Anime: Terra e... (2007) b5u27

If you are one of those people who have finished watching most of the good anime and are looking around for something that won't be too cliche, you might want to check this out.

Though this anime is not too long, it feels long because a lot of things happen in this anime over quite a long period of time (from when Jomy the main character was a kid all the way to about 40yrs) and because they took the time for character development, we see the changes in them and we feel attached and love them.

The scifi aspect in this is on the levels of Brazil (imdb.com/title/tt0088846) while trying to bring in enough excitement so as not to bore the non-hardcore people. Things like how the world has moved to a point where there are no longer any normal births and people are surprised that a person can create a baby by themselves! Like most good sci-fi movies we can see the logic behind the actions and that this is something that might really happen to our world. But there are lots of fantasy aspects too, the mu people itself, who have super-human powers.

And its full of subtle messages of how we the people act in real life, irrespective of what race or belief system that we have:

How important trust is, and how easily it is lost. How small minded we can be. How weak we are and how that causes us to be cruel and uncaring. How we are unable to understand the advice or the emotions of people older than us because we have just not seen enough of life (The young mu make some serious decisions to settle down while they are being actively chased by humans, even though the elders tell them not to and tell them the suffering they had endured to get them to this point of safety, yet they just don't understand and make bad decisions.).

How all that we want is a loving partner and to raise a home and just be happy. How most people are just plain stupid and blindly follow the leader as they themselves are not able to see thing clearly. And finally the reality that there aren't any real enemies when we look from a really high perspective, its all just misunderstanding due to our immature unintelligent mind (I think this is the message that terra e is trying to tell us).

But the ending was not satisfactory. Compared to how the rest of the anime was, the last episode which wrapped up everything was rushed and they made it a silly kind of cheeky (not the kind that is heartwarming. I love things like Clannad), and it sort of made me angry.

The animation, editing, sound, etc., is all of a very high standard, nothing much to discuss there. The story is what they seemed to have concentrated on and that was really good (except that last episode).

Terra e... is dramatic, epic and very much sci-fi, three good things, backed by a relatively strong cast and engaging plot, but there are a few things here and there dragging it down. let's break it down, shall we.

Art & Animation

character designs are ok, some characters stand out more than others, some are also, well, prettier than others, but it's only a select few who are total pretty-boys, but most of the cast is pretty average in of attractiveness in anime, hehe. some characters are very similar looking to some other characters from a better-known space opera series (*cough, Logh, cough*). they convey enough identity to maintain solid presence, so that's cool, but there's little beyond that.

some bits of space warfare are portrayed pretty good, too, however, the rest of it feels pretty generic for a space opera. all the human planets look the same, the cities are relatively uninspired generic "future" cities, even though this bit is sorta explained by the plot and setting, but there's a ton of space (heh) for some creativity here, yet I feel there's little done here.

technically, animation's good, but nothing special. together, this section gets, hmm, an 8/10.

Sound

actors are doing a good job. I don't anything too extraordinary, though, but there were no fails, too. music was a bit of a letdown, though. bgm was ok most of the time, but nothing special. the op/ed songs were typical anime jpop trash. nothing much to add. 7/10

Story & Characters

This is where things get interesting. meat of every review, right here. so, how should I put this. hmm. I know, I'll break it down. I'll try and be spoilerless, but I will describe the general direction of the series, so be warned.

setting:
since this is a space opera, the setting is appropriately space-y, humans living all over the pla...I mean, space, with planets being represented as a single city as is usual for space operas. however, the interesting and unique part (as far as I know, of course) for this anime is the way the human society is governed. seeing how humans fucked up their original home - earth, they've built a control system for themselves that would prevent them from doing excessive things that might lead to another global fuckup. this system, then, is both the one ensuring peaceful lives and, well, the one also causing some serious troubles with the humans, as it does often conflict with human nature. not only that, but there're also some genetic mutations occuring within humans granting some of them psionic powers, and this system is set up to root this out.
Mu, the united psionic humans, vs this system and its human subordinates is the core conflict of the whole series.

