As happy as I am that they did it that way, anyone actually interested in environmental issues is probably going to find fault with the execution: 1) There are no facts, spirituality trumps science in this one. Think, 'we are one with the planet' kind of stuff, which works well for the mood and art but not so much for compelling propaganda. Hell, some stuff they say seems like complete fiction, but I'm no expert.
2) There is nothing concrete, other than vague references to pollution (everywhere and everything), nuclear power (of all the things to go after) and the usual anti-capitalism (and a lot of flashing imagery to go with it) one can definitely feel some disconnect from this anime world and our real one. Because it doesn't try to tackle any one specific, pressing, environmental issue it eventually drowns in its own cynicism; thumbing its nose at almost everything we do in modern society.
What this amounts to in the end is, 'all complaints, no solutions.' At least it's somewhat self-aware, our pal Tokio, after hearing Juna complain constantly about city life, eventually asks (paraphrasing obviously) "how the hell are we supposed to live?" Juna gives what amounts to a non-response: "live like that old guy we met in the mountains." That's something only a person living in the First World could say, which is ironic considering that those who suffer in poverty are shown sympathetically (as victims of the sick Earth). I guess they're trying to make a distinction between self-imposed and involuntary poverty but I never think is the best answer for this kind of stuff.And some of this is tempered in the end anyway where we see a little bit of optimism, all without Juna needing to re-evaluate her principles or compromise what she learned.
Despite some complaints, I DO like how the anime tries to get its message across. The interplay of well-written dialogue and imagery are effective, moving, and interesting from an artistic perspective. Stuff like Juna being able to see herself in the food she is about to eat is a good way of getting the (little) idea across that what we eat becomes a part of us and that we should care about what we put in our bodies. Sometimes the little ideas go over better than the bigger picture. In this regard the quality of the message in the anime is more than the just the sum of its parts. In the end, this imagery ALSO finds its way into the bigger picture. Thus, I would consider this anime to have depth. And we are made aware of this depth in a compelling and organic manner.
And I think if we detach ourselves from the message even more it is easy to see how important the radicalism is for the overall feeling of the show. Character opinions are simply character opinions, of course, but even beyond opinions, the dialogue is also there to put forth general philosophical ideas that require a bit of authority and directness from the characters to be effective. But what is the message, really? I think there's a lot there, the main thing being the idea that we are, as living things, a part of the universe as everything else is. To find happiness as humans then is to live as parts in harmony, like the rest. The idea is, that our trying to dictate our own roles in the the universe, according to our own whims, is what is making the world imbalanced. A simple life then, is to live the way nature dictates, and to live this way we need to come to an understanding about what we NEED. Coming to such an answer requires a sort of philosophical journey that can only be achieved via becoming intune with the earth itself. The anime is calling on us to try and learn from nature, ask questions about what we need to survive, what we really need for happiness. Live according to principle. Definitely, biologically deterministic. I'd say the anime has an aura of stoicism around it.
To summarize: To understand ourselves at the most basic level, is to understand the world.
There are two ways of looking at it, maybe it really isn't so "propagandistic" after all, and all of the 'complaining' is just to get us to that one simple truth. (In the end,this is how I see it).
Conclusion of this part: watch this series as you would an art film, detach yourself from the politics of the message and let it impact your emotions not your rationality.
Despite what the synopsis tells us, this is a character driven, dialogue heavy, and not an action or plot driven show (thank God). Juna and Tokio are great characters. The show gives them a relationship and makes me care about how it turns out, in fact I'd say their relationship and interactions make up about 80% of this anime (which I was pleasantly surprised by). A long conversation between them feels just as natural as a diatribe about our place on the planet. Not only is it a journey for Juna, and her understanding of life on earth, it is also a journey for her and Tokio's relationship. We really see how it effects them, and of course, how their love for each other effects the journey they take together. They really are a great couple.
To put the importance of the "plot" into perspective, despite putting a lot of effort into making you think this would be a typical combat/magic based series in the first episode, we get two episodes of Juna and Tokio hanging out with the aforementioned old guy in the mountains (great episodes by the way). What might be the meat of the plot for any other series takes a back-seat in this one. This is a good thing because the Raaja stuff isn't all that interesting.
However, Juna's psychological and philosophical journey IS interesting. In the end coming to terms with a truth that has been fluttering around in her mind (as we see) since the first scene of the first episode.
The pacing also really got me. I already have a weakness for slow-moving, atmospheric shows and this one manages to maintain a consistent pace the entire run-time. Irregular episode lengths allow for some episodes to accomplish more without having to speed anything up.
Wish i had the vocabulary to describe the art and visual direction. Let's just say it really works well.
I think a lot of what is great about this show needs to be experienced. And I am writing this review because I think the overall low score is due to people literally WATCHING IT WRONG. Hopefully with the right perspective a new audience on this site could appreciate this anime a little better. Because if nothing else, this is absolutely an above average series. If I've managed to point out what to keep an eye out for, I think this review has done its job. (Also this anime is an instant favourite for me).
