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Chikyu Shojo Arjuna

Chikyu Shojo Arjuna
Animation - 8.8
Sound - 9.2
Story - 7.1
Character - 7.0
Value - 7.4
Enjoyment - 7.5
Average - 7.8

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petran79 (2007-11-28 10:58:31)   2007-11-28 10:55:14
Average 5.5
Animation 7
Sound 7
Story 3
Character 5
Value 5
Enjoyment 6
At first I was hesitant to watch this because of the supposed enviromentalist messages the series tried to propagandize. What lead me to give this a look were the animation and the music but after the series ended I felt what made it worth watching at least once was its uniqueness.

Adding it to the genre shoujo/magical girl does not do the series justice, since it is far too serious in some episodes. I would rather describe it as a shoujo version of Lain and Evangelion with some enviromentalist and also philosophical messages. Though do not be fooled, this is not a Greenpeace ad or a documentary since in the twelfth episode it is critical about such kind of enviromentalist extremism. Or else films like Nausicaa, Pom Poco and Mononoke should also be branded the same.

I think in the end this proved to be the only positive about the series. Some episodes were really original and in no other commercial anime series will you watch such episodes.

Regarding story and characters the series falters and in the last two episodes it collapses. But I think those were secondary and what mattered more was the series' message and I think it delivered it successfully. Even if it makes the viewers think for a while about themselves and their surroundings, even while they have their PCs, are used in unnecessary comforts and have an unhealthy lifestyle (myself included), then it succeeds.

The graphics and music were very good but because of the lacklustre story and characters failed to impress. A pity because one of the best composers provided the music and some animated moments showed how great this series could be, had it used its full potential.

Worth watching at least once if you like unique series with good animation and sound/music. But I wouldnt rewatch this anytime soon or buy it. I agree too Escaflowne is better, even if it is completely different.


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KYD    2007-04-10 21:15:03
Average 6.2
Animation 9
Sound 10
Story 5
Character 3
Value 6
Enjoyment 4
Ok, I've watched Arjuna 3 times, mainly to try to salvage it in my eyes, since it has a fair bit of Indian mythology woven into the storyline, I wanted to convince myself that that the storyline was not what brought the series down on it's knees.

It was.

Firstly, Arjuna's graphics and sound are brilliant, amazing, but often unrequired and over the top, no problems there.

Now the story on the other hand, tries to shove crap down your throat, although they mean well with their 'all is one, one is all' message... it just sounded like bullshit to a liberal individualist like me. The worst part of the story was that the characters never bothered making any sense, they just talked amongst themselves and only talked to the audience to tell them about the degradation of urban culture etc.

Nuances follow-
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corventus    2006-12-05 06:50:33
Average 10.0
Animation 10
Sound 10
Story 10
Character 10
Value 10
Enjoyment 10
Ones things for sure, not many americans will like this anime and its a real shame too cause this is one of the best animes I've seen in a long time. And you ask why americans won't like this anime? well in many ways the anime makes the U.S. look like villains like the part about the "ameri burger" or when the president of the U.S. doesen't want to help and save japan. Its really no surprise that this awesom anime is so low in ranking because of this. But please look beyond that and you'll see that everything is very true! things like this happen every day in our world! and if your the kind of anime fan that doesen't like to think while your watching an anime then you'll have a hard time with this one too but do a little effort and try to watch this one. It has the best ending in an anime I have ever seen and I've watch a lot, but I mean a lot of anime in my life. With that sed let me review this one in different angles:

ANIMATION: The furst anime to use 3d cg animation and does it very well. The landscapes are beutiful and breath taking. The action itself in the series is interesting because they change fom one anime style of drawing to another (wich also happens in hunter x hunter) wich gives you to animes in one.The drawings are not what youd expect in most anime but in here this style helps you see how horrible polution is and so many other things in this world.

SOUND: SUPERB! the music in this series is simply outstanding. They used and entire orcatra to make this music from top to bottom wich give the aime the "epic" feel. The voices in spanish, englis and japanese all are great in there own ways, though I prefer Kris in spanish cause it sounds more filosofical. All in all you'd think that its a masterpiece from top to bottom, a real work of art.

STORY: The story begins a little comfusing but every single eps in the series creates this atmosphere of peace and truth and the anding bring all of them together in an astonishing way. Its really a mix of maybe indonesian religion and facts about the condition of our world. Like I sed before the best ending I've seen in like forever and has sooo much meaning.

CHARACTERS: All of the characters in the series have a story behind them and in the little eps that this series has they show them very well without ignoring the important story in the series. I didn't like Juna's hair though but thats just me.

