Earth Maiden Arjuna 25 Years Anniversary Rewatch Episode 1 Discussion

### Fellow members who joined with us:

u/Shimmering-Sky, u/Gamerunglued, u/AgentOfACROSS

**First timer**

*The story begins with the main character riding a motorcycle and flying out of their body under the influence of a strange glowing creature* \- [Oh hell nah, i already played these games before](https://youtu.be/PuOyLcbKy_w?si=Xg5qQdNPRPKKmvCJ&t=66)!

You know, the FIRST thing that i did after finishing first episode was to check is the staff of this show is somehow connencted to [NOEIN](https://myanimelist.net/anime/584/Noein__Mou_Hitori_no_Kimi_e). And yeah, both shows at least have the same [character designer](https://myanimelist.net/people/6403/Takahiro_Kishida) and [script writter](https://myanimelist.net/people/2701/Hiroshi_Oonogi), not to mention bunch of animators.

Gonna just ramble for a bit, But man, this show really had this vibe of some earlies 2000's sci-fi anime's that i find hard to describe. You know, shows like already mentioned NOEIN, or [Fantastic children](https://myanimelist.net/anime/455/Fantastic_Children) or [Bokurano](https://myanimelist.net/anime/1690/Bokura_no). I guess the one way i can put it is being "*post-evangelion*" anime, althrough i'm not sure if it's perfectly fits to what i'm saying. They don't really feels that much commercialized, and instead seems somewhat more ambitious and somewhat experimental, probably due to new technologies and the fact that television is now allowed to show much more. Their stories and themes are also presented in a more... grounded and somewhat dark way than you would expected, i guess? Oh yes, and clumsy computer graphics, which obviously also play a very important role. Due to all these factors, it was always difficult to say how good the story itself would be, but in any case, they almost always left a strong impression on me, and it is this vibes, I think, that is missing in many modern anime.

**First-timer, subs**

Well! What a pleasant experience that first episode was!

[](#happyclap)

I have to admit, I've literally never heard of this show before, but that's a part of the appeal of a rewatch like this, isn't it? So huge thanks to TheDanubianCommunard for introducing this show, I'm looking forward to seeing it with you all!

[](#salutegeo)

The whole beginning section is gorgeous. The music is incredible, the animation is beautiful, and the whole thing has a real movie-esque feel to it. That's the power of an anime original, of course: while manga and light novel adaptations definitely have their upsides, you can just clearly see how every beat and every shot was specifically designed for the screen in a show like this. And it's doubly more pleasing to see a show actually take advantage of the media's strengths like this.

To gush over the animation a little bit more: the small [expression](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/9351f538d296.png) [shifts](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/02066f5ef994.png) on Juna's and Tokio's faces are really well done and flow beautifully. Man, I love the art style of this era. It feels like such a warm, nostalgic hug!

Another thing about the animation in this show: for a 2001 show, there's a surprising amount of CGI, and what's even more surprising is that it's for the most part done really well and tastefully, and works really well. Seriously impressive production quality on this show so far.

[](#thumbs-up)

So, we open with the main character doing some kyudo practice, intercut with her presumably... dying...? A well-done introduction, I thought, followed up with a nice set-up exposition scene with Juna and Tokio talking. I think a big part of why this feels so much like a movie to me is how the exposition is handled here: with just a few lines of dialogue and the expressions on the characters' faces, we understand their relationship and get a good initial glimpse into their personality.

Tokio's name in the subtitles gave me some whiplash. That's literally how we spell Tokyo in my language, so at first I thought Juna was somehow asking questions of the whole city. Which they're apparently not in, anyway!

[Keep shooting your shot, Tokio...](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/2c57f0525621.png)

[Denied.
](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/40eacd00e145.png)

[](#hornyjail)

What actually is that big blue pipe thing Juna carries with her? Something related to Kyudo practice, I assume...? I think I need to watch a Kyudo focused anime sometime or something. It's actually funny how little I know about it, given what a staple it is for anime characters to do as a side-hobby!

As for the story -- well, the show is definitely not being shy about the [themes](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/44c3bc4a4c99.png) and [allegories](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/154324326e0a.png) it's [throwing](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/7fd8c13eaf70.png) on our faces on the get-go. It seems we have a sort of a Captain Planet themed story on our hands.

[Seeing a presumably dead person just sit up and leave](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/80f767c85139.png) has to be outright terrifying!

