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36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hopefully this will clear some things up..., May 21, 2005
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...
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.
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.
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.
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?
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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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Angels are among us, March 1, 2001
The three tape Earthian OAV (Original Animated Video) series is based off of a shoujo (girl's) manga series by Yun Kouga. The story is about angels who live on Eden and who have been watching over the Earth and the Earthians (humans)to determine the fate of the Earth along with the Earthians. Pairs of investigators are sent to Earth to study the activities of the Earthians. Each team is made up of a plus checker and a negative checker. This OAV series follows the lives of two angels, Chihaya (a plus checker) and Kagetsuya (a negative checker). Chihaya an angel who was born abnormal with black hair and black wings feels a strong affection for the Earth and the Earthians. His affection leads him to become personally involved in the lives of Earthians. As a result he meets two bio-humaniods, Taki and Takako who have escaped from the cruel hands of a mad scientist. Chihaya's encounter with the two compromises both angel investigators safety and causes the Earthians to become aware of the presence of angels among them. This is a very unique, stylish, and fun anime series that all anime fans should own.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful..., April 16, 2004
Okay, two points to make here. One, if you don't like shonen-ai (um... boy love) too much, then this won't be too bad for you. There's only one really gross scene, but it's so short, I don't see how it can be offensive. Two, if you really like the really lovish scenes where they kiss a lot and all that, then this won't really help you much. As I said, the only time I saw them kiss was this one time in the third episode, Fallen Angel. The art's okay, and it reminds me a lot of Gravitation, meaning it's totally kawaii- cute. I trust Yun Kouga, and I totally trust this show. I liked it, but it didn't really stick to the whole Judgement theme they depicted... The plot pretty much circulates over particular peoples throughout... You decide if you really wanna go through with this one.
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