graphic deaths and second rape scene.
I legit can't recommend this series to anyone. For those looking for horrific elements, go ahead and just watch the last three episodes, and maybe you'll be entertained. For those looking for 'edgy' incest, it's a brief two minute scene that just makes the 'villian' of that arc a more blatant villain. You'll find more edgy incest in hentai. For those looking for an interesting deconstruction, I point to Madoka Magica and Neon Genesis Evangelion. For those looking for a deconstruction of the mon genre, I'll point you toward Digimon Tamers. For masochists, you'll likely be bored out of your head by the fourth episode. And for those looking for a series with a deep message or messages, I would point you to Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell:SAC, or any number of other series.
Just...don't do what I did.
Don't waste your time on this series. Of everything I have watched, it's actually the first thing that offended me at one point. And I wouldn't wish that onto anyone else.
LibriLector
I'm not sure that this anime is very "amazing." But it is very different. I really enjoyed it. after watching over 300 different anime; they all start to feel the same. I often feel like I can see the future when watching them. Its like when something happens I can tell what "world line" the story is progressing down and what options are still open for the ending. Its like, "well, I guess this anime is going down that route." but this anime was very different, and disturbing, and I'm going to go read the manga for the rest of the story. you can read the otherreviews for pretty much the rest of the stuff you might want to know.
Story: 7
Art: 5 was kinda childish so not that great
Sound: 10 Didn't really pay much attention but it had catchy op and ed. and the death sounds made me cringe so i guess it was good.
Characters 10: I thought the characters were pretty different. a few of them were pretty lame. some of them were not fully revealed because anime is only half of story. I like the main character for her strong sense of right and wrong and willingness to help people. It isn't the stupid type of main character hero complex. at least I didn't feel that way. she just is a genuinely happy helpful girl who will help someone in trouble. She seems to make friends with the underdogs but doesn't even notice that they are underdogs. its like she doesn't realize how bad humans can be, but she is only an elementary school student.
Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 8 would give a higher score, but after finishing it felt like if I got past the unusual layout or something then the base story was.. idk, I couldn't tell if I liked it so much because it was that good or if it was just the perfect anime to watch after getting bored of the usual anime. I think I was just in the right mood for it. but it is still pretty good.
84DaysWithout
Narutaru is a disturbing attempt at deconstructing the pet monster genre that should be experienced just once in order to test your mental fortitude. The comparisons to school days are correct - both are shocking horrors under the initial premise of something innocent and non revolting. This is relatively accurate to how I'd expect Pokemon to go if a real life phenomenon. It would not be a fun innocent adventure with millions around the globe exclaiming "gotta catch them all" each day. It would be a horror show with many people using the monsters to commit crimes, selfishly look to make their lives easier and mostimportantly - exact revenge.
Interesting deconstruction aside, the art style is ugly, the music forgettable and the characters insufferable. Akira Sakura is in so much torment that you actually start to root for her suicide, it would be less painful than her current life.
The anime also fails to adapt the entire series. It stops well short of the manga conclusion that reaches Neon Genesis levels of world changing insanity and obviously will not be receiving a second season due to non-existent demand. Be sure to read the manga after the final episode.
There are a handful of anime worth seeing just once, if only to say "I've survived this experience". NaruTaru is one of those shows. Give it a try and record your reaction to this controversial subversion of the pet monster genre.
Fear_the_Reefer
Very few mythical creatures have dominated our imaginations the way dragons have. They’ve existed in our culture farther back than vampires, werewolves, and zombies combined. They’re practically an ancient idea at this point, having been an important element of both western and eastern folklore, and while there may be significant differences... One side of the pond sees them as four legged, giant beasts guarding hordes of gold and battling silver-clad knights over the rights to their most recently stolen princess, while the other side sees them as more serpent-like with sweet facial hair... The general idea has always been that they’regiant scaly beasts who may or may not be able to breathe fire. But what if our folk lore is wrong? What if dragons look nothing like what popular fiction such as Skyrim, fantasy novels and Disney have told us? What if that festive five man dragon costume you saw in that Chinese festival was based on lies? What if dragons are real, and looked nothing like what we’ve been told?