I thought Arjuna was going to be the kind of a spiritual superheroine whose existence is unknown to everyone, but it turns out there's some kind of a paramilitary organization running the whole thing. It's an interesting twist to be sure, and somehow very early-2000-s. In a good way!

I guess we were never explained why it is Juna who had to be the new Avatar and what makes her special, but maybe we'll find out later. I mean, just in general, this episode didn't really explain much about who the heck these people even are.

When the spirit thing who met Juna first introduced himself as Chris, my immediate thought was "is this some kind of a Jesus Christ reference?". And sure enough... "In order to save you, Chris sacrificed himself." Yup, not shy about the allegories with this show.

[](#cantbehelped)

Although for a Jesus stand-in, Chris seems to be pretty brutally calculating, assuming it really was his whole plan to lure Tokio into mortal danger just to push Juna into action. But I guess if it works it works, since Juna goes through her magical girl transformation and becomes a superhero.

Is [Arjuna's superhero outfit](https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/8eb0dff0ca8e.png) simply a depiction of a flower, or is it perhaps full of Indian references I unfortunately don't know? As a rule, I have to say I'm a bit more partial to the traditional magical girl look, but she does look quite cool too.

I really enjoyed this first episode! Like I said, it had a real movie-like quality and feel to it at times, and I'm hugely impressed with the art, animation and music. We'll see if the actual story can live up to the production!

[](#peace)

**First-Timer Maiden Subbed**

I have apparently had [this show on my PTW since 2018](https://i.imgur.com/n7TMetK.png), not that I remember *why* I put it on my PTW back then. Will be good to finally watch this, though.

- [Um, alright then?](https://i.imgur.com/GCjsHEb.png) [](#whatdidijustread)

- [That’s one way to be *forward*.](https://i.imgur.com/ChxqSyI.png) [](#notlewd)

- [RIP.](https://i.imgur.com/q758PPv.png) [](#toradorasalute)

- [Sure looks like it.](https://i.imgur.com/yPws1Q4.png) [](#kumikolook)

- [Tokio’s heart *is* in the right place, that’s nice.](https://i.imgur.com/Ede06vZ.png) [](#anko)

- The vocal tracks in this show are *mesmerizing*. [](#listen)

- [Ah, this is when the flash forward bits about her dying comes in.](https://i.imgur.com/XO93HRr.png) [](#emiliaohdear)

- [Okay that is *terrifying*.](https://i.imgur.com/lljceq8.png) [](#dighole)

- [Because you’re the main character.](https://i.imgur.com/QefLJEG.png) [](#hikariactually)

- [Juna can’t die in episode 1, but what will the cost of agreeing to this be…](https://i.imgur.com/LvyqvDO.png) [](#bigthink)

- [I feel bad for Tokio.](https://i.imgur.com/iqIC7eC.png) His GF just woke up from *being dead* and suddenly boarded an unknown helicopter without explaining anything.

- [Ah, that’s the boy who saved Juna…](https://i.imgur.com/929JXNo.png)

- [Okay, so that magatama is just… in her forehead now.](https://i.imgur.com/BsHJQfP.png)

- [Oh damn.](https://i.imgur.com/fuhZRNb.png) [](#gasp)

- [She transformed!](https://i.imgur.com/NnWPlsw.png)

- Oh! Maaya Sakamoto ED! [](#rengehype)

**Episode 1 (first timer)**

Going into this completely blind.

**Episode thoughts**

* RL intro?
* “I died” – how inconvenient for our MC to leave us this early.
* “I want to become one with you” – at least our male love interest No1 is not a wet noodle.
* She definitely baited that kiss attempt.
* “This is not the sea. It seems to bound up and constricting.” – the ecological message is not subtle.
* We are in the unfortunate era of early 3D animation, but I dig those backgrounds.
* Dreams of ecological catastrophe.
* “Juna, Avatar of Time.”
* “I have to go!” – I don’t want to be in the shoes of that doctor. The patient whom you just declared dead just jumps off the operating table and runs out.
* S.E.E.D. – Two telepathic children. Don’t confuse them with SEELE.
* *Magic blue gem* trope.
* Danger-induced transformation – I wonder whether the embryo shape of the stone/transforming Juna is deliberate.
* ED: More RL stuff. I assume this is the RL version of Juna. Potentially the VA?