VALUE: This anime is worth GOLD! The first anime I actually bought the dvd and I'm happy that I did. Between this an Haibane Renmei are the best art oriented animes around IMO wich make anime more than just animation, but a way of its creators to send a very important message to the world.

ENJOYMENT: Top notch! I love animes that have meaning. I hate wasting my time watching meaningless anime, its just a big waste of time.

In conclusion, if you want to get the most of an anime that its about the world itself then look no further!

Any comments please message me.


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Chucky311    2006-12-05 05:55:56
Average 9.7
Animation 10
Sound 10
Story 10
Character 9
Value 10
Enjoyment 9
OK, this anime wants to make you think! If you're not into that, and just want simple mindless entertainment, DO NOT WATCH!!!! This anime will come off as preachy and you will not like it.

This anime to trying to change the world by changing your attitude towards life. It touches what you eat, what you see, how you learn, how you interact with others, and almost comes off as a religion. I can't say that their viewpoint is wrong for them, but I will say that it's just one voice, and that finding that voice blindly is wrong, and also part of that it's mantra, to find your own voice.

That said, the animation is taken from actual filming of live actors and comes off as very realistic. The sound tracks are fantastic. The personal problems faced by the characters are simple and have a grounded feel to them.

I can't say that I'm going to turn into an
person that only eats organic food and all, but I appreciate the effort made by this series to show a path, even if I don't agree with all of it's tenents.


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Megumi-chan (2006-08-15 23:01:06)   2006-08-15 22:59:14
Average 6.7
Animation 9
Sound 10
Story 5
Character 5
Value 5
Enjoyment 6
Hmmm, I don't know my reaction to this series to be honest, I think it's okay, but something went horribly wrong, its either this show sinks or swims...oh well, just read the rest of my review to find out my thoughts on this show. There's only one thing I can say, totally odd.

The story is about Juna Ariyoshi, a high school student who became a savior of planet Earth, she tries to save our planet and protects it from unknown forces of destruction. My interpretation of the plot, is that the Earth became mad because of carelessness of people living in it.

More of my review, please read (^_^)
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Caireen    2006-08-02 07:50:21
Average 8.2
Animation 9
Sound 9
Story 7
Character 7
Value 8
Enjoyment 9
I really enjoyed this anime and not for the preaching about the destruction of the planet. I enjoyed the time I spent with the characters as they went through a process of self discovery and realisation of the world around them.
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zitch (2006-02-10 14:40:10)   2006-01-28 09:03:58
Average 5.5
Animation 0
Sound 0
Story 0
Character 0
Value 5
Enjoyment 6
Featuring a wonderfully gorgeous soundtrack by Yoko Kanno and very nice looking animation, _Earth Girl Arjuna_ is a series that has much to say about humanity. How we're destroying Earth. How we're destroying ourselves as individuals. How we're destroying ourselves as a species.

Which is unfortunate to say that I agreed with almost all of the messages it says. Unfortunate, in that this 13-episode series completely lacks subtlety. It tells the viewers these messages with the gentleness of a two-by-four.

And because it has much to preach, it almost loses sight of the main story. This would have been a very effective 6-episode series, but I fear that the creators would has still attempted to brow-beat everything they wanted to say and we'd end up with *no* plot...

That said, I can see certain types of viewers enjoying this series. Especially those holding very strong environmentalism and spiritual beliefs. I am such a person; I did enjoy watching _Earth Girl Arjuna_. The rest of ya'll will most likely become annoyed at its preachiness, though. Hell, *I* got annoyed at its preachiness...
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Ticio    2005-11-18 07:34:45
Average 9.2
Animation 9
Sound 10
Story 10
Character 8
Value 9
Enjoyment 9
If you don't care about the world we live in, arjuna may change your point of veiw about it. This anime mixes sci-fi/spiritualism with scientifical facts about the enviroment and it does it pretty well. The sound is its biggest strong point and the character design is its weakness because some patterns in its design aren't very clear but that doesen't mean there awful of course. Usually this kind of anime is slow paced but in the biggining and the end is completly the oposite and it has one of the best endings I've seen in an anime. If you can't stand taking a moment to think things through don't even bother watching this anime, but if you do I garanty that you'll love it.