True dragons... The ones that really exist in our world... Actually look like starfish after several generations of sucking down experimental radiation, to the point that they look more like Star Trek spaceships than bottom-dwelling sea creatures. Their purpose may be unclear, but their children, however, are a bit easier to understand. While they look like Patrick Star has sex with a bunch of different Kirby villains and aborted each resulting baby, they’re a much more common presence than their giant parents. They like to pair themselves with troubled human youths for unclear purposes and to unclear ends, but there’s one thing that is clear... Whether you’re a cheerful Daddy’s girl, a terminally depressed beauty queen, a bullied genius, a sociopathic misanthrope or an emotionally stunted playboy, having one of these ‘Dragon’s children’ attach themselves to you is more of a curse than a blessing, and your life is about to get a lot more complicated.
Shadow Star Narutaru was produced by Planet, an animation studio with so few credits to their name that wikipedia doesn’t even have a page for them. Anime News Network does, however, which is how I was able to find out that the biggest credit to their name is The Galaxy Railways, and the worst credit to their name... According to people I’ve spoken to... Is Moe-Tan, which I’ve heard nothing but glowering reviews for. They also did an obscure children’s Panda show and the lesser of the two Mermaid Forest adaptations. That’s not what I’d call a promising resume, but leaving all that behind, how does Narutaru look? Like ass. It looks like ass. I’ve heard people call it ‘passable,’ which may have been true in the eighties, but this is a 2003 release, and the animation just barely more competant than 1960’s Spiderman. They do their best to cover for this with their editing and framing work, but it’s a futile effort at best.
When a character is moving, the minimum amount of movement is used. If they’re moving their arm, then that’s the only part that moves. If their movement is finished, their faces freeze in whatever expression they were using at the time. Items moving across the screen like dragon’s children and aeroplanes move about as naturally as if someone was clicking on them and dragging them from one point to another. There are far too many close-ups during action scenes to keep up with what’s going on, and whenever the series amps up it’s violence, the visual direction seems less interested in making the show look good and more concerned with being as safe for a wide TV broadcast as it possibly can be through any means necessary. Hell, when a person’s being forced to drink a glass filled with water and worms(it happens), we’re not even allowed to see the worms in the glass. We see her drink it, then later she pukes(offscreen, of course,) and we finally get to see the worms wriggling on a pile of puke that looks exactly like plain old water. Considering how dark and disturbing this show gets, the fact that they were able to edit and frame everything safely enough to air on a channel called “Kids Station” is perhaps the most fucked up thing about it.
The music... Honestly? It’s pretty good. The sound design in general is very impressive, as sounds that would be commonplace in the show’s suburban setting are used in just the right ways to add tension and suspense to the story. The soundtrack is perhaps the best thing about the series, as it blends the menial tone of children living their day-to-day lives with the far harsher tone of supernatural horror even better than Higurashi ever did. The ending theme is somewhat generic, but what I’d like to draw specific attention to is the opening, Nichiyoubi No Taiyou by The Neutral. The song itself is upbeat and catchy with an addictive vocal style, the kind of song I could easily find myself listening to standalone, regardless of whether or not I understood the lyrics. The video that accompanies it is another highlight of how well the music combines it’s genres, with pretty much the entire video being dominated by childish crayon drawings that simplify and sometimes even straight up misrepresent not only some of the more horrific events in the story, but the implications made by it’s premise. It’s a pretty great soundtrack, to say the least.
As for the English dub, it could easily pass for an alternative method of prisoner of war torture. That may be a bit hyperbolic, I admit, but there’s very little defense you can make for this dubbing effort. Yeah, it’s kind of expected coming from Central Park Media, a dubbing company who uses the critically reviled MD Geist as it’s proud mascot. But even they can be said to have outdone themselves on this project, which features about 90 percent non-name talent. I never thought I’d say this about ANY dub, but has anyone shared with you that Youtube video called “THE GREATEST GREATEST GREATEST ANIME DUB EVER? The one that’s full of relatively safe clips taken from a hentai called Sextra Credit? The acting in Narutaru is about on par with THAT. And that’s NOT hyperbole. The main actor Kelly Ray has been in a handful of low-rent early 2000’s titles, most notably Alien Nine, and while she’s more or less listenable when she’s speaking in a low register, whenever she raises her voice for any reason, it becomes the most ear-stabbingly ugly vocal performance I’ve ever heard.
