Earth Maiden Arjuna 25 Years Anniversary Rewatch Episode 12 Discussion

# Episode 12: [The Death of a Nation](https://files.catbox.moe/m6dbcf.jpg)
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[Previous episode](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qhgnqh/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)

***
## Questions for the day:

1) Even back in episode 1, they really talked about food/blood/etc becoming one with the person?

2) Any opinion about the radical shift of tone of this episode, as there is a real humanitarian disaster now?

3) Are there any real chance that the PDB contamination can spread to other nations?

4) How scary is that PDB dissolves any existing materials?

5) Why are the people (atelast in the US) are so ignorant of what happening in Japan?

6) Did the SEED leadership revealed their true colors by placing a quarantine?

***
## Highlights from yesterday:

1) Raajas are kaiju monsters, atleast by u/No_Rex:

> It’s Raaja-zilla.

2) Theresa's gender reveal was kinda shocking to the least, and probably u/Shimmering-Sky's reaction was basically what most of us expected:

> Unexpected trans rep? Oh, or… that.

3) Theresa having masculine traits due to chromosomes are quite progressive for 2001 standards:

> Whoa, Teresa's backstory about sex identity caught me off-guard. You definitely didn't see these topics addressed much in 2001!

> Theresa's backstory is interesting. In general it's very rare to see an intersex character in anime, especially from one from as far back as 2001.

***
### Other information:

ED: [Early Bird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPnDMoC9los) by Chinatsu Yamamoto

***
## 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

SpiritualPossible2026-01-20 22:20

**First timer**

This is where the real apocalyptic events in Japan began, but the only thing I can think about is trying to understand what the show is trying to say.

Based on the conversation between Tokio and Sayuri, it seems like the show is telling us that “We rely too much on modern technology, and if everything stops working, we won't be ready for it.” but that doesn't work with the current situation - Japan ended up in this position not only because of a fantastic virus that destroys literally EVERYTHING, but also because it is now filled with REAL MONSTERS that prevent any help from being provided.

Maybe show comments on how people don't care about each other, showing how Americans continue to live their lives and are in no hurry to help Japan? Well, again, that doesn't work in the current situation. Sorry, but this president who looks like he is from from Monsters vs. Aliens is right: not only do monsters prevent help from being provided, but if the virus spreads around the world, it will be the end of the world.

***AND CAN CHRIS STOP BEING SO CRYPTIC, FOR GOD'S SAKE?!! IT'S THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE, AND HE'S STILL GOING ON WITH HIS NONSENSE “NO, JUNA, YOU'RE STUPID AND YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!” WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT HE ALSO MANAGES TO BLAME JUNA FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED! WHAT THE HELL?!***

No_Rex2026-01-21 01:32

> AND CAN CHRIS STOP BEING SO CRYPTIC, FOR GOD'S SAKE?!! IT'S THE PENULTIMATE EPISODE, AND HE'S STILL GOING ON WITH HIS NONSENSE “NO, JUNA, YOU'RE STUPID AND YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!!!” WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION! NOT ONLY THAT, BUT HE ALSO MANAGES TO BLAME JUNA FOR EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED! WHAT THE HELL?!

You see, this is the author being very clever (/s): He is writing a series that preaches, loudly, about all his perceived ills of the modern world, while inserting a character that goes "Why won't you see? Why won't you see? Can't you understand?". Dipshit.

Shimmering-Sky2026-01-20 22:21

**First-Timer Maiden Subbed**

- [That’s one way to look at blood or organ donation, I suppose.](https://i.imgur.com/ytz3iKz.png)

- [The sound of the Raaja spluttering around is *incredibly* unsettling.](https://i.imgur.com/BeRyurh.png) [](#scaredmio)

- […damn, is Sayuri’s dad going to die right in front of her?](https://i.imgur.com/US4vHZe.png) [](#emiliaohdear)

- [D-Damn…](https://i.imgur.com/Rs1ZIX5.png) [](#whatdidijustread)

- [There go their clothes too, huh.](https://i.imgur.com/X0gKgem.png)

- [Shit is just going from bad to worse for Japan, dang…](https://i.imgur.com/dVT8aTt.png) [](#emiliaohdear)

- [Had a feeling she would say something like that in response to why Juna was starving herself.](https://i.imgur.com/FnK1dzr.png) [](#mug1)

- [Don’t say that, Tokio!](https://i.imgur.com/Mxrbc1U.png) [](#makicry)