That was quite interesting. We are in the post-Evangelion world of anime, where stuff is dark and depressing, but also in the year after FLCL, when anime is weird and out there. From a one sentence description, the plot might sound like a common “save the world” mahou shoujo story, but the presentation is very different from that. I liked Juna’s character and character animation quite a bit (her transformed form, less so). The story could really go anywhere from here, but I would almost be surprised if we get traditional monster of the week battles that you would expect from this genre.

> Any explanation for showing wastedumps grounds randomly while Juna and Tokio talking to each other?

It is a "the planet is dying" metaphor.

> Did you Juna died or just spirited away?

In the process of dying. She had the "see your body from above" behavior that people who had near-deaths report.

> In Juna's stead, would you accept resurrection with supernatural powers endowed to fight for saving the planet or rather embrace the isekai?

Superpowers > floating alone in space

> Who the hell is Chris and that little girl?

Mentor & his sis.

> What is SEED?

Not SEELE.

> Any opinions about Juna's Avatar of Time form?

Not a fan. I prefer the original Juna.

**First Timer**

Right off the bat, I just wanna say I love the use of live action footage here. Feels very artistic.

This whole intro honestly feels very beautiful and artistic.

I also like the character designs. They feel more like real people than most anime designs. Kinda reminds me of how characters in Satoshi Kon anime are drawn.

So are Juna and Tokio a couple or what? Sharing an ice cream cone seems like an oddly intimate thing to do if they’re not.

I like the quiet ambiance of this show. It oddly reminds me of Evangelion.

The scene of Juna witnessing her one death is really well done from an artistic perspective.

There’s some pretty disturbing imagery in this show.

It is kinda funny that this mysterious otherworldly entity is just named Chris.

I am surprised that Chris also apparently has his own helicopter.

I’m surprised that this show about a girl becoming an Avatar of Time also has a secret government organization in it.

I’ve seen that kind of stone before. In the Ace Attorney series Maya has one.

I feel like this show is doing a good job at introducing a lot of new characters in a very natural feeling way.

I love the soundtrack in this show, it’s really good.

I like how alien Juna’s powered form looks.

### First time watcher and your host (subs),

If everything went normally well, then this would be an Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle rewatch, but since that failed, we have this instead. Actually I consider this rewatch as this some form of intermediate point from a personal standpoint. My Frieren rewatch ended in a few days ago, the Hell's Paradise one is also ending, and this supposed to fill the hole until the Iruma-kun one starts. How weirdly interesting that the other two rewatches which I mentioned are hosted by a certain someone, who actually blessed us with her presence by simply participating there.

So let me begin, shall we?

Lots of CGI scene, with time time involved with a very cryptic speech. I feel this is going on to the very weird and strange from the direction indeed.

Juna is just an ordinary high schooler who is in the archery club, while showing some not so happy scenes. What the Jigokuraku rewatch taught from me, was the harmony of strong and weak, and probably that is why looks Juna wants to be strong in archery, but that weakness can be felt. Want to have an ordinary life together. Then driving into the dusk on motorcycle together, in an ordinary hot summer day. The some waves just happenming, and intentionally targeting Juna.

Juna is in the hospital, suffered serious injuries. And looks she is about to die. Or maybe not, as her spirit is wandering, but cannot interact around her. Then pushed into the space, and some voice called Chris is talking to her, who shows an apocalyptic vision about the End Times. The end which caused some strange entities known as the Raaja. Only Chris can help her if she wants to live more. But if she wants to live she must listen to him and accept some superpowers, and accept that she is The Chosen One, known as the Avatar of Time.

Actually, she did revived and gained consciousness like notrhign happened, and looks Chris contacted her even in real life. He appears as a disabled young boy. He also gives another blessing a form of magatama gem and oinstrcuts her to an organization called SEED, which knows about the Raaja threat. And currently defending a nuclear power plant right now. In orde to fight efficiently, she is transformed into her true form, because her task is to save the Earth.

And Tokio is following this directions too.

And actually managed to say something, even if it was really hard though.


> 1) Can you decipher that opening scene?

Just God being a narrator.

> 2) Any explanation for showing wastedumps grounds randomly while Juna and Tokio talking to each other?

Or indzustrial bulding emitting those smokes as well,m but this nboomer forgot about them. Because this is the main theme, enviromentalist as hell.

