The Series:
Anime distributors are going through a rough time with sales being down
across the board. To combat this trend some companies are getting
creative with the way they release their product. Several companies
are putting out catalog titles in complete sets at a lower price point,
but Bandai has decided not to wait to lower the price of a new series.
They are putting out Toward the Terra in regular four episode DVDs,
but with a retail price of only $29.98, about a third less than the typical
release. Not only that but they have packaged together the first
two volumes and released them as "Part One" for only $34.98 a good $5 savings
over buying the individual volumes. Otaku have been complaining for
years about the high price of anime, and it's good to see at least one
release that has started moving the price in the right direction.
That wouldn't be so important if the series was wretched, but it's actually
a solid show that's worth watching.
The Earth was nearly dead when humanity as a whole realized that they
were the problem. There was only solution that would save the planet
and it was harsh: humans had to leave. So a great project was
undertaken and mankind moved out to the stars so that the home planet could
heal itself.
Several hundred years later, life is quite different from what we know
now. People have been genetically engineered, and while they look
no different from people of today the way they are raised is quite unusual.
Once a fetus emerges from a growing chamber it is given to a couple to
raise. The child goes to special schools depending on the city he's
living in, with each city specializing on a different area of education.
Once they come of age they take the Adult Examination, where all of their
memories of their family are erased and then given a job based on their
talents and abilities.
Jomy is about to take his Adult Exam and is feeling a little apprehensive.
While he doesn't know that his memories will be wiped, he does know that
he'll be assigned a job and that he won't see his school friends, Sam and
Swena, at least for a while. During the test however he's visited
by Soldier Blue, a Mu. Blue triggers something in Jomy which releases
fantastic powers that he didn't realize he possessed, the least of which
is the ability to read minds.
The Mu have been kept a secret from the general population and hunted
down over the years. The humans can't have mind-readers running around,
and the Mu have taken to living on a gigantic space-worthy ship hidden
in the clouds and by their combined mental powers. Soldier Blue is
the most powerful Mu and their leader, but he's getting very old, though
he doesn't look it. He needs someone to take his place, and he thinks
he's found that person in the young and inexperienced Jomy.
In the second volume of this release, the narrative changes rather abruptly.
Suddenly we're no longer following Jomy's trials and tribulations, but
those of his friends Sam and Swena. Right after they take the Adult
Examination and pass, Sam meets Keith, a brilliant student who gets the
highest scores ever achieved on his tests. Over the years Sam, Keith,
and Swena become friends and work hard toward the common goal of returning
to Terra. But four years after they reach age a new student, Shiroe,
arrives who is infatuated with besting Keith. Keith, an emotionless
working machine, has no interest in competing with the newcomer but as
time goes on Shiroe becomes obsessed with Keith and doing better than the
prodigy.
This was a surprisingly good show. The synopsis makes it sound
fairly dull, but the characters and way the program is constructed really
draw viewers in. Jomy's story sets up the world and how it works,
then throws in a lot of action with battles between the Humans and the
Mu. These fight sequences are very good and fun to watch, but shifting
the focus onto Sam and Keith in the second half of this set fleshes out
the world to a great extent.
It's also fairly obvious that Jomy, Keith, and Shiroe will all end up
crossing paths sooner rather than later, but whether they'll be on the
same sides or different ones isn't totally clear. A program that
mixes action with solid story telling, this show is worth checking out.
The DVD:
Audio:
The show comes with the original stereo Japanese soundtrack. Unfortunately
there is no English dub, which is a shame because I can see a lot of younger
otaku enjoying this series. The audio sounded fine, though it was
never outstanding. Even during the battle scenes the soundtrack never
really had a lot of punch. Aside from that the show sounded fine
with no distortion or other common flaws.
Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic image looked pretty good overall. There
was a little bit of digital noise in some places, and banding was apparent
in a few others, but neither were major problems. Aliasing wasn't
a problem at all.
Extras:
There aren't too many extras on these two discs. Each one has
part of an interview with the author of the manga that the show is based
on. They talk more about the manga than they do the anime, which
is fine. She discusses how she broke into the field, the genesis
of the story, and other typical interview questions. Nothing too
exciting or groundbreaking.
Final Thoughts:
A solid show that has a different feel from the run of the mill anime
program, Toward the Terra has an interesting story that promises
to get more intriguing as the show goes on. Well worth checking out.
Recommended.
Buy: