Earth Maiden Arjuna 25 Years Anniversary Rewatch Overall Discussion Post

# Overall discussions
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[Previous episode](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1qjafei/earth_maiden_arjuna_25_years_anniversary_rewatch/) | [Index](https://old.reddit.com/r/anime/comments/1q2dzfb/earth_maiden_arjuna_25_years_anniversary_rewatch/)
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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)

***
## Streams:

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

***
## Questions for the day:

1) Best character? Least liked one?

2) Best episode? Least liked one?

3) Any opinion about the uniqueness in general?

4) Any opinion about the music? Which ED do you prefer? How would you rank them? [Here you can listen to](https://animethemes.moe/anime/chikyuu_shoujo_arjuna) it if you need to

5) What could have been better?

6) If it was made today, would have been received better and less underrated? Or maybe being existing?

7) Any opinion about the usage of CGI and real-life footage?

8) How would you rate this on a 1-10 scale?

9) Would it be embarassing the next time we meet again?

***
## Highlights from yesterday:

1) If was been less mean, then everything would be clearer, atleast that is what u/wloff understood:

> I think overall so much of the series would have been easier to take if Chris didn't need to be such a raging asshole about it the whole way. Instead of being a condescending prick who does nothing but berate Juna at every opportunity, how about at least saying, I dunno, "look, I can't spell out the truth to you because the only way you'll understand it is if you get there on your own"? I think that alone would have made the whole journey a lot easier to take.

2) u/SpiritualPossible's comment was basically a huge rant how incoherent of a mess it is:

> I think I wanna punch this show in the face?

> NO! BECAUSE THE SHOW SOMEHOW MANAGED AGAIN TO TURN EVERYTHING INTO "NO, JUNA!!!! YOU'RE STUPID!!!! CHRIS IS ACTUALLY BASED, AND YOU JUST WON'T LISTEN TO HIM!!!!!“ Like, what the hell? What the fuck did Cindy mean when she said ”Chris knew this would happen" when talking about Tokio? He knew Tokio would find some fucking grapes when he WAS RISKING HIS LIFE TRYING TO SAVE THE DYING SAURI AND HER SISTER?!?!? WHILE TRYING TO ESCAPE A SWARM OF UNKILLABLE MONSTERS?!?!?! AFTER THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH A SERIES OF TRAUMATIC EVENTS, LIKE SAYURI WATCHING HER FATHER BURN ALIVE?!?!?!?

> Oh, and it seems we finally found out what Chris wanted June to do with the Raaja's. You see, she wasn't supposed to KILL them, she was supposed to ABSORB them, just like Chris did. WHY?!?! THIS EPISODE ITSELF MENTIONS HOW CHRIS STARTED DYING AFTER HE DID THAT TO ONE RAAJA! SO WHAT DID HE EXPECT JUNA TO DO, DO IT 12 TIMES, FOR GOD'S SAKE?!?!? OR DO IT ONCE AND THEN FIND A NEW REPLACEMENT HERSELF?!?!?! AND WHY ALL THIS TALK ABOUT JUNA NEEDING TO “AWAKEN” OR THAT SHE IS “THEIR LAST HOPE”?!

Come on, let's try punching this hard.

"Sore demo" counter: 1

***
### Annotations from the host:

To be honest, I did not regret choosing this show for rewatch, even if I rather wanted to host Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle in place of this. I feel this was a success because it is so unique and divisive, which allowed for good discussions to be made.

***
## 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!<

***
[And I see you guys, until we meet again somewhere, someday.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk)[](#toradorasalute)

Voir le contenu lié

Commentaires

SpiritualPossible2026-01-22 22:09

*Now Chris is definitely on my list of most hated characters in all anime.*

...Well, I said at the beginning of this rewatch that with these sci-fi anime from the early 2000s, it was always difficult to tell how good the plot would actually be, so I probably can't say that it's really THAT shocking, but yes, this anime is a hot mess.

Like, I'm totally down with environmental issues being addressed in TV shows. It's a serious topic that deserves to be discussed. But damn, this show took such a RADICAL approach to it, while also putting forward ideas that are simply ***WRONG***. The series just shoves its message in your face, refusing to consider any other perspective that differs from its own. And all this preaching simply forces the viewer to conclude that the show is, no offense, just a propaganda vehicle for some nutcase.

