Captain Earth

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW**

You can have all the budget and production value that you want, but NOTHING makes up for incoherent and nonsensical story-telling. This well-understood fact has never been more evident in the anime industry then in this season's harrowing mecha series known as Captain Earth. Studio Bones sure as hell knows how to animate, but they are developing a reputation for writing convoluted and nonsensical plots that make no sense what so ever, and this anime is no exception. When 90% of your show consists of characters spewing exposition and you still fail to convey what the hell is going on, then your show ... is a failure. Period. End of story. Captain Earth completely failed to set up a foundation for its plot, making everything that happened afterwards a lost cause.

The show opens with our protagonist, Daichi Manatsu, discovering that he is the only one who can pilot a mecha called "Earth Engine". Why is he the only one who can pilot it? Don't know. Never explained. Anyway, he then proceeds to instantly hop into the mecha and begin fighting the evil "Kiltgang", who are seeking to destroy the Earth. Why do they want to destroy the Earth? Don't know. Never explained. How does Daichi instantly know how to pilot Earth Engine? Don't know. Never explained. So after ignoring those TOTALLY unimportant details, we see Daichi taken back to the headquarters where he is reunited with our two other major characters: Hana and Teppei. Daichi hasn't seen Teppei in a decade and he met Hana literally once, but apparently, they are already close friends! So close, that Daichi magically discovers his ability to summon a gun called the Deus ex Machi-... er, I mean the Livlaster, and proceeds to destroy an entire section of the building in order to bust his two "friends" out. Why? So they can throw a boomerang on the beach together and then return to the organization willingly! Because that makes sense! So you may be asking yourself: What is the Livlaster? Well, I don't know. Never Explained. Why can Daichi do this but nobody else can? I don't know. Never explained.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Captain Earth's storyline is all over the place, unfathomably shallow, paced sporadically, and most of all: incompetent. The writers for this show are just completely, 100% incompetent, and that is by far the biggest problem with the show. The fact that they managed to turn such a simple premise into a complete and total MESS laced with plotholes and ambiguity is so laughable that it is almost an accomplishment. You would need more than just your fingers and toes to count how many plot points are introduced that never connect to anything. The characters ramble and ramble on and on about "Orgone energy" and "Libido" and other such meaningless bullshit, but they tried so hard to give depth to the scientific aspect of the plot that they forgot to make an actual plot in the first place! And, y'know, that's kind of important!

The characters, unfortunately, provide no saving grace from the plot's onslaught of stupidity. They have nothing that even resembles development and have no depth what so ever. Daichi is an oblivious moron and the other characters either have annoying personalities or none at all. Worst of all, they have no chemistry with each other! We are very clearly supposed to get the impression that the characters are close friends, but NEVER, not even once, do we see them engaging in any form of comradery what so ever. The romance between Daichi and Hana, for example, is one of the worst I've ever seen for a variety of reasons. One: It's CREEPY. This is NOT how people in love with each other behave. It's literally Twilight levels of bad. Two: Hana has no personality what so ever. The only development she is given is nonsensical, comes completely out of nowhere for no apparent reason, and then fades just as suddenly as it began. Three: Daichi and Hana have no chemistry with each other and there is no gradual build-up. The extent of their meaningful interactions can be summed up with that creepy scene in episode 12, cause, y'know, that's totally normal.

Another thing that makes me a lot more angry then it probably should is the downright idiotic slogan that the show flashes in our face whenever it possibly can; I'm talking during the OP, when it goes to commercial, when it comes back from commercial, and during the ED. They REALLY want you to remember the following slogan for some reason:
"When I opened the door called Truth, my childhood ended. It was a summer I could never forget."
Based on this quotation, it is strongly implied that Captain Earth is some sort of coming-of-age parable. That is annoying because this anime is NOTHING of the sort. There is not a single solitary element in any of the episodes that would even slightly suggest that this is a story about becoming an adult. In fact, Daichi is arguably the most kiddish and immature character in the show even in the face of this world-scale threat he is supposed to be facing! I mean my god! Could this show's plot get any more stupid?