- [Geh…](https://i.imgur.com/zaayUdK.png) [](#finethen)

- [Damn…](https://i.imgur.com/4rfP6Ss.png)

- [That *would* be a rather terrifying thought.](https://i.imgur.com/P4EjiTt.png)

- [Ugh, seriously?](https://i.imgur.com/xkP60Fa.png)

- [Well maybe if you would *fucking explain stuff* to her…](https://i.imgur.com/ERIJECY.png) [](#angryheadgrab)

wloff2026-01-20 22:22

**First-timer, subs**

What's this? It's like the show suddenly realized it was supposed to be a magical girl battle anime and decided to speedrun half a season's worth of development in two minutes.

[](#panic)

And, umm, it goes a liiiittle bit overboard in no time flat. I thought when we last left off we were watching a high schooler love triangle with some enviromentalist messaging sprinkled in, now all of a sudden, everyone is dead, Sayuri's dad burns alive in front of their eyes, Juna apparently remotely experiences being burnt alive, and literally all of Japan is destroyed. Oh, and we're time-skipping eleven days ahead to end up in some kind of a post-apocalyptic survival horror scenario.

[](#ohfuck "What the hell is this show actually.")

It's somehow all so random, sudden, and out of the left field, that I'm kinda having a hard time taking it seriously. Like, the whole thing with Tokio and Sayuri and the little siblings starving to death... it's heavy stuff, obviously, like, *extremely* heavy, but it's so different from everything we've experienced in the show so far that the mental whiplash is just making my brain go "yeah, no, this isn't a real thing".

[](#hardthink "It's hard to explain.")

I'm also having it hard to believe that if a humanitarian disaster of such magnitude would happen, the rest of the world would just let everyone die with a shrug. No, there would be a massive relief effort with all developed nations of the world doing whatever they can to try and help. They might fail, of course, but they absolutely would *try*.

It's good to know, though, that even in the face of all this, Teresa finds a way to guilt-trip Juna about eating while African children are starving, and Chris finds a way to yet again say "you idiot, you still don't understand anything, even though no one has STILL explained literally anything to you".

Chris is the worst mentor figure I've ever seen in any show or any media!

I'll say this much, I have absolutely no idea how this show is going to end now. The actual apocalypse would be my guess at this point, I guess!

[](#peace)

il8872026-01-20 23:31

> They might fail, of course, but they absolutely would try.

SEED probably cut all these efforts short since they put all of Japan into quarantine.

il8872026-01-20 23:06

**First-timer, subs**

So, this PDB thing combined with mysterious Raajas is an apocalypse-level threat after all. This was quite a grim episode.

Chris shows up. Calls Juna stupid. Refuses to elaborate. Leaves. Even after all the character development he’s still the same annoying fella as in the first episode.

Wait, did Juna just… get in the robot? This isn’t a magical girl anime anymore — this is a mecha show now!

QotD:

1. Yes, this was kind of a throwback.

3. Looking at how these things easily fly through air, permeate everything, form giant tentacles — sure, why not.

4. Scary as hell! Although I find the idea of indefinitely multiplying and omnivorous bacteria/nanorobots rather boring and clichey for an apocalyptic story.

5. I’m not sure mass media would even be able to convey Americans the full extent of what was happening in Japan. Plus, foreign governments wouldn’t want their people to panic. (edit: rewatched this part — the New York TV actually shows everything in detail. Not sure then.)

6. A worldwide organization responsible for lives of people is pretty much expected to make pragmatic, cynical decisions. On the other hand, I don’t really get it why they were so opposed to helping Juna get to Japan if she volunteered so herself.

No_Rex2026-01-21 01:26

**Episode 12 (first timer)**

* Juna and Tokio stumble upon the *Ship of Theseus* problem. I think it is easier to think about the problem in the ship example, but it works in a similar way for humans and food.
* Seeing your dad crash and burn up in front of you – traumatic.
* “Where did dad go? When is he coming back?” – hard question. Strongly reminds me of episode 5 of [anime name]>!Nadia.!<
* Apocalypse in Japan, life as usual in the US – I don’t think this is what would happen. An event of this magnitude would absolutely dominate all aspects of daily life. Especially because the obvious fear must be world-wide spread of the bacteria.
* Lying to a mind reader: Difficult. However, his statement was such obvious bullshit that you did not really need that ability, anyway.
* *The old are sending the young on to live* trope.
* “You don’t even understand that. It is that ignorance of yours that brought about this situation.” – I am hating Chris more and more … but not quite as much as the preaching author of this who assumes that Chris is a positive character.
* *Fall into bottomless pit* trope.