And that's especially frustrating because underneath it all, there IS good show. I know I'm probably going to sound like a broken record, but every time the show focused on the characters, their relationships, and their everyday lives, it was pretty good! I like Juna and Tokio as a couple and as characters (...mostly Tokio in that regard). I'm interested in Juna's life. In those parts, the show feels realistic and down-to-earth, which I really appreciate. The direction and soundtrack are also extremely well done. But because of this, the ending, which essentially discards all the positive qualities of the series in order to once again cram its crazy moralizing down your throat, only makes it worse. I myself did not expect that the last episode would make me so **angry**.

But oh well, if i repeat myself from the last "Terrific Trainwreck Trio rewatch", sometimes you need to watch bad shows to understand what works and what doesn’t. And such rewatch is a good reason to finish the show instead of dropping it, so in that sense, I don’t particularly regret watching it, and I am thankful to the host.

Now, sometimes i do try to make some recommendations, but this one would be short, as it's kinda repeating what was already told:

If you want to watch anime with environmental themes, as [AgentOfACROSS](https://www.reddit.com/user/AgentOfACROSS/) said yestarday, watch [Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zhLBe319KE), and other Ghibli movies, like [Princess Mononke](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1dHzoRl0sQ) or Pompoko, with also tackled some ballsy themes. Or Ghibli-inspired works, like, say, [Origin: Spirits of the Past](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0Ha9QfOfRY), with also had it's 20th anniversary this month.

And if you want some similar early 2000's sci-fi, well, i already named some at the start of the rewatch - [NOEIN](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l-M3MET7uk) (some staff from Arjuna were involved in it, but this show is much better), [Fantastic children](https://files.catbox.moe/bmg8e8.mp4), [Bokurano](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heMVp59sUl8), and i guess i also can add to that [Dennou Coil](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD1WMzMlBQo) and [Now and Then, Here and There](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsYY0ReMGz0) *if you want to be depressed*. And finally, there will be a rewatch of [FLAG](https://myanimelist.net/anime/1299/Flag?q=FLAG&cat=anime) very soon, which I would say has some similar vibes, although not 100%.

Thank host for the rewatch. *Now I'll go and eat some burgers.*

JustAnswerAQuestion2026-01-23 02:55

> Well, I said at the beginning of this rewatch that with these sci-fi anime from the early 2000s, it was always difficult to tell how good the plot would actually be

I got a number of trainwreck anniversary titles lined up for this year!

[](#urbansmile)

wloff2026-01-22 22:37

It was certainly an experience! Ultimately more negative than not, unfortunately, but like I mentioned in the final episode discussion, one I'm very glad I experienced nonetheless.

There were definite positives as well. The music was phenomenal and art direction ranged from good to great. Animation quality varied -- the first sequence of the first episode was the best thing they ever pulled off, it's unfortunate they couldn't keep that polish up for the full 13 episodes. Interleaving real footage was mostly done really well and worked great. Even the 3D, which in quality was... a product of its time, was mostly used stylishly, and they did a good job hiding its worst aspects, for the most part.

The story was a bit all over the place, and I got increasingly frustrated with it as we went along. By the 10th or 11th episode I was getting convinced they didn't even really know what the story was that they wanted to tell.

The actual ending I did in fact like, purely for the fact that it managed to tie all the loose ends together and showed that, yes, there was a story they tried to tell after all! Just one they failed at telling in most parts.

Chris was an absolutely infuriating character and the constant "you fucking donkey, you don't know anything, but I won't tell you anything" act got old real fast. But Juna was almost equally as infuriating. The whole beef of the story was ultimately that she experiences all these situations and gains knowledge from all these different people and events, but she was so utterly clueless and hapless and incapable of making any conclusions of her own... she simply took everything everything told her as the truth. I put the biggest blame on the writing, which was trying more than it could pull off, but it didn't help that, unfortunately, Juna's voice actor was pretty weak too.

And the messaging. I have absolutely nothing against the enviromentalist message in itself. It's a very important message, and we should all consider just how much we can and should sustainably consume. But the outrageously wrong claims, weird pseudoscience, fearmongering where it's not necessary, and just the general *preachy* attitude of it all just soured the whole message.

For a story where the gist was that Chris couldn't or didn't want to explain anything to Juna but she needed to figure it out on her own, it's extremely ironic that the show's own message is pushed down our throats in an extremely preachy, in your face way. At no point were we as the audience allowed to figure it out on our own why and how nature should be protected.