Captain Earth isn't totally unredeemable though; the animation, for example is absolutely stellar. The first episode blinded me with stunning, movie-quality art. Unfortunately, even went downhill. The animation seemed to get slightly worse as the show went on, but it was still great. The sound is also well-executed; I love first OP and ED, but the 2nd ones were shockingly bad in comparison. The OST isn't half bad though. Despite these things, as I've mentioned earlier, production value does not make up for awful writing and it never will. With that fact in mind, Captain Earth is an undisputed and unbridled disaster that I do not recommend watching at all to anyone.

"When I opened the door called Captain Earth, my ride on the hype train ended. It was an anime I could forget."

From Studio Bones and the same creative team that made Star Driver, comes a mecha anime that promises amazing action backed up by Shakespearean lore but instead, delivers a train wreck that is only worthy for the scrap yard.

The story starts off well enough, having a 17 year old high schooler named Daichi, through a set of extraordinary circumstances, coming to be the sole pilot of the Earth Engine, which was built to defend humanity from the invading Planetary Gears. However, it ... quickly becomes very apparent that Captain Earth has no intention of delivering a coherent plot and soon meanders off into slice of life territory with visits to the dessert cafe, idol concerts and chilling off by the poolside topped off with copious amounts of fanservice. There is even an episode where an idol gets to be a commander for a day onboard a space station, right before a major military operation is about to go underway. When it does get back to moving the story forward, it does so in the most convoluted manner possible and is nothing short of glacial in terms of progress. Among the worst offenders of this crime is the Planetary Gear's recruitment arc in which the bad guys are awakened and gathered for several episodes like some demented version of Pokémon.

Events happen or things are done in a certain way that has no bearing to proper protocol in a similar situation in reality. For example, when it comes to identifying and apprehending potential Earth-ending individuals, Captain Earth has teenagers taking the place of what should have been the jurisdiction of entire government agencies or armed special forces. I could understand having a bunch of high schoolers be the pilots of giant robots and saviors of humanity but not when it comes to scouring an entire urban center with only four people that get sidetracked by dessert cafe. Plot points are even worst, often appearing from a random direction and resolved in an equally hazard manner. In one instance, there was a scientist lady who was in charge of observing special children connected to the planetary gears. Said scientist kisses one of them and transfers her desire to obtain immorality using the child which results in a falling out between the two. Very quickly, the assistant to said scientist shoots her in the head with a pistol and the last time we see of her, she is riding in a back of a truck, wrapped up in a body bag. I swear to God, I'm not making this shit up. Explanations frequently comes down because the writers say so and that is nothing short of an insult to the audience struggle to understand the bigger picture because of inept writing.

When it comes to the four main characters of Daichi, Hana, Akari, and Teppei, their attributes make them seem anti-Evangelion to a fault. Daichi Manats is the overly confident and energetic teenage boy to distant Shinji Ikari, who only pilots only for the sake of his father. Hana Mutou is the curious and very voluptuous alien girl to the emotionless doll of Rei Ayanami. Akari Yomatsuri is the hacking/self-proclaimed magical girl to the emotionally broken tsundere of Asuka Langley Soryu. Finally, Teppei Arashi is the uncertain and withdrawn extraterrestrial to the transcendent angelic being of Kaworu Nagisa. The trouble doesn't lie in how the characters start off as but it's that they remain stagnant for the majority of their development. Yes, they have their own trials and personal issues to overcome but it's so ham-fisted and forcefully written that it almost becomes a parody unto itself. The obvious pairings happen but everything about their relationships are so bland and uninspired that it just bored me seeing Captain Earth clumsily go through the motions. There is simply nowhere else to go when all the characters become happy-go-lucky teammates that believe in the power of friendship and love to win the day. Unless Captain Earth had the balls to go a darker route from there, which it doesn't, it makes for a boring watch as our young heroes simply brute force their way onto victory, complete with sparkles and rainbows.

Outside other main four leads, which get plenty of screen time to dally about, there are just too many characters and factions in Captain Earth. Ranging from those who work at GLOBE, Tenkaido Space Station, Intercept and Ark faction, Salty Dog, Kill-T-Gang, Puck, and the Macbeth Enterprises, none of them are explored in any meaningful depth. Sure, members of the Planetary Gears get their own episode to shine but as quickly as they are introduced, they are soon forgotten in favor of the next shiny plot point.