Welcome to the plastic-eating bacteria apocalypse (which looked to me like a mixture of War of the Worlds and Princess Mononoke). I guess that anime has to have a climax, so why not kill all of Japan. In case my sarcasm does not already give it away: I don’t think the series paid enough into world building to have the “end of Japan” payout. This is not a casual 10 minute event to be pulled in the second-to-last episode.

But in the end, this is the B plot, while Chris vs Juna is the A plot and real climax (to be solved tomorrow). I suspect I will like that a lot less than the apocalypse part.

> Are there any real chance that the PDB contamination can spread to other nations?

100%, unless Juna stops it.

> How scary is that PDB dissolves any existing materials?

If anything close to this happened in real life, 99.5% of all humans would die.

> Why are the people (atelast in the US) are so ignorant of what happening in Japan?

Because the author wants to draw a parallel to humans ignoring the (what he thinks) ecological catastrophy that is happening right now.

> Did the SEED leadership revealed their true colors by placing a quarantine?

No, they are just convenient stereotypes to voice the author's rant about oil reliance.

JustAnswerAQuestion2026-01-21 03:45

> Welcome to the plastic-eating bacteria apocalypse

I keep thinking it's the Sliders pilot, or second episode, but it's actually the [Doorways Pilot (1992)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6sqYP0dRTw&t=50m15s)

mr_beanoz2026-01-21 06:10

What language is used for the ending theme? Any lyrics for it?

And Chris somehow still couldn't tell it what he wanted Juna to understand.

JustAnswerAQuestion2026-01-21 07:08

*Early Bird* is a Gabriela Robin song, so its language is Gablish.

Perhaps the most recognizable G.R. song is [*Green Bird*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApDAJJONn9I) from episode 5 of Cowboy Bebop (you know the scene).

AgentOfACROSS2026-01-21 06:40

**First Timer**

Chris' only purpose in this show is to periodically show up, call Juna an dumbass and say everything's her fault and then leave again.

If Chris thinks Juna's so bad at her job, why did he even choose her to begin with?

If he really does have all the answers why does he do literally nothing?

I think this is where the show is kinda having a conflict with itself. The half of the show that are trying to be a magical girl show about fighting even plague monsters and the half that's trying to be a serious commentary about environmentalism are at odds.

Like it's trying to show that the world is unprepared for a humanitarian disaster because we rely too much on technology or whatever. But the only reason this happens is because we have some kind of evil virus that eats everything in its path and also the Raaja.

As others have pointed out, I don't think the US would do absolutely nothing. Like yeah, you can criticize the way US handles foreign aid, saying they don't do enough or saying the average American is ignorant of what's going on in the world. But there would definitely be some kind of response to a disaster on this level.

The apocalypse here happened so suddenly that it kinda feels like the writer forgot that we needed a climax and just invented this.

Now granted it was foreshadowed in episode 10 but still, this is all super sudden.

I'm really hoping this show can turn it around for me with this last episode but I'm not gonna get my hopes up.

I will say, at least Ashura looks cool this episode.

TheDanubianCommunard2026-01-21 21:59

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

The PDB contamination reached the shores of Japan, and now the entire country is now under a huanitartian disaster, as it spread basically everywhere, via the water.

As the people are suffering right now, the world wwatching this with ignorance and not raising a hand to assist like if never happened. Juna is pissed off because of this attitude she want to help the people, due to her nature. SEED may placed a quarantine, but she cannot be stopped if Ashura is at her side.

> 1) Even back in episode 1, they really talked about food/blood/etc becoming one with the person?

Looks like it, they kinda retconned that part.

> 2) Any opinion about the radical shift of tone of this episode, as there is a real humanitarian disaster now?

This is somewhat closer to the dsying world scenario what Juna saw early on.

> 3) Are there any real chance that the PDB contamination can spread to other nations?

Yes.

> 4) How scary is that PDB dissolves any existing materials?

It mutated very fast.

> 5) Why are the people (atelast in the US) are so ignorant of what happening in Japan?

Because that is not their concern.

> 6) Did the SEED leadership revealed their true colors by placing a quarantine?

Yes, because they care about their own safety and gains.