the actual story:
given the core conflict, this series actually sport some impressive pace, that at the same time does not feel rushed. you won't be bored, and the conflict that I sketched in will transform considerably before your eyes. the cool part is that we're shown both sides of the story, and they both undergo considerable developments, focusing heavily on character development as the driving force of the change. it's nice to see an anime that is not afraid of death, there're almost no immortal characters on this one, people feel vulnerable and, thus, that slight bit more real. the actual story, while never abandoning the core conflict, present us with several themes along its path from both growing up, the natural love between parents and children, friendship and education to the more complicated topics of self-governance, leadership, obedience and genetics. while not all of these themes get as much exploration as I would like, they are not without substance and their presence is a big part of the seriousness of this anime.

characters:
as I said, this anime focuses heavily on character development as the driving force of the plot. and it does have a pretty solid cast, so this works out well. we get to see characters representative of both camps, but characters mostly fall into some sort of stereotypes with rare exceptions (shiroe :/ ). they have strong presence and identity, though, so they're not substance-less, but they do not also have enough of it to really stand on their own in the wider context of other good animes. it reminds me of other, stronger characters, but I doubt it'll work the other way.

so how does it all work together:
it works pretty good - your heart's captivated by the likeable cast, your brain's thinking about the situations characters have to resolve, and it all happens at a good pace. however, there is one big problem with the whole thing. the conflict often turns into a battle, and it is a battle between more conventional technology and psionic powers of Mu, but these very powers are inconsistent. plot-wise, there's little justification or explanation of what these powers are, what are their limits, so sometimes they feel like plot-devices - being able to single handedly destroy soooo much, yet at the next moment failing to take out just a few mere souls, that in comparison with the previous visage of destruction are no more than ants in face of a boot. even worse - there's no telling when a character can do the psionic trick x and when it can't - one moment it is entirely possible, but the other he must play the dramatic part and is thus rendered absolutely incapable of performing psionic trick x that sure would have been very handy. it is this lack of balance of powers that seriously damages the whole story.

characters: 8/10.
story: 8.5/10, approximated to 8/10 for being serious, dramatic, well-paced and asking some good questions, but having poor justification of one of it's core mechanics that affects the whole story.

Value

it's a good and pretty serious space opera. so, once you've seen Logh, and find yourself craving for some more, this works as a temporary fix. it doesn't have enough qualities to really stand as one of the greats in the world of anime, but it is a very solid title, above average. I think it has some re-watch value, too, due to characters and drama, however, nothing too extraordinary. 7/10

Enjoyment

I liked it. It made me think a bit about things of whether this way of organizing human life would be plausible and beneficial or not. it also had a few cool characters that were exciting to watch develop. but it neither grabbed my heart, nor stimulated my mind enough to really secure a place in my personal hall of greats. I'd give it 7.5, but I'll round it to 7. good stuff, but nothing extraordinary.

Well, this is one of the shows that reassures my statement that the releases of 2007 and 2008 were some of the best japanese industry have had, perhaps only losing to those of the very ealy 2000's. Terra e... comes from nothing, a retelling of an old movie of the long lost year 1980. This means this date almost as old as the original Gundam, and well... we all know how different the taste from audiences can be between a couple generations. This could end up as a stupid show that looked old, or just be spoiled by the most recent childish elements. But hell no, this turns to be a very strong show and one of the leading party of its year.

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Art & Animation
So what can you expect from a remake of an old show? Old art style with new animation? Well, to be sincere, you'll be gifted here with a very different and unique visual experience, and suprisingly not created by any of the super big budget studios we have around. The character design feels quite unique, emanating an oldschool feel, but also looking sharp and modern. Their clothing can be a bit stupid looking for today's standard, but they also help to make it more easily distinguishable from other shows. The backgrounds are not much varied, mostly space stuff and typical futuristic building designs, but they are nicely detailed and colored. What can be more easily marked as a flaw are its not-so-fluid animation and the fairly simplistic special effects. But they never harm the show and are good enough for its age, so overall we have a very solid work in this area.

Sound
Terra e... has quite a different sound direction as well. The voice-acting is mature and decent and the sound effects are quite amusing, but the themes and background music are perhaps a bit different from the dramatic atmosphere built for the show. We have tons of talks about prejudice, racial conflicts, fight for survival, society problems, and many other serious threads, yet the music gives us a more happy-go vibe, like this would be all about super mutants fighting each other with giant beams and techno-gizmos. Sure it has as much fighting and shounen parts similar to a Macross, but its talks about racial conflict is even more heavy and focused than Gundam Seed's natural versus coordinators for example. So they could do good use of a heavier and more dramatic soundtrack.

Story
The Mu are a new race, born from humans to perhaps fit the vastness of space. They first appeared years after humanity's left the ravaged Earth behind, but they didn't fit the current standards of the government, ruled by one big computer network that reached the emptiness of space. To avoid disorder, the system has destroyed the Mu whenever it could, but a few of them escaped, dreaming of the blue and beautiful Earth and hoping that one day they can return there and move out of their endless hidding. Within this strict society lives Jomy, an appearently normal looking boy until he is detected as a Mu by the computer system and is fated to removal. He is saved by Blue, the Mu's leader, and his fate is perhaps leading these lonely mutants to their dream, to Earth.

1. Newtype Super Power!
   Perhaps because the original work was released all the way back in 1980, it shares a concept very similar to the original Gundam, which means people mutating to adapt to space and earning psychic abilities. Things are a bit different here because these "newtypes", called Mu in the show, are not just psychic s, they are freaking super-power heroes who can blast big rays, create impregnable force shields, and performs all sorts of miscellaneous activities with their minds and bodies. They look more like a group of X-Men ready to fight against the conservatives area of society, represented here by a big computer system that rules all adults and make sure to make everyone hate the Mu and label them as a galaxy-level threat.
   
   age of Years
   Here's a plot moving device that I love and that most shows use it right. Much like Legend of Galactic Heroes, Berserk, Beast Player Erin, and Gurren Laggan, the show has a few time skips, meaning we'll start with Jomy as a teenager and end with him as a full fledged adult leading the Mu's with Blue's help. Not only this helps to make the protagonist more likeable, but also gives the cast a chance to change and show us different aspects. We see kids growing to be hateful, others to be happy, permanent deaths, issues with the age of time, society managing to expand and change in order to fight the Mu, etc. Its a well used plot device here and help to make the show feel more mature and belieavable even with all the super power stuff.
   
   A Long Social Journey
   Terra e...'s main objective is reaching Earth as initially presented. However, this is not the only goal of the show. It's full of conflicts born from greed, fear, and other human instincts. It deals with lots of heavy topics, especially the one about how the Mu are feared by others and how they can manage to live by themselves. The show moves from cat-and-rat play to a space-school part, later to a more established society's problem, then to a long journey, space war, and pretty much everything a good space drama needs. And it manages to do all of that while still having super powers around and giving the shounen fans lots of exciting action moments, nice fights, talks about who is more powerful, etc.
   
   Fanservice? Bishounens?
   Fortunately, the show is very low on stupid japanee elements that usually spoil the seriousness of shows. But it doesn't mean it's void of it. What we have here are lots of handsome guys with girly features, which translates to bishounens. It's pretty much like what happens in Gundam 00's character design. They even act a bit in the way a bishounen fan can expect, but they never harm the seriouness of the show or hamper the progression of the steady and vibrant pace the show has.
   

Character
Much like the story, Terra e...'s cast is very powerful. It's certainly helped by the time skips in the show, meaning we can see the characters in different stages of their lives, but it's also a consequence of their more complex personalities and interesting personal dramas. For a cast as big as what we have here, the job in this section is simply superb.

1. The protagonist shines
   Watching a protagonist grow from a crying baby to a mature man is always a pleasure. We don't see this quite often, and perhaps the best we have in such style are Lohengran, Guts, and Erin. Jomy is not as great as those, as his problems are far too focused on big-scale things, but he's still superbly developed through the show. He learns quite a lot in the first half in both his maturity and his powers, and his fears and dreams slowly start to get shape and move from his initial very typical shounen-lead persona. At the later stages he becomes a bit stagnated because the focus change to other characters, but he still remains a great lead anyway.
   
