In any event, I'd recomend it if you liked "Now and Then, Here or There" or "Alien 9." I think the best way to describe it is that its a four way cross between those two, Pokemon, and a generic school drama. The beginning is sorta carefree, prompting Dark Horse comics to descbribe the manga this way "Narutaru is the popular Japanese title for Shadow Star, a fun science fiction title featuring super-cute amphibious creatures and lots high-flying adventure." I can see how they might have thought that...if they were smoking something or didn't bother reading the whole thing. And somehow this was carried by Tokyo Kids! I mean, yeah, they only show the silhouette when a severed limb goes flying, and hide things with camera angles and such, but still!
Oh, I should also say that the animation isn't that good by modern standards, though its never really unattractive. They're portrayal of military hardware is off too, though they get the appearences right.