One aspect that initially drew my attention to Captain Earth was the high production values in its animation. Having a wide assortment of bright vivid colors and highly detailed backgrounds, it is clear that a substantial amount of money was invested in the visual department. While other series like Knights of Sidonia and Aldnoah.Zero have embraced CGI robots into their animation, Captain Earth steadfastly sticks to the dying art of drawing 2D mecha. The 3D elements are subtly incorporated into the background of display screens and popup HUDs which demonstrates how CGI should be used to enhance the viewing experience. In particular, the Earth Engine's transformation scene was quite a novelty when it was first shown by featuring no less than three space station lined up together while the Daichi's machine speeds through the center as it becomes fully formed.

Also matching the high standards set by the visual department, is the music composition by Satoru Kosaki. His previous works is nothing to sneeze which include the entire Monogatari franchise, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and OreImo. In Captain Earth's case, he choose to go with a more traditional orchestral sound with booming trumpets and soaring string instruments doing much of the heavy lifting. It really is a shame that the stellar soundtrack is just another sad reminder how great this show could have been if it even had a half-competent writing team backing it up.

The mechs themselves are quite creative in their design and functionality. Earth's own engines look like a updated white version of the Gainax's Gunbuster with its massive shoulder pylons and fairly conventional weaponry. On the opposing side, Planetary Gears in their true mecha forms have more of an aesthetic that resembles doll figurines with umbrella dresses for the ladies and tailcoats for the men. As such, their respective fighting styles are more akin to dancing around their opponents before slicing or blasting them to pieces.

Being a huge fan of the mecha genre, much of Captain Earth's tremendous shortcomings could be forgiven if the giant robots fights were exciting, loud and filled with awesomeness, but sadly, this is not the case. Mech battles in Captain Earth often dissolve in shounon-like brawls that involve little to no tactics and obscene amount of deus ex machina bullshit in favor of the protagonists. The plot armor that every major character, both alien and human, is as thick as the front of a main battle tank and saps much of the tension from said battles. Indeed, the show even incorporates immorality into the invading Planetary Gears with their Ego Blocks, and has them blasting off like Team Rocket every time they get their asses kicked.

With names like Midsummer Knights, Puck, and Oberon, I would have expected a mixture of Shakespearean elements from his various plays like humor from A Comedy of Errors with a dash of the tragedy from Macbeth and the mystical atmosphere of The Tempest. Instead, Captain Earth simply reaches for the lowest common denominator of dumping a metric ton of fanservicey ingredients into its concepts and calls it a day. I suppose it could have be related to the sexuality that is prominent in Shakespeare's work in some sort twisted way, but I can't really be bothered to dig that deep when cleavage takes up half the screen and everyone is trying to kiss each other.

The first opening, titled "Runner's High" by flumpool, is a lot like my anticipation and first impression of Captain Earth. It was epic, energetic and pointed to something far more ambitious than your typical anime show. By the time, the second opening " TOKYO Dreamer ", by Nico Touches the Walls, rolls around, I had long stop caring about Captain Earth and abandoned any hope of the show redeeming itself. The show had wasted too much time on pointless exposition, fetch quests and scandalous shots of female anatomy. Studio Bones held a promising concept in its hands before weighing down with mediocrity and Otaku philandering that plagues the anime industry today.

When you have an interesting setting and characters, great designs and good action, the obvious option would be using them to their fullest potential and crafting a great story involving these factors. But you could also do it like Studio Bones did with Captain Earth and do absolutely NOTHING with them. Seriously, I've rarely seen a series devolve from one with lots of potential into something that was a chore to watch episode by episode.

