Anime: Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite

Disclaimer: Consider the possibility of this review containing minor spoilers.

Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite, or Orb: About the Movements of the Earth, as it came to be known in English, is the dark horse anime from last and this year, coming out without any hype behind and being one of the best and most praised, despite remaining relatively niche.

To start with, it is important to say that it is one of the most serious anime in years. It has a little bit of comedy and action in it but they are so briefly in the show, especially the former, that they might as well not count. It easily enters into that list of anti-anime or non-anime shows for people that is not into the medium much because of the typical idea they have about it.

With that said, Orb is clearly not a show meant for a mainstream appeal, status and audience, it is a serious, heavy on dialogues and slow burn type of a series for an acquired taste. Every arc starts in a just ok way and it takes its time in presenting characters, their beliefs and ideologies, setting, and plot points that change over several time skips in the anime. Once it gets to the points it tries to come across and the payoffs for each new part, the complete whole is something to be recognized and appreciated.

Another backlash that the anime might have is prioritizing concepts and themes in its story over character appeal. Not to say that the characters are bad, but they are not exactly memorable and it is clear that the main focus of the show is on something else.

And of course there always will be criticisms about the historical accuracy of an historical show. I can not speak for that but apparently the anime has been clarified to be a sort of alternative history type of series and setting, so that aspect can be excused up to some point.

Other minor issues are how some lines can come off as corny for some, and that there are some inferior episodes and scenes for how unbelievable and exaggerated they can be, with the bridge scene from the fifth episode being the lowest point of the anime. Other not very believable aspects include, for example, two characters being scholars that normally would not have been.

Despite those points, this is a legitimately worth watching anime, and of course not just because it has a serious tone. First of all, some of its dialogues can be semi philosophical and very good, as characters discuss their perspectives on how to live a life, whether a Heaven or not exists, if the accepted cosmovision fits the perfect universe created by God or not; if Heaven is perfect and pure and Earth is impure and rotten, or they are complementaries making a complete whole; whether or not it is worth sacrificing your life for a cause and idea, how knowledge and information can transcend time and entire lives, the importance, passion and appeal behind books and writing in itself, if the church has become a dogma that defies God’s message, if one truly is ready to search for and face the truth even if it contradicts one’s knowledge, and many more topics that get entire episodes dedicated to them, and not just through dialogues.

The themes are also explored through the plot itself and the character arcs, the cast can get their entire lives shaken and even put at risk for coming across certain knowledge, proceed to question everything they knew up until that point, change their whole perspectives of life, and even come to sacrifice themselves in order to protect what they believe or know about and prolong through time the results they get.

As can be deduced from the previous paragraph, Orb is also an anime with actual stakes, as it does not hesitate to kill off important characters on situations they can not logically survive, so no plot armor in it.

Also, there are not that many scenes of astronomy in it, but the few of them that exist are done well enough to explain the logic and studies of the characters and how they come to find about and develop the idea of heliocentrism.

And contrary to what could be believed, Orb is not anti-religion, it is anti-dogma, as most of the important characters are against the church not for being non-believers, but rather for standing against the church tainting God’s teachings and the world itself as an extension. And even though it shows cruel acts and scenes, the anime is properly dark and never becomes cartoonish in any way. It achieves that by keeping the sides somewhat grey, not every priest is bad, even some inquisitors mean well and question their doing, and not every heretic is a passionate intellectual either, some even go on a rampage killing believers just because.

Another thing to point out about the writing is how it plays out the card of ironic twist of fate. A dead character can remain influential decades afterwards, the main antagonist that wants to preserve the status quo and protect his close ones loses everything and even is one of the reasons for that himself, somebody might doom a relative while trying to save them, an elitist with a superiority complex ends up in the need of relying on others, a girl belittled and looked down by everyone ends up being a leader, and more such cases.

