Earth Maiden Arjuna 25 Years Anniversary Rewatch Episode 5 Discussion

# Episode 5: [The Small Voices](https://files.catbox.moe/f14lh6.jpg)
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[Previous episode](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qb77ej/earth_maiden_arjuna_25_years_anniversary_rewatch/) | [Index](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1q2dzfb/earth_maiden_arjuna_25_years_anniversary_rewatch/) | [Next episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL2HPPHdPAA)
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## Links, useful info:

[MAL](https://myanimelist.net/anime/812/Chikyuu_Shoujo_Arjuna) | [Anilist](https://anilist.co/anime/812/Arjuna/) | [Anidb](https://anidb.net/anime/107) | [Kitsu](https://kitsu.app/anime/chikyuu-shoujo-arjuna) | [Livechart](https://www.livechart.me/anime/5910) | [ANN](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=602) | [AP](https://www.anime-planet.com/anime/arjuna)

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## Streams:

[Tubi](https://tubitv.com/series/1960), but that service is only in certain countries. [Otherwise](#piracy)

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## Questions for the day:

1) Any opinion about the previous episode's epilogue as the opening of this episode?

2) What is that IT-x designation used by SEED?

3) How can a bacterial Raaja exists?

4) How interesting or weird that Juna inside a body, literally?

5) How could a rapid infection just spawned from nothing and spread in no time?

6) Any ideas why the episode title card depicting a bunch of disposed cars?

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## Highlights from yesterday:

1) I think u/Shimmering-Sky kinda summed up what we have experienced so far in this series:

> This is kind of unsettling… Like I get what the show is going for, it just weirds me out.

2) u/JustAnswerAQuestion knew who is that old guy supposed to be in real life:

> The old man is an avatar of Masanobu Fukuoka. He is a proponent of what he called Natural Farming. This goes far beyond organic farming or sustainable agriculture.

3) Return to nature is nice and good, but for u/AgentOfACROSS, the show delivers it in a kinda different way and meaning.

> But this episode's whole "return to nature" viewpoint feels a bit naive and misguided. Yes, some weeds and even insects can be beneficial to the plants you grow and pesticides are harmful. But at the same time, there are also weeds that are harmful to the plants that are growing.

***
## Disclaimer notice:

Dear rewatchers, please be nice to the first-time watchers by simply not spoilering anything. But if you want to discuss spoiler-territory things, use spoiler tags instead. Thank you for your understanding.

For example [this is] >!a spoiler!<

Voir le contenu lié

Commentaires

SpiritualPossible2026-01-13 22:01

**First timer**

[*Oh, so now we're in the episode “Jimmy Neutron.”*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z_e9sPckNI)

After the interludes, June and Tokio finally return to their hometown. And just when it seems like everything is going smoothly, Juna not only realizes the terrible truth that she can no longer eat her favorite hamburgers, but Tokyo also becomes infected with a new virus and Micro-Raaj inside her.

I liked the first half of the episode, especially the interaction between Juna and Tokyo on the train, but when the "innerspace" started... I don't know. Chris is acting all-powerful again without *actually* helping, with really getting repetative, and the idea of the umbilical cord potion not only turned out to be very *convenient*, but together with the previous episode, it starts to seem like the series is promoting alternative medicine. I also don't quite understand how what Juna did in this episode is different from killing Rajaa? Or how what she did apparently stopped the spread of the virus?

Shimmering-Sky2026-01-13 22:02

**First-Timer Maiden Subbed**

- [Is that part really a problem?](https://i.imgur.com/uDjAx8A.png) [](#harukathonk)

- [I wonder if that’s a real manga Tokio was reading.](https://i.imgur.com/c8xJynr.png) [](#binoculars)

- [That disease does *not* sound good.](https://i.imgur.com/9elwAPf.png) [](#emiliaohdear)

- [I could go for some pickles.](https://i.imgur.com/XSm95Ws.png) [](#drool)

- [I guess that means no more burgers for Juna?](https://i.imgur.com/sM85ClI.png) [](#toradorasalute)

- [Uh-oh.](https://i.imgur.com/ZiQpleW.png) [](#watashiworried)

- [Damn…](https://i.imgur.com/X6RIhUy.png)

- [Dude, now is *not* the time.](https://i.imgur.com/FueXqii.png) [](#peasants)

- [What?](https://i.imgur.com/YjYEBW0.png) [](#lost)

- […that wasn’t Juna’s umbilical cord juice she got some of.](https://i.imgur.com/afONW9K.png) [](#sakurathink)

- [Fascinating…](https://i.imgur.com/KP58VRx.png)

wloff2026-01-13 22:20

**First-timer, subs**

The more I see of this show, the less I feel like I understand what's going on!