The story centers around Daichi Manatsu, a high school student who, through some coincidences and connections, ends up in a secret organization fighting extraterrestrial beings with mecha robots. Now, the whole ... "high school student fights unknown creature" setup might be one of the overused cliches in anime ever, but there are still series that manage to put it off well. That's what I also hoped for Captain Earth, but it was all in vain.
From the beginning on, the viewer is bombarded with one unknown term after another, expecting us to understand what the hell they are supposed to mean. All this while the plot starts off with a tiring episodic monster-of-the-week scheme. Those types of episodes are not always bad, but it is pointless if the plot still has not made any crucial progress, making it a chore to watch the same thing over and over.
About midway through, the series is finally back to the actual plot - not that it got much better though. To sum it up, you could fast-forward to the last few episodes (bar a few selected ones) and you would not have missed out on anything. And instead of good storytelling we get pointless fanservice here and there. And some more unexplained terms, because we obviously have not had enough already! And if plot points are resolved, then it's in a cliche and predictable way. Or there is no resolution at all - I mean, what happened to Teppei's father? The creators probably forgot about his existence, who knows. What about the little girl who was supposed to be something like a manifestation of Daichi's Livlaster? We never found out what was up with her.
Well to make it short, while the setup was already lame, what the producers made of it made it even duller. And this also brings down the characterization.

This brings me to the characters of Captain Earth. The four main characters are like the only ones who get some character development, so I'll just get to them. First we have Daichi, our protagonist - a character I found pretty intriguing in the beginning. With a connection to some other characters related in the battle against the aliens and a somewhat rebellious attitude he could have been a good character. Could have, if the story were any good. Instead, he turns into the stereotypical good guy character who can face any hurdle through the power of friendship.
The second male main character Teppei, suffers a similar fate of character change - from a character related to the Kill-T-Gangs his role in the story turns quite irrelevant. He ends up as just another mecha driver without much development.
Akari, the self-proclaimed "mahou shoujo", is a super-hacker who supports the team in the background by, well, hacking. There isn't really much else to her, aside that she is a poor love interest for Teppei. Seriously, would it have been so hard to develop the romance between those two a little?
Hana is the last of the main group, and also the love interest of Daichi. Well, their romance was a little more interesting than Teppei and Akari's, but Hana as character herself was - nothing special. Just like with Teppei, her supernatural powers are not explored well enough - she is more often used as a fanservice character.
Last I want to mention the enemies in this scenario, the Kill-T-Gangs - just as the main heroes, very underexplored. Most of them have a one-episode appeareance and then disappear or are used as more fanservice devices. The main pair - Moco and Amara - only differentiate from the group in that they get more screentime, act more evil and get more fanservice scenes (Moco, at least).

One thing that had Captain Earth going for it is the visuals - nothing special, really, but compared to the other aspects of the series a pleasure. The character designs are nice, the mechs look good and the action is on point.

The sounds of the series are nothing special, the openings and endings are alright and the soundtrack was alright too. Hana's song is probably the most outstanding aspect in the sounds section.

Sadly, the strongest points of the series (Art & Sound) do not carry a show alone.
Thus, Captain Earth overall does not really convince me and thus I give it a score of 3/10.

Captain Earth, not to be confused with Captain Planet, is this show about a group of kids trying to save the world from destruction. Well technically, they aren’t kids but rather pilots who are able to operate the Earth Engine Impacter (EEI). And with that weapon, they just might have the chance to stop the alien invaders known as the Kill-T-Gang. But really, with all of these concepts in motion, the show has all the ingredients for a generic mecha show.

Produced by studio Bones and created by the same team that worked on Star Drivers, this mecha show seemed like a classic, at least ... from the surface anyways. Essentially, the series is like a riddle where there are many questions that fuels the need for answers. Take for example, the main male protagonist Daichi Manatsu. He is not only a 17 year old high school student but also addressed comically and repetitively as ‘Captain’ by his crew, the Midsummer’s Knights. We find out a little more about his past although most of it is still shrouded in mystery. But nonetheless, the show takes the steering wheel with it comes to setup and does it well initially with the premise. There may be a lot of questions but that’s what can hook an audience in finding out more. But unfortunately, Captain Earth isn’t exactly a show that exploits its advantages. Rather, it can be a throwback when it comes to execution.

The story itself takes place in a modern setting with sufficient technology. Assumingly to be in Japan, the series fixates on the idea of an alien invasion against Earth. But the interesting part to note that the invaders aren’t Cthulhu-like beings or those tripod fighters you see from movies like War of the Worlds. Rather, the invaders have humanoid features. Yet behind that mask lies a menacing personality and ambition to kill anyone to get in their way of their goal. Taking a step back though, the show is an original work although with possible influences from series such as Eureka Seven. Besides the giant mecha or the Kill-T-Gang, we get a small yet colorful cast of characters.