About seven of the confirmed cast members have only ever appeared in this particular title, which is either a testament to how few actors had any interest in the material, or some pretty suggestive circumstantial evidence that a lot of the bigger names used aliases in order to keep the series off of their resumes. These one-miss-wonders aren’t limited to just side characters, either... The second biggest character in the series, Akira Sakura, a ridiculously introverted girl who hates herself and shakes more than Plue from Rave Master, is played by one time actress Renee Gloger, and while I can say this pretty much across the board, one time was enough. At least two of the show’s villains, Akinori and Sudo, are supposed to be played as dangerous sociopaths, but they’re played with all the charisma and personality of a bread sandwich. They each spout their own brand of nihilistic babbling which, without the bulk of the manga’s material to back them up, just comes off as pretentious slosh. The other main character, Hiroko, is played by Flora Stanburg, who mumbles most of her lines and seems to have left the proper emotions at the door outside the booth.
Continuing the trend of fuck-ups I’ve never encountered before, there are several moments where the dialogue between two characters just doesn’t add up... Like one was blissfully unaware of the fact that the other was going to adlib. I can think of three or four examples off the top of my head, but the one that jumps most clearly to mind is when Shiina enters Akira’s house for the first time. Akira’s father asks her if she knows his daughter, and Shiina responds by saying “I haven’t just met her, she’s my friend!” There are other examples, but let’s instead look at a possible positive. At one point, the dub managed to get it’s hands on two of the voice acting giants of the late nineties and early aughts... Veronica Taylor, who’s better known as Ash Ketchum, and Lisa Ortiz, who’s best known as Lina Inverse. They were among the best of their time, they put on genuinely good performances, and with their talents, they actually manage to make the formerly terrible dub... Worse.
Let me explain. While they may have done a few uncredited stock roles, and there’s a decent chance Lisa Ortiz plays two roles, one of which is under the pseudonym Renee Goldstein, they only feature in credited roles for ONE EPISODE. Episode ten. Instead of lifting the over-all dub to a better place, it makes it even more painful when you realize that Central Park Media had access to these celebrated actors, but only used them for one episode, giving their main roles to people who are to acting what virgins are to sex. They COULD have had Lisa Ortiz play Shiina while Veronica Taylor played Akira, and the over-all product would have been so, so much easier to sit through. For an entirely accurate comparison, imagine you’ve gone to hell and are doomed to eat nothing but dog shit for the rest of your life. you’d eventually get used to your new culinary situation, right? Now imagine that after about fifty years, they start giving you chicken parmesan. A week later, it’s back to dog shit, only now it tastes just as bad as it did at the start, because you now know what you COULD have been eating all along. That’s what Taylor and Ortiz do to this dub. I haven’t seen this show in Japanese, but do yourself a favor and don’t go anywhere near the dub.
So... This is going to be a different kind of review. I was nice about the sound and music, because I do believe they were both nice, but aside from the sound design, I don’t foresee myself having anything nice to say about this title. For this reason, and also because I didn’t want to accidentily lead someone to watch the series by telling them it exists, this is not a title that I ever wanted to return to. But in order to grow as a reviewer, I have to talk about the best and the worst that anime has to offer... Even if that means turning around and standing face to face with an anime that traumatized me from watching anime for the entire month following my completion of it. I will have a lot to talk about with this title, and I’m sorry, but there’s going to be spoilers from here on out. I would normally never try to spoil your viewing experience of any anime by telling you how it ends, but most of the important talking points with this anime are spoilers, and it’s also okay because I don’t want you to watch this title anyway, so a spoiler here and there can only serve my purposes in the long run.
For starters, one of the worst things an anime can do, in my opinion, is to have a ‘read the manga’ type ending. I can’t stand any anime that forgoes the basic convention of having a conclusion in order to force you to migrate over to the written format just to find out what happens. There are very few anime I ever forgive for this, Berserk being one of the rare exceptions, but it is generally a very fast way to earn my ire. Well, Shadow Star Narutaru might as well be called ‘Read the Manga; the Anime.’ A twelve volume manga was compressed into a 13 episode series, and to say it shows would be putting it nicely. The first story arc takes place between episodes 1-9, and it focuses on the two main characters obtaining their Dragon’s Children, exploring their nature, and facing off against enemies around their age who have their own Draconic companions, one of which is an angelic looking being who goes unnamed in the anime... Although in the manga, it’s named Vagina Dentata. I’m not kidding. You’re welcome for that.
Anyway, they battle the first member of this gang, and he dies at the hands of Shiina’s dragon Hoshimaru, upon which the other villains come to town looking for him... And also looking for Akira, to get her to join them. I think. I’m not sure if anyone’s motivation is made clear. They fight out in a field, as the Japanese military gets involved, and while the multi-episode scuffle is probably the best material in the story, they all go their separate ways once the military is defeated. Then we have an episode where the main villain takes Shiina and Akira fishing, spouts some more nihilistic BS relating fishing to the manipulation of people, and there’s some relationship stuff that goes nowhere, and then... They’re gone. That’s it for them. The villains are written out of the series even more abruptly than they appeared in it, leaving a ton of questions unanswered. Who were they? What drove them to take such actions? Why was one of them naked? Why do Dragon’s children only pair up with preteens? What would happen if they found out their friend was dead? The storyline is dropped cold, and from what I’ve heard from people who’ve read the manga, this arc could have been told much more coherently if it had all 13 episodes to itself, but no, it just gets cut off and dropped unceremoniously so we can jump to the next story arc, which lasts only one episode and features a twist conclusion that even M Knight Shyamalan would find laughable.
Now, up until this point, this anime has been really, really bad. The writing has been choppy, character motivations are still up in the air, it’s been a constant assault on our eyes and ears, and we’re no closer to knowing anything about the Dragon’s Children and why they... Literally anything. But it’s not unwatchable. It’s not repulsive. Not yet. You can still get engaged with all the intrigue and mysterious characters, and it’s not hard to turn off your brain and enjoy the action scenes. But then something happens that takes what should have been yet another awful anime and turns it into something special. something I’ve had difficulty talking about publicly until a few weeks ago. It’s like if you were feeling excited that you were about to watch a brand new episode of My Little Pony; Friendship is magic, only to see the episode title come up and read as “Cupcakes.” Yeah, you can tell yourself that it’s just a coincidence, and that it’s probably just going to be an innocent episode, but a part of you knows that they’ve taken their mining of the Brony community for ideas a little too far, and they’re about to do something so Grimdark that they never should have even considered it. We’re talking about THAT kind of bad.
In the final story arc, one of Shiina’s friends is going through a tough dilemma. She’s being bullied by four girls in her class who want her to lower her grades... The reason is never mentioned, so I’m just going to fill in the blanks and say they want to lower the class average so they can look better without having to do any extra studying... And the whole worm thing happens. Her grades drop to a 97, and her father starts bullying her about not hanging out with Shiina anymore. But the peak of the whole damn series comes when the four girls corner her, pin her down, and rape her with a test tube. Please read that sentence a few times, because it needs to be emphasized, and I only feel like saying it once. A boy shows up to interrupt them, so they leave, and since the foreign object is hollow and made of glass, I’m going to give this boy some credit for helping the girl to not become One Guy One Jar’s big sister. She goes home and catches her father burning her bridges with Shiina, and the straws break the camel’s back. Turns out she has a Dragon’s Child that kills her parents and brutally murders three of the girls, just barely sparing the only repentant one and, by the way, raping the ring leader to death.
Now, let’s talk about child psychology for a bit. I’ve never studied it, but according to the people I’ve spoken to who had any knowledge whatsoever to offer, 11 year old girls do not rape each other. I know, big shock, right? Even the few people who called it plausible did so by comparing rape to confirmed cases of murder and slut shaming... NOT THE SAME AS RAPE. Kids can do some nasty things, but the idea of them sexually torturing each other... Especially when it’s four like-minded girls going after another... It’s incredibly freaking unlikely. What’s far more likely is that the person conceiving of this scenario is a repressed pedophile with an imagination sadistic enough that not even Freddy Krueger would touch his dreams. I’ve looked into some of the manga that Mohiro Kitoh has written, and I can say with some confidence that he hates children even more than the creator of Bioshock must have. At least three of them heavily feature children in adult situations and a bunch of horrific deaths. It’s not hard to watch that final story arc and think that the whole test tube scene was concocted just so the artist could justify tearing apart four middle school aged girls with a self-insert demon monster.
