Earth Girl/Maiden Arjuna

[Megane]

I saw a couple of the episodes fansubbed a year or two back, and I didn't think much of it then. But I recently saw the whole of this series on DVD, and I was so impressed, I am now considering buying it. Before I engage in a little "e-commerce", what did others think about the series? Did they find it too preachy for their tastes? Or did anyone actually learn anything from it?

Is is a bad thing when an anime tries to reach you on such a directly moral level?

[Go-lytely]

I saw a couple of the episodes fansubbed a year or two back, and I didn't think much of it then. But I recently saw the whole of this series on DVD, and I was so impressed, I am now considering buying it. Before I engage in a little "e-commerce", what did others think about the series? Did they find it too preachy for their tastes? Or did anyone actually learn anything from it?

Is is a bad thing when an anime tries to reach you on such a directly moral level?

Well, I didnt find it all that interesting and the pro-eco message did get quite annoying. It was very obvious when they were getting on their soapbox and sometimes it didn't flow too well with the story. So yes, too preachy for me.

[Tzurial]

I did find it a little too soapboxy- and im even a big conservationist. i think they could have delivered the message in a more subtle way and definately less repetative. But overall I kinda liked it (and the soundtrack is amazing!!)

[Lambda]

The answer to the title question is both! It is an important message, but it is presented in a crashingly unsubtle way, so to anyone who already understands what it's saying it's just tiresome.

[NoSanninWa]

Waaay too soapboxy, but on the other hand it was an important lesson. I really liked this series. I liked the characters and I liked the story. Heck, I even liked the ending. Oh, yes, I liked the message also. I actually learned a few things from this series. It's one flaw is that it wasn't a bit more subtle. Even so, the content of the message was admirable.

[Rama]

Well, besides the obvious message Arjuna is beautifully drawn, has great music
(Yoko Kanno) and an interesting plot.
I'd say watch the first episode again and decide if you want it.

[Megane]

Thanks for the opinions people. Ignoring the messages it tries to get across for a moment, I thought it made a very good drama. The underlying story of Juna and Tokio's relationship and how it develops when Juna is given the eco-warrior responsibility of Earth's defender against the Rajaa was nice and believable (as far as Japanese girls saving the Earth goes these days, anyway).

Yes, the music was a great mix from Yoko Kanno, and suited the series extremely well. Throw in some impressive while not over the top CG, and I feel that all together there's enough to keep your mind off those kinda intrusive messages.

[Akkarael]

I completely agree, Megane... there are plenty of positive things to find in this series - amazing images, an original idea or two, and a very organic style of music that I still enjoy listening to, two years after watching Arjuna.

I think it's definitely daring for an anime to be so outspoken about environmental issues, and yet it's all a bit ironic that this encouragement to return to an agricultural, rural style of living is promoted by an *anime* series - a rather evolved product of technology!

By the very end of the series I did find myself getting rather fed up with the disjointed storyline and the eco-messages, but that doesn't mean there isn't something to appreciate in this anime.

I hear the dvds are of good quality and have some nice extras, but whether it's something you'd like to add to your collection and watch again and again is, of course, a choice only you can make! :)

[Supernaut]

Actually just finished watching this series. Generally enjoyable, I did find the message a bit unsubtle and repetitive near the end. Lots of interesting concepts though!

[diabolistic]

The beginning few episodes baited me.
They introduced eco-problems in a very artistic manner.

But then..disaster strikes..

I didn't think much of the ending, either
:\

They should've talked more about the innevitable water crisis!
Did you know that less that 1% of all surface water is drinkable?
now THATS an environmental issue they should talk about :frustrated:

[Gaara11]

I've never regretted buying a dvd so much thann when I bought this one. It sure was a waste of money. Considering all the hype, it just didn't do it for me.

[Kittie Rose]

I've taken to watching this recently. While the overpreachiness is cringeworthy(and this is keeping in mind that I was interested in watching it to begin with for being a big Earthy person, just because I strongly believe in saving the environment doesn't mean I believe GM is always bad, Nuclear plants are always unsafe, etc.) it's so beautiful I can't stop watching. And the character interactions and overall feel of the anime is very nice.

Are there any other similiar earthy animes that are less preachy? I do like that they save the planet with BADASS helicopters(the one Blackout from the TF Movie turns into too?) and supercomputers. I'd like to see more of that. We might have fucked the earth up with bad technology, but chances are, if we're going to fix it, it's going to be with good technology, not sitting up a mountain saving insects. I've always liked the character of Gaea in greek mythology, but she's nearly always left out of all mythology type stuff too. Though she was voiced by WHOOPI GOLDBERG in Captain Planet, which is hilarious, especially since the guy who played LaForge was in it too.

The whole thing kind of reminds me of the episode of the old 80s Transformers cartoon called The Golden Lagoon. It basically had the Transformers get into a BADASS fight over a lagoon that gave them uber p0wer, but every few seconds it would cut down to the ground and trees falling over and deer getting squashed. It was quite disturbing if you're a kid. I imagine Arjuna would be too.