Terra e... (2007) - Anime - AniDB (2025)

Terra e... is dramatic, epic and very much sci-fi, three good things, backed by a relatively strong cast and engaging plot, but there are a few things here and there dragging it down. let's break it down, shall we.

character designs are ok, some characters stand out more than others, some are also, well, prettier than others, but it's only a select few who are total pretty-boys, but most of the cast is pretty average in terms of attractiveness in anime, hehe. some characters are very similar looking to some other characters from a better-known space opera series (*cough, Logh, cough*). they convey enough identity to maintain solid presence, so that's cool, but there's little beyond that.

some bits of space warfare are portrayed pretty good, too, however, the rest of it feels pretty generic for a space opera. all the human planets look the same, the cities are relatively uninspired generic "future" cities, even though this bit is sorta explained by the plot and setting, but there's a ton of space (heh) for some creativity here, yet I feel there's little done here.

technically, animation's good, but nothing special. together, this section gets, hmm, an 8/10.

actors are doing a good job. I don't remember anything too extraordinary, though, but there were no fails, too. music was a bit of a letdown, though. bgm was ok most of the time, but nothing special. the op/ed songs were typical anime jpop trash. nothing much to add. 7/10

This is where things get interesting. meat of every review, right here. so, how should I put this. hmm. I know, I'll break it down. I'll try and be spoilerless, but I will describe the general direction of the series, so be warned.

setting:
since this is a space opera, the setting is appropriately space-y, humans living all over the pla...I mean, space, with planets being represented as a single city as is usual for space operas. however, the interesting and unique part (as far as I know, of course) for this anime is the way the human society is governed. seeing how humans fucked up their original home - earth, they've built a control system for themselves that would prevent them from doing excessive things that might lead to another global fuckup. this system, then, is both the one ensuring peaceful lives and, well, the one also causing some serious troubles with the humans, as it does often conflict with human nature. not only that, but there're also some genetic mutations occuring within humans granting some of them psionic powers, and this system is set up to root this out.
Mu, the united psionic humans, vs this system and its human subordinates is the core conflict of the whole series.

the actual story:
given the core conflict, this series actually sport some impressive pace, that at the same time does not feel rushed. you won't be bored, and the conflict that I sketched in will transform considerably before your eyes. the cool part is that we're shown both sides of the story, and they both undergo considerable developments, focusing heavily on character development as the driving force of the change. it's nice to see an anime that is not afraid of death, there're almost no immortal characters on this one, people feel vulnerable and, thus, that slight bit more real. the actual story, while never abandoning the core conflict, present us with several themes along its path from both growing up, the natural love between parents and children, friendship and education to the more complicated topics of self-governance, leadership, obedience and genetics. while not all of these themes get as much exploration as I would like, they are not without substance and their presence is a big part of the seriousness of this anime.

characters:
as I said, this anime focuses heavily on character development as the driving force of the plot. and it does have a pretty solid cast, so this works out well. we get to see characters representative of both camps, but characters mostly fall into some sort of stereotypes with rare exceptions (shiroe :/ ). they have strong presence and identity, though, so they're not substance-less, but they do not also have enough of it to really stand on their own in the wider context of other good animes. it reminds me of other, stronger characters, but I doubt it'll work the other way.

so how does it all work together:
it works pretty good - your heart's captivated by the likeable cast, your brain's thinking about the situations characters have to resolve, and it all happens at a good pace. however, there is one big problem with the whole thing. the conflict often turns into a battle, and it is a battle between more conventional technology and psionic powers of Mu, but these very powers are inconsistent. plot-wise, there's little justification or explanation of what these powers are, what are their limits, so sometimes they feel like plot-devices - being able to single handedly destroy soooo much, yet at the next moment failing to take out just a few mere souls, that in comparison with the previous visage of destruction are no more than ants in face of a boot. even worse - there's no telling when a character can do the psionic trick x and when it can't - one moment it is entirely possible, but the other he must play the dramatic part and is thus rendered absolutely incapable of performing psionic trick x that sure would have been very handy. it is this lack of balance of powers that seriously damages the whole story.

characters: 8/10.
story: 8.5/10, approximated to 8/10 for being serious, dramatic, well-paced and asking some good questions, but having poor justification of one of it's core mechanics that affects the whole story.

it's a good and pretty serious space opera. so, once you've seen Logh, and find yourself craving for some more, this works as a temporary fix. it doesn't have enough qualities to really stand as one of the greats in the world of anime, but it is a very solid title, above average. I think it has some re-watch value, too, due to characters and drama, however, nothing too extraordinary. 7/10

I liked it. It made me think a bit about things of whether this way of organizing human life would be plausible and beneficial or not. it also had a few cool characters that were exciting to watch develop. but it neither grabbed my heart, nor stimulated my mind enough to really secure a place in my personal hall of greats. I'd give it 7.5, but I'll round it to 7. good stuff, but nothing extraordinary.