Earthian is shonen-ai but the characters fell into the yaoi stereotypes. There was one guy who was emotionless and the "man" in the relationship, while his parter was emotional and the "bitch" in the relationship. Even the artwork milked the stereotype. During the "scene," one guy looked so much like a girl it was like watching hetrosexuals. He may be a man but his eyes are girly, his hair is pretty, and his frame is womanly--he is a girl! Too stereotypical. I thought this was yaoi... Putting the couple aside, even the other characters personalities weren't original. The antagonist was pure evil and the girls were too emotional. It was almost as if their personalities were picked out for them instead of being developed. Again, too stereotypical.
The animation is old and gets better with each episode, but even for the time period it wasn't a work of art. The palette is neutral and some of the animation was shaky in fight scenes. It didn't match and seemed like some frames were missing. The lines are choppy, and for those who aren't into the 80s style would not like this anime.
The music is, again, very 80s. Synthesised music was played in the background followed by a couple of electronic instruments such as a keyboard and guitar; vocals and percussion were the only natural sounds. The occasional pop ballet was played, especially towards the ending credits, but the genre of music was electronica. There was a lot of chasing electronic music that was very 80s, which was enjoyable. Though the music was pleasant, it wasn't musically difficult and stuck with a few notes and chords-- not special from a musical perspective.
Usually 80s sound effects have horrible quality, Earthian didn't. The guns shots weren't completely realistic but for the time the sound effects were good. The voices quality in the sound was done well for the time period and the acting was good. It wasn't the best acting, but it was good. The Japanese Messiah voice (Hikaru Midorikawa) was a little too soft and high-pitch for the character but the other actors suited their roles. The sound was the saving grace to this OVA.
The story had potential. The pacing was a little slow, and could have been more developed. The second episode's story line was boring and one could easily ignore that entire episode to save them a wasted hour. The plot, as well as the animation, was best at the third episode; all the other episodes were fair. If one thought Titanic reeked of bleu cheese they should see the last episode. It was cheesy, yaoi angst at it's finest. Earthian needed some comedy, even if it was unintentional. The plot could have been amazing, but was mediocre.
Despite the harsh criticism, Eathian was surprisingly enjoyable. It's more of a "rent it" anime but some may wish to buy it. In other words, a guilty pleasure. It's like a poorly written song with one beat you can't stop listening to. Those who like science fiction and tragic yaoi, Earthian is the anime. For those who aren't into cheesy yaoi can avoid this OVA.
