Title:
Director: Takuya Igarashi
Writer: Yoji Enokido
Studio: Bones
U. S. Distributor: Sentai Film Works, Section 23
U. S. Release Date: August 11th, 2015
Format: Blu-ray / 325 Minutes / 13 Episodes
Genre: Mecha, Sci Fi, Romance
Age Rating: TV 14
Overall Personal Rating: B
Synopsis:
Things are looking grim for Earth’s defenders. Although Daichi and Teppai have managed to slow or stop most of the Planetary Gear’s direct attacks so far using their Impacters and Livlasters, there’s no denying that the numbers are slowly turning against them. Not only have their opponents managed to recruit a half dozen of the Designer Children, but now new cracks are forming in the Midsummer’s Knights’ own alliance.
During a brief break at the seaside, Hana’s confusion over her own nature and her relationship with Daichi comes to a head, leading to an unexpected revelation. But as stunned as Daichi might be, it’s nothing compared to the shock that Kube is about to receive at the hands of his own allies. Twists, betrayals, and amazing new powers are about to be unleashed, a new Livlaster joins the Knights, and Setsuna finally comes out of seclusion to let loose her own brand of mayhem as the war for Earth’s Orgone energy builds to the inevitable climax.
Commentary:
Captain Earth does something that is relatively common in the anime world and that is rely on a rather old narrative to follow through the second half of the series. After the first few episodes of collection 2 I realized that I was seeing a rehash of decades of battle anime unfold in front of my eyes. Now as a fan of the art form I realize that this looks cool and says a lot about the cultural aesthetic of the Japanese. I just wish I could see a new approach to how the protagonist and antagonist end their conflict.
Captain Earth also takes the love of ones environment and makes it a key feature in the outcome of the battle. For Captain Earth it was all too clear that the Kill-T-Gang was going to either sub-come to the natural beauty of the planet they wanted to devour or that they would perish by the hands of a weaker foe who just so happens to have a faith and love that will overcome all obstetrical. As much as this archetype is I don’t think it was the best modus operandi.
Overall Grade: B
Even with the tired plot devices I still enjoyed Captain Earth and feel like all Mecha fans will find something in it that they will like. For the non Mecha fandom I would think they will shy away from the series just because it is simply a Shonen Mecha.
I will say that the animation is top notch for a series that relies heavily on CG. Studio Bones did their standard quality production that allows the series to live or die based on the writing and voice actors. So, simply put, if you are a fan of the Mech series then Captain Earth is for you.
