My thoughts on Captain Earth

Captain Earth is an anime done by one of the best anime studios behind original (non-adaptations) projects. Studio Bones, aside from doing some excellent adaptations, has created some of the most innovative and fresh anime out there. From the comic-like Heroman, to the intriguing Darker than Black, to my one of my all time favorites, Eureka 7, Bones has always created series that felt fresh. Everything they've brought to the table has been excellent (if a bit confusing).


Yet Captain Earth just...isn't. Bones has set the standard for original anime. It has proven time and time again that a stand-alone can be just as good, if not better than one adapted from a manga/light novel/ whatever. They set the bar for themselves with some of the best anime ever to air on American or Japanese television. 

Let's start with what the anime does right—the animation. The animation is amazing. Hands down the best looking show spring season. The work poured into this shows everywhere. From the fantastic fight scenes, to the attention of detail poured into electronics, the anime is pure eye-candy. Despite any of the flaws I'll get into later, I'd say that it's worth watching for this alone. 
The other thing it does very well is the pacing. While I have more than a few quips about the plot, the pacing of the anime is done very well. It really does feel like an adventure, a wild goose chase that spans the entire globe. It manages to make the mood and tone of every episode feel fresh, while still keeping the momentum of the plot going. This is where Bones has shown that it has grown in its storytelling ability. Eureka 7 had a slow start, and while I think that the first 10 episodes were central to making the anime what it it was, they could've had a little bit more plot injected into them to keep us going. Darker than Black was able to give its series an episodic feel, having plot points that were able to resolve themselves in a reasonable time, but because of this forced viewers to continuously relate to characters more complicated than a physics textbook. 

Wait...does that mech have—

 Captain Earth manages to strike a happy balance, with each episode having its own plot arc, and still managing to give enough plot to make the viewer aware that the bad guys aren't just taking a day off to let our heroes dick around for a bit. 

If you believe this show to be god's gift to anime, stop reading here. This is where all of my criticism begins. Keep in mind as you read this, that I do not hate this anime. Yet because I have seen what the studio can do, I'm prepared to judge it a little harsher than, say, Studio Arms. 

Let's start with the plot. It's not that it's bad, again, just that it's convoluted. I'll get into why this is in the next paragraph, but before I do, I need to point out a few things with the structure of the plot. The whole plot is, for lack of better word, basic. When you get down to it, it's a bunch of aliens who want to destroy Earth. Yet the anime doesn't want us to know this. To hide this they throw a bunch of confusing vocabulary to make you think that the anime is more complex than it really is. 

Flawed it may be, but it's like Miley Cyrus that way. Even if it does everything else wrong at least it looks...nevermind

Speaking of which, the damn vocabulary in this anime. You see while I was busying myself complaining about how confusing the first episode of Mekaku City actors was, my friend pointed out that Captain Earth was just as, if not more confusing. I called bull. Why? Because I had seen other anime Bones had done. They were all confusing, but that was okay. You didn't need to know what most of the terms were in the anime because they were concepts. It's the difference between a missile and the Tea Party. No, trust me, it'll make sense. You don't need to know what the difference between a cruise missile and an atomic bomb is. You don't need to know the difference in mechanics to understand that they blow things up. Rather you need to have a basic understanding of what the Tea Party is and what it stands for to make its implausible actions seem slightly less implausible. 

Half of the problem lies in the fact that there is supposed to be political intrigue. Politics is hard enough to follow with an understanding of the parties involved! What is Salty Dog? What is Macbeth Enterprises? What is Global? What the f*ck is a high density libido charge? It doesn't help that they're all named after things from Shakespeare. While what Eureka 7 by making everything in their anime a musical or surfer reference (the generic term for a mech is named after a freaking amplifier) this just...isn't as witty. What was so great about that style of doing things in Eureka Seven was that it was so ridiculous. Who in there right mind could take an anime that is a giant tribute to surfing and music seriously? Yet it worked. We were able to take it seriously and still appreciate all of the references. Allusions to Shakespeare are overdone! Musical and surfer references aren't! Bones already did one giant Shakespeare allusion with Blast of Tempest, we don't need more! It just feels like they're trying to make it out to be smarter than it actually is with all these allusions!

Yeah! You use that High-density Libido...Why, Bones?! Why?!

The other half of the problems I have with this anime would be the characters. Without a doubt there have been worse. Yet being having slightly better character development than your average harem anime isn't good enough for Bones!

In all seriousness, I have to give them some credit; the side characters are interesting. Bones has always been great at giving the little guys some screen time, and it's no different with Captain Earth. They don't just feel like red shirts, they feel like...people. Sure they're not as three dimensional as Hei or Holland, but they don't have to be. They're side characters. Yet they're fun and likeable. They get ample characterization.

The same cannot be said for the main characters. While Teppei seems to be interesting, everyone else seems to be stuck on a two demensional plane. Daichi, the main main character, is your typical goody-two shoes. Hana is fills the roles of ms. moe, the tanned/black girl and comes in a close second for ms. fanservice with one of the villains. Akari is the quirky comic relief computer geek, who thinks she's a magical girl. 

Pandering? Why, whatever do you mean?

The villains share sort of the same fate. They're motivation is survival, and they're justification is that they're higher beings than the humans they feed upon. That's lazy, Bones. Really lazy. Just give us alien Nazis! At least that would be funny! Dewey Novac's motivations were interesting, if warped, and Darker than Black never really had a clear right or wrong. They're justification for their actions is riddled with holes, and doesn't provoke any kind of food for thought of any kind. The villains don't even try to justify their positions with their own twisted philosophy. Not like General Zaroff, or the Joker. They're better just cause.

Aside from the main duo, other villains pop up as part of the planetary gears (I have no idea what it means either). They all have a singular thing wrong with their lives, or to put it simply; they're one dimensional. One girl lives only for speed, another for the sole purpose of being recognized. They all are so singular minded, that they're boring. Rightfully so; each only gets an episode dedicated to them, and only half of that has them getting screen time. 

This is where the pacing fails. This anime should've been 50 episodes in the same way Awakening of the Trailblazer should've been gundam 00 season 3. It doesn't have time to develop characters, or lengthen plot arcs. I remember people complaining about the absence of actual mechs in Eureka 7, but that was the beauty of it. Why is Gundam better than any of the many other mech anime out there? Is it because of the mechs? No! Eureka 7 put characters and plot above action. It's fifty episodes helped to draw out the characters, to give each of them personalities. It gave them time to have the soccer match, to have the prank episode on Renton, to have episode surrounding the farmer and his wife. Did these add anything to the plot? Did they provide the action we were hoping for? Nope, but they gave the characters depth and made us more attached to them. 

Captain Earth doesn't have the time to do this. It can't stop and smell the roses, it's too busy trying to get where it wants to go.

I'd say it's worth watching, though. Even with all its flaws, it is fun. It has great animation, and good enough world building so that I care about the different terms. Who knows, maybe they'll pull a fast one. Maybe all of my complaints will be resolved. Hell, I still thought Eureka was only slightly above average at episode 10, maybe it'll blow me away next week. I have hope that Bones will provide.

Thanks for reading, as always. It's much appreciated, as are follows, likes and whatnot. Hope to see you again!