   Story Fronts
   The show is not solely focused on Jomy. It shows how the whole Mu, and some of their enemies from humanity's computer-ruled society, act. What we have here are other story fronts, showing the army's side and as well as how the new generation of Mu deal with their elders. This grants screen time to the whole cast, and a great deal of it uses this shining time exceptionally well, evolving and changing as they suffer from events around them, and also influencing other characters.
   
   But they lack impact
   The cast is huge, the characters are fairly well developed, they have nice bishounen designs, we even have some permanent death to important characters, but they lack something else to be remarkable. This happens for a few reasons, but mainly because there's a lot of them. And I mean really a LOT. And we don't have only one time skip, we have many. As a result you won't all of them besides Jomy, Blue, and another one you may identify yourself with. This is a issue typical of shounens, but at least we have have a good content. Forgetable, but great while it lasts.
   

Value
Well, let's resume. "A show about space, with an utopia society ruled by one big computer". This certainly was dealt with many past scy-fy shows that tried to preview the future in the 70's, 80's, and even before this. "Humanity evolves and a few mutants are born to adapt space". A mix of X-Men with the Newtypes, nothing new. "A journey to long lost Earth that humanity left behind after destroying its environment". A teaching about taking care of our planet? Nothing new as well.

So, it's a big merge of space-drama ideas, ed with an oldschool art style filled with bishounens and super powers! Hell, this would surely go wrong if released after 2010. But what we have here is an almost perfect execution. Terra e... manages to bring all this elements, some of them which don't even fit with each other, and create a space drama that even most Gundams have failed to do. It's void of fillers, uses time skip very well, never resort to fanservices, lolis, shy girls, lame romances, etc. It's an all serious space shounen with the power to please even a few girls! That's awesome!

Enjoyment
This is a show every scy-fy fan needs to watch. It's one of the best of the genre and still manages to mix more shounen stuff to make it pleasing to fans of Gundams and those who like bits of super powers in their tales. It can even please a few girls with the bishounen characters and a nice character development. However, if you're looking for something funny or light hearted you better keep away.

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Comments
Well, I've watched this right after the release, and only later I tried the original old movie, so most of the impact its tale had on me was because of the TV show. It's a superb show, one of the few that I truly appreciate as a way to tell a big epic long story. Heroic Age did something similar in the same year, and it failed because it lost itself to the super powers and those epic giant beings fighting each other. Terra e... keeps itself grounded all the way, focusing more on the issues of the Mu, how they deal with society, their long dream, their doubts, fears, everything a solid show needs to grow bolder and more mature.

Space Operas are a hard genre to direct properly. Too many characters, too many areas, too many events and interactions. Plus, usually the pay back is a lot smaller than just making a generic low budget moeblob or a stereotypical fighting shounen. But in the cases they do them right, I always place them in the higher areas of my anime list. And this is one of these rare cases; close to my all time favourites Legend of Galactic Heroes and Babylon 5, is this one. Not only they did it right but it also it has a high amount of superpowers that makes it feel like a (yup) fighting shounen to be more appealing to males, and soft shounen ai overtones to be appealing to females. It is thus combining a lot of elements in an attempt to be accessible to a broader audience WITHOUT mes badly as most multi-genre anime do. Of course, I ended up liking it mostly for the space opera portion but I was at the same time not displeased with all rest, a sign of good directing.

The basic story has to do with humanity in the far future turning to a bunch of xenophobes, isolating themselves in a fully automated world and destroying anything that differs. One of the elements that the computers make sure to eliminate is a portion of people who are born with different genes that give them superpowers. Categorized as a different species called Mu, the computer is killing them in secrecy but some manage to be saved in time by other Mu, and they aim to find their own society to live in peace.

I have watched lots of sci-fi dystopia scenarios and this sure felt special, despite being based on a story written decades ago. It’s a bit like X-Men, a bit like [/b] Logan’s Run, [/b] but the overall feeling still feels unique. It is definitely not following any of the running done-to-death stereotypes, which counts as a big plus in my book. Do you guys want originality? Look for retro titles, lol.

