Customer Reviews

Arjuna - Understanding (Vol. 4)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Disaster strikes Japan - the Petrochemical Decomposing Bacteria (PDB) accidentally released by Juna and Tokio combines with the Raaja and proceeds to dissolve one of the underpinnings of modern civilization - plastics and similar products. The result is a complete loss of the country's support systems. Juna is stranded in New York City while her friends Tokio and Sayuri struggle for survival with no food, surrounded by the pollution released in the crisis.

Facing opposition from those who would prefer to see Japan quarantined and its people abandoned Jun rebels, and uses her powers to return to her home in full battle array. About to forcibly cleanse Japan, Juna finds herself facing an unexpected opponent. In the midst of her heroic effort she must confront a spiritual crisis that will change her forever.

Throughout this series there has been a tension between Shoji Kawamori's educational intentions and the flow of the story line. While the moments of ecological explanation are well done, they are a bit too pedantic for this watcher, perhaps because I have heard these lessons before. But the lessons are important, and the story line weaves these pieces together and provides a spiritual context as well. In these last two episodes, everything comes together and a compelling message is delivered perfectly.

This is a series that is perfect for its intended audience, those aged 13 and up. It depicts the typical problems of teenagers growing up in a flawed world with candor and honesty. It presumes that the watcher is comfortable with the minimal content present, which is completely innocuous when compared to what occurs in a typical TV advertisement.

Arjuna's message, to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all life is one that truly needs to be taught - repeatedly. This is a good family series that can provide the material for some excellent discussions. And I believe that most of us adults will benefit as well.

When it comes to ecology and the environment, it's usually a topic that some people welcome and a topic that many people know about but really don't want to get involved in.

And I suspect that when you have a top tier anime director/creator Kawamori Shoji ("Visions of Escaflowne", "Super Dimension Century Macross", "Macross Plus", "Macross 7', "Macross Zero" and "Macross Frontiere" to name a few) and composer Kanno Yoko, theme song by Sakamoto Maaya and character designs by Kishida Takahiro ("Tenchi Muyou", "El Hazard", "Heat Guy J" to name a few), you expect to have a quality anime series.

The 13-episode TV series that aired on TV Tokyo back in 2001 received a DVD release in the US back in 2002 and for so long I have wanted to watch this series.

The anime series is primarily about a teenager named Ariyoshi Juna. Your typical high school girl learning archery and spending time with boyfriend Oshima Tokio.

With her skills at archery training not going as well, she tells her boyfriend that she wants to see the sea. Tokio, being so in love with Juna, decides to take her to the sea via motorcycle and everything seems well until an entity flashes in front of them and in the process, both are thrown of the motorcycle.

Juna is rushed to the hospital and she pretty much is dead. That is until she hears a voice of Chris Hawken (a powerful entity) who tells her that he will give her life back if she saves the world. Juna is given a glimpse of the Planet Earth, especially Japan in terrible shape with drought, famine and more. Not wanting to leave her mother and Tokio behind, Juna agrees and is given her life back.

All of a sudden, while Tokio and her mother are pretty much saying goodbye to Juna, Juna awakes and runs up to the hospital roof and there she is met by some secret organization known as S.E.E.D.

It appears that Juna has a special power to turn into Earth Maiden Arjuna and able to see these monstrous worm-like entities known as Raaja (which are literally Earth's bacteria). Arjuna thinks her job is to use her powers to fight the Raaja but Chris keeps giving her messages of "why do you want to kill?", "What are you trying to do?" and Juna really doesn' t know what her job truly is.

Throughout the whole series, we start learning a lot about ecology, organic food and how there is a cycle of everything that we use and eat but because of pesticides and pollution, our Earth is being hurt by it.

In one episode, Juna and Tokio stay at a farm and learn from a farmer about organic vegetables. Juna and Tokio not knowing why people would want to eat vegetables that have been eaten by bugs. Also, being taught that pesticides hurt the system. Because there is a cycle to food. The bugs, the worms undergorund, the soil, everything has its purpose.

