Customer Review

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2009
"Toward the Terra" is an animated science fiction TV series from Japan, expertly directed by Osamu Yamazaki ("Yotoden," "Tokyo Revelation"), that explores the common anime theme of outsiders trying to escape a strictly controlled society and thrive on their own. In this case it's a future setting involving Earth's far-flung space colonies, all operated by the principles of the SD System (Superior Domination), and the outsiders are young people identified as "Mu" (presumably short for mutant) who display extraordinary psychic abilities. The first volume (episodes 1-4) focuses on a young man, Jomy Marcus Shin, who is plucked from his designated "adult examination" by a Mu leader, Soldier Blue, and installed, somewhat reluctantly, aboard the spaceship home of a renegade Mu community. Over the course of these episodes, he has to reckon with his identity and his fate and it's not easy for him, especially when the military forces of his home nation-state, Ataraxia, locate the Mu ship, a 300-year-old spacecraft that's been refitted, and attack it.

The second volume introduces a set of new characters, including young Seki Ray Shiroe, a boy who displays Mu powers but refuses to leave his home, and Keith Anyan, an elite student, but one with no memory of his past. Shiroe and Keith wind up as rivals aboard Educational Station E-1077, a space station designed as an academy for the brightest students who've passed their adult examination. Through it all, the Mu are watching and monitoring, eager to find and recruit kindred souls to join their cause, just as the colony rulers keep on the lookout for the Mu ship.

This is what filmed science fiction should look and feel like. There is some suspense and action, but not enough to distract from a storyline concerned with ideas about the nature of humanity and what transformations humanity will go through when separated by great distances from its home planet. How will society develop? How will society treat children with special abilities? These are intriguing concepts and have informed some of the best Japanese animated science fiction over the years. (Jomy himself recalls Amuro Ray, the "New Type" hero of the first "Mobile Suit Gundam" series.) The characters are consistently interesting and we look forward to learning what will happen to them in future episodes.

As far as the animation goes, I'd most like to single out the character design which updates the retro style employed in the original manga and pays only a subtle tribute to it. The characters are all given detailed design features and are clearly differentiated from each other. The backgrounds are all meticulously done and we get a strong feel of what this future society looks and feels like. The interiors of the Mu ship include some highly imaginative, almost mystical design touches to set the atmosphere of the ship apart from the regimented society which has driven them away.

I enjoyed this volume a great deal and think it compares well with many of Japan's best anime sci-fi TV series of the past, even if it makes no significant stylistic inroads of its own. The manga it's based on, published from 1977-80, boasts a lot more visual experimentation and should be read and appreciated on its own. The TV series expands on the manga, including, for instance, a section on young Shiroe's backstory in episode 5, an addition I found particularly helpful.

Keiko Takemiya, creator of the manga, is identified as the first female writer-artist to tackle the science fiction genre in Japanese manga and she's interviewed in two segments included as extras in this DVD set. It's an eye-opening interview and she cites Robert A. Heinlein ("Starship Troopers") and Shotaro Ishinomori ("Cyborg 009") as prominent influences. I saw parallels with Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series as well.

An earlier anime movie, TOWARD THE TERRA (1980), was based on the manga and is a masterwork in its own right, both visually and dramatically, even if it performs a lot of compression to fit the whole story into 112 minutes. The anime series, which allows the story to unfold at its own pace, is a perfect complement to the movie. Fans of this story should seek out and enjoy all three versions: manga, movie, and TV anime.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse Permalink

Product Details

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
16 global ratings
5 star
72%
4 star
20%
3 star
7%
2 star 0% (0%) 0%
1 star 0% (0%) 0%