> 3) What was that interference that caused that motorcycle crash? How is humanly possible?

Whether it was a Raaja or that divine intervention to target Juna specifically?

> 4) Did you Juna died or just spirited away?

Spirited away and near-death experience for a short time.

> 5) Can you imagine that apocalpytic vision it could real one day? Also any opinions about it?

Well, mankind could make Earth an inhabitable wasteland if everythin goes awry in the far future.

> 6) In Juna's stead, would you accept resurrection with supernatural powers endowed to fight for saving the planet or rather embrace the isekai?

Want to live more, fight more.

> 7) Who the hell is Chris and that little girl?

Chris is just a kid, who playing god. Had an accident, survived due to having godlike powers. That girl, is just his attendant.

> 8) What is SEED?

An international organization dedicated for the fight against the Raaja.

> 9) What is the Raaja?

Maybe the thing that born from damaging Earth.

> 10) Why a nuclear power plant?

Radioactivity I suppose.

> 11) Any opinions about Juna's Avatar of Time form?

Very god-like.

I only know this show due to this rewatch. So, I'm going blind other than reading the synopsis.

Wait, is that a Kansai dialect? I assume this is because Juna's VA is from the Hyogo prefecture.

So it seems like Juna was chosen to become some kind of a savior of sorts without her being able to get any agreements whatsoever after being killed in a strange incident. And she seems to be unable to tell what happened to her to Tokio and her mother because Chris seems to ask her to go to the chopper ASAP.

The "Ja" in "Raaja" seems to give the hint that that the enemies are shaped like snakes?

And I just realized that Tokio is voiced by Seki Tomokazu, lmao. I'm more familiar with his hot-blooded and comedic roles.

**First-timer, subs**

Okay, so this anime is much less normal than I anticipated! Or less anime-y to be more precise. Looks really experimental. A mix of live-action movie and slightly uncanny 3D CGI as if it’s an early 00s video game. Can’t say I’m a fan of this, but I don’t hate it either.

To summarize my impression of the visual style — it’s like the authors knew CGI would look uncanny as hell, chose to use it anyway BUT put lots of effort into making it nicer. It doesn’t look nearly as bad as it could.

Plot-wise, not much to say yet as everything that happened has basically been covered by synopsis. Except [MAL synopsis] >!it says Raaja monsters are born from human-caused pollution, did I just get brutally spoiled? I don’t think the anime itself revealed their nature yet.!<

Coming from that, here’s my wild guess where the story may go next: [speculation] >!at some point the primary conflict will shift from "Arjuna vs Raaja" to "Arjuna vs Human", since I’m sure humans won’t appreciate the idea of dismantling all their extensive nature-polluting industry that sustains their lives.!<

QotD:

1. Umm, sure, let me rewatch it… I always forget that these intros are often kind of premonitions about future plot twists and I better pay attention. Ok, now that I rewatched it, the voice sounds similar to that wheelchair guy. I wonder who those SEED guys are.

2. Human pollutes nature.

3. Humanly it’s surely not possible, but we clearly deal with some supernatural things here. I’m 50/50 that either Raaja or SEED guys have done that. Something’s fishy!
4. I’m not sure what’s the difference, but since her heart stopped that’s surely a big deal, "death" should be close enough.

5. I’ll be an optimist — humans are not savage enough to turn the whole planet completely inhospitable, but surely savage enough to make it a much worse place to live than it is today. I can totally imagine an apocalypse brought from space, though.

6. Would. Who knows if I’ll be isekaied as a hero with OP skill or a cool villainess or just a random grunt who gets sacrificed in the first episode.

7. Good question, I too wish to know this.

8. Maybe… time-travellers? Not the worst option I’d say.

9. Mentioned that above…

10. Clearly a reference to 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

11. That huge headpiece looks uncomfortable. Is it detachable?

First Timer, Subbed (is there even an option?)

Is this what it feels like to have an acid trip? I feel like this is what it's like to have an acid trip. The art, animation, and sound were all great, but at times I felt like I had no idea what I was looking at xD

The cold open is, well, pretty cold. To answer the first question, no, I did not understand at first. After watching the episode I went back: it seems to be Chris and the psychic girl with his wheelchair whose name I... already can't remember, talking about searching for a replacement for him, to prevent the human race from going extinct.

