Captain Earth / First Impressions

「誕生ミッドサマーズナイツ」 (Tanjo Middosamazunaitsu)
“The Midsummer’s Knights”

Seven episodes in, Captain Earth’s admittedly a show that’s hard to grasp. On one hand, it’s definitely ambitious. At the same time though, there’s a certain oddity in regards to how they’re trying to develop the characters and pacing the story, and it’s something that’s resulted in a bit of stagnation following the series’ high-powered start. In that sense, the show’s been somewhat disappointing in terms of how it hasn’t been able to meet the initial hype, but that’s not to say that there’s no potential here, and I’d like to think this episode is where things start moving forward again.

Because if there’s something the show’s definitely done well, it’s the themes it wants to approach and discuss—family, responsibility, and the like—and it’s something that continues on with this week’s focus on the different responses our competing sides have to the situation at hand. Indeed, there’s much to be said about the contrast between our main cast at Globe and the designer children + Kube over at Macbeth, and it’s something that plays on the balance between acceptance and rejection.

Whereas the people behind Globe are slowly beginning to accept the roles they’ve been given and the uncertainty their roles bring with them, those at Macbeth seem to be actively rejecting the notion that things aren’t the way they want it to be, and it’s this difference that’s beginning to turn the tide of the battle. As the Governor Yomatsuri points out herself, Nishikubo’s starting to find hope in the form of our main cast, and it’s not coincidental that this development comes on the heels of our planetary gears’ rejection of the idea that Teppei would sacrifice his immortality in order to protect Earth. Needless to say, this is just one thematic contrast that they’ve done quite well with this series—you’ll note the others in my previous posts—and it’s something that bodes well for the future in terms of development.

That said, it must be noted how the aforementioned exposition and focus on themes does seem to come at the expense of some of the character development we would have otherwise gotten instead. As some people in the comments have mentioned previously, there’s definitely a lot of missing links and questions regarding the motivations and the personalities our main cast have, and it’s not quite ideal how things have developed in that regard. At the same time though, I must say that it’s feeling more and more like they’ve intentionally back-loaded some of this development in favor of developing the setting first. It’s arguably not the most wise choice or the safest one when it comes to this kind of thing—one can argue you’ll need to develop a cast of compelling characters for viewers to care about and want to follow if you want them to care about the story—but the way I see it, there’s definitely room still to develop the characters in their own right.

See, if there’s something this episode pointed out to me—especially with that little dialogue between Daichi and Nishikubo where the former basically says “look, I know I’m a teenager and all”—it’s that the people behind this are acutely aware of the oddity behind Daichi’s character in particular, and that it’s something they’ll begin to address (along with the other characters) as the series progresses. Thinking back to Star Driver, they didn’t really start addressing a lot of major parts until the latter half of the series came along, and I’m every bit as inclined to think that they’re aiming for that kind of second half impact here as well. Again, it’s a questionable tactic considering a decent amount of people won’t typically stick around that long waiting for the development to come, but it’s definitely something that did work for those who did stick around for the entirety of the series’ original run, and hopefully something that materializes here as well.

Of course, it’s all supposition for now and it could end up that the series never quite takes off the ground, but for now I’m definitely someone on the “wait and see” boat at the moment. What I will say though, is that it’s pretty clear this show’s become something that’s not for everyone, and well… I guess that’s just fitting considering the nature of Bones and their tendency to elicit a wide range of differing opinions.

Looking forward, we get new characters, the creation of Manatsu’s Knights (“The Midsummer’s Knights”), and things really are looking up a bit—even if the casino backdrop may douse the enthusiasm of some…

Random Tidbits:

  • How about that “suck-it-up forte?“
  • How about that sudden sneak in reference to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the mentions of nukes as an option all of a sudden?
  • “Why tell the public they only have five minutes to live?” – That’s an interesting question to say the least. What would you do in their shoes?

    • Full-length images: 03, 37.

     

    Preview

    53 Comments

    1. I think that my main issue with Captain Earth is that I don’t really sense any danger from the enemies. Simply put, they could of been designed to be a lot more imposing. Think of the Angels from Evangelion. Everytime we saw one, we would go “OSHI” and cry.