I actually think the story would have been a better fit for a movie rather than a full series. Lower the levels of preach, make Chris less of a raging asshole, keep the story a bit more focused so that the whole apocalypse doesn't come quite so out of nowhere, do a solid 90-120 minutes with the same production quality and polish they put in the pilot episode, and it could have been quite a good movie.

Now -- ultimately, it's an interesting piece of anime history and a product of its time in more ways than one, but purely in terms of watching experience... not great, overall.

Thanks /u/TheDanubianCommunard again for the host! Without this rewatch, I doubt I'd ever have seen this show, and I think it was definitely worth seeing, faults and all.

My final grade: **5/10**

[](#peace)

No_Rex2026-01-22 22:52

> And the messaging. I have absolutely nothing against the enviromentalist message in itself. It's a very important message, and we should all consider just how much we can and should sustainably consume. But the outrageously wrong claims, weird pseudoscience, fearmongering where it's not necessary, and just the general preachy attitude of it all just soured the whole message.
>

[](#sadholo)

>
> For a story where the gist was that Chris couldn't or didn't want to explain anything to Juna but she needed to figure it out on her own, it's extremely ironic that the show's own message is pushed down our throats in an extremely preachy, in your face way. At no point were we as the audience allowed to figure it out on our own why and how nature should be protected.

I thought about this a bit: Why is there this clear and obvious separation between the story and the way it is told? My speculation and fear is, that it is due to the author's take on the world. He *thinks* he has it all figured out. He *thinks* that it is all very clear and there is an obvious way how humans should proceed. He *thinks* that the refusal of all others to fall in line with his arguments shows how boneheaded and stupid they are to not see those "obvious" points. Of course, in reality, it is the author who is not getting it. The others are not falling in line with his view is not because if their lack of understanding, but due to him having an extremely simplistic view. The reality is much more complex and his knowledge of those details he does talk about is often wrong.

I would liken it to a toddler talking to people who took highschool math and telling them that 0,1,2,3,... is the set of all numbers and being infuriated that they disagree (ignoring the existence of negative or real numbers). Thinking that they are completely stupid for not getting it. So the toddler starts shouting and raging to get them to understand.

The preachiness of the anime represents that raging and shouting to me. It is the author, a man who clearly knows a ton about creating good anime and clearly knows not nearly enough about ecology, shouting and raging at us for not sharing his world view about agriculture, GMO, nuclear energy, and whatever other issue he has strong but badly founded views about.

SpiritualPossible2026-01-22 23:41

>I thought about this a bit: Why is there this clear and obvious separation between the story and the way it is told? My speculation and fear is, that it is due to the author's take on the world. He *thinks* he has it all figured out. He *thinks* that it is all very clear and there is an obvious way how humans should proceed. He *thinks* that the refusal of all others to fall in line with his arguments shows how boneheaded and stupid they are to not see those "obvious" points.

"Nice argument, critics, but I've already depicted you as the soyjak and myself as the *~~gigachad~~* Chris"

No_Rex2026-01-22 22:38

**Final Discussion (first timer)**

Arjuna is a tale of three different parts: One great, one ok, and one terrible.

Let’s start with the middle, the plot. It’s fine. *MC needs to find themselves to save the world and Japan gets hit by the apocalypse.* I have seen better, but I have also seen much worse. If we had not spent so much time during the rewatch discussions on the other two parts, we might have discussed the concept of the Raaja more, but I do think it is workable. The apocalypse part came a bit abrupt, but then, many series pull the end of the world card for the finale.

What about the terrible part? The incoherent preaching. This is probably the first time where I don’t hate the series, but have an extreme dislike for its creator personally. The “ecological message” of the series has the very unfortunate combination of being as in your face as you can, while also being about as esoteric and unscientific as you can. When sentences like “we are one and we are different” or “why don’t you just understand” are treated seriously and not as a joke, the creator has lost all my respect.

The series insisting on such annoying messaging is especially regrettable because of the great part: its main characters. Unconventionally, Juna and Tokio start the as a pair already, and they are such a breath of fresh air for me as a frequent anime viewer. Not over the top, believable, with close characterization through small gestures, not great heroics. Even the love triangle (which I usually hate) was done tastefully. I believe that the main cast could have propelled this series to greatness, if not held back by the incessant messaging. That messaging also had the regrettable side effect of taking over literally all side characters and utterly ruining them, starting but not ending with Chris.

Oh yeah, on the technical side, the animation was ok and the music good.