Daichi is the star of the show but his character isn’t exactly someone people may find exciting about. Like father, like son, he takes the responsibility of a captain as the figurehead of the Midsummer’s Knights. But despite his good faith, the kid often shows insecurity with his role. And this shouldn’t be a surprise either considering the burden he must bare to protect his home planet. However, his relationship with the other characters is normal in particular his best friend Teppi Arashi, who also happens to harbor secrets of his own. Taking a further step into mysteries, we get Hana Mutou, a girl with mysterious powers found by Daichi and Teppi in the past. But seriously, with this setup, there’s the oddball trio with nothing in common except for coexisting and hopefully survive against what’s coming. Otherwise, members of the crew operate at a generic level. Perhaps the most noticeable of them would be a skilled hacker named Akari Yomatsuri. She brings the energy to the team with her ebullience and also pretends herself to be a magical girl. Silly as it sounds, she is serious about it at heart.

As the story is crafted out of science fiction concepts, expect the show to advance them like building blocks to a product. That product is made of the characters, story, and mechanics. Throughout the series, various mechanics are explained. Terms such as Livlaster, Designer Children, Planteary Gear, and Ego Blocks are just a few used to convey its sci-fi image. To add on top of that, we get the antagonists known as the Kill-T-Gang with their ambition to drain the planet of its resources. Now, that sounds a bit familiar doesn’t it? It’s cliché to the core as the aliens demonstrate their selfish desires by their words and actions. Oh and of course, they have abilities of their own besides their skills to pilot the mysterious “Machine Goodfellows”. Throughout the series, two prominent members known as Amara and Moco begins what can be seen as an odyssey to fulfill their goals. And as a series with a lot of stuff going on, you might least expect kissing to be involved. Only of course, it’s not for developing relationships but rather to invoke memories. It’s easy to realize what the show is doing here when employing generic concepts from the old book. Unfortunately, the series doesn’t really go beyond characterization when it comes to the antagonists. There’s a load of them introduced as the series goes on with diverse personalities. And although flashbacks are occasionally used to give them some feedback, the antagonists doesn’t spawn enough interest. Their actions are straightforward, stereotypical, and lacks precision when it comes to thought. Furthermore, their nature and instincts are hardly relatable at all. In fact, they are more like pieces to the riddle only serving as answers rather than choices. Indeed, the show chooses to neglect development for its antagonists that provides minimal motivation for interest. At one point in the story if I could recall, they even mention their desire to feed on humanity just because it feels good.

On the other hand, some main characters get highlight and characterization. Most prominently is Daichi, as we see growth in his character and relationship with others. However, most of this still feels stale with no seemingly strong direction going for any characters. Hana has almost no personality with a lack of common sense, while Teppi has deep inner thoughts with himself. Even Akari, the genius hacker of the team can be repetitive to watch. Furthermore, the series’ romance department doesn’t exactly function right. There are flags raised early and throughout the series but nothing is truly confirmed. What you will get though are teasing like Akari’s gimmick of flashing her belly button or Hana’s common sense that matches the consistency of a 10 year old. It tries to desperately appeal to comedy to distract fans. While it works out sometimes, the ultimate result feels imbecilic and its formulaic moments go down the drain.

What the series can occasionally do well is pulling off is mystery. Yet, some of it lacks logic and happens too fast. Other times, it’s absurd and makes you wonder what the show is doing with itself. Besides the origins of the series and the alien invaders, we also see a darkness from humanity’s side. Macbeth Enterprises is a prominent example of this with their CEO whom wants to rule the world with an iron fist. Well, he tries anyways despite being clueless at times about certain events and characters around him. The funny part is that his trustworthiness in certain characters would be his death warrant. It’s uncomical since the show takes itself seriously. Unlike Star Driver, it isn’t fabulous.

When examining the animation style of Captain Earth, creativity is the word you might come to mind at first. Characters crafted with a variety of designs ranging from the suits the pilots wear or the members of the Kill-T-Gang. The background are also fluid with style such as the rainbow and tropical like atmosphere. The mecha designs can also be impressive too with their design such as Daichi’s EEI. There’s a variety of them too so expect diversity with superior CG art. Even action is fast and solid that keeps the pace to contain rhythm. Other times, its languid coordination balances out the pacing. In retrospect, the show pulls off its animation beautifully with studio Bones and its skills to decorate the way it deserves.

