Terra e... (TV)

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Terra e... (2007), Terra he..., Chikyuu he, Towards the Terra...

Japanese: 地球へ…

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 24

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Apr 7, 2007 to Sep 22, 2007

Premiered: Spring 2007

Broadcast: Saturdays at 18:00 (JST)

Producers: Aniplex, Mainichi Broadcasting System, SKY Perfect Well Think

Licensors: Bandai Entertainment

Studios: Tokyo Kids, Minami Machi Bugyousho

Source: Manga

Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

Themes: Military, Space

Demographic: Shounen

Duration: 24 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.87¹ (scored by 18,493 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #810²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #2704

Members: 61,347

Favorites: 852

Available At

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Resources

AniDB

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Synopsis

When humanity realized that the Earth, or Terra, had been polluted beyond fixing, the planet's governments united under a unique authoritarian system named Superior Domination (SD) and started to colonize space. Centuries later, mankind has given up its freedom in favor of the AI Grand Mother; when someone reaches the age of 14, their memories are wiped and they are automatically assigned a new role in society.

Jomy Marquis Shin, a sensitive young man raised by loving parents, is saved from this grim fate by Soldier Blue, the current leader of the Mu race—a new species of human beings blessed with psychic abilities. However, in the eyes of SD, the existence of people like Jomy threatens the new paradigm of humanity. Hunted down by the hounds of the government, Jomy finds solace in the welcoming arms of the Mu, who hide aboard the spaceship Shangri-La.

Now the leader of the Mu resistance years later, Jomy embarks on a journey toward Terra to escape from SD's manhunt led by Keith Anyan, an ambitious and ruthless rising star of humanity. Will Jomy and his people manage to reach the cradle of humanity before Keith destroys their last hope?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Terra e... was released on DVD in English as Toward the Terra by Bandai Entertainment from July 15, 2008 to December 2, 2008.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Terra e...
Alternative version:	Terra e...
Side story:	Terra e... (TV) Specials

Komori, Manami
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Yamasaki, Osamu

Director, Script, Storyboard

Kitakubo, Hiroyuki

Episode Director, Storyboard

Yanase, Yuuji

Episode Director, Storyboard

Hoshino, Makoto

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "endscape" by UVERworld (eps 1-13)
	2: "JET BOY JET GIRL" by Hitomi Takahashi (eps 14-24)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Love is..." by Miliyah Katou (eps 1-13)
	2: "This Night" by CHEMISTRY (eps 14-24)

Reviews

Jul 5, 2023

Zanryu1337

Recommended

Story: 5
Animation: 7
Sound: 8
Characters: 7
Enjoyment: 7

Total: 7

Terra e has some interesting bits here and there, which is especially extraordinary given the source materials time of 1974, a few years before the very first Star Wars. I mention it, because it is often mentioned as a prime example of how to write a hero's journey. And the first 4 episodes are very clearly that outline. However after that the basic story structure divulges as another main character becomes the focus. And with that modern conventions do no longer apply here.

But to row back a bit. Terra e (2007) is a serialized version of the Terra e ... (1980) film. I haven't watched that film so it is hard for me to say how well it was translated, but since it is more extensive, it probably improves upon many things. But that is mainly on how the story is structured. Where we instantly come to my biggest gripe with this anime: time skips. The story is told about many years in various intervals and time frames. Additionally not all characters are evolved equally after a single skip and the focus flip-flops between both protagonists. This has minor and major consequences. Most notably: character deaths. While some characters grow up to become characters of shifting importance, some do not survive certain episodes, mostly to encourage the grow of other characters or to have lasting impacts on decisions.

This is a central concept as the general story is about the relationship between the generic humans and the psychic Mu, who are mostly born from Humans. All the while being observed by a dystopian Big Brother system which is encouraged by the generic public. And while in all this, a central theme pops up, which I have trouble to wrap my head around. This is something I observed in many Japanese media by now: "Those damned adults."
This is a phrase the early part of Terra e is full of. Mostly because of the dystopian system behind it. But it has also come to my attention via Persona 5, which I played a few months ago. It is a weird phrase to throw around since most adults where kids once. And it becomes even more weird when the non-adults who throw around this phrase get, or even actively seek, help from other adults. Especially when they still live with their parents.
This is mostly notable through the central theme of the first episodes: the adult examination; a process to determine the place of young adults and where to send them. This is obviously part of the dystopia and quickly escalates into a full-blown war against the system.

Speaking of war, the last third of the anime basically revolves around the escalation between the Mu and the Humans. And this is where the time skips most notably hurts the story. As the war escalates more and more, war crimes of various scales are the daily norm. Sadly, most of this stuff gets easily cleared under the rug by the fanatic stoicism and zeal of the two faction leaders. But I would attribute that decision to the runtime as those happen fairly late.

Terra e is a weird and unique experience in terms of story structure and characterization. New characters are introduced constantly, ripped away or reintroduced as new important characters after time skips, after being unimportant side characters beforehand. And while the story features a very predictable outcome, it sadly still is full of plot holes. But the story isn't the focus of this anime but the characters and how they fulfill their roles. The solid animation and very nice soundtrack underline this a good way. This anime can be remembered by its decision for story progress alone. Multiple time skips within a single season alone is a bold move. But it is necessary for this kind of story and I'm glad it stuck with it.

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Jan 3, 2021

Recynon

Mixed Feelings

I really wanted to hate Towards the Terra. Something about its dull color palette rubbed me the wrong way. I've since come to a neutral stance on it, though it took nearly all of its 24 episodes for me to judge that its heart was in the right place.

In my experience with Japanese space operas, they love to use the setting to talk about war, peace, and the general direction of mankind and Towards the Terra is no different. And like its brethren, Towards the Terra steps forward with its heart first and mind second, leading to a message that can feel overly sentimental ...

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Nov 15, 2012

kabbinet

Not Recommended

As a space saga fan, I had good hopes for this anime (It was recomended from the Heroic age entry).

The story had potential but as with much else of this anime it is poorly executed and to be fair it would need atleast +70 episodes to cover all the aspects that I look for when reading a story. The story is too hastly executed and dosn't give justice to the potential and vision that the authors have had. A 7 for story 3 for execution.

The art is really good, although I personally dislike this style of drawing.
A 7 for art

Some music pices are irritating sometimes ...

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Poll: Terra e... Episode 1 Discussion Kayrhandros - May 29, 2007	29 replies	by zeroquinze »» Oct 28, 10:39 AM
Poll: Terra e... Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 ) removed-user - Sep 22, 2008	84 replies	by Lavi_kun »» Jun 13, 3:03 AM
Poll: Terra e... Episode 21 Discussion puedjies - Feb 8, 2009	15 replies	by Lavi_kun »» Jun 12, 8:10 AM
Poll: Terra e... Episode 15 Discussion d388 - Aug 24, 2007	27 replies	by Lavi_kun »» Jun 12, 1:21 AM
Poll: Terra e... Episode 9 Discussion removed-user - Mar 27, 2008	48 replies	by Lavi_kun »» Jun 11, 6:33 AM

Terra e... (TV)

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Characters & Voice Actors

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Shin, Jomy Marquis

Anyan, Keith

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Shiroe, Seki Ray

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Terra e... (TV)

Alternative Titles

Information

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Synopsis

Background

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Staff

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Ending Theme

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