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MagnificentSteiner (2005-07-30 19:02:24)   2005-07-29 04:56:26
Average 8.0
Animation 9
Sound 8
Story 7
Character 7
Value 9
Enjoyment 8
Might Want to Watch - although this anime is not for the average anime watcher out there, there are a select few that will really enjoy it.

this is a fantasy type anime, that uniquely expresses some interesting and realistic environmental views in a very creative way. the downside is that the story and characters are a bit out of place at times, but there are plenty of ways that this anime also makes up for it. for instance the animation is very well done and there are plenty of memorable scenes that are little gems in my book. it's also interesting how it uses symbolic, if not relevant, names from the Bhagavad Gita (famous Hindu text for us unexposed western folk).

if you don't mind overlooking the flaws of an imperfect anime to see its' virtues, i suggest you find this obscure one and check it out. you just might find you really like it.


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Mina (2005-05-21 19:18:59)   2005-05-21 19:17:28
Average 7.2
Animation 10
Sound 10
Story 5
Character 4
Value 7
Enjoyment 7
First, let's look at the redeeming qualities of Arjuna.
The animation is absolutely magnificent, and the songs and sounds are very nice to listen to, and not too distracting to make you daydream of something else while the Characters are doing something important.

Now, the problem is the story. The first 3 episodes made it seem very interesting, but what was more interesting was the fact it got SO extremist afterwards. O_o

Sure, I believe in recycling, but when they ask these questions such as 'Why do you believe in words? Is it bad to eat something that got killed? Why do you want to kill?", then you'll probably be screaming at your television, saying "BECAUSE WE AREN'T PSYCHIC! WE DIDN'T CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN TO EAT CARROTS, WE DON'T HAVE TO EAT IT! BECAUSE THAT WIERD ASSHOLE CHRIS TOLD JUNA TO!"

I mean, come on, you had to scream ONCE.I didn't hate this anime, I liked most of it, but the story is horrible unless you are an extremist in overdrive...or you just don't care to notice.

Anyway, the characters are so-so. Sayuri is pretty much a pointless character who only comes about 3 episodes or 4, Juna's a wierdo (Who doesn't know what we eat? O_o;;), Cindy is a half-snob, Chris is just a plain asshole, Tokio is the average guy who is Juna's girlfriend, and the others are just not interesting until the last 3-4 episodes.

Did you know it doesn't have an Opening song? Just some unimportant crap from an episode a while ago? Don't make be fall asleep the first 5 minutes, Arjuna!

Overall, this is an alternate fate Anime. Some episodes are bull, some episodes are interesting and really awesome. As for the whole, Arjuna gets a so-so.

Arjuna gets a 3 out of 5 in my ranking system.


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Charlii    2005-04-13 10:03:36
Average 6.7
Animation 9
Sound 7
Story 5
Character 5
Value 7
Enjoyment 7
Ouch!

What went so wrong?

Now, with a proper op/ed, only 4-6 eps instead of 13 (so they could've ditched the corny live-action footage and didn't have to reuse most of the animations several times) this might actually have worked.

But they didn't...

The animation is othewise very good, the sound and music are beautiful and the root messages are important. It fails mostly on a lack of story movement and poor character development. Especially the main character, Juna, is boring and at times flat out stupid.

And by the way, the so-called "enviromentalist" theme is actually more philosophical in nature, not really adressing the issues that very much exist in our modern society.


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Schall    2005-01-10 00:58:01
Average 7.8
Animation 8
Sound 9
Story 7
Character 8
Value 7
Enjoyment 8
What starts out as a strong critique on the current state of the world and the human social life, ends up lightening up and becomming more of a statement about philosophy, nature, and the human spirit.

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Poom    2004-12-20 18:31:27
Average 8.2
Animation 9
Sound 8
Story 8
Character 8
Value 8
Enjoyment 8
Nature is such a beautiful thing isn't it? :D The anime trying to teach us one thing: Be more thankful to the nature and the living things around us.

The animation in this series is great. They do many things in 3d but which is atucally draw and look like a anime not a computer graphic. Also, they done quite well to shuffle the pictures when they us to be confuse and disturbed. Sound is unqiue but not really intese or made emotion run wild. They trying to get close to the nature as close as possible, you can hear that even the BGM music is like a jugle-girl jumping from tree to another tree like in the movie. The ideas, theorems, and beliefs in this series were so strong, you can feel what the crew team trying to tell you. Atucally it's so obvious, protect the nature so you can live a little bit longer. :P Character doing well, even though sometime it kinda piss me off when somebody keep repeating thing over and over again. Nonetheless this series will surely reach to your hearth and remind that you're not the only living thing in this planet. Peace out


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Milio    2004-10-17 10:44:31
Average 6.6
Animation 9
Sound 9
Story 3
Character 6
Value 0
Enjoyment 6
Story of a girl who dies then gets power to fight evil pollution. It's brilliantly animated and acted, but it's so preachy it's sickening.