Soundtrack may seem an oddball at first but does remain a noticeable factor. In particular, the songs used has more meaning than just its attractive tone. Hana is an epitome of this with her noticeable voice. Akari’s cheerfulness too can be inspirational. On the other hand, most of the male characters lack strength when it comes to voice mannerisms. Only perhaps some of the antagonists can bring out the best from the cast of characters. However, it’s more stereotypical than anything special. The OP & ED songs tell a different story though with its more conventional image of science fiction. Perhaps only the OST is a more noticeable strength as it dissects the memorable scenarios with a tolerable soundtrack.

Captain Earth isn’t the next big thing or in fact, anything great. With a load of exposition, the show often demonstrates a lack of characterization. Daichi himself is uninteresting while the antagonists are stereotypical from many angles. Transition suffers problems with its storytelling as well. But taking a bit closer look, the series can cleverly craft mystery and some of its side characters. Unfortunately, that isn’t enough to save the series. And in the end, Captain Earth is a show that really didn’t show a fruit of its potentials.

I don't usually write reviews 'cause I believe in watching first, then judging.
Well, let me tell you this. I watched it. The whole lot of 25 episodes of wasted potential.
I'll try to make it short -unlike Bones did with this show- so you don't have to waste more time if you're already interested in watching this.

1. Plot: Lousy piece of crap. Was a Clicheton, or a Cliche-fest, in the wrong way, not in the funny way. Every character is poorly developed and wasted on clichés made up to interest some audience. It was like they targeted every demographic and ended captivating none. Because of ... this, the plot is all over the place, there's no argument that sticks with the show for the entire season, and the arc are so poorly designed and developed that it can be compared with a more episodic stuff like... you know like what. The first episodes can catch real quick, the rest just hang on to you like leeches, sucking your life bit by bit with its endlees plotwist that can be seen from space. There where a ton, and I really mean a ton of things that got left out of the entire plot, things that common sense dictates that are relevant.

2. Animation: Awesome, outstanding, kind of the best out there, somewhat comparable with some Production I.G works. Well, Studio Bones was on par with this show when looking back on his previous works. I mean, the mecha design resembles a tad to Heroman, but yeah, it looked cool. After all, according to the Studio's Director, their animators drew it all by hand, there was practically no CGI, if none. Kudos to them.

3. Sound: good music, everything seemed to go with the mood... nothing memorable. At least they didn't screw up this one.

4.- Character: yada yada yada, theres no originality in this characters and even the stereotypes are bad done. There's little-to-no development, and their roles where so messed up I couldn't even bother to remember the names past the first two or three episodes, since there's so many and you see little of them. It I could score this segment, I'd give it a -0.01.

5. Enjoyment (and overall): a Studio Bones work to forget. They've done some pretty amazing shows in the past, but this isn't something you can call out among the rest of other awesome anime and say: you should be watching this or that, 'cause Studio Bones.

I pretty much ended watching this show out of commitment to the animators and the Studio previous work, and because of earning the right to argument my stuff correctly.

Seriously, don't watch it, even less marathon it, unless you don't have anything else to watch and you can watch it very episodicaly, like, one episode a month.

Let me start this review by saying that it's been a while since I wrote a review for MyAnimeList. I haven't binge-watched anime so I decided to watch Captain Earth by simple curiosity. It was a Sunday night and I had nothing to do, so Captain Earth seemed like a good way to alleviate my boredom with. To be honest, I started watching it with no expectations at all, but perhaps I should have expected something positive considering the talent involved here. Also, despite the title, this show has nothing to do with Captain Planet. Anyway, let's see what this anime has in store for ... us.

Story: The series follows a group of teenage friends that defend Earth from a race of aliens called the Planetary Gears. Making things complicated for our heroes is a secret organization that is sabotaging the heroes' efforts to save the world. This basic premise could make for an interesting story; unfortunately, Captain Earth is unable to fulfill its narrative potential and this is because of the multiple plotlines advancing at the same time. Aside from fighting the Planetary Gears, our heroes come into conflict with Salty Dog, an organization that wants to evacuate humanity from Earth because they believe the planet is beyond saving, and Puck, an AI that is manipulating the conflict between humans and aliens for its own benefit. The show even dedicates screen time to the Planetary Gears in order to frame the story from their point of view. With all these factions running around, you'd think the show would be filled to the brim with interesting concepts and storylines that would get proper screen time and development, but you'd be sadly mistaken.