The characters are not exactly memorable, I couldn’t name any of them without looking them up, don’t have the most elaborate personalities, and don’t get much development. They are still quite good thanks to proper fleshing, well founded personalities, solid backstories for everyone, changes of perspective thanks to the ironic writing, and they leave the story with a feeling of catharsis. Just for the sake of being a bit more specific:

-Rafal, an orphan guy living life doing what is expected of him to have it easy, desperately gives in to his passion and does the most illogical thing.

-Oczy, a former fighter and I guess assassin for hire or something, with not expectations in life, ends up putting his own life on the line for heliocentrism even against a far stronger enemy. He also starts working as an assistant or even a servant of sorts, yet yearns for learning and ends up being the most important character for preserving the theory. His whole world got turned all over the more he got involved and found a purpose along the way. What I did not understand is that he seemed to have an academic past, as shown on flashbacks, yet did not know how to read and write? I guess I am missing something about him.

-Badeni, for both a main character and a priest, he sure is not considered to be a good person. Selfish, arrogant, classicist, elitist, has a superiority complex that makes he sees himself as some sort of chosen one by God to achieve big things and not needed anyone else for nothing. His whole character arc is realizing the exact opposite, as he ends up being the stepping stone he so did not want to become.

-Jolenta, a scholar girl scammed and belittled by everyone, although just for a few episodes, with no hope of being allowed doing anything, and with a close connection to the main antagonist. Ends up being a teacher and even a heretic leader after a time skip. Her character arc is one of the best, most ironic, bittersweet and cathartic aspects in the whole show.

-Draka, the last protagonist of the series, a proactive girl that wants to defy the status quo of her community by making them compete with each other, and an ambitious person with a case of early stage capitalism. It is interesting to see how determined and quick thinking she is in trying to survive and make a profit, yet ends up developing an emotional understanding of another character that no one else did.

-Nowak, the main antagonist of the show and one of the best in years in the medium. Strong, good fighter, cruel, intimidating, smart, observer, sharp, wanting to protect his family in his vision and fighting against the revolutionary ideas that might trip the world itself, while preferring not to hurt people themselves. Even at his worst, oldest and most depressed state on the last arc, he is still the biggest threat. His conclusion on the story might be the biggest payback on the whole series and yet incredibly cathartic and it sure felt satisfactory to watch.

-Albert Brudzewski. The only actual person of the show, a man conflicted about whether or not pursue knowledge thanks to the polarizing views he was educated with and the character the last two episodes are focused on as he comes with a position on his own.

The ending of the series leaves you rather indifferent, the themes and dialogues in it are fine, the catharsis for the last important character is there, but it feels weirdly tacked on in the story. It is rather confusing, as it is unsure whether or not it deleted the whole plot up until that point or if it treated it as a what if scenario or not, the timeline became a bit convoluted and ambiguous, to the point that many believe the series pulled off as troll alternative timelines type of twist.

As for the production, the series looks good, with ever-solid artwork, backgrounds, and actual dark scenes in a retro style. The character designs and figures are good and stand out by being not generic nor repetitive, but are also a bit simple. The animation is good for the few and brief fight scenes, but the series can be very static for the rest of the show. The special effects are overall good but there is some weak CGI here and there.

The sound effects and music are good but they do not excel, the BGM can be immersive but also quite repetitive. The opening and endings have this odd relaxed feeling to them that fit well with the slow feel of the show but I am not entirely sure if they go well with the content and setting in it. At least on their own they are fine, are well directed, and feature visual changes in them reflecting the changes across the different arcs of the series. The voice acting is serious, mature, the voices fit every character perfectly, but the performances lack a bit of nuance for them to really shine, the cast did nothing wrong, it is just what they have to work with.

As a whole, I maintain what I wrote about it at the beginning of the review, Orb is definitely one of the most worth watching anime shows from last year, and the beginning of this one. But I must also say that the ending left me a bit disappointed, and for a while made me think that it was as bad as the one from Dededede. Finales are hard to write, even more so if you are Japanese it seems.