At first the "awareness of the world around you" lessons are compelling but as they proceed through more and more examples of how everything in the world is just so horrible it became clear that the creators are externalizing a self-loathing complex. It really didn't help that in many cases their science is flawed which is a typical situation with rabid extremists that are more concerned with pushing an agenda than really understanding it.

I still enjoyed the series for the animation and acting, and as a study of moral extremism, but I'm hesitant to recommend it to others.

The live action juice commercials are great!


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Pantha (2005-02-24 21:37:11)   2004-08-01 00:23:34
Average 5.7
Animation 7
Sound 8
Story 4
Character 4
Value 6
Enjoyment 5
When my brother told me about this title, I got excited and immediately asked to borrow it. I mistakenly believed that it would have some connection with the Mahabharata, but I was quickly informed otherwise. In any case, being my brother’s opinion of the show, I expected a real gem. Although the first three episodes met my expectations, the show quickly went downhill from there.

The first few initial episodes have very little to do with the overall story. In the beginning, it’s suggested that this is going to be just a light magical girl show about a girl who needs to save the planet from Raaja, demons that pollute the earth. Simple enough, but thankfully, it’s not about that. It’s worse. For some odd reason, the series takes a wild turn, and turns into an environmentalist program. It’s not that this show is particularly bad; it just goes overboard with its messages. Episodes four through seven had to be some of the most torturously boring I’ve ever had to sit through. One of the first things I noticed about the anime is that there is no OP. Instead of opening music, there are brief recaps and mini documentaries (done in live-action) about bugs, soil, and grass. I want to watch anime, not the Discovery Channel. Not to mention that those live-action scenes were dreadfully out of place and insufferable boring. And for crying out loud, at one point in episode seven, a freakin’ orange juice commercial interrupts everything. Give me a break. Those scenes were just ugly.

And Juna, the protagonist, certainly didn’t make it better. As Tokio himself has stated, “all she talks about is the earth.” I found her to be a terribly unnatural character, especially when she suggests that she wants to live like the old man in the mountains….with no electricity and eating only vegetables. My opinion on this matter was reflected through Tokio. Sure, all that sounds good on paper, but I “like to play video games and eat burgers.” As Juna becomes more ‘aware’ of nature, she makes the most obvious observations and asks questions that anyone with half a brain should be able to answer: “I don’t even know what I can eat. Why do animals know what to eat?” Oh, you don’t have to be Einstein to know the answer to this question. “Why do we kill animals?” Gee, I haven’t the slightest idea. “What are words? Ask Webster. The series tries to take itself too seriously and falls flat on its face.

In fact, very little actually goes on, and I could sum up this entire thirteen-episode series in three short sentences. Not only does Juna have very few encounters with the Raaja, but sometimes the plot is shoved aside altogether in favor of a possible bland love triangle, uninteresting family problems, and a tidbit about a hermaphrodite whose name I didn’t even know. All these things should have been left out for they did nothing but slow the already drawn-out story.

Not only is the plot inconsistent, but the characters are, as well. I was under the impression that Tokia was a minor character, and well, frankly I was right. However, he has quite a lot of screen time (in fact, he’s the last person we see)….but yet….he has very little role to the overall story save for being Juna’s love interest. I was disappointed in Chris’s character. Although he’s the one that summons Juna in the first place, and he’s supposed to be the big player behind all this, he has very little screen time. In fact, viewers hardly see him and know very little about him. The little information that is given comes from Cindy’s mouth and not his own. Add all that to the fact that Juna is annoying and merely two-dimensional, and you have a pretty shoddy cast of characters.

The anime decides to use the annoying technique of squeezing what little story it has in its last few episodes…..in its last two, to be exact. There was absolutely no build-up for the ending, and as a result, it was nothing but rushed and bland. In any case, given the choice between a simplistic magical girl show and vapid spiritual realizations, I’d choose the former any day.
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Ses4ever    2004-06-15 04:05:23
Average 9.3
Animation 10
Sound 9
Story 10
Character 9
Value 9
Enjoyment 9
What a beautiful anime! I really enjoyed it very much. The animation was really superb, the music was top notch becaus of Yoko Kanno, and the story was very enjoyable. I was never really bored at all. Sometimes it was kind of silly, but I dont really care in general. It felt really lonely with just a few main characters in this series, but I believe it was purposedly done. I highly recommend this anime.
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Altotus    2004-05-12 04:05:46
Average 10.0
Animation 10
Sound 10
Story 10
Character 10
Value 10
Enjoyment 10
Remarable Singular

Some in this database have called it preachy or green. They have missed the mark. The theme is not so much envirmental although some issues are woven into the storey I think it is much more about awareness of being rather than envirmental issues. If you want a crash course on envirmental look up Eugene Smith and Minamata so from this perspective the green issues are there but the intresting point of the series is Zen awareness. Perhaps this is mundane for some but Arjunas journey is a awakening of awareness. Enviromental issues are perseved as preachey-this my reflect the reviwers mind set more than the series as I find the envirmental issue is understated.