JustAnswerAQuestion2026-01-23 02:45

> “we are one and we are different”

I believe these sorts of things are actually religious statements, whether from Hinduism or Buddhism or Zen paradoxes designed to break your world view....If you try to look at them from your own perspective, and not trying to embrace them as a convert, the best you can do is perform some comparative religion analysis.

No_Rex2026-01-23 12:49

You can make up endless "deep" statements like *white is not white* or *the end is a beginning* easily. All of these can be used to start deep philosophical thoughts, but are meaningless on their own. Like the author's understanding of the issues he preaches about, the treatment in the episode stays shallow.

Shimmering-Sky2026-01-22 22:52

**First-Timer Maiden Subbed**

Well, that happened. [](#ok)

Giving this show a rare Sky 5/10. The music was good, and I liked Tokio a lot at the beginning of the show, but even when the show *did* have a good point to make, it kept doing so in like… the worst way possible. And I’m still so very frustrated about how the show tried to go all “Oh Chris is just the best, Juna should’ve just believed in him” when he *wouldn’t fucking explain shit* even for just a little bit. Cryptic characters can work, but this was not how to do it.

Thanks for hosting though, u/TheDanubianCommunard. At least I knocked a show off my PTW list thanks to this rewatch. And got a "sore demo" for my collection.

TheDanubianCommunard2026-01-22 22:59

> Giving this show a rare Sky 5/10.

Understandable.

> At least I knocked a show off my PTW list thanks to this rewatch. And got a "sore demo" for my collection.

Speaking of which, Undefeated Bahamut Chronicle is actually is on your MAL PTW list, and I have an idea why you put that even if it's not your cup of tea: because it has a good share of "sore demo" in it.

mr_beanoz2026-01-22 23:26

I think I kinda understand the environmental message from the show, but I think it's also kinda overblown too. And natural farming sound quite interesting, with results have been seen in various locations around the world. I also like the soundtracks, and hearing younger Sakamoto Maaya singing is always a treat. I'd personally give this a 7.

Promo time: If you want to hear Chris' VA in a more "normal" tone, you can join in my rewatch. He plays the role of Morisaki in the 2001 Captain Tsubasa anime, although he would only be relevant in the first half of the show.

il8872026-01-22 23:28

**First-timer, subs**

Can’t say I’m a fan of this anime, but it certainly was an interesting and refreshing watch, I don’t think I’ve watched anything like this before or going to run into anything similar in the future. Really obscure, non-mainstream show that I could only recommend to someone who’s specifically after something like this (like myself occasionally).

Things I liked: uniqueness, tackling real-world events and problems, some good romance bits between Juna and Tokio, emotional moments (primarily the ending).

Things I disliked: while the problems the anime tackles are real, in search for the solution it occasionally wanders into occult or pseudo-scientific area (the "communication via mind" thing and the "ditch medicine, drink umbilical cord juices" thing).

Talking about Chris being terrible at communication… I think the reason might be actually the same as to why romcom couples spend whole seasons in perpetual misunderstandings instead of confessing their love in the first few episodes — it’s not about making sense, it’s about entertaining the watcher for long enough.

btw, I’d seen *Nausicaa* movie too and gave it the same rating. It’s certainly all around better-made and doesn’t have many annoying factors that Arjuna has, but the story wasn’t nearly as entertaining and thought-provoking for me.

QotD:

6. ⁠I think environmental agenda isn’t quite as prevalent today as it used to be a while back (for reference, I’m from late-90s myself), so chances of anime like this being made today are even lower.

7. For me they give the anime arthousey, underground feeling and that’s about it. I’d be curious about how people watching this back in 2001 felt about this.

8. 7/10 (on a scale of subjective enjoyment and nothing else).

9. No.

P.S. Thanks for hosting the rewatch!

il8872026-01-22 23:35

Talking about Juna’s name, the authors must have named her after [this Hindu deity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arjuna).

> Weapon: Gandiva (bow) and arrows

Checks out!

Other than that, don’t see any more similarities from quickly glancing over the wiki summary.

[Ashura](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashura), on the other hand, belongs to a different religion…

SouekiSennoSTM2026-01-23 01:02

> Creator and director Shoji Kawamori’s “Earth Maiden Arjuna” series features Juna, an incarnation of Arjuna from Indian folklore, as a Goddess with the task of saving the Earth which is dying due to a genetically engineered bacteria (Raaja) which devours all life forms on the planet. TV Tokyo aired this in 13 episodes from 2001 onwards.