      Noor Mahmoud
      Reply

      1. It’s been a give and take. I feel like the first few episodes really played that portion down because they were trying to introduce the Earth Engine and things they could use against the Kiltgang. In that sense, they made it look like the enemies weren’t really a threat, but it was more so that we didn’t understand what threat they posed. The last two episodes though… are where they’ve been slowly hinting at how big of a threat they are.

        Zephyr
        Reply

      3. Could just be me, but I don’t believe the Kiltgang were really made to be all that imposing in the first place. They’re a lot like the Glittering Crux Brigade from Star Driver in that respect; more apt to be called conflicting interests rather than “enemies” of any serious degree.

        True, they’re not stupid by any reasonable degree, but I still think they’re being used as mere tools by someone for some end. Who, exactly, that someone is and what they’re after; that I’m not so sure of.

        Ryan Ashfyre
        Reply

      4. One thing I like is that they are not completely immortal, when Teppei described them the first time I was thinking: “What´s the point of destroying them when they can comeback anytime for more!?”. After Teppei sacrificed his Egocube a whole door to new ways of fighting them opens, which makes wonder, what would happen if you kill the human body they use?.

        haseo0408
        Reply

    2. Well I must say I was surprised by this episode. First the fact that the Kiltgang want to eat our reproductive organ. I thought it was cold word for something else…. Kinda creepy.

      Next, the Earth engine is complete shit, it get damage easily in battle and can’t take a hit worth a damn.

      I assume what Teppei did made him into a mortal now furthering the kiltgang people loneliness.

      Still like the song that was sang and the way the hacker girl was talking not sure if she like Daichi or Teppei.

      Kinda seem all over the place but then I am sure there will be one thing to tie it all together.

      Duzz
      Reply

      1. It’s not “reproductive organ”. It’s “orgone energy” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgone). Think “life energy” or “sentient life energy”. The mothership at Neptune needs life energy, or they are stuck in orbit. The Kiltgang exists to harvest orgone energy from planets and live forever without the need to eat or frail bodies.

        What I don’t like is the magical technology of both GLOBE and the Kiltgang. What makes the Livlasters? Was the Planetary Gear an implant in Teppi, or part of his overall DNA?

        Kiltgang technology is a quantum leap beyond human technology, so Captain Earth doesn’t last long in battle against the Kiltgang bodies. Humans are still using rockets to get into space! You’d think there would be an aerospaceplane or two by this time, not rockets and shuttles.

        jhpace1
        Reply

    3. its funny. I don’t feel like the characterization has been overly bad or lacking at all. Nishibuko’s development is ok, Teppei’s is definitely good. Hana needs work and so does Daichi (but we finally have the first inklings of the romance I’m waiting on) and I feel like magical girl is progressing ok. I feel like the characterization is proceeding in vague hints that they will flesh out later.

      nyanlol
      Reply

      1. Generally yes. I’ve felt that the characterization has been okay/decent personally, but the basic point is that I can see where it can be a bit uneven at times, and that I can understand why people would dislike the rate it’s progressed so far eh.

        Zephyr
        Reply

      2. the most obvious bad is the inklings romance that you’re waiting is forced by script between Daichi and Hana, if you notice they only interact when episode is focus about them like in ep 6, while they barely or doesn’t interact at all if episode doesn’t about them while other characters beside her still interact with Daichi.

        HHachu
        Reply

    8. Didn’t they spend a good part of the opening segment this time to develop one compelling character for viewers to care about and want to, among other things, follow? This show sure has some well designed children…

      Conrad
      Reply

      1. The canon manga also elaborates both Moco and Amara kiss for memory-sharing purposes.They mostly believe their host bodies to be temporary containers, although Moco is rather…curious about how her human body…works. 😉

        zztop
        Reply

    18. The one problem I have with this show is why don’t the Kiltgang just fly past the earth engine? They certainly seem maneuverable enough. Did I miss an explanation about that?

      sealouse
      Reply

    19. the 7th episode… and the story still seems to be so-so
      -right now the PG look like aliens trying to get back their lost comrade -.- all we know is that it’ll be world destruction if they reach earth, but how SCARY IS IT TO GET YOUR LIBIDO EXTRACTED (crystal on the moon <– very scary stuff)

