Chikyû shôjo Arjuna

I've only seen the first six episodes of Arjuna.

I've also become a vegetarian since.

With stunning(yet not always well blended) CG artwork, an odd yet still interesting plot, Arjuna is not something you want to look over, unless you really, really like meat.

Music is directed by the ever awesome Yoko Kanno and the voice casting is perfect. All of the characters look like people, not to mention they move realistically, too. The plot is a bit preachy but it's just trying to get the job done. The humour in Arjuna does not rely on swirly or starry eyes, but on things that would happen in every day life. Every day life if you were a girl with hair that goes weird everytime the earth is in trouble, that is.

From what I've seen, the series ties events together nicely, and is stunning visually and pleasing to the ears. From what I've seen, I also highly recommend.

I initially saw this anime at an anime convention in Indiana. I saw the first episode and was awestruck by both the beautiful detail and music. It was exciting and enticing so I knew I had to see the rest eventually; Which I did. It was no easy feat finishing this relatively short series of 13 episodes.

The first episode is great in my opinion. It sets the foundation for an exciting story with interesting characters. The detail of the graphics is well above average which leads one to think that it can only get better. Normally, short anime series like these have higher detail and quality drawings than longer series. This does not prove true with Arjuna. The detail level drops off directly after episode one and continues to dwindle along with the story and character development. The storyline... actually, it's more like story-jumble. Where there should be a coherent and continuous story there's only fragments of what the first episode set into motion filled in with massive amounts of environmental ideology. The characters practically become weak and insubstantial due to the overbearing message being pushed during the series. The only people I think who might enjoy this anime are environmentalists. This production was solely created as a message and used the anime genre as a medium to spread that message.

This anime, however, does have an anomaly that I find of great interest. I gave this anime a 6/10. One of those points was for the first episode and the other five points was for the music alone. The score for this animation was done by the Japanese composer Yoko Kanno. I've heard much of the music she's produced and to this day I still think here Arjuna soundtracks are her best work. She gave so much effort to the music in Arjuna. You can hear it in the music itself and it makes me think that she really believed in the message this anime sends. I respect that, but I do wish such wonderful music would've had a more admirable and complete anime to represent.

The music itself is somewhat tribal, but does span into some other genres. Yoko Kanno appears to take music she hears and then redefines and recreates it in her own fashion. It's quite extraordinary.

Like you can clearly see in the other reviews, the beautiful and perfectly told central philosophy of the anime is consistently missed by most viewers.

Don't be one of them, and this will the one of the best media you'll ever see.

Spoiler: The main message this anime is trying to convey is not "environmentalist" ^^;;

I must confess that I only began watching this anime because the DVD's were available at my local library. That being said, I've only watched volumes 1, 2 and 4, therefore my perceptions may be contrary to what others may have felt.

I shall begin by saying that 'Arjuna' makes the audience think. Not just about the story, but on what is *really* being said, and how this 'truth' is represented not only in the audience's macro world, but also in their micro world. For me, it made my question the nature of 'truth' in terms of what we are told, and what we choose to believe.

I shall be more specific; we are all brought up to believe that there is 'bad' in the world, and that we must either fight it, or protect ourselves from it. This is how Juna perceives the 'Raaja'. I've come to realise that as the protagonist of our *own* stories, we really are fools to assume that we don't play a part in our own misfortunes (actions or otherwise). We make bad decisions; like eating the unhealthy, processed foods, and rationalise and deceive ourselves with "but it's all due to consumerism. 'They' made it available and tasty to eat."

This anime has made me take responsibility for some of the choices I make. It hasn't stopped me from eating processed food (like hamburgers), nor has it made me choose to live as the old man did (though I did consider it for a short while). I can't say that with every action I make from now on, that I would be considering its possible effect on the future of the planet. I will be aware however, that I am just as responsible for how the world is today as anyone else.

If you are looking for an watch while you eat anime look somewhere else. However, when you like well drawn anime with a very high awareness and a deep storyline you have found it. Arjuna is there to save the day!