Arjuna and Tokio make a pretty good introduction, Arjuna for being a terrible shot that doesn't understand the "Being one with the target" (I assume this comes up later with the tao symbol and some sort of unity with the earth) and Tokio for not even watching officially, but from beneath a fence. He seems like he'll be very timid and a definite bystander to start off.

But she's also a contrarian and joined the archery club just to spite her mother it seems? And her father... left them, if I'm getting that image correct? And maybe that's why she's having trouble being one with the target or whatever?

The question of the bird is interesting. It might apply directly to Chris later on (why does he, with all this power, dive into the dirty ocean of humanity again?) or maybe Arjuna herself? I guess she sees freedom as something she wouldn't ever relinquish, and would stay airborne even if it meant devouring those others that had freedom? And Tokio (I thought she was saying Tokyo...) is more pragmatic, I guess, and says that freedom also means the freedom to give up that freedom temporarily, to satisfy desires? I could be reading *WAY* too far into this, but that's my current guesses as to the depth of that conversation...

We also get the first good glimpse into what's going to be the probable main theme: pollution, and the dirtiness and destruction of the earth. Even in their conversation, there's a distinct silhouette (I SPELLED IT RIGHT FIRST TRY AHAHHAHAHAAAA) of an oil rig behind them, and everything looks dirty, and the sea... isn't the *sea* if you get the gist, wild, untamed, clean like it should be in the romantic imaginings of the sea.

And now we have the vision and all the supernatural stuff... Well, I dunno how they're gonna handle death as a whole, so I dunno if this is a one-off thing organized by Chris or if all people who die see something like that before fading completely away. It paints an ugly picture of a potential future with pollution and the destruction of ecosystems dooming the world.

A bit weird that they're going to introduce a monster that causes this destruction, I mean, they have the pollution and show some of the harmful things like insecticides already, adding a monster to symbolize those exact things is... odd. I guess they don't want to have a magical girl show where she destroys oil refineries and energy plants and the such directly? Or maybe the Raaja is the earth's wrath personified, but that doesn't really make sense either...

I do find the scene going from her sitting straight up and then dashing off to be carried off by a helicopter, which gives credence to the whole "avatar of time" thing if they knew she'd be there in advance. I have absolutely no idea about Chris and the girl, though it seems Chris was the previous Avatar of Time and he's crippled now, either from his own battles or from passing on the torch to Juna? He still has birb power though so...

Nuclear power plant is a bit odd, and my interpretation of it will change once I understand more about the author's thoughts on whether nuclear energy is clean or not, and what the heck the Raaja are supposed to be personifying, if anything. It's believed nowadays that nuclear is the cleanest source of energy we have, and if that's the case, the Raaja are some source that are threatening to destroy them and accelerate Earth's downfall which makes sense why Juna's fighting them. But if it was believed by the author that nuclear was bad and that Japan was playing with fire for building so many nuclear reactors then... I dunno how to interpret it.

11) She looks silly IMO. Might grow on me, but whatever's going on with her hair is just not it.

**First-Time Watcher**

So, this will be my first time watching this show. Funnily enough, as a (relatively) old lady anime fan, this actually did come out at a time when I was actively following along with anime releases (X, Cat Soup, Spirited Away, Millennium Actress, the Cowboy Bebop movie, some good shit I remember from that year), but it was also a year that I had a lot of weird shit going on personally (as I'm sure many will agree with, teenager years are tough). I have very vague memories of the title at least, I want to say there was at least one person in my anime community at the time who was a fan of it and would talk about it, but that's about as good as I can get memory wise.

First episode certainly starts off interesting, and also possibly deserves an award for really getting across those "boy that sure escalated quickly" vibes.

[](#vacationcup)

I do love the cold open at the start, with the scenes of Juna practising her archery interspersed with scenes of her being admitted to the emergency room. Obviously you don't know what's going on (because the show just started and *no one* knows what's going on) but it's good at setting up the tone and vibes.

In fact, a lot of this first episode feels like vibes, on top of setting up the story of course.

From a story point of view... admittedly I'm not particularly sold so far. It feels very generic/stereotypical, and not in a great way. Juna is apparently some kind of special being who has some kind of powers that will let her defeat these evil Raaja monsters, but is given absolutely no choice or agency or information or explanation or anything, aside from visions of monsters and various scenes of the earth and very generic encouragement before getting dropped into some kind of pending emergency. It's something of a pet peeve of mine when characters with allegedly important duties are thrust into situations with no kind of warning or explanation. I get that it's supposed to be a mysterious thing that hooks the viewer in or whatever, but it always just kind of pisses me off. And it's not like she had any kind of choice in the matter because otherwise she would literally just die, and in fact basically already had.

