Cheap Earthian: Final Battle (Sub) (Video) Price

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Customer Reviews of Earthian: Final Battle (Sub)

A dated shounen-ai classic.
I picked this up because I've heard lots of references to it, and it has a strong fan following. It's apparently something of a classic. <
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>Well, I'll say this... part of being a classic is age, and "Earthian" shows it. For viewers more familiar with CG and 3D rendered anime (I.G Production, Gonzo, etc.), the animation quality will disappoint. Most of the scenes freeze at the end, with dialogue still going on, and the segues from one mjaor scene to another are pretty much full-stop-then-play, not the smooth blending we've become accustomed too. <
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>Dub-wise, this was put together, if I read the dates right, just when English-speaking voice actors were beginning to get their 'sea legs' so to speak, so quality varies. Can't say the sub version impressed me all that much either. <
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>Chihaya, the black-haired angel, proved the major drawback for me. Supposedly a powerful angel in his own right, he gets captured repeatedly and seems unable to do anything but kick his feet and scream for his partner's help when he's in a hold that he should be able to break out of. I won't call it 'girly' behavior because it's an insult to girls. (And his wailing and cringing is just as bad in Japanese, so the dub can't be blamed.) <
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>The story concepts are rather dated as well. Sci-fi elements that seem quite funny, which is too bad as they're meant to be serious and tragic, and Big Bad Military themes. <
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>Despite this, the characterizations are good for their time. If they ever decide to re-master/issue a special edition to bring things up to a modern audience's expectations, it might very well be a better OVA. Until then, the appeal of this OVA will most likely be yaoi or anime completeists, or pop culture historians who enjoy noting how a form of entertainment evolves over time.

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Hopefully this will clear some things up...
First of all, a warning: If you have NOT read the manga and/or have NOT done some research of your own by reading fansites, etc., then do not be surprised if you come out confused at the end of the video. The main reason for this is probably that this "Angelic Collection" is indeed a collection. When Earthian was first adapted from manga to anime, it came out as four separate OVAs. However, later on AnimeWorks came along and took all four, compiling them into one DVD together... <
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>OVA 1: Beginning of the End <
>This was the first Earthian OVA to be released, and at the end credits after OVA 4 you will see that its copyright date is fairly earlier than the other three. The art in here is different than OVAs 3 and 4, and sports the signature retro-style of earlier anime titles. <
>This OVA introduces the main concept of the Earthian series, which is the Judgement system of Positives and Negatives, and the fact that if the humans recieve a large quantity of negative marks then Planet Eden will rule Humans out as a destructive, evil, race unfit to maintian possession of Earth, the most beautiful planet in the universe. If Eden does happen to come to this conclusion, they will have no other choice than to kill off the entire human race. <
>Unfortunately, this OVA does not focus all that much on the angels' task of Judging. Rather, we are drawn into a plot where two bio-human lovers who have escaped from a lab are trying to gain their freedom and independance. Chihaya and Kagetsuya try to help the bio-humans, but then Chihaya is captured by the scientist who created the bio-humans, a man named Dr. Ashino, who wants to run tests on Chihaya to find out more about his beautiful black wings. <
>I found this one to be mediocre, and though it started out promising in the beginning, as the story progressed, I lost my enthusiasm in what was going on. The ending theme, "Mother" was beautiful and delicate, a sweet and satisfactory ending that fit into my perception of what Earthian music should sound like. <
>Shonen-ai Content: 3/5. When Kagetsuya goes in to save Chihaya from Dr. Ashino's lab, he finds his partner with a wound on his chest. He kisses the place to make the wound disappear and Chihaya blushes. <
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>OVA 2: Fallen Angel <
>This OVA takes us away from the events of OVA 1 for a moment. We are introduced to three other angels: Miyagi, a male positive angel like Chihaya; Aya, a female negative angel with a crush on Kagetsuya; and Sapphire, a.k.a. Cliff, a former Seraphim who is now a Fallen Angel or "Lucifer" that was exiled from Planet Eden due to a form of cancer that turned his wings and hair black. <
>Chihaya, who has been having nightmares about his black hair and wings, decides that he wants to hunt down this "Sapphire" to find out whether or not his dark attributes are cancer or just a natural trait. As usual, he ends up getting involved with everyone else's problems and for a while forgets about his own worries. <
>This one was pretty good, though I can't say why without giving away the climax. <
>Shonen-ai content: 2/5. At the end, Chihaya asks Kagetsuya if he would come and comfort him were Chihaya to suddenly fall ill and start dying. Kagetsuya sort of pulls Chihaya into his lap and tells him not to be ridiculous; that he isn't sick. Nothing too showy here, but you can at least kind of get the idea that these two are in love. <
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>OVA 3: Angelic Destroyer <
>My favorite of the four. This is where things really start to pick up. <
>Chihaya and Kagetsuya are on a mission to save two young angels who were kidnapped and are being interrogated by Dr. Ashino (yes, the same guy from OVA 1, but older and crazier). After splitting up from Kagetsuya, Chihaya takes a turn somewhere deep into the lab where he sees a sleeping figure; a black-winged angel just like him: Messiah. In an attempt to get Messiah's attention, Chihaya reveals his angel form so that the other angel can see. Messiah awakens to see the change and this information becomes incrypted into his memories, eventually forming in him a "heart" of sorts. Although Messiah was intended to care only for destruction and power, his love for Chihaya is strong enough to overpower any influence that Dr. Ashino holds over him. <
>As I said, this was my favorite Earthian OVA. The ending theme, "True Romance" by Maki Ichihara, was SUPERB. I was so overwhelmed by its beauty the first time I heard it that I burst into tears. <
>Shonen-ai content: 5/5: We have a bed scene between Kagetsuya and Chihaya (I won't go into details, but suffice to say that they don't go all the way), and plus there's the fact that Messiah is obsessed with Chihaya in a way that can't be anything but love. <
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>OVA 4: Final Battle <
>Here we see Messiah again, and he is hell-bent on finding Chihaya. Dr. Ashino also reappears and by this time he has become QUITE annoying. VERY MUCH SO. We also have a bit of bloodshed here. This episode is maybe the most violent and hardcore out of the entire series. <
>The ending theme, "The Destinies", also by Maki Ichihara, is lively and adds a semi-happy note into the end of the OVA, probably to signify that everything has been resolved and now things will be alright. <
>Shonen-ai Content: 3.5/5. We have some exceedingly mushy scenes between Messiah and Chihaya and although they don't kiss or anything, Messiah does once acknowledge Chihaya to be his "special someone". And, oh! what's this? Could Kagetsuya be jealous? <
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>Anyway, after reading all of this, if you really want to get into this and find out exactly what was missing and why some things seemed to just hang in midair, you're in luck. Tokyopop has announced that it has licensed the Earthian manga, which will probably be coming out sometime around September 2005. <
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Did the other reviewers watch the same movie I did?
It seems not. I suppose if you follow this from the manga you might love seeing your characters come to life, but for someone who has never read it and does not know the preexisting story, this DVD was one giant "WTF?" moment. The story is exceptionally disjointed; it seems to be jumping randomly forward in time while leaving out the actual reasons for the characters actions. Moments such as planet Eden deciding Earth must be destroyed and shooting off a laser are followed by something totally unconnected with a line that mentions that one of the main characters saved the world. Huh? The actual art is well done, although the music would surely be welcome on an elevator - it lacks energy. In all, if you are a current follower of this in the manga, you might love it... otherwise too much of the between story is missing for it to be a complete story.