Shadow Star Narutaru

Original Title: 骸なる星珠たる子 - なるたる
Romanized: Mukuro Naru Hoshi Tama Taru Ko - Narutaru
Literal: The Corpse of a Star, Children Who Are Jewels - Narutaru

Plot Synopsis

Shiina Tamai is a relatively average junior high student; full of energy, quick to make friends, and athletic, she lives happily with her divorced father, a military test pilot. Things change for her when she finds a strange, star-shaped creature while visiting relatives, which she adopts and names Hoshimaru.

Hoshimaru is a "dragon's child"--a powerful creature of unknown origin and purpose that forms a link with the mind of a human who controls it and eventually shapes itself to the taste of its owner.

When Shiina befriends a fragile older girl named Akira, she learns that Hoshimaru is not unique. More frighteningly, she learns that others who have found dragon's children have dark plans for their newfound power, and their existence has not gone unnoticed by the government.

Quick Review

Rating: 3 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2009-03-21

What starts out looking fun--cute kids in control of mysterious little superpowered critters--quickly turns into a viscerally brutal series as the cast of abused or homicidal characters are systematically ripped to shreds mentally, if not physically. Its worst enemy is its own lack of budget, evidenced by a maddeningly slow pace for no reason but to fill time, near-static visuals, and the fact that the single season only takes the story to the halfway point, leaving it completely unfinished at the end unless you read the manga. Instead, the end wraps up in a side story of Carrie for the Pokemon generation that is so disturbing it is difficult to watch, yet hard to take your eyes off of.

Bleak social commentary about children for adults, uncommonly brutal early-teen psychodrama, or maybe nihilistic philosophical allegory, whatever Narutaru is, it isn't fun by any measure. But, even as hamstrung as it is by budget-induced slow pacing and a maddeningly half-finished story it's an affecting series for those inclined to subject themselves to it.

US DVD Review

USM's 4-disc set is a decent effort; the visuals are clean (for as little as is going on), and the sound is fine although the original material doesn't have particularly good editing or production values. There are plenty of extras, though; art galleries, storyboards, Japanese actor biographies, and an unusual treat for anime, the last disc has a director commentary track on all three episodes.

Content Guide

USM appropriately calls it 16-up on account of realistic violence, depictions and implications of abuse, and some frank if indirect sexual content.

Violence: 4 - Though not gory, the violence is realistic and brutal.

Nudity: 2 - Limited to a couple of completely non-erotic, though strange, scenes.

Sex/Mature Themes: 3 - Little happens onscreen, but there is discussion of frank mature nature and some strongly implied sexual activity.

Language: 2 - Some strong language in the subtitles.

Notes and Trivia

Based directly on a manga by Mohiro Kitou. It covers the first large story arc nearly scene-for-scene, though it does cut back some on the government sub-plots toward the end to focus on Shiina's friends. The comic continues where the TV series leaves off and does conclusively resolve the plot. If you're wondering where it's all going (this is a spoiler, though not in the least bit surprising), the answer is, basically, "The apocalypse."

The title, Narutaru, means nothing by itself; it is a combination of the two conjunctions in the lengthy subtitle, meaning very roughly "become and are," though even in Japanese it doesn't sound like it has any meaning out of context.

The subtitle "Shadow Star" was created for the English version; the serialized manga in English used that as the title, and USM probably used it for that reason.

As for the full subtitle, it's somewhat poetic and rather hard to interpret, even if you've read the story through to its conclusion. "Mukuro Naru Hoshi" very roughly means either "stars that become corpses" or "the corpses of stars" (and could be either singular or plural), though it may have been intended to be interpreted as "the corpse of a dragon." "Tama taru ko" literally means "children who are jewels," though the word can refer to any precious bead-like object; it's less obvious how it's intended to be interpreted, but may have been a reference to children as precious seeds.

Availability

Available in North America on 4 bilingual DVDs from US Manga Corps, currently out of print. The complete set is available at a reasonable price new or used from Amazon: Narutaru box set.

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