That said, the vibes and atmosphere do work well. They definitely get across the sense of impending doom very well, and it's a bit unique in the sense that this time around our major "good" players seem more interested in specifically saving the Earth and its nature and environment and such and not just saving humans/people like tends to be a more common motive. Some individual emotional scenes are nicely done, like Juna looking down at herself in the hospital (and her mum just fucking fainting when Juna suddenly wakes up in the hospital room), and the opening scenes with her and Tokio by the water.

Speaking of, Tokio is voice by Tomokazu Seki, which is always a fun time, as are magatama references.

Honestly, if I were just watching this for my own sake, I'd probably have dropped it after this episode. I like the idea of the themes and a lot of the atmospheric stuff in the show, but have a feeling the plot and some of the characters (especially the orange haired girl who apparently can't open her mouth without insulting someone or something) are going to annoy me.

1) I guess more or less? Though I assume it'll make more sense by the end.

2) ~*theming*~

3) It seems like it was implied to be related to the CGI snakes I think? Definitely something shady going on there.

4) Like, I know I like to joke about "both" being the best answer for either/or questions, but in this case it seems to be literally true. Her body was literally dead on the table before it was revived thanks to Chris's powers, only for Juna to immediately "escape" into his custody.

5) Honestly, I think humans are doing a good enough job shitting up our planet that we don't really *need* giant snakes helping out with it. Give humans some credit here.

6) Seems better than dying, I guess. Dunno if I'd want to take the risk on being isekai'd or just dying.

7) People with presumably some kind of world-saving powers (though maybe that's just Chris) but not very good communication skills.

8) Military operation of some kind? Guess we'll find out more as we go.

9) Pretty sure those are the snake guys? As to what they actually are, well, I'm guessing they're not very friendly snakes, sad.

10) Nuclear power plants have had a pretty negative stereotype mostly since Chernobyl. Seems to make sense for the setting for some kind of potential environmental disaster waiting to happen kind of deal.

11) Kinda spooky and less like a magical girl than I expected tbh. Almost looks alien-like.

**First Timer**

Hello friends. Sorry for being late. Had a bunch of things to do yesterday. But I wasn't going to miss this one, I've been slacking on my anime watching and an excuse to watch a seemingly interesting 2000s cult hit is as good an excuse as any to take something off the backlog. I really don't know very much about Arjuna though. I've heard of it and I know of its somewhat liked but also somewhat mixed reputation, and that it was at least a bit noteworthy in its time. But it seems to have been largely forgotten to time, and I don't even know the basics of what it's about. Looking at the staff list, it has a number of noteworthy names. Directed by Shouji Kawamori, and I see a number of people credited who are important like Takahiro Oomori, Sunao Katabuchi, and Norio Matsumoto, plus animators like Ichirou Itano, background art by Kazuki Higashiji, and music by Yoko Kanno; it definitely has a pedigree that gives me expectations. So this is a lovely opportunity to enter a show just about completely blind. Very exciting, let's see Earth Maiden Arjuna has to offer.

Well this was quite the esoteric episode, huh? This clearly stems from the post-Eva boom of original TV anime with elements of experimentation, though this is the 2000s part of the boom where the stories became a bit more traditional. But I felt that Eva influence strongly in particularly the scenes at the nuclear reactor, which had "NERV staff talk about the percentage chance of the mission's success" written all over it; the story structure seems similar overall. This leans stronger into the sekai-kei stuff which Eva was prototypical of, and it's got pseudo-magical girls to boot. Almost feels like something that Shinkai would have made in the 2000s if he had the history and production team he had now, I was reminded a ton of Suzume.