And as I alluded before, the people adapting this lovely manga did the best they could to keep the horrific, deplorable acts just off screen and out of frame, but still making damn sure the audience knows what’s going on, so they could honor the artist’s vision without having to sacrifice a younger audience. Christ, even if it was deemed safe enough to air on “Kids Station,” the final three episodes of this show are pure nightmare fuel. I’m thirty, and even I had bad dreams after watching it... Both times! How sleazy can you get? Never mind how this must have effected die-hard fans of the manga, who probably WANTED to see the sick, bloody content materialized on screen. It was probably for their sake that the first story arc was rushed and cut off so abruptly. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t WANT to see an eleven year old girl get force-fed worms and raped with a monster’s talon while her half-decapitated brother/lover lies behind the bed, until finally she’s torn apart from the inside, I would NEVER want to see that, but if you’re not going to show it on screen, what’s the point of having it happen at all? It’s sick and morally repulsive either way, but by pulling your punches at every turn, you just come off looking like a half-committed pussy! There is no reason they couldn’t have changed the material to match the restrictions of a TV airing... Adaptations can be changed, and this one should have been!
Shadow Star Narutaru was available stateside from Central Park Media, but has yet to be rescued, and is currently out of print. The DVDs are available relatively cheaply online, or you can buy the four disks together as a set. The original manga is available stateside from Dark Horse, and while I’d normally be apprehensive to recommend something that’s been heavily censored, it was probably for the best with this series. The story is apparently a lot longer and more complete, although there’s allegedly a lot more rape in it. Enter at your own risk.
When I got into reviewing anime, I figured I’d have people knocking down my door with requests. And I wanted it to happen. Requests keep you on your toes, so you don’t have to choose every single anime you review for yourself. If I had a lot of requests, then I wouldn’t have exhausted my personal reveres to the point that Shadow Star Naturaru would become a viable option for the October lineup. I’ve received a grand total of five requests in the past three years, and four of them were from people I know in real life. If I had more requests, then I might never have had any reason to go back into the trenches to rewatch this piece of shit. But since it’s number DID come up, I might as well say that Shadow Star Narutaru is the worst anime I’ve ever seen. The story is badly executed and incomplete, the plot and premise are nonsensical, there are several questions unanswered and loose ends untied, and even when it does manage to tell a complete story arc from beginning to end(or close to it), the material is deplorably tasteless. It sounds nice as long as nobody’s talking, but it still looks like ass from every angle. I can’t, in good conscience, recommend this to anyone. I give Shadow Star Narutaru a 1/10, but only because Myanimelist doesn’t go as low as -10/10.
Good riddance.
TensaReven
I usually don’t write reviews, but this anime was such an unpleasant experience that I felt compelled to log into MAL and warn potential viewers. If you’re expecting a coherent plot or interesting ideas, steer clear. This is supposed to be a monster-tamer series, but it barely explains anything. Instead, it floods you with characters and their dragon companions who appear briefly and are then forgotten. The story jumps all over the place—from military psychic wars with monsters to a revenge arc about a bullied girl. There’s also a lot of edgy content, especially in the final episodes, but it doesn’t add any substance. The suddenbursts of violence and suffering feel random and might catch viewers off guard, especially those who are already struggling to make sense of the confusing narrative. Every episode left me so lost that I’d often have to rewatch parts of the previous one, only to realize nothing important had happened.
I’d only recommend this for someone who enjoys early 2000s-style edginess and has already seen classics like Elfen Lied. However, keep in mind this adaptation isn’t particularly gory, as much of the graphic content from the manga was censored.