Anyways, the whole thing is quite interesting in its themes, and doesn’t chicken out to show major characters DYING and STAYING DEAD, as well as depicting mass murders in both parties without taking direct sides. The seemingly victimized Mu sometimes act very brutal themselves, thus not any different than the “evil” humans. I am telling you, there aren’t many anime that go so lethal on their characters, especially when they offered a lot of time fleshing them out. The pacing is also fast (compared to the average anime out there) and even does a few time skips to get over the calm periods between major events. This sacrifices smooth transition when it comes to character development but it otherwise helps to keep you on your toes for what will happen next. Oh well, it definitely feels a lot more detailed than the short older version it had in the 80’s so let’s not be too picky.

Artwork and animation are very good, especially when it comes to sceneries. This is quite a surprise coming from a production by rather minor studios. The human society and the alien environments are amazing when it comes to details and colouring; makes the whole thing to look like a dark fairytale. The human designs are not bad either, but definitely look generic and simplistic to the point you forget how they look. In fact, this is a major problem I found with the show; I have a big problem to their faces after a few years past by, something that didn’t happen with Legend of Galactic Heroes (I am talking about the major ones only). In a similar fashion, despite the focus on the characters, you only end up ing the events but not the people experiencing them, as if the story is more important than the people who morph it. Although that can be an interesting form of narration as well, it only makes you feel like the whole anime is presented impersonally. Makes it harder to sympathize with the drama if you do not identify with the characters. It’s not a major problem but most viewers tend to prefer interesting characters rather interesting stories, which is exactly what again makes space operas hard to be appreciated by the masses.

And speaking of the characters, most are drawn to be handsome. Which is nothing new to most anime but I know many who didn’t like the show because they characters look so pretty they border gay fan service. And yes, it does aim to do that and even has some very subtle gay scenes. It aims at a Josei demographic too so it was expected. But that is all; it never goes overboard with the whole thing so just show a bit of tolerance here. The main young men in the series are not developed too much but are not mediocre yaoi archetypes either. How can you tell this? Simple, they are part of an interesting story. Gaycrap never have a good story.

The music part is mostly made up of jpop pieces, which is a big disappointment if you try to view it as a space opera. I was spoiled by Logh to expect classic music and chorus and I got these nicely done but eventually forgettable songs. Oh well, it is also shounen and josei so I can’t have it all. Not bad but not amazing. Voice acting is otherwise fine for the roles everybody had, but because you tend to NOT the characters it’s as if any talents in the roster went a bit to waste. Nothing bad here either.

I give this anime a rather mediocre score for value and enjoyment. It is definitely memorable for its themes and aesthetics, but on the other hand you will most likely not care to any of the characters and the story is not that complicating to deserve a second watch. It would be a lot better if they had managed to make me care about them more. And I don’t mean stronger gay vibes. Other than that, it is a very good blend of multiple genres that can please, even partially, most kinds of viewers.

Note: This review is based on A-E&Saizen and Makoto fansubs. Quality varies between episodes, but most of the encodes are slightly too blurry to make Terra's good animation justice. Translation is not perfect, but still does a pretty good job at conveying the emotion of the show.



Originally written as manga in 1977 by Yamazaki Osamu (Itazurana Kiss, Wrath of the Ninja) Toward the Terra[/b] is a space opera telling a story about the condemned race of Mu which wanders the enormous wastes of space both to find its promised land - Terra, and to escape its vicious, blood-thirsty pursuers - humanity. Humans themselves have given up freedom to attain order and peace, letting computers do all the decision making. Mu, regarded by computers as a threat to purity of human species, must be eradicated without any compromises. Only the destined leader of the mu, bestowed the name Soldier, can change the fate of mu and humanity alike.

I guess to find innovation in this day and age you have to search for it in mangas written in the previous millennium. Seriously, in the age of overused fanservice and incomplete filler-filled crap, Terra e comes off as a dose of fresh air. Though not perfectly adapted, as the speedy pace and jumps between dozen of years don't let characters flesh themselves out well, the story of this show is commendable. From a well thought-out setting, fast paced never-boring plot and a complete, meaningful ending, Toward the Terra is a great addition to the otherwise thin genre making you wish more anime would try to imitate it. You might be worried about this being Takemiya Keiko's work, but I can assure you that there is little to none yaoish overtones and it's perfectly safe to watch, though I must it male characters do get along very well and most females are given behind-the-curtains roles. Either way, though not a masterpiece, Toward the Terra is a solid show, worthy to be picked up by anyone interested in the genre or anime as a whole.

