Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite

Twelve-year-old prodigy Rafal believes in living rationally, so as to earn praise and respect from society while not being led astray by his emotions. To this end, he publicly states his intention to study theology—the academic field held in highest regard in early 15th century Poland. However, an encounter with a mysterious man upends Rafal's life, sparking an illogical desire to instead pursue his passion for astronomy.

Rafal is determined to prove the beauty and rationality of heliocentrism—the theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. This belief is considered heretical by the powerful Church, which promotes geocentrism—the Sun revolving around the Earth—as the sole truth of the universe. Those whose beliefs do not align with the will of the Church suffer unfathomably gruesome consequences.

In pursuit of evidence for a heliocentric model of the universe, Rafal grapples with obtaining precise calculations and building empirical theories. His greatest challenge, however, lies in conducting this research discreetly—lest he wish to meet the same fate as other heretics.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Rafal Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Badeni Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Oczy Main

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Nowak Main

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Jolenta Main

Hitomi, Saya Japanese

Hubert Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Schmitt Supporting

Draka Supporting

Piast Supporting

Fukumatsu, Shinya Japanese

Heretic Supporting

Sanpei, Yuuki Japanese

Yamazaki, Yukari Producer

Yoshida, Yuuki Producer

Oka, Tsunenari Producer

Osanai, Atsushi Producer

Reviews

Oct 24, 2024

_gt_ohn

Recommended

Well-written

Preliminary (4/25 eps)

Tired of isekais of the season (Re:ZERO) that, even great, no longer provide the same satisfaction, either due to being predictable and repetitive or after watching countless of them every season? Or perhaps you're tired of the endless floodgates of rom-coms that halt all progress beyond will-they-won't-they shenanigans? Maybe you're tired of an anime being so anime-y with high speed movements and action scenes that are full of flashy effects (Dandadan) for the sake of the rule of cool? Boy, do I have the perfect show for you!

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the animes I mentioned above. I myself watch them. ... But sometimes, you know how you're just looking for something with a bit more "Oomph!" that offer something new and unique in this era of repetitive isekai and action/battle shounen animes? Well, move aside Re:ZERO/Dandadan, because a new competitor joins the race for best anime this Fall 2024!

An unexpected and possible Anime of the Season material (perhaps even AotY if it can stick the landing, otherwise it's still too early), Orb: On the Movements of the Earth is an anime that goes against the tides of common anime genres of the season. The story takes a page in ancient history (15th century Europe) depicting a battle of truth: to prove the truth of the cosmos while facing the possible prosecution from the church and its inquisitors, and leaving behind footnotes for future generations to build upon and continue the legacy of the collective human knowledge.

First, the story isn't something you'd expect to come from an anime. Like Vinland Saga, the author knows the story it wants to tell. Every scene thus far doesn't waste the audience's time with pointless monologues and flashbacks. It doesn't treat the audience as idiots, laying out all the details in front of you and handing it on a silver platter. No, this anime wants you to figure it out for yourself using the characters' motivation and their actions and goals. The structure of the storytelling relies on the atmosphere and tension you feel for the characters, and the pacing makes you easily forget that each episode runs for 24 minutes, with those 24 minutes only feeling like 3 minutes because of how engaging it does its dialogues and conversation between each characters. It's very well-executed and balanced, a stark contrast from most animes these days.

Secondly, speaking of characters, the author knows how to create them, and knows when to write them out of the story. You know how animes kill off a character, but before that happens, they show you a flashback of that character's past with their happy memories? *cough* JJK Season 2 *cough* It's as if to say "Go on! Feel bad for this character and cry as I kill him/her off." Or even worse, when they kill off that character for the sake of developing another character? *cough* JJK Season 2 again *cough* Well, screw that! This anime will punch you in the face when you least expect it. Writing a character, and a compelling one at that, is half the battle in writing a good story. You have to know when to write them off the story too (a lesson I wish Tensura would learn with how much useless characters it has). The author certainly knows when it wants to up the ante, whether by killing off its characters, or by introducing new ones. Plot armor? Nope, we don't have that around here! What we do have are unexpected twists you won't see coming a mile away.

Lastly, it's done by Madhouse! What more could you want? Of course, don't expect Frieren-levels of animation. This isn't that kind of anime. If you're looking for an action anime, then this might not fit you (HOWEVER.. I request that you at least watch the first 3 episodes. This anime deserves it, I swear). It's art style resembles that of Attack on Titan or even Vinland Saga, so no cutesy anime girls here or moe character archetypes (certainly no -dere character archetypes either).

Overall, this is a fantastic anime (on its way to be a masterpiece if it sticks the middle and landing). If you're looking for a unique story that is as far from the usual anime tropes as possible, Orb is an anime I simply must recommend. I will glaze it as much as possible and ensure that it rises from being a dark horse anime of the season to being an anime that is well-known for its quality storytelling and compelling characters. And if you liked it, remember to suggest it to your friends or acquaintances who watch animes as well. As I've said, it doesn't have the usual anime tropes of moe/loli/dere characters, so this is a pretty safe recommendation that won't get you side-eyed by your friends.

