Earthian

Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
180 mins
Year
1989

Earthian

By Aki
28th Apr 04

Earthian is a very interesting series that catches your attention right off. The opening is a narration, which explains how the angels of the planet Eden have been watching and protecting the people of Earth for thousands of years. But now, the angels fear the Earthians because of their violent ways. Angels have been sent to Earth to observe the Earthians and report on whether or not the human race should be allowed to live.

So immediately, the fate of the entire human race is at stake here. That's a big enough plot as it is, but within it is another issue: Chihaya. Chihaya is an angel from Eden, one sent to observe the positive side of humans. But angels have light hair and white wings-Chihaya, for some unknown reason, has dark hair and black wings. He is the only angel on Eden with black wings and hair, and he is considered a mutation. The series focuses a lot on Chihaya and his struggle with his mutation. He doesn't know why he's a black angel, and he is trying to find out.

Those are the two main plots, and both are excellent-but the series doesn't give a sense of closure to either of these issues. We spend an entire series searching with Chihaya for the answer to his mutation, waiting for his struggle to be resolved, and following the angel's observations of the negative and positive sides of humanity, waiting for the final verdict as to whether or not they should be destroyed. But by the end, there still is no explanation for Chihaya's mutation, and no final judgment of the human race! The series cuts off, and leaves you sitting, staring at the screen, thinking, "That's it?"

I have been told that the anime version of Earthian came from a very long manga series. Apparently, the people who created the anime version decided to squish the manga series down into four episodes, each approximately 45 minutes long. It is far too short, and moves much too quickly-if you are viewing it for the first time, it can be very confusing. At the beginning of episode one, there are several 'flashback' scenes, so already there is the impression that you are picking up in the middle of a series. The beginning of episode three is even more confusing. I watched this anime all the way through three times, and I am still slightly confused. With the vague beginning and virtually no ending, it isn't very satisfying.

Overall, Earthian has a lot of potential. If the series had been longer, more detailed, and actually followed through with concluding its plots, I think it would be excellent. The characters are fairly well developed, and the art is very nice.

While I don't HIGHLY recommend Earthian, I don't want to tell you to stay away from it either. If you're not terribly bothered by stories without beginnings or endings, go ahead and watch it. Even if it's not the greatest, it's worth seeing.

5/10

-- Aki 28th Apr 04

Earthian Images