Animation: 8/10

Animation by Tokyo Kids (Ayakashi) exceeds in background imaginary. Usual scenes of ship quarters or other indoor places are good, but when it comes to planet surfaces it truly delivers. The good use of lighting and the high amount of little details brings the environment pictures to, sometimes, jaw-dropping picturesque, good direction of using the right moments to show beautiful scenery also helps ( my words when you see Yggdrasil). Character designs, on the other hand, are not as good. Though peculiar and seemingly well detailed at the beginning, characters start to show sharp lines and minor facial deformations later. It doesn't help that the original designs, save for Soldier Blue, are quite generic. Motion fluidity is something you'd expect from a show made in 2007, it doesn't really excel, but you sure wont be annoyed by any choppy movements.

Sound: 8/10

I must say that both pop-like OPs are quite a let-down for a show so big and epic in magnitude. Space always goes well with either classic music if you want to be epic, or techno/trance if you want to be cyberpunk, but it sure doesn't go well with pop. On the other hand the songs themselves aren't that bad, for pop. Anyway, EDs go better with the show being ballad/lullaby-like melancholic songs, but still fail to be distinctive. Thankfully, if one wishes for distinction, background music by Takanashi Yasuharu (Naruto Shipuuden, Mononoke) supplies plenty. Quite a few different uber-epic, mournful vocal chant pieces do wonders for Terra's atmosphere. That's the kind of music THAT indeed does fit space and, especially, genocide of a race. There are quite a few scenes which would work half as efficient in emotion department if not for the clever use of epic music. Other pieces, which play during more generic moments are also pretty good, if not particularly memorable.

Thanks to many history-having seiyuu voice-acting in Toward the Terra is, again, solid. Main character Jomy is voiced by one of the best female-to-male actors Sugiyama Noriyaki bring even more beauty to male voice scene.

Story: 8/10

The setting is so good it actually has more potential than the story delivers, the plot is still pretty good nonetheless, mainly as they don't waste time on any crap, like fillers. If I'm not mistaken the show covers time-span of about sixteen years, so, yeah, the pace is fast. Though I felt that some jumps through time were rushed, as they jumped before I could get into characters, the long time-span and all humanity encoming proportion of the story makes the show appear really epic. The fact that the show doesn't feel guilty about killing its characters left and right shows that people in the 80s knew what a good drama was, unlike what the lukewarm stuff nowadays is. Though Terra e, never becomes too philosophical, it indeed does have quite a few thought-provoking lines and the protect-environment message is well-received. The few drawbacks would be that due to the really fast pace some space battles feel anti-climatic and are over before you even notice. It doesn't take more than four episodes to fight and end an all-out war. Some stuff regarding the setting and potential politics are also ruthlessly discarded. Otherwise, it's a good story, well told, I've seen better, but a complete closure, few good twists and rarely-boring pace makes it a very time-worthy watch.

Characters: 6/10

I am quite reluctant to state, as I haven't really read the original manga, but I feel that the adaptation to anime really hurt the character department in Toward the Terra. While brimming with potential and semi-interesting personalities characters fail to entertain due to the many time jumps this show has. It's just when the character begins to flesh himself out and you, like, start getting into him *bam* the show jumps 8 years into the future. You weren't sure if you understood him when he was younger and he is a completely different person now, great. It takes the later half of the show when the jumps cease to seriously flesh out, otherwise forsaken characters, and there is quite a number of them. Actually there are way too many characters for the show to handle, some barely make cameo appearances before getting killed and you can barely keep track of all the generations of people coming and going. Ultimately, only Jomy and Keith are full-fledged well fleshed-out and even developed characters, but it takes the ending of the anime to finally achieve it. Physis and Soldier Blue also show much potential and are actually quite good characters, at least, judging from the pieces of information you get. Unfortunately, due to lack of screen-time their potential is never given justice, though you could say that both Jomy and Blue go the same way anyway. Either way, characters are not really all that interesting. Though they work well with story, provide plenty of drama and basically do everything they need to, none of them really become too distinctive to remain memorable long after you've watched this show. Not to mention that the majority of characters don't even have time to say a word.