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dayday    2004-05-12 03:41:39
Average 9.7
Animation 10
Sound 9
Story 10
Character 9
Value 10
Enjoyment 10
Quite simply one of my favorite series...simply the best animation you'll find in any tv series, music wasn't overly memorable, but i like the ed song

despite what others may say about this being preachy, the story is very well written and well planned, the flow and completeness

a lot of people seem to diss tokio, but i don't see why...he's a really dependable boyfriend...as for juna, she's also a great char but her obligatory "withdrawal" episodes were quite numerous...and most of the characters behave very realisticly

just dont disregard this because of its message, or you'll be missing out on a very good show


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De Baer (2005-02-01 18:24:40)   2004-04-21 15:37:52
Average 6.2
Animation 10
Sound 10
Story 5
Character 4
Value 3
Enjoyment 5
Eigentlich ist Arjuna eine ziemlich interessante und innovative Serie, das Konzept dieses Animes ist bisher einzigartig und hebt sich deutlich von allen anderen Animes ab. Dennoch hat mir Arjuna nicht sonderlich gut gefallen. Ich kann zwar verstehen das man mit diesem Werk versucht hat dem Zuschauer bewusst zu machen wie wir heutzutage mit unserer Umwelt umgehen und wie geblendet wird doch sind das wir sie ohne nachzudenken zu Grunde richten aber genau hier liegt der Hund begraben. Diese ganzen Messages und Beispiele die einem in der Serie vorgegaukelt werden wirken einfach zu überzogen und übertrieben. Man bekommt den Eindruck als hätte ihr ein fanatischer Greenpeaceanhänger am Storyboard gesessen, das hat mich einfach nur gestört und abgeturnt, auch wenn es Momente gibt die nachdenklich stimmen können konnte ich es irgendwann nicht mehr hören. Story und Charaktere konnten mich auch nicht überzeugen, alles leidet hier zu sehr unter dem überzogenen Apell an die Menschheit endlich Vernunft anzunehmen usw. Arjuna war für mich eine große Enttäuschung und ich kann diesen Anime beim besten Willen nicht weiterempfehlen!
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beast (2004-03-03 18:37:04)   2004-03-01 10:44:18
Average 9.5
Animation 9
Sound 10
Story 9
Character 10
Value 9
Enjoyment 10
most.
underrated.
anime.
series.
ever.

just when i thought i had seen everything that japanese anime tv has to offer Chikyu Shojo Arjuna goes in for the kill and wakes me the fuck up :-)

is one allowed to use the term "avantgarde" if one knows there won't be many future anime that come even close to Chikyu Shojo Arjuna?
if not i

..uh fuck it. i dont want to waste time writing a review only a few if not only one is going to read.

instead, let me list some words and phrases that i would have used in this review wouldn't there be other, more important things in life to do besides writing reviews:

-playfull
-experimental
-waking
-thought-rousing
-heart-warming
-alternative & holistic ways of thinking and living
-natural (not necessarily the same as humane)
-creators do not shy at starting ideas and plotlets of which they know to be impossible to finish within 13 episodes
-what looks like a crazy magical girl parody sponsored by greenpeace in the beginning soon outgrows itself into a delicious godly plate of a myriad kaleidoscopic prism dispersion beams +210% damage which force their way into your mind.
CAN YOU HANDLE IT???

animation differs from episode to episode but is awesome in most episodes.

astonishing, as i doubt the producer of earth girl arjuna had a big budget.

the only downfall would be the computer graphics as far as ashura (her protector) is concerned.

music - subtle sounds and tracks, uplifting beats or classical music: amagawd! great!

story - read my general comment above..
abundance is hard to chew on (or so jesus used to say)
swallow or suffer a killer overflow of thoughts!

character - disagree with me on everything written above but dont you dare to question the greatness of the characters!

value - havent seen any anime SERIES that dealt with environmental awareness or pollution. this is the one.

enjoyment - i enjoyed it so much i had to take a break of several days at episode 11 to be able to let such a great series go i.e. finishing it off.
ya, total empathy can be a bitch sometimes. :-o


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