LordCustos3
If the opening credit sequence is to be belived, Mohiro Kitoh's "Shadow Star Narutaru" is a cutesy-pie "Azumanga Daioh"-ish kids show about adorable middle-schoolers playing with their happy little Pokeymans. Don't be fooled. Narutaru does to that genre what "Utena" does to the magickal girl show or "Evangelion" does to the super-robot show. It traumatizes it before feeding it face-first to the abyss. Plotwise, it follows the (mis)adventures of three girls, brash and confident Shiina, deeply troubled Sakura and half-confident/half-troubled Hiroko. Shiina discovers a cartoony starfish...um...familiar...that can shapeshift into useful shapes like backpack, flying surfboard, protective bubble, etc. At first, this is liberating and fun...and the show pretends tobe a "My Neighbor Totoro" set in modern times. But she is not the only one with a "dragonet" familiar...and not all of these creatures are nice; neither are their owners.
Narutaru is not without it's flaws.
And there are two doozies.
Firstly, the artwork is blandly generic, to the point where it becomes all too easy to momentarily confuse two characters.
Second, and more important, this feels like a series that was originally meant to be 26 episodes, and was suddenly truncated at the last second, into 13.
I deducted two points from the score for that. One for the sudden, unsatisfying, inexplicable endings to the main characters story arc. One for how the main conspiracy subplot is left completely unresolved.
That's not to say that the last episode isn't an intensely watchable, nailbiter...but all it does is promise great things it now, suddenly, doesn't have the episode count to deliver.
ValtElf
I'm not gonna make a big review, so anyone that wants to just read what the anime is about and if it's worth watching in a short summary, keep reading. Genre: The Genre Horror listed for this Anime is not justified at all in my opinion. This Anime has no Horror in it at all. You won't get scared. And even though they list the Anime as "supernatural and drama" this Anime is more of a psychological seinen and a mystery show more than anything. Sound: The soundtrack is incredibly well fitting so if you search for new OSTs to listen to this Anime might be for you.Story:
Very few action, some naked girls but no tits, a bit of romance and some drama stories surrounding the girls in this Anime. It feels like the Aliens/Monsters/Dragons in this Anime exist for the purpose of giving the Anime some fake soul and make people interested to watch the Anime in order to see the whole story. That's because the story itself doesn't cover any topic about the Dragons and instead just uses them to keep your interest while leaving you with unleft answers about them.
Instead it covers the girls lives and their problems which by itself fits into a Shoujo Manga best.
Art:
The art is very old. You shouldn't bother watching this if you can't stand looking at bad animations or old Anime drawing styles.
Characters:
Visually almost all characters in this Anime look the same. You look at 5 different female girls and they all look like they are the same person just with a different haircut. The same applies to the males of the same age.
The characters development is only on a psychological base and includes many breakdowns of the main chars. The character personalities in this anime are all in some sense mentally disturbed.
Overall: Watch this Anime if you want a dramatic Shoujo, like psychological character development or are looking for some neat soundtracks.
Else this Anime is gonna leave you disappointed and bored since it doesn't execute anything else well enough.
RachaelLefler
Well, basically, I'm reading the manga right now because I feel like, while it is a cool and interesting story, the anime really doesn't do it justice. For one, the anime ends halfway through, and it also leaves out some details that you might find important. The manga has each story arc more interwoven, where in the anime it feels very much like they rush from one story arc to the next without resolution or consistency. Narutaru like other people pointed out, subverts the original sunny expectations built up by the first episode, kind of like how we see in Madoka Magica. However, since Iwas not a big fan of the clunky, low-budget animation or the lack of exposition relative to the manga, I would have to say it's probably better to just read the manga. One thing I like is how mature and grown-up the characters act for their age. However, even though it's cool to see children acting really adult-like, they act like adult psychopathic monsters most of the time. It's eerie. The depiction of bullying, depression, suicidal self-harm, etc. is gut-wrenching. This is a show where other-worldly beings are fucking with these children's minds. As a concept, that's a good story for an anime. But it's poorly executed and ends too early. The ending to the anime just feels like it cut off rather than resolves, I think it must have gotten canceled before they could finish making it entirely. I'd give it higher marks if it weren't for that. And the English dub is a little... well, it's bad. There's basically only one big name VA, and she plays a character (Jun) who is only in one episode. They pronounce some names oddly, like pronouncing "Satomi" like "Sutomi". This manga could use a completely new anime with completely knew animation and voice acting, done by someone with a budget. Read the manga.
leingodf8
As weird as it may seem, Shadow Star Narutaru was the anime I decided to debut my investigation of the psychological horror genre of anime. The genre itself has never really piqued my interest, because I find no excitement in scaring myself shitless. But I finally figured I gotta give it a try before I can really comment on it, and so after much deliberation I picked Shadow Star Narutaru... and its left me in a rather confused state. I'm perplexed because... I can point out about a 1000 flaws with this show, very blatant obvious flaws... but I still really enjoyed it, enough sothat I vowed to read the manga just to get a better understanding of it.
