Captain Earth – 02 & 03

Bones is a studio that does many different types of series,but their one niche they keep coming back to is the mecha shows. It’s a good thing that they manage to do mecha series really well and keep doing enough things to make it interesting, otherwise I would have called lazy. Of course, I can still do that, because even though Captain Earth is a good series, anime still needs to branch out. It’s one of the many things holding this medium back.

But yeah, you know what this series really reminds me of? A more laid-back Eureka Seven Ao. The themes are basically the same: DO NOT LET CHILDREN PILOT MECHAS. The big difference is that the cast of Eureka Seven consisted out of a bunch of hotheads, while the cast of Captain Earth…. there really are many introverts among them. Heck, the only real extraverts are some extras, the bad guys, plus that one hacker girl Daichi is a bit inbetween, but apart from that this was surprisingly composed. That lead to some awkward moments especially in episode two, but still these episodes were quite good at making us read inbetween the lines: saying things with other things than just words.

In terms of pacing episodes 2 and 3 are very different from episode 1: this show changed from really fast pacing, to a relatively slow pacing in order to let the characters play themselves out. Okay, that works for me, as long as they don’t make this last for too long. We now actually have a good feeling for the characters. A lot of fast-paced series fail to do that.

My favorite character so far is the uncle. A lot has to do with his charisma, but he’s also the main guy in charge and he does what he can to both protect the earth, and allow the main cast to be children as much as possible in this constrained environment in which only they are able to actually do something against the aliens.

11 thoughts on “Captain Earth – 02 & 03

  1. ofcourse, everything posted here is of your choice, and which anime you review and which you don’t is up to you, but don’t you think you gave up on some of the anime too quickly? for example Hajime no ippo or Golden Time? You did have few complains about them, but I never thought that you disliked those shows. Just want some insight, not attempting to argue, as i prefer reading your reviews before trying out a show.

    1. Unfortunately, it seems psgels doesn’t have the time and/or interest to watch every show with potential anymore. He just watches the shows that interest him. I can’t blame him since I do the same thing. It is a shame though so this blog used to be a comprehensive source for reviews for almost every good anime series that came out. I always check psgels’ review when deciding whether to watch a show because I usually agree with his opinion. Nowadays I have to take my chances. I don’t know of any other anime reviewers whose opinions match mine as well as psgels’.

      1. well, i guess everything does have an end. Hopefully this blog won’t die out soon. Anyhow, l’ll just go through his past reviews and see what i want to watch.

  2. I’ve watched this series up to episode 4 and I’m not sure about following it. To be honest, it looks correct and no much more, well done but boring…

    On the other hand, Sidonia no Kishi and M3: Sono Kuroki Hagane are less usual, they probably have more flaws, but better chances of delivering…

    1. I think saying “Knights of Sidonia” doesn’t make you any less of anime fan and actually a lot less douchy. I mean it is the official LITERAL translation and we are all speaking English here last time I checked …

      1. Yes… except the web where I watch this anime actually uses the original name, so writing it that way kind of came naturally and I’m pretty sure it’s clear what I was talking about…

        And even if it is not, I fail to see why would it be such a big deal…

        In any case, an advise, next time you try to make a point, try no to insult the person you’re addressing, it usually produces better results…

        Have a nice day Bam.

        1. Advice noted. However being pretty clear what you’re talking about is another reason why it’s even more unnecessary to use the Japanese name. And my criticism isn’t aimed at you personally but the whole “hardcore” anime community which is taking this Japanophilia thing a bit too far.

          It undermines all the hard work and effort that goes into localizing animes and is one main reason why we see so few quality dubs since why even bother when the so-called fans will just trash talk it and go back to pirating fansubs and not because of quality mind you, but instead to feel a juvenile exclusive superiority within the fandom. We’re only perpetuating an inward cycle of repetition and trope-driven cliche works by focusing on silly terms such as “wincest”, “loli” and “moe” which shuns people away from anime and makes it a perverted outlet for rejects rather than a legitimate medium of art and creativity which it really is.

          And just go ahead and say out loud “Sidonia no kishi” and then “knights of Sidonia” and tell me with all honesty which one is more esoterically pleasing and majesttic.

          You have a good day as well Ellixus.

          1. And just go ahead and say out loud “Sidonia no kishi” and then “knights of Sidonia” and tell me with all honesty which one is more esoterically pleasing and majesttic.

            Just throwing in my two cents but this is really a matter of personal taste. There’s an audience that loves dubs and english translations on everything and a localization that includes replacing even the cover art to something of a more local style to pass it off as locally made. Then there’s an audience that hates/dislikes it and prefers the original language and art as much as possible. And there’s a whole grey area in between.

            Me, I prefer the original language especially when it comes to the voice track. I love Lord of the Rings and for me, Ian McKellen is Gandalf. I don’t want to hear a japanese actor, or any other actor for that matter, dubbing his role. On the other side of the coin, when it comes to anime and games from Japan, I want the original voice cast’s performance, under the original production team’s supervision. An outsourced third party’s work, no matter how hard they worked on it, is more likely than not to miss the mark somehow. It can work sometimes. Other times it can makes you cringe. Not to say the japanese can’t make weird decisions in naming either. “Attack on Titan”. I was thinking of some sci-fi about an attack on the moon of Titan. Why wasn’t this called “Attack of the Titans” or “Attack on the Titans”?

            Anyway, in general, it’s just weird for me to watch an anime with English voices (although there are exceptions). It’s like watching an Optimus Prime not voiced by Peter Cullen. I’m just weird that way and I’m probably not alone. Please try to bear with people like us.

  3. I like the series but I feel its being pointlessly complex from the start rather than ramping up. Theres so many factions introduced already.

    Globe: want to protect the Earth
    Kill-T-Gang: want to consume it as food
    Salty Dog: Watches over Globe
    Ark: exist in both the human and alien faction, want to help the Aliens for their own unknown purposes.
    Hana: From an unknown other race of aliens
    (Corporation I forget the name of): Developed the Avatar system Kill-T-Gang are using.
    Daichi: Unknown potentially evolved human or celestial entity incarnated in a human.

  4. Captain Earth,

    To start it’s just a bad title, no other way to say it. Next it’s pointless, it’s like watching Evangelion without the Shinji factor.

    I’ve watched up to show 05…which did deliver some good heart moments but it’s almost too late. I find I don’t much care about any of them.

    The story has not been well paced or delivered…it is delivering a mech quite well. Great art and some niffy ideas.

    So it’s more sugar and less meat.

    Still…I’ve watched a lot worse. Worth a look see anyway.

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