[](#seasonalconfused)

Juna and Tokio joking around and laughing about the crazy old man of the mountains was a really welcome little scene. It's nice to remember that amid all the weirdness that's going on in their lives, they actually are just normal kids, living in a normal world.

Mostly.

Except when it's not normal at all.

The messaging in this episode goes from kinda understandable to outright crazy, which is no surprise at this point, honestly. Fast food, especially fast food burgers, being portrayed as the *ultimate evil in unethical food* is very 2001 and honestly feels quite *natsukashii*. [](#feelingloved)

The idea that *medicine* is some kind of evil, on the other hand, goes solidly in the "insane" category. [](#mindmelt)

Especially since Chris himself is so reliant on modern medicine to even be able to live! Is it an evil or not? Make up your mind!

Did I understand this correctly: S.E.E.D. somehow intercepted their emergency call and sent their own team of mad scientists in place of an actual ambulance? How? *Why?*

And how are they tracking all the vitals of both Juna and Tokio, anyway, all the way down to cellular level, apparently? For (apparent) proponents of natural farming and isolation from city life, these people sure have a lot of high-tech gadgets!

Annnnnd then... we get to, shall we say, *biology* portion of the episode.

Juna goes inside Tokio's stomach.

[](#eh)

Juna goes inside *her own* stomach.

[](#eh)[](#eh)

Juna is fed an ancient shriveled, dead piece of *umbilical cord*, and that's the ultimate medicine.

[](#eh)[](#eh)[](#eh)

It was all a bit much for me, I gotta admit! I enjoyed the scenes in the beginning where they were all acting like real people, but the later half was somewhere between confusing and disturbing, and it was overall probably my least favorite episode so far.

But it really is an interesting show!

[](#peace)

TheDanubianCommunard2026-01-13 22:55

> The more I see of this show, the less I feel like I understand what's going on!

Understandable.

> Juna goes inside Tokio's stomach.

> Juna goes inside her own stomach.

> Juna is fed an ancient shriveled, dead piece of umbilical cord, and that's the ultimate medicine.

> It was all a bit much for me, I gotta admit! I enjoyed the scenes in the beginning where they were all acting like real people, but the later half was somewhere between confusing and disturbing, and it was overall probably my least favorite episode so far.

Very typical Arjuna episode I guess.

No_Rex2026-01-13 23:25

**Episode 5 (first timer)**

* (Bad) lecture about soil quality – after an episode of *show,* we are squarely back in *tell.*
* SEED has an Australian branch? So they are multinational.
* Even if you don’t have an “modern medicine is evil” agenda, giving some pills to a person who is vomiting and ill, after you called an ambulance, is a terrible idea.
* “Micro Raaja” – sounds bad.
* Is Sayuri the backup girl for Tokio once Juna leaves her human body behind and turns fully Earth spirit?

Listening to half-backed esoteric takes on agriculture or human health is bad, but that is an easy take. I want to complain about something a bit deeper in the series’ setup: Its use of technology to tell an anti-technology story.

Starting with Chris’s wheelchair, the helicopter, the quasi-military SEED organization, all the way to today’s “doctor” who can track bacteria in the intestine in real time … the viewer is bombarded with technology (in the sense of techno babble). Even for the core concepts like TL-1 or Raaja. Yet the morale of the story, which is not subtle at all, is a *nature is good, technology is bad* one. Then why resort to techno babble? It does not fit the theme. Ep4 was the only time we leave SEED’s technology behind and it was the only time the message somewhat worked for me.

SpiritualPossible2026-01-13 23:35

>I want to complain about something a bit deeper in the series’ setup: Its use of technology to tell an anti-technology story.

Oh, yeah, that bothers me too. I still hold out hope that the show will be less dismissive of technology going forward, but for now, this dissonance is pretty confusing.

No_Rex2026-01-13 23:37

> Oh, yeah, that bothers me too. I still hold out hope that the show will be less dismissive of technology going forward, but for now, this dissonance is pretty confusing.

The show's maker's beliefs seem very strong, if the preaching in the episodes is anything to go by. Rather than a change of mind, I hope that they decide to concentrate on the plot instead of the moralizing.

mr_beanoz2026-01-14 00:56

I guess putting the epilogue of the last episode as the start of this one was due to length - hell, episode 4 was around 27 minutes including the ending theme.

And apparently Juna could move her conciousness to get into Tokio's body? Or is this just plot convenience?