So where do I begin with this... I guess the plot is as good a place as any. As many of you will have guessed by reading any other review of the show, Shadow Star starts off very calm and almost cheerfully; seems like another take on Digimon really. But some messed up shit is awaiting you just around the corner, so don't get to lulled in, because it will freak you out. Now the plot has one major flaw... its just too damn diverse. Thats a strange complaint, but the show is fit into 13 episodes, and it trys to fit at least 26 episodes worth of material into it. It introduces about 6 subplots, one about a child army trying to destroy mankind, one about another kid and his friend who looks like a girl, who are possibly good? Another about girls getting beat up at school, something about her mom working for the government etc etc. Theres so much STUFF going on, and all of it just seems so interesting, but none of it goes anywhere. The child army is kinda built up for the first couple episodes, and then completely forgotten in the last half. The entire thing, just reeks of lost potential, great ideas cut back by a limited budget. But the ideas were good enough... that it almost worked. A bit more polish, and couple more episodes, and this coulda been a lot better story.
Now as for characters, again I'm a bit vexed. Each character seems pretty interesting, and you could easily make a story about each and every one of the MAIN main characters psyche... but instead it once again spreads itself too thin. Its like the show has attention deficit disorder... it has to keep switching from one plot to another... from one character to the next. The main character, Shiina, is set up to be a real good person, a elementary school girl robin hood if you will. She helps those in need, and isn't afraid to be made a fool of if its for her friends. But the show starts to look at... Maybe this is a bad personality. Maybe shes hurting her friends more than shes helping... And as it starts to get good... Ohhh-kay, now there's a character named Akira... who has a meek personality. Does she want to change the world by force, or does she want to adapt and become like everyone else? Who knows, because now its a plot about that damn child uprising. There's even some crazy goddess dragon rider girl (who can turn into a dolphin apparently), who gets mentioned like twice... and then never appears again. Like I said... each character is intriguing, and would actually be really great if they were given more time.
So what I'm really just trying to get across here is... the show needs to stick to one story, or get more funding to develop its many stories. But that doesn't really stop the show from being a good watch... it just frustrates you to know that it could've been so much more enjoyable. I personally would've LOVED to seem more info on the dragonets... what they are, how they grow, how they affect the people they are attached too. Its actually looked at a really small amount considering its one of the bigger plot points of the show.
But... with all that being said... maybe I'm being too over criticle. This is supposed to be a psychological horror right? How does it fare when compared to other anime of a similar genre? Well I can't really say... like I started with, Shadow Star Narutaru was my jumping on anime. I can say though... that it has slightly piqued my interest in the genre... maybe enough to actually give something more famous like Elfen Lied or Higurashi a chance... But again I do think it could have been better. Very little of Shiina's psyche was looked into. You got glimpses here and there that behind that smile she may be extremely depressed, but it seems to prefer to look at Akira and Hiroko, which is more a look at bullying I think. I'm not quite sure how I can put a finger on what bothers me with their actions... so let me sum it up like this. In the very last episode (I'll try my best not to spoil anything here) Akira does something that you saw coming waaayyy back, but it isn't explained why she decides then is the time to do it, and it is brushed over extremely quickly. It all ended up leaving me satisfied to an extent... but with a feeling that there must be something more to it.
Hah... well I guess thats more of a rant than a review isn't it? Ahh well, I couldn't really think of any other way to adequately express what shadow star narutaru is like. Its up and down, it really screws you over, but it leaves you wanting more. It doesn't deserve a great score, and if your a really nit picky person, you probably won't like it, but I will heartily recommend it to anyone.