      -if you can obtain a livlaster by sacrificing the ego block or w/e it is, they dont' need hana anymore right? (btw teppei i have a livlaster between my legs as well)

      -right now i prefer the teppei/akari pair <– they should be the mc, with hana and melons ofc

      and for mecha fans
      -like wtf, amarok comes in and chops off one of his arms right off the bat, and daichi just continues to fire pot shots at it (Big O sized mech and all it has is a gun… and takes like 3-4 min going to space and combine)

      -i thought for a moment when akari sent the huge bomb drill looking thing, that captain earth will get an upgrade. . . . . how disappointing. (somehow the left arm is still intact after that last punch)

      -when CE was caught by amarok, can't he just separate -.- learn from usso ewins

      QUESTION: if CE is ever chosen for srw (possible since the story is easy to merge into srw), will it be a SR or RR o.o (STATS: 10000 HP / 150 EN / 80 MANUEVER / 1000 ARMOR / WEAPON HANDGUN 2000 DMG if it hits…)

      Zeo
      Reply

    22. Every time I look at Akari, I am always reminded of Ed from Cowboy Bebop. I laughed so hard at that bitch slap as it was so unexpected, but deserved.

      Anyways, now onto a “real” discussion point. I wonder how all the Shakespearian themes tie together. Are the teenage characters based off the four characters that escaped into the forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream? I don’t really see the connection besides the fact that there are two girls and two boys. There are hints at love, but this series is not driven by love as are the Characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We have “Puck” the computer that has also the same name as the character in the play. There are similarities as Puck admits that it is just a “tool” for planetary gears, like Puck in the play was also a tool for Oberon and Titiania to do their bidding. However, there are some dissimilarities as Puck in the play was prone to make mistakes because of his lack of knowledge (which Puck in this series has an infinite amount of). CEO Kube is no Oberon either. He is Macbeth (of Macbeth Industries, yeah I know, duh), as his desire to become somewhat a god like figure in the future is blinding him from reason and his own humanity.

      That is all I can think of right now. Does anyone else have any thoughts on what characters from the Shakespearian plays match the characters from Captain Earth?

      WhatTha
      Reply

    25. 7 episodes in and im only just somewhat interested in the show. Started of great but that initial burst of excitement has diminished.

      I just don’t feel the danger from the invaders. If I don’t feel that then the entire earth engine comes into question. I guess it’s because the enemy is after Orgone which isn’t the same as trying to conquer or enslave or destroy a planet (in the Sidonia sense).

      They’ve explained some of the effect as the Kiltgang get close to earth, but have they shown those effects to us? perhaps if we see a withering human some urgency will be placed on the shw.

      Miaminights
      Reply

    27. If there is any reason the character development didn’t achieve it’s full potential it’s probably becasue of the time they needed to explain all the terminology, factions and what every faction wants … this episode IMO did a fine job explaining what Globe is, what the Ark Faction wants and what the interceptors faction wants .. and finally what the Macbeth enterprise wants .. from now on they will have more time to develop the characters and move the story forward.

      I might also add that it’s quite interesting seeing that the villains who seemingly are trying to break into earth atmosphere from outside are actually present on earth from the start … i guess Globe needs some undercover info collection to get their location (after all they have a magical girl hacker XD) and probably a black-ops operation to assassinate those bastards at Macbeth before the manage to breakthrough earth defenses … definitely not nukes .. that’s just overkill XD

      Also .. is it me or isn’t Earth Engine too fragile and weak .. i mean if it wasn’t for Albion it would have been destroyed .. it’s got the most fancy “Gattai” scene in recent memory but it’s hardly a match to E7’s Nirvash or Star Driver’s robot (forgot it’s name).

      And what’s with all the Shakespearean references !!? .. i wonder if that’s going to lead anywhere .. or is just the writers trying to sound “well-educated” XD

      HunterWulf
      Reply

    29. Is it me or does the plot not really make sense or am I just not understanding it? The kiltgang’s ship is out of energy and they took on the form of humans and made a bargain with other humans to obtain orgone energy. Well while they’re in human form why not kill them. Immortal or not what are they going to do stuck on a ship in space with no energy?

      Rayzakk
      Reply

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