Myers-Briggs personality type indicator:

Tony - ISTP (C)
Physis - INFJ (C)
Soldier Blue - INFJ (C)
Keith Anyan - ISTJ (C)
Sam Houston - ESFP (D)
Swena Darlton - ESFJ (F)
Jomy Marquis Shin - ENFJ (C)

Show Spoiler

Value: 7/10

Value certainly ceases once you already know the every twist in the plot, as, really, the most interesting part of the show is seeing how everything will finally play out, as it's quite hard to predict. Nonetheless, the good visuals and some great epic music invites me to watch this anime again. Though it's not the type of show you'd watch a few times consecutively, it's a worthy keep in anyone's collection, good to re-watch after few years have ed and memories have faded.

1. Conclusion[/u]:[/b] Recommended for anyone who is 13+ years old Toward the Terra[/b] is a solid space opera in an otherwise thin genre. Though it wont do wonders it's a good show and I recommend giving it a shot as long as you don't have space-allergy. Other space operas which might be of interest if you like the genre include the epic of epics Seikai no Monshou

.[/i][/ol]

<<PLEASE RATE THIS REVIEW>>


Animation:
A Square Enix production, and quite well done at that too. Great detail when it comes to the characters and backgrounds, though a couple of noticeable scenes where "generic" characters are standing behind a main character and there seems to be a drastic difference in clarity. Each character was unique and didn't seem to be fit into a "mold" like many series' do with the same eyes/hair/mouths/etc. Lovely CG scenes as well.

Sound:
Again, high marks for the audio to compliment the video here, very immersing. The initial opening scene immediately drew me in to start the series with a smile on my face while the second I just couldn't get into and commonly skipped. Background music was almost perfect from large orchestras and choir aahs to some upbeat guitar riffs for certain battle scenes. The sheer amount of emotion put into every character made all the difference and was just like ear candy.

Story:
The synopsis posted on the main page does not do the series justice. The scope seems so much farther when you actually are watching it. What's great is though it is a 24-episode show, it has the same feel as watching a very well put-together movie. The best word for it is epic.

Everything seems to happen at the right point, in its own time. Time itself es years sometimes from episode to episode at the very beginning. Instead of introducing one character and forcing him to be a hero in some uncomprehendable amount of time just to make the story line up with the actual episodes, the story begins much earlier to see meager beginnings instead of cheesing it up or making a sloppy flashback or backstory.

A certain level of politics and flawed human (emotional) are also involved, done so at a level to not be distracting but instead realistic and built toward the over-all story.

Character:
Utterly AMAZING. Though the story is wonderful, the characters are what this show is all about. Every one of them has a soul and life to them that brings their will to life and defines their purpose for even being there.

Another fine point is that there is not necessarily a focus on one character in particular, but of the lives of everyone involved, on both "sides" of the human/Mu war. And to make it even sweeter there is no distinct "good" or "evil".
Often you will end up sympathizing with the "bad" guy but end up liking him anyways for various reasons just as you might think the "good" guy is making horrible decisions and growing cold only to find you can relate all the same.

In the end the characters end up stressing the show's point about the heights and pitfalls of humanity and delivering a powerful message.

Value:
Because of its ability to portray a message on the scale it
did, I believe there is definite replay value. However, since the premise and secrets held without are revealed a bit there won't be as much revealed during multiple re-watches.

Enjoyment:
Extremely fun to watch at the beginning, though the middle had a few lulls. Nearer to the end it fulfilled my sense of curiosity and was able to touch a sensitive nerve during a few scenes, so definitely enjoyable.

Summary:
Unless you utterly hate space or super-power type anime, I would say that THIS SHOW IS A MUST WATCH. With its capacity to entertain and thrill, you shouldn't grow bored and with such a great message backing it up, this one'll be put in peoples' top lists for a long time.