Earth Girl Arjuna

[Kayay]

I picked up the soundtrack simply because its Yoko Kanno; its a great mix of everything from Jazz,
Rock, and Flamenco, to Folk Music, and it made me curious about the anime. I found this review (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/reviews/display.php?id=307), but I've been told that the series does get environmentally preachy at times, so I wanted a few more opinions. So, give me your opinions!

Hehe, I've also been told that the boyfriend is cooler than the main magical-butterfly-ish-whatever girl character.

[Drizzten]

Some of us saw a large chunk of the first episode at AX.

It didn't really strike me as very interesting. It starts off rather abruptly, in a we're-explaining-lots-of-stuff-now sense. The animation was nice, but I didn't take notice of the music. Might have been the A/V setup's fault. The plot and story I got to see had some kind of Special Girl recruited to prevent World-wide Doom or something. Maybe I need to watch more of it.

[Miss_Misato]

I got the first episode free with a magazine. I haven't gotten the first DVD yet, but the series looks real good. The animation is excelent, and the storyline (well the set up for it) is one of the better ones I've seen. Besides, the music (as you've said) is absolutley wonderful. IMHO it's one of Yoko Kanno's better works.

[Fatal Outlaw]

arjuna is suposed to be one of the better series' that has come out in japan, im checking it out when it comes out, although one things for sure (after listening to a couple of it), it has brilliant music :)

[Westlo]

Here is the latest and biggestthread (http://animeboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24369&highlight=arjuna) of Arjuna in this forum.

Here is the review of the first Arjuna DVD by Animejump (http://www.animejump.com/cgi-bin/go.cgi?go=video/arjuna).

The reviewer here does get bothered by the preachiness of the series, read the review to see why.

And here is AnimeOnDvd's (http://www.animeondvd.com/reviews2/disc_reviews/1630.php) review of it.

I've seen the first episode I liked what I saw. The animation is really high quality and the music is gorgeous, I need to see more of the series to give an opinion on the plot and characters.

[Shifter]

I got the chance to see several ep. at a convention, last month. While I do argee that it gets enviromently preachy, but I found it enjoyable. I've already added it to my 'must get' list.

[jennwenn]

I've just seen the first episode. Wow! The music is the first thing I noticed. It really is great, and it fits the series very well I think.

The animation is well done. Its just sooooo different from other anime. Which company is it? Many scenes appear much more cinematic than anime-ish. Shifting camera angles (I'm crazy about camera views, can't say why tho...), the whole "movement" of many scenes is just great. The motorcycle ride of the first episode, Arujuna floating around after her accident, Arujuna's "transformation", running toward her boyfriend at the end. Its all so well executed.

The plot however...I don't know. It seems all right after one episode. I'm still more crazy about the music and animation quality than plot and character right now. But its only been one episode.

What other series has the director and animation company of Arujuna made? I'd really like to see some more stuff of that quality...

[Westlo]

The director of Earth Maiden Arjuna is Shouji Kawamori, you might have heard of some other animes he has done like Macross (Robotech), Macross Plus and Vision Of Escaflowne.

I can't remember the name of the animation studio who did Arjuna (It was not Sunrise) but they are animating Shouji Kawamori's next anime project, Macross Zero.

Earth Maiden Arjuna was also Bandai Visual's most expensive anime to date when it was made.

[jennwenn]

Originally posted by Westlo
The director of Earth Maiden Arjuna is Shouji Kawamori, you might have heard of some other animes he has done like Macross (Robotech), Macross Plus and Vision Of Escaflowne.

I can't remember the name of the animation studio who did Arjuna (It was not Sunrise) but they are animating Shouji Kawamori's next anime project, Macross Zero.

Earth Maiden Arjuna was also Bandai Visual's most expensive anime to date when it was made.

He directed Macross and Escaflowne?! Geez, no wonder its so good. I guess that's yet another reason for me to see those classics.

I'm not surprised it was expensive. I haven't seen many anime with that level of animation quality. (Arhg, currently watching Violinist of Hameln and KareKano, both good series with infamously low budgets. There are only so many still frames and cheapo shots that I can handle...)