Ranked #628

Terra e... (Manga)

Beyond the rather 70-80's style/feel of the characters is a deeper story realm. Terra e has an epic space opera sense to it, and it is, and yet it's not. The rules of space are acknowledged, circumfrenced, yet the plot is kept tight. First off, I'll say there is an anime based on the manga and the reviews are quite applicable to the manga as well, though the anime carries out the sequence of events and some of the characters a little differently.

The storyline follows the characters of Jomy and Keith, though initially the reader gets Soldier Blue's POV in the prologue.The pov is clearly delinated for the reader, which makes for ease of transition, and other minor character's pov are given throughout the story to keep the reader up to date on events. When the pov first switches to Keith it may be a little confusing since the pov shifts previously were between pre-introduced characters. Also, there are time jumps, which require a little math. Most of the time the reader is informed of these jumps via the characters' ages which appear mostly as asides - so the reader will have to do a little calculation. Thus to stay in the loop, make sure to pay attention to such things since its easy to miss. In addition, since some of the characters age more slowly than others, without this tidbit of information the reader may feel lost in the time jump.

The art is overall well done, with a futuristic style, yet 70-80's feel to the characters sometimes. Yet even beyond this is the story itself. Taking place in the far, far, far, far distant future opens several relms of posibility as well intriguing concepts reguarding use of technology and natural gifts, and yet humanity is still kept at the core. It is changes direction so it's not easy to see where or how a character will end up. The characters themselves are interesting in that, despite some ideas they ponder, still they may act against what their thinking. Many characters are actually deeper than they might appear on the surface, particularly Keith. This makes it sometimes hard to tell which way the plot will lead. The ending/epilogue might be confusing but I think going back and looking at the events in the story earlier might clearify some of the confusion, making sure to pay attention to what the characters tell the reader about themselves, their hopes and their plans.

Granted, sometimes the antics may seem over the top or somewhat unbelievable- yet still the story incorperates it in such a way tha the reader is able to maintain the suspension of disbelief to the very end.

Overall- Terra e (Toward the Terra) has copious elements of science fiction, different ways of perception, interesting characters, and a bit of mystery with a sprinkling of a few- just a few- unanswered questions. read more

Terra e... is certainly a promising manga, being a classic space opera written by one of the revolutionary Forty-Niners. I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was expecting a lot from it. However, many expectations weren’t met, and unlike Takemiya Keiko’s other works, this one went horribly wrong. And do keep in mind I am judging the original manga --not the anime.

The story begins about a millenium into the future, during a new time era known as Superior Dominance (S.D). Because humans had completely ruined Earth, they began using warp speed technology to colonize nearby planets in hope to one day return. The initial setting was nice, not totally unusual or unique to any sci-fi manga, but it certainly had its charms. Children were born into Ataraxia (the Education World) with the expectation of becoming a predetermined, cookie-cutter human. That idea in general was played around with, but it was abandoned throughout the series, leaving it behind.

It continues, chronicling two characters and their lives for the next fifteen or so years. The characterization, in my opinion, was the weakest part of the entire manga. They all fell so flat. Literally: there was nothing likeable of any of them, or something to make me emotionally attached. I could really think of one character who was an exception, and sadly, he wasn't the main. This wouldn’t have been so bad if the manga did not try so hard to develop them. The story in general could have been only one volume long (rather than 3) if they did not focus so much on the (failed) characterization. In addition to that, it was very difficult to know where characters were situated, simply because the transitions between the different POVs (and yes, there were more than one) was completely nonexistent.

But It wasn’t all that bad. The plot was very secure; I can tell that a lot of thought went into creating this story. It never trailed away from the main storyline, which made it pretty straight-forward. I’m not sure whether or not to call it fast-paced or not, simply because there were lots of time skips, but I found there wasn’t any complaints about the whole narration in general. And I don’t judge mangas on art, but if you’re a prospective reader wanting to know: it used simple devices such as thick lines during action scenes, or thin lines during more emotional scenes; a very 70/80’s style.

Terra e... was an interesting experience. I had been hoping for a lot more, but I don’t think I’d change a thing. There were good parts, and bad parts. It's ending was alright, but it left some questions unanswered (and no, I'm not talking about the ambiguous epilogue). It’s value and creativity, however, is extremely (extremely!) high for it’s time, which then brings my initial rating of a 6.0 to a 6.5. Frankly, I think this is manga for someone with an acquired taste. So if you think you may like this, just try it out.

★★★★★★★☆☆☆ read more