Author: Kitoh Mohiro
Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000 Kitoh Mohiro

Dragons, monsters, young girls and airplanes, oh my! How could anyone refuse such basic elements in a story? Actually, fairly easily, since you can get those from pretty much any story out there. However, you probably would never get the result that is NARUTARU. This is one engaging series and, after four volumes, I still have no idea how it will turn out.
Like most stories, NARUTARU has a short prologue to catch your attention before it settles in to introducing the characters and the environment: Several jet fighters over the pacific ocean get radar contact from an unidentified object. It quickly comes in to visual range and it is apparently a huge monster. The fighters attempt to track it, but it quickly outmaneuvers them. After a short while, it dives in to the ocean at a velocity that would shatter any normal craft. The pilots are left wondering what they just saw.
Tamai Shiina, our main character, has just been dropped off on an island for her summer vacation. This island is where her father grew up and, since her father works as part of a small aircraft manufacturer/airport company, she can get such rides quite easily. Shiina is a boisterous and happy tomboy. She would rather go swimming with her friends than stay inside and work on her summer vacation homework, especially since she has not seen her friends on the island for quite some time. She digs up some of her father's old drawings in an attic and finds among them various drawings of planes, plus one of a rather bizarre flying monster.
That night Shiina has a dream where something is calling her name. She wonders who is calling her and tries to distance herself from the voice by saying she does not like the name "Shiina." She tells the voice to be careful and not to call her by that name. She hears her name called again, this time louder. She wakes up and sees one of her friends, Satoru, calling her. She has slept until 11am!
That day Shiina spends swimming with her friends on the coast of the island. Being the tomboy that she is, she challenges Satoru to see who can swim to the torii (Japanese-style archway) that is a good distance from where they are sitting. Satoru says they were told not to swim that far—it is too dangerous. Shiina takes this as a challenge and heads out. As Shiina gets out to the torii, she feels the long swim wearing her down, but she refuses to turn back. When she gets out there, she waves back to her friends on the shore then dives to see what it is like under the torii. Shiina is suddenly surprised to see a five-pointed star shaped creature staring up at her with huge eyes. Startled and tired, she lets out her breath. Not able to surface again, Shiina slowly sinks. She realizes that she will die and will vanish from the world she knows. Fear slowly recedes as she loses consciousness.
Her friends back on the shore called for adults when they saw Shiina was having trouble, and they begin searching for her. There is no body to be found, though. Suddenly a call comes in over the radio—Shiina has been found in the middle of the town! No one knows how she got there unconscious, wet and still in her bathing suit.
The beginning seems to follow a rather common plot device: Mysterious monsters exist. Young person gets into trouble. Young person bonds with one such monster. However, do not be fooled. This story goes a couple steps further. By the end of the first volume you know that there are enemies, but their methods are unclear. Just how are they going to accomplish their plans? The grownups are also not standing still either. They will discover the truth sooner than many of the characters would want them to. Where did these creatures (called "dragon's children") come from? How do they choose their partners? What can they really do? Why is Shiina's relationship different from other pairs? Even after volume four, very few questions are answered. Usually the answers just make matters worse, leaving no one better off.
The art is refreshing. Kitoh-sensei uses a fine line, but it is not sketchy. The characters are not detailed, yet neither are they plain. Each character is extremely distinctive, giving them an immediate depth. Shiina's bright and somewhat mercurial personality shows through in her face very easily. Even Shiina's dragon's child, Hoshimaru, with his blank, wide-eyed stare conveys rather appropriate emotions, if at times impenetrable. The backgrounds are overall pretty simple. They are mainly used as place settings. Sometimes they will feature an amazing amount of detail given to one element or another; never too much and they remain understated for most of the story, creating a nice complement to the characters they support.
Where is this story going? I am unsure, however, I am definitely enjoying the ride so far. If you want your kid and monster partner stories with some twists and more depth than usual, then you should pick up NARUTARU and see where it takes you.

Published by Afternoon KC
Run: 4 volumes (and continuing)
Price: ¥505
Format: 206 ~ 216 pages, b/w
Vol. 1: ISBN4-06-314186-1
Vol. 2: ISBN4-06-314197-7
Vol. 3: ISBN4-06-314217-5
Vol. 4: ISBN4-06-314229-9
Where to buy