And from that point, we see Juna becoming more of a vegetarian and just can't eat regular food without having images. For example, Tokio tries to get her to eat at a fast food restaurant Merikan Burger and images of the cows just make her sick.

She now lives a lifestyle of wanting to protect the environment, eating the right food but yet everyone around her doesn't understand why. They don't like being preached about the environment, especially from her.

So, literally her relationship with her family and with her boyfriend Tokio is being tested. And her best friend Shirakawa Sayuri seems to be getting closer to Tokio because her involvement with S.E.E.D. and her enviromental perspective is dampening her relationship with everyone she's close with.

So, for the first eleven episodes, we see as Arjuna comes into contact with the Raaja and Kawamori finds ways to get his message out to viewers on ecology, protecting the environment and how industrial pollution and pesticides and a variety of other things happening in today's world is really hurting the environment and if people don't change their ways, it will be too late.

Throughout the series, we meet other characters. The major player outside of Juna and Tokio is the other person with spirital power, Chris Hawken who is literally dying since he gave part of his life to revive Arjuna. He can't talk and communicates through a young telepath named Cindy. Cindy despises Juna maily because Chris tries to get close to her and Cindy really cares for him. When Juna screws up, Chris is there to try to help in his weakened state but there is only so much he can do. But he tries to help Juna become aware of why she was chosen and why things are happening to the planet.

And in the final episodes, that is what happens. The city of Tokyo has now been invaded by the Raaja, water and food and anything that is absorbed by the Raaja is affected and people now are dying.

The series is a mix of sci-fi mecha, sci-fi bishojou magical girl and your typical high school love triangle all together in one series. The "mecha" in this series is mainly a protector of Arjuna who shows up to make sure she is not killed. The "magic girl" part in this series is what Juna can transform into. She can fly and as a weapon, use a specialized bow and arrow to fend off attacks. And of course, the high school drama is between her, Tokio and Sayuri. And of course, there is other drama such as Juna's relationship to her mother and sister, her teacher and of course with Chris and Cindy and other members of S.E.E.D.

VIDEO:

As for the video, I enjoy anime series that show a large variety of scenery. This is anime features the city, a farming area and various locations that I really enjoy that and it really pushes the staff to create so much scenery and beautifu backgrounds and animation and all in all, I really enjoyed the animation. Granted it was created in 2001 but nevertheless, in 2008, I enjoyed it very much.

AUDIO:

I watched this series both in Japanese and English. I enjoyed the Japanese version and found Higashiyama Mami's acting as Arjuna and Seki Tomokazu's voice acting as Tokio to be really well done. But I soon discovered that I really do enjoy the English dub voice acting which I felt was done very well. Maggie Blue O'Hara and Andrew Francis did a great job with their voice acting as the couple and everyone else as well. So, both languages are just exceptional.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Special features include interviews with Kawamori Shoji, the cast and an Arjuna dictionary. Also, music videos.

Just an interesting note that "ARJUNA" features different ending themes and so after each episode, you more than often get a different ending theme which I found interesting. Also, a live ending that was reminiscent of the bubbly "Kare Kano" but actually featuring a school girl running into the sunset.

For me, it was a plus to get a series from Kawamori Shoji that was not "Macross" related but even moreso, an anime series that would tackle on ecology and various topics within the scope of environment but also a few other things which I don't want to spoil for the viewer.

The series does get preachy and remember those after-school specials that were shown on TV trying to let people know about a wide range of topics from racism, ecology or something to catch your interest and make you think.

This is an anime series that does just that. There is a message that Kawamori wanted to get through and even in the anime series, a message of, if one can make a change, possibly that one can make others change.

Reading the various reviews on the Internet, I can see why this anime series is loved and hated. No one likes things being driven down their throat but on the other hand, for those who are open to hearing out another perspective, then it's fine.

For me, I try to do my part for the environment but I'm not as hardcore as Juna. I have no qualms eating my Boca or Veggie burgers, recycling, purchasing organic vegetables and being considerate of the environment but at the same time, I have no qualms of going to Burger King and ordering a double cheeseburger as well.