PS: Do note that while this anime might seem historical, and it does borrow elements from Late Medieval Europe, you shouldn't treat this anime as a way to get educated about 15th century Europe, nor should you treat this as historical fiction, as it plays fast-and-loose with the actual history concerning the conceiving of the heliocentrism theory and inquisition. They don't even name drop Europe itself, and they avoid mentioning where exactly this anime takes place on Earth. So just treat this as you would any fiction, and enjoy the quality anime.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 13, 2024

bekim

Mixed Feelings

Funny

Preliminary (4/25 eps)

Spoiler

If you don't care about this story being historically inaccurate, I would give it a try; its good. It looks boring but it keeps you entertained. Everyone is very well rounded. (MAJOR SPOILER WARNING) The only problem for me is the changing of main characters. I am all about supporting side characters and developing them because it makes a good story great. But I personally get too attached to main characters and if they were to die or be completely disregarded. I drop the series. Its who I am. If you aren't the same I would definitely give it a chance.

The character development ... is insane. Everyone is very well rounded. The original main character who dies wanted to take the easy way out in life. But he threw it all away for what he truly believes in, which is heliocentrism. I was excited for the story to progress where in my mind he enters university and eventually proves heliocentrism while overcoming many obstacles. Then he died, and when he died so did the story for me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Oct 30, 2024

KWD313

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (4/25 eps)

So this anime claims to be inspired by real world history. Therefore we should base our judgement, among other things, on how historically accurate it is. Which it isn't. It perpetuates many historical lies and misconceptions.

First of all, inguisition. This anime depicts inquisitors as people, who like to torture other people and want to burn heretics. The reality was quite different. In our world inquisitors were some of the best educated and most well respected individuals. And inquisition courts were much more humane than secular courts. In fact it often happened that if someone was going to get caught for a crime, they added a ... heresy to their crime so that they could be judged by inquisition and not by secular authorities. Main goal of inquisitors was to make heretics repent and reject their heresies, not to punish them. Often people caught on heresy weren't even aware that they were saying heresy and after meeting with inquisition they were happy to be corrected and just went on with their lifes. Inquisition didn't consider testimonies achieved with torture as valid. Torture was only allowed if the tortured was 100% sure to be guilty and was hiding some information that was ipmortant for further investigation or to stop something bad from happening. And only methods of torture that didn't leave permanent harm were allowed. Penalties given by inquisition were usually something like reciting psalms or pilgrimage to some sanctuary. As for death penalties, they were usually given by secular authorities (heresies could cause civil unrest and disobedience, so they were dangerous for country as a whole), not by inquisition. Goal of inquisition was the repentance of a heretic, not to burn him. If heretic absolutely didn't want to repent, that was a loss for inquisition. And most of death penalties were given by secular authorities and burning people at stakes was later much more common in protestant countries, which had nothing to do with inquisition. So depiction of inquisition in this anime is really far from what it was actually like.

Next, is the geocentrism a doctrine of the Church? No. So going against it never was considered a heresy. Geocentrism was just how people understood the universe since ancient Greece times. But nobody was being stopped from trying to understand it better. In fact Copernicus, who was the 1st to propose a heliocentric model, was actually a clergyman (also, his model with circular orbits, was actually less accurate with observation results, than geocentric model). Galileo was never persecuted for believing in heliocentrism. He was a friend of the Pope and consulted his scientific results with him. He was tried not for scientific results, but for trying to undermine the authority of the Bible. And his punishment was reciting psalms, not being burned.

Furthermore, what is the stance of Church on science and research at all? According to this anime, Church doesn't allow for freedom of science and for publishing results that are contrary to Church's doctrine. In reality the Church actually allowed for science to even exist. Idea that there are rules that govern the universe and that we are able to get to know them stems from Christian faith (and that physical world isn't evil and as such it is acceptable to discover it). It isn't a coincidence that science developed only in Christian parts of the world and after Christianity came into existence. Many notable scientists who are responsible for many discoveries and development of scientific method were priests and friars or were supported by the Church. Church also established first universities, were people could gather to learn and share their knowledge. So, unlike it is presented in this anime, Church actually is responsible for the existence of science and never stopped scientists from trying to discover the rules that govern the world. As for suppressing the discoveries that go against the doctrine of the Church, this never happened, because there were no such discoveries. In fact with time more and more scientific discoveries confirm that what the Church teaches is fully consistent with observable reality. Christian faith and science aren't in any way contradictory to each other, but they go hand in hand.

Changing the topic for a moment, why do some characters use their names while other characters use surnames? It's kinda annoying.

In summary, this anime tries to present itself as a drama based on real world history. And, as such, it absolutely fails. It perpetuates a lot of historical lies and misconceptions. It isn't worth watching as it would turn your brain into water. There are many much more valuable things to watch, read, do. Why would you feed your brain with lies?

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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