For more broad comments, I just love that 2000s color palette. The muted colors and harsh lighting of anime from this time period is incredibly appealing to me, and some of the shots here are beautiful, like the sunset while Juna and Tokio are on the motorcycle. Other times the camerawork is awkward and clunky though. It likes to move a lot but it feels jerky sometimes. It was done well while swimming through the hospital, less so while saving Tokio at the end. The animation is decent, but the soundtrack is wonderful, as expected of Yoko Kanno. I'm not a fan of the voice acting though. Juna's VA is clearly inexperienced, and while I often like the kind of naturalistic performance that creates I just don't think the voice direction here is strong. She sounds stilted. And Tomokazu Seki's Tokio is pretty weak imo, the guy barely seemed invested even at the dramatic high point of the episode. I kind of like their relationship though, there's a sense of intimacy to it where it's clear they have a complicated history and have known each other for a long time. I like Tokio's terrible flirt about wanting to become one with Juna, and Juna's reaction to his attempt to kiss her says a lot about her feelings towards him, complicated and positive but not necessarily romantic, but maybe a little bit. I think we're probably missing context to them. Cindy is great though, best character so far.

There's a lot going on this episode so I'm gonna try to make sense of it. Early on, there's a lot of talk about "becoming one with the world." The opening monologue talks about how human history is only a speck of dust in the grand scheme of time. This is often used as rationale to explain why life and humanity has no value (at least not without a god to prescribe it); it places us as separate from the world and makes us feel small, as if we're not tied to the world but a small, meaningless thing that incidentally exists on it. The shot of the earth transitioning to the target and Juna explaining that you have to become "one with the target" might imply things about her feelings. Juna can't seem to hit the target because she's "failed to become one with it."

The environmental themes are clear through the imagery and central concept, and Juna seems to not feel much meaning in her life. She doesn't feel one with the world, she feels small and constrained. She wonders why the birds would ever come down for fish when they have so much freedom flying, and when it's pointed out that they live right next to the sea that sea isn't good enough for her, too constrained. She chose to do kyuudo seemingly because her mother suggested more stereotypically feminine activities and she didn't want to be constrained by that. That idea of "constraint" seems to be important to her character. I think she feels as if her life is meaningless and that much is out of her control. It is in this sense that she doesn't feel "one with the world."

When she dies, she has an out-of-body experience and literally flies. It seems freeing at first, but then she sees the scary monsters attacking the earth and is offered an opportunity to come back down. I think it might be calling back to that conversation about the birds. Why come back down to earth even when you can fly in space? Because she likes it there. She likes Tokio and her mom and many aspects of her life even if she does feel meaningless or powerless. Coming to realize that and rushing to save Tokio also helps her to do her transformation. She's clearly attached to the things that are in her life. Nonetheless, she's been given an opportunity to save the world and be more than a speck in the history of time, but maybe others won't be able to know about it and that will remove the meaning for her. I'm interested to see more of her motivations come out later.

The environmental themes are blatant, with Juna protecting a nuclear power plant from destruction by demons. There's also seemingly some Indian (?) imagery with the seed of time on Juna's forehead, and some general religious overtones from both Asia (the Yin-Yang and stuff) and Europe (Chris is Christ, right? Sacrifices himself to save the world that's drowning in sin, ie. environmental destruction? Also plays on Eva's Christian imagery). I'm not knowledgeable about this sort of thing to speak on specifics, but it seems the series takes on the aesthetics of many different cultures and religious traditions, which ties into these other ideas of finding meaning and becoming one with the world.

So I guess now Juna will protect various environmentally relevant sites from Raaja attacks, while coming to terms with her place in the world and finding meaning in her existence through becoming closer to the world itself. There's a lot of details missing and I'm unsure of how this is goign to go. I'm not sold on the show as of this episode, but I think it has the potential to go in either direction. It's an interesting watch though, it exists in such an odd part of the medium's history and is doing and saying memorable things in strange ways. Interested to continue.

**QOTD:**

1. I don't think there's a ton to decipher. The narrator explains it: the world would continue to exist even if humans and life in general went extinct because we have little impact on it in the grand scheme of time, but we still want to protect it. It wants to ask why that is, and sets itself to imagery of time passing an an ancient looking world to evoke that feeling of things passing by.

2. That imagery comes up when Juna talks about how the sea is constricting. It seems to evoke the ways human activity make the environment feel constricting, it's why Juna says she feels suffocated.

3. Demons, the Raaja. It's not humanly possible, this is a TV show.

4. They said clearly that she died and was brought back.

5. We're already on our way towards it. Climate change is real and happening.

6. I don't know what the fighting entails, I'm not sure.

7. Don't know yet.

8. Seemingly the NERV of this world.

9. The name for the demons threatening all life on earth I think.

10. Not my favorite design.