But Kawamori's message did reach out to me and this series did give me a good understanding about pesticides and for me, I enjoy learning new things and open to hearing other perspectives.

So, I enjoyed the series for that. I also enjoyed that twist of, "OK, we warned you that there will be problems if you don't change your lifestyle" and where people think it won't be in their lifetime, in this series, problems happen immediately and destruction and chaos comes.

Granted, when we see news about the melting glaciers, drilling for oil in the ocean because of escalating gas prices and the hole in the ozone layer, how does one feel about those topics? Passionate, bored, interested or don't care?

So, that is where "ARJUNA" as a series is being interpreted by anime viewers. You either love it or hate it. And you either care about the message or look at it as a pathetic attempt to a person's beliefs being driven down your throat.

For me, I enjoyed the series. It was a great blend of sci-fi, love triangles and bishojo heroines. But of course, the main thing about this series is indeed the message of making a change in your life and accepting of what is happening in this world. You either get it or you don't. You either welcome that message or you don't.

So, by saying that...if you are open to Kawamori's message on the environment through a series like "ARJUNA", check it out. If you are the last person who cares about hearing details on the environment, this anime series is definitely not for you.

Arjuna is one of the better animes ever to be made. It is a deepthinking anime with a more realistic threat. There are no gigantic aliens, or horiffic monsters just the destruction of humanity. Arjuna tries to put the possible reactions to all of the petrochemicals which we use and all of the enviromental destruction into this cartoon. Arjuna makes you think that maybe what we are doing is not right and we should watch what we do before we destroy our way of life. Arjuna revolves around a girl who after a near death is givin the power to sinchronise with the earth waves and help to stop the enviroment which we have destroyed from destroying our life. Japan ends up being destroyed when a petrochemical eating bacteria called PDB is unleashed upon the land eating away at everything and destroyig all food and water sources. Arjuna is beautifully animated and the musical score is just as beautiful blending perfectly with the actions. I would highly recomend this to everyone wishing to see possibility.

Arjuna is just one of those animes you really have to love unless you really hate enviromentalists and love pollution. <---lol I hope not too many people like pollution but anyways on to the review. Arjuna at 1st glance you can obviously tell its beautifully animated and the cg is great. What you don't get to see though is the excellent music done by none other than Yokko Kanno which for the anime beginners out there is the same person responsible for Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Wolf's Rain (of course Arjuna!). Which also means the music is excellent it fits perfectly I found no flaws with the music at all. The storyline on the other hand is very complex and not for children who don't understand the complexities of everyday people who don't even notice everything they are doing to harm the Earth. This storyline is not for kids because there are some graphic images (whether you agree with me or not) of children starving to death, animals dieing, and other things I don't want to get into because it may ruin the story line. The other side to Arjuna though is the love story between Juna and Tokio her boyfriend. Its a very beautiful love story but with every love story there are challenges that they must go through that only strengthen the couple!

So I recommend this to everyone 16+ who cares about the enviroment and anyone who loves a good drama!

I've never written a review for anything before, but I couldn't call myself a decent human being if I didn't warn others about this anime. I'm a man of 25 years of age, and I'm not sorry to admit that this anime made me cry on more than one occasion. Not because of how touching it was, but because some parts of it were so unbelievably stupid. I own well over 200 different anime series. I've seen many more. This anime is possibly the worst I've ever seen.
Enough ranting though. Let me tell you a bit about the series. It's about a girl named Juna that dies then gets brought back to save the world. Pretty straight forward right? Well, not exactly. It does a horrible job of developing the story. Much of the show is just dialogue about how humans are destroying the environment, themselves, and pretty much anything else we can get our hands on. I don't have any problems with an anime having a serious theme, but get to the point already. You don't have to spend every episode reiterating the same thing.
In a 13 episode series half of the episodes shouldn't be fillers. They have an episode dedicated to the importance of the bacteria that live inside of our bodies. It seemed like they realized they weren't going anywhere with the story. They just said,"Hey, we need to bring these monologues to an end. Slap something together for me real quick guys."
Bottom line: the story is horrible. The animation was quite good in my opinion. I liked the music as well. That's why I gave this a 2 instead of a 1. If you live a vegan lyfestyle and wish to be preached at with what you already believe then I recommend this anime for you. I'm not joking when I said the stupidity of this show actually made me cry either.