First off, the Planetary Gears are incompetent fools that get defeated almost every week. Their plan is to awaken more of their own kind, scattered across Japan and get them into space, where they can use their robots to drain the life force of humanity. While the heroes fail in stopping the villains from replenishing their numbers, they do succeed in beating them in combat and destroying their robots over and over and over again. The only reason the villains live to fight another day is because their minds are stored in special objects that cannot be destroyed by normal weapons. The show tells us that the villains can never be allowed to use their machines on Earth's surface, lest they will absorb the life out of humanity, but instead of giving the show some semblance of urgency or dramatic tension, it just makes the conflict boring because we know the heroes are never allowed to lose. The heroes are left with empty victories that have no meaning because, again, the villains are incompetent fools.

Second, the battle with Salty Dog is ridiculous because Salty Dog is governed by lunatics who believe humanity doesn't stand a chance against the Planetary Gears. Apparently, they willingly ignore the reports about the teenagers that save the world on a weekly basis. Salty Dog proceeds to antagonize the heroes in an effort to evacuate mankind to outer space and leave Earth to die at the hands of the Planetary Gears and they are more than willing to help the Planetary Gears turn the Earth into a wasteland. Even Daichi is frustrated by Salty Dog's lack of foresight and desire to be smartest people on the room.

Third, the AI Puck is very predictable. From the moment it's introduced, the show raises red flags that Puck will be an antagonist, either by making its behavior creepy and weird or by introducing technology that will help it fight the heroes. By the time Puck finally gets to fight the heroes, it feels weird and forced because the heroes have no idea of who Puck is and they are only fighting him because the show needs a physical antagonist because, again, the Planetary Gears have utterly failed as villains.

Another major problem Captain Earth faces it its overuse of exposition. The show throws around concepts and names every episode, like Livlaster, Neoteny, Impacter, Ordinary, etc. It took me about 5 episodes or so to piece the backstory together with the scraps the show left on the floor but it felt very frustrating that the show has no interesting in piecing together its own backstory and just left viewers to do the heavylifting. If the show cannot properly develop its themes and concepts, then people will certainly not care enough to keep watching.

Any mecha battle should have dramatic tension and emotional stakes around it, otherwise it is nothing more than robots just throwing punches and shooting lasers for no reason. Like I said before, the heroes always win. There is no real reason to get emotionally invested in these fights. Just when it looks like the heroes are any kind of real danger, the heroes manage to pull off a win thanks to some contrived deus ex machina or the power of friendship and love. The show explains the heroes' power thanks to the Livlasters, extradimensional energy beings that take the form of magic space guns that can only be wielded by those they deem worthy. In other words, the heroes are Green Lanterns, but instead of superadvanced space rings, they have magic space guns. This is plot armor of the highest order. I was kinda hoping one of the heroes would die, if only to throw the heroes out of their comfort zone and give story some semblance of gravitas and nuance, but that never happens and the heroes are never in any real danger. (3/10)

Characters: Another major failure on the show's part is the lousy character writing. Despite their objectively interesting backstories, the main characters are boring and lack any sort of emotional nuance. Daichi, our hero and the character we are supposed to relate the most, is a bland and generic goody two-shoes who rarely shows any emotion beyond friendship and eagerness to do the righting. His friends are hardly any better. Akari is a smug hacker with an inflated ego. Teppei is just a shy and awkward guy with issues that just barely qualify as social insecurities. Hana, the pretty girl with the big secret, has no personality beyond the childish and innocent girl who is just getting to know the world. The friendship between the protagonists is bland and lacks any real substance. We are clearly supposed to think these four are close friends, but the show never delivers any semblance of comradeship between them. They simply engage in pretty standard, paint by numbers friendship stuff. The romance between Daichi and Hana is one of the blandest and most ridiculous in TV show history. Her magic kiss lets her see into his thoughts and a few scenes later, they are having a romance for the ages. A romance this badly written hasn't been seen since the likes of Twilight. Daichi and Hana have no chemistry with one another and they are only together because the show simply needs a romantic subplot. (3/10)