> Prince Arjuna is one of the five brothers who were blessed with exceptional skills in warfare and archery in the Hindu epic of “Mahabharata”. Kawamori has been pretty open in interviews regarding his infatuation with Bollywood movies and Indian cultures (ANN, 2016).

> According to Gundam News (2022), this anime series was influenced by Kawamori’s expeditions to “Malaysia, Borneo, India and even a nuclear plant.” Individuals such as Juna, Ashura, and Chris bear similarities to Indian mythological characters and even behave similarly to their counterparts from the traditional tales in Bhagavad Gita, a sub-text from Mahabharata.

> https://riverapublications.com/article/from-the-ganges-to-the-globe-the-transformation-of-indian-folklore-in-japanese-anime

JustAnswerAQuestion2026-01-23 02:38

It's likely a borrowing / reference to "asura."

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Asura

JustAnswerAQuestion2026-01-23 02:34

This was the first production of the new studio Satelight, which we now know for all Macross after M7, Symphogear, AKB0048 and similar shows. I believe it also is the first one with the Satelight Helicopter, yes?

I'm also not sure what Kawamori (who we know for almost all Macross, Symphogear, AKB0048, uh you get the picture) did between Escaflowne and Arjuna. Traveled the world learning about questionable agricultural practices, I guess. Arjuna was his baby.

The ~~next~~ thing he did was Macross Zero, with Satelight (looks like he did a short TV series I'm not familiar with, with one of his old studios between them). This was also his baby.

[Macross Franchise]>!So, you may recall some Arjuna references in Macross 0. You may recall some environmental theming. Now that you've seen Arjuna, the next time you watch Macross 0, you're going to feel that theming *screaming at you,* Arjuna style. It's Arjuna with Valkyries and Protoculture. It also made me quit Macross. ME. A ROBOTECH KID. I didn't watch Macross F **or** &Delta; until the 2018 franchise rewatch.!< /u/Shimmering-Sky

I congratulate /u/TheDanubianCommunard for making through this. I like to go for unusual and unique anime for my rewatches, even though I know I may get some drops (cough Key cough). And you went into it blind! Brave.

LeminaAusa2026-01-23 09:15

So I ended up dropping this rewatch about 10 minutes into the second episode, but I did continue to check out posts and read comments. For the most part, I feel very justified in my drop, as people continued to complain about things that would have frustrated me to no end, both things we got during the parts I watched (like Chris and the orange haired chick just being awful and communication consistently being poor) and also in the things I didn't quite make it to (like managing to be both preachy and *wrong* about various environmental issues).

I do applaud those who made it through despite having about as enjoyable of a time watching as I was. While I do think there's value to be found sometimes in watching things that are bad or that don't appeal to you, I just don't have that kind of time/energy myself anymore these days.

At the end of the day, it seems like there was a core of something interesting in here somewhere, but it was buried by a lot of bullshit.

Also, for a lot of the people discussing and comparing this to the Nausikaa anime: I also highly suggest checking out Miyazaki's original Nausikaa manga! It goes a lot further beyond the scale and scope of the anime movie and is a super beautiful journey. I haven't read it in ages but I do remember it being a super great experience.

TheDanubianCommunard2026-01-23 13:59

### First-timer no more and your host (subs),

> 1) Best character? Least liked one?

Easy. Chris for the best, Chris the least liked one.

> 2) Best episode? Least liked one?

I think the final episode. Least liked, probably multiple.

> 3) Any opinion about the uniqueness in general?

I did promised that back in the interest threead that it is really an unique experience. So strange and weird kind of unique.

> 4) Any opinion about the music? Which ED do you prefer? How would you rank them?

It contributed to the unqiue factor. Mameshiba is the best, as it supposed to be The ending song.

> 5) What could have been better?

Basically everything.

> 6) If it was made today, would have been received better and less underrated? Or maybe being existing?

Maybe.

> 7) Any opinion about the usage of CGI and real-life footage?

Yet another contribution to the uniqueness.

> 8) How would you rate this on a 1-10 scale?

6/10

> 9) Would it be embarassing the next time we meet again?

Yes.

No_Rex2026-01-23 17:05

Thanks for hosting! Doing older series is always hard, as is hosting a series that is has serious flaws. I still am glad you did, because I would not have seen this otherwise.

> Easy. Chris for the best, Chris the least liked one.

Wow, correct that first name please.

[](#shock)