TheDanubianCommunard2026-01-14 01:03

> I guess putting the epilogue of the last episode as the start of this one was due to length - hell, episode 4 was around 27 minutes including the ending theme.

I think you are right with this.

il8872026-01-14 01:39

**First-timer, subs**

Okay, I do remember biologically-modified food used to be the big bad thing a while back, but promoting some umbilical cord juices as an ultimate remedy and better alternative to conventional medicine? I sure hope we aren’t getting urine therapy next.

Although I make a rule to not judge a show before watching it till the end, these takes are getting pretty hot lately.

👀 this new girl seems to be more caring towards Juna’s boyfriend rather than Juna herself. And besides, she’s a regular human being like Tokio and unlike Juna. I sense danger!

QotD:

2. Get in the robot, Juna! Oops, I mean get in his intestine and slay the angel- I mean Raaja. (no, the whole thing really does feel Eva-inspired)

3. Well, I don’t see why not. Not like they’re bound by laws of physics anyway.

5. These Raaja mysteries again…

6. Looks pretty in line with the whole waste and pollution agenda.

AgentOfACROSS2026-01-14 05:18

**First Timer**

This whole trope of "going inside the body to fight a disease" is an oddly common one. Mostly in a American pop culture but I've seen it in some anime too like JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

One of the earliest and most influential examples is the 1966 film "The Fantastic Voyage" which, despite its influence, I have not seen and I have met very few people who have actually seen it.

Anyway this is a very fun take on the whole Fantastic Voyage plot and I overall enjoyed the episode.

I think the scene with Juna eating the burger and having kind of a breakdown when she can see the impact of what it takes to make a hamburger is really well done.

I complained about the previous episode for being kinda preachy but I think it's a lot better done this episode. In the previous episode I kinda just got tired of listening to the old hermit talk but in this episode we see the show's message conveyed more through visuals which I think helps get the point across while also being more engaging to the audience.

I am kinda getting tired of Chris though. Like a lot of the time he just shows up and tells Juna she's doing a bad job and then instead of trying to help or tell her how to improve he just kinda leaves her. It always works out but I'm not quite a fan of it.

I don't have too much more to say about this episode other than that I liked it a lot.

mr_beanoz2026-01-14 05:21

>One of the earliest and most influential examples is the 1966 film "The Fantastic Voyage" which, despite its influence, I have not seen and I have met very few people who have actually seen it.

I haven't seen it either, but I know that it influenced the Spongebob episode "Squidtastic Voyage", an episode where Spongebob and Patrick were sent to Squidward's body with a shrinked submarine to retrieve a clarinet reed stuck on Squidward's throat.

AgentOfACROSS2026-01-14 05:29

Oh yeah I remember that episode. It's very common to be parodied in western cartoons.

Some other cartoons that have used the Fantastic Voyage plot for episodes The Simpsons, Totally Spies, Teen Titans, Archer, Phineas & Ferb, and Futurama among others.

No_Rex2026-01-14 20:50

> One of the earliest and most influential examples is the 1966 film "The Fantastic Voyage" which, despite its influence, I have not seen and I have met very few people who have actually seen it.

I have seen it and it is very good (if you can look past the 1966 practical effects). It is played a lot more serious than many later copies of the idea.

TheDanubianCommunard2026-01-14 21:28

### First-time watcher and your host, subs

The old man says why he has and his method is right, regarding the overindustrialized agriculture.

Juna and Tokio returnng back to town, where they meet one of Juna's classmate. Meanwhile the two SEED guys talking about a global epidemic which started recently. Chris looks like doesn't feel really well, maybe he knows this disease is spreading well.

Juna realized when eating that hamberuger, she realized it is the most capitalistic thing ever. Probably because lots of work, big industry, harming the nature, harmful substances and whatnot, basically what the old guy said. That food it just not compatible with her ideals as the Avatar of Time, the champion of enviromentalism.

Tokio had a massive stomache, and looks like it is connected to that infection. Here comes the interesdting part, any kind of an antidotes doesn't even owrk, Juna entered into the enterials, literally, and the bacteria/virus is actually a Raaja.

> 1) Any opinion about the previous episode's epilogue as the opening of this episode?

Capitalism is bad, modern agrciulture is bad.

> 2) What is that IT-x designation used by SEED?

I don't know.

> 3) How can a bacterial Raaja exists?

Because all the harmful substances which enters into our body when eating and absorbing.

> 4) How interesting or weird that Juna inside a body, literally?

Both.

> 5) How could a rapid infection just spawned from nothing and spread in no time?

Who knows?

> 6) Any ideas why the episode title card depicting a bunch of disposed cars?

Lots of waste.