The preachy environmentalism could have been forgiven had it not been for the non animated insertions (why stop the story? Stick them in the "extras" section of the DVD); and in case the peachiness in Arjuna wasn't enough, they stop the show yet again for another session of indoctrination with still drawings... (Agony). Blaming western nations for food shortages in poor nations or believing that simply "sending them all our wealth" will turn these dysfunctional societies into happy prosperous enclaves of humanity is both inane and unrealistic - things like that only work on either celluloid or paper. Arjuna's "mentor" was the other major detraction from a series with great possibilities; his arrogance and disdain were enough to make me despise him (calling someone an "idiot" every two minutes isn't the best method of discipleship). What is with the Faustian bargan between Chris and Arjuna (come to think of it, Chris is awfully close to the Devil)? Also, there was too much left unexplained: what ever happened to the ancient civilization that "lived in harmony with nature"? Why did THEY die out? What was that secret organization all about? The ending was a complete disappointment that should have occurred at the beginning - essentially, nothing happens in this anime; Tokyo is destroyed solely to teach us about the "cycle of life" and make some edible petroleum products? Stupid (times infinity)!

Buyer beware. While it has many interesting elements, this anime is constantly preaching about the environment, to the point of asserting that even weeding gardens goes against nature. I'm all for caring about the environment, and I'm a big anime fan, but I couldn't take hours and hours of the relentless propagandizing. Had they toned down the rhetoric, this would have been a fun title but as it is now it is preachy to the point of being ludicrous.

This anime was not exactly what I expected. To be honest, more than half of the anime is enviromentalist propaganda. There were a few action scenes that were nice, but for the most part, this anime is about a high school girl learning about the harmful effects of insecticides and garbage dumps. She becomes the Avatar of Time and is given special powers to combat monsters that arise from pollution. If you are looking for a light-hearted anime, this is not it.

Remember those old black and white films they used to show during class. The kind that mimicked real entertainment but were really just there to give you a lesson. Well, even if you don't remember them you've probably seen them parodied in movies and television. The point is that they aren't very good. More thought is put into the lesson plan than any actual entertainment value.

Or maybe you've seen some pathetic excuse for a children's cartoon show that is nothing more than a supposed teaching tool. Like "Care Bears" was trying to teach kids to be nice to each other. (Or more to the point) Like "Captain Planet" tried to indoctrinate kids into be rabid environmentalists.

Thus is the anime Arjuna in the same vein. Tis a pity, because the animation, acting, music, ect. are top notch. But the story itself never rises above mere propaganda. Choosing a lesson plan over actual plot. A plot that might have worked well in a movie, or even an OAV series, but then the anime couldn't repeatedly pummel the viewer over the head with mindless philosophizing.

The sad thing is that most of the time it tends to come down to whether or not the viewer agrees with the hyper-environmentalist message. If they do; they give the anime 5 stars. If they don't; they give it far less. But that should just go to show you how intertwined the message is with the anime. There are plenty of anime shows and movies out there with just as fierce a message, but they are actually entertaining. And thusly can be enjoyed by all. Unlike Arjuna.

This is one of the best anime that I have ever seen, it makes you think about life. This series has inspired me to change mine. It is a mixture of Ecological Awareness and Science Fiction. The story is good enough that a few times you forget that it is a anime series talking about ecology. It is definatly a farcry from the early 90's ecology cartoons.
This show is not lighted-hearted, it has many themes that would make it more approiate for mid-teens and older, nothing obsene or whatnot... just that younger children would not understand what is going on in the show.