Narutaru, or Shadow Star, is an anime I'm still trying to wrap my head around, even though I've long finished watching it. I never thought I would come around to speaking about this one, for I never really thought much of it. In any case, it's a short anime, lasting only 13 episodes, but deals with the supernatural, drama, and horror.
Shiina Tamai is a young 12 yar-old girl, serving as the anime's protagonist. From the start, she meets a starfish-like being known as the dragonchild. The series progresses as she bonds with this dragonchild, who she names Hoshimaru. While the early part of the series is reminiscent to Pokemon's bonding knack, it get's dark rather quick, getting into the horror portion of it fast. Shiina isn't the only one with the dragonchild, as others have one as well, each with their own dark moments. Shiina ahd Hoshimaru are usually seen in the series interacting with these people, including fast friend Akira Sakura and her dragonchild, Esnof.
While it appears kid-friendly initially, it can get pretty serious and scary, though not to the level of Higurashi/When They Cry. There are situations in there that pretty much relates to life, though some of those may go to extremes. Because of this, it's best to know you can handle this kind of stuff before watching, but if you saw anime similar to this, then it should be fine, because the horror portion is more or less thumbed down from others. While the anime is only worth 13 episodes, the manga has a lot more, and includes some events after the anime, and even the truth behind Hoshinaru.
While I would normally say short but sweet, Narutaru deosn't qualify for the latter, having more of a bitter taste thanks to the plot. Still, it's worth a 6.5 of 10 from me.
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