The secondary characters are left with almost no development whatsoever. The Planetary Gears, other than Amarok and Malkin, do not evolve in any meaningful way. Sure, they get some episodes to shine here and there, but they are soon forgotten in favor of another, newly introduced plotline. The AI Puck follows the all-too predictable pattern of AIs that become evil and attempt to destroy mankind, like Ultron and the Reapers, with no attempt of subversion.(3/10)

Art: Captain Earth, maybe unfortunately, is good in a few ways, enough to make it feel like a missed opportunity. The visual effects are amazing, the colors are bright and lively and the background enjoy a high level of detail and nuance. Clearly, a huge amount of the production budget went into the visual department. The mecha battles are nothing short of visual spectacles, but the enjoyment of those battles is ruined by the aforementioned lack of dramatic tension and emotional stakes. Good visual effects should enhance the anime experience, not make it. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again. We are basically watching robots fight each other for no reason. Captain Earth at least deserves props for sticking to hand-drawn animation for the robots instead of using CGI. (9/10)

Sound: Another redeeming aspect of this show is the talent of the voice actors, who do their best to portray their characters as actual human beings instead of the bland caricatures the shows says they are. It's good to know that the talent of these voice actors will never be wasted, no matter the trash they are given to work with. The first OP, Believer's High, is definitely the best thing to come out of this show. I'm always excited to hear it, even if the show attached to it doesn't match its quality. The second OP doesn't come close to match the greatness of the first, and that's another testament to Captain Earth's untapped potential. (8/10)

Overall: Somewhere in the multiverse, there is a parallel universe where Captain Earth is a good anime that properly explores its themes and develops its characters in a graceful and nuanced manner. Sadly, we don't live in it. Captain Earth is not a terrible idea, it's just that it wasn't properly executed and it's hard to get fully behind it. This is because of seemingly unintentional narrative choices that detract from what should have been a significantly better experience. I don't need every anime I watch to be a life-changing experience, I just need it to be a good story, and unfortunately, Captain Earth fails to do that. The show's premise and setting are good but unfortunately, the character flaws are just too hard to ignore. Ideas mean nothing if you can't execute them. Just because something sounds like a good idea doesn't mean it is if you can't bring it to life. Captain Earth is a combination of good ideas, but it is nothing more than that. More importantly, this show is a clear case where mediocrity is worse than outright badness. The excellent production values only make Captain Earth's failure even more painful to watch. Hopefully, the people behind Captain Earth will move on from this mediocre misfire and move on to something better. (3/10)

Captain Earth is exactly what you would get if you took Evangelion, Macross, and Gunbuster, stripped them for visual and thematic parts, and then hired elementary school students to put those parts back together into an intriguing and emotionally satisfying whole. It does not end up, as you can imagine, intriguing or emotionally satisfying. It ends up a mess. A big, poorly written mess.
My main problem with this series isn't with its perfectly presentable aesthetics, unoriginal as they are. It looks and sounds like a solid 7/10 show, despite its recycled transformation sequences and unremarkable soundtrack. This show's ... problem is its meat, the story and the characters. There are a couple of standouts in the cast and everyone has at least a moment every so often when they flip from infuriating to entertaining. Unfortunately, they always flip back again. The main character is an infuriatingly childish Good Person with no real personality traits other than "loves main girl" and "is determined." The rest of the cast is mostly a lovely smorgasbord of cliches and archetypes, all of whom would be the least interesting character if it weren't for all the others. The exception is Puck, a rapey computer man. At least we have that going for us.
The story is largely nonsense, all of which really seems like it should be given an explanation. There's a mysterious little girl who only shows up in the first and last episodes, who is almost definitely God or some off-brand equivalent, there's an alien race that wants to kill humans for our orgone energy (a bizarre and nonsensical reference to a real life crackpot scientist whose theories were eventually popularized in the song Cloudbusting by Kate Bush, of all things), and there's a shadowy government organization that tortures children with slave collars which is- SPOILERS- evil.
Just don't watch this show. Don't watch it! Nothing good will come of it. I promise.