Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Mulahey
Towards the Terra attempts to be an epic space opera that also asks questions about the nature of humanity and society. Unfortunately, it mostly fails.
Our protagonists are the Mu, mutant humans with psychic powers. Their powers wax and wane at the convenience of the plot, which also seems to drive their motivations. They just aren't very interesting to hang around, and unfortunately thats most of the series. The middle 12 episodes, especially, are quite dull as we watch the Mu do very little.
Our antagonists are much more interesting. The dystopian, memory wiping and computer led society is a good concept. Keith and Matsuka both have some depth of character. The first few episodes, which introduce and construct the dystopia, and the last few which defeat it, are good and worth watching.…
Read at the sourceDompa112
Yet another show to add to my favorite list of hidden gems. A show i judt randomly stumbled upon browsing MAL trying to find something to watch. Now this one i stumbled upon while browsing the works for one of my favorite anime composers. Yasuharu Takanashi. One always expects greatness when it comes to the music. And if we start there that did not dissapoint this time either. Another killer OST really adding to the epic and emotional story and atmosphere. Same goed for OP/ED. Especially the first OP really stuck for me.
As always from Early 2000 anime i like the artstyle and animation. Story was whar really got me and surprised me most though. Theres so much going on. Such a large and great cast of characters. Political and ethical conflicts. Moral. Twists. It had it all. And managed to…
Read at the sourceZanryu1337
Story: 5
Animation: 7
Sound: 8
Characters: 7
Enjoyment: 7
Total: 7
Terra e has some interesting bits here and there, which is especially extraordinary given the source materials time of 1974, a few years before the very first Star Wars. I mention it, because it is often mentioned as a prime example of how to write a hero's journey. And the first 4 episodes are very clearly that outline. However after that the basic story structure divulges as another main character becomes the focus. And with that modern conventions do no longer apply here.
But to row back a bit. Terra e (2007) is a serialized version of the Terra e (1980) film. I haven't watched that film so it is hard for me to say how well it was translated, but since it is more extensive, it probably improves upon many things. But t…
Read at the sourceRecynon
I really wanted to hate Towards the Terra. Something about its dull color palette rubbed me the wrong way. I've since come to a neutral stance on it, though it took nearly all of its 24 episodes for me to judge that its heart was in the right place.
In my experience with Japanese space operas, they love to use the setting to talk about war, peace, and the general direction of mankind and Towards the Terra is no different. And like its brethren, Towards the Terra steps forward with its heart first and mind second, leading to a message that can feel overly sentimental and simplistic.
At the core of the show is the persecution of the telekinetic Mu by the AI-governed humans, a conflict which formed a rocky foundation for the rest of the show.
It's way too exaggerated; the humans and the…
Read at the sourceaoikimahri
The sombre storytelling and lack of modern anime tropes kept me invested for the first half of Toward the Terra. The lack of bouncing boobs, sex jokes, and flashy action scenes kept it grounded and more believable. But as it went on, the mysteries started falling into typical cliche, and things got more and more less grounded and increasingly farfetched, especially with the abuse of bad plot devices. The characters are all one-dimensional and act more accordingly to the plot than anything else. And the simplistic dialogue and repetitive philosophical questions, frequently lacking any depth or nuance, feels dated. It's like watching an old 1950's black and white TV series, how stiff the characters act, how much it looks like robotic pantomime, and how surface level and crude their conversat…
Read at the sourceSupersam1492
Whenever i went to half priced books on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2019, i did not expect to get an anime that would prove to shatter my expectations.
you could say that i had less then stellar expectations of an anime like this. I thought. Oh this anime has not much popularity, and it isn't even ranked that high, how could it possibly be better then some of my favorite anime. well let me tell you how.
i dont want to spoil anything about the story. which is wired for me, because i personally love spoilers, but let me tell you there are a lot of narrative punches in this anime. This is a story about love, friendship, and forgiveness.
The characters are extremely good in this story. The story takes place over an extremely long time period. because of this the character progression feels…
Read at the sourcewungy
Truly beautiful, as far as visuals go. I found that I couldn't look away, everything was just so pretty. If you like pretty boys wearing capes, this is for you. It's obvious that lots of work was put into conveying the aesthetics of the original manga, and it paid off fantastically, both in artwork and music scores.
If you're looking for character depth and great storytelling, give this one a skip. While the plot is very intriguing, it could have been carried out much better. Overall it feels kinda jumbled, with the back and forth between settings, and the time skips. I found myself confused a few times. It's 3 or 4 separate stories trying to tie themselves together, and while that has been done successfully many times before, with Terra E it feels very messy. Top it off with lots of laug…
Read at the sourceAryaWalker
Well, this is my first review, and I'm not a native english speaker, so sorry for eventual mistakes... I choose to write it in english because I thought the review could reach a higher number of users.
I've watched anime a lot, and there are pretty much anime that I really enjoyed, but I never wanted to write a review.
Terra e is awesome, in the deepest way of the word. The Story is great, there are few plot holes, the universe created is amazing. I really liked how each character's story was built: all of them were somehow bonded. I love this way of developing a story.
About the art... I was quite surprised! Vivid colors and lighter than I thought when I decided to watch it. The CG is not that good, but Terra e is a 2007 anime, so I can understand.
The characters' developing is fantastic…
Read at the sourcegelithsi
Toward the terra is a must see sci-fi action anime. The plot sets in a distant future where humanity is dominated under a supercomputer. Prior to this, humanity concluded that earth aka Terra is no longer uninhabitable and so had to migrate to colonized stars. To survive this journey and guide the next generation they created a supercomputer and installed it with laws designed to prevent human kind from destroying themselves. So everytime a child turns 14 he or she has to go to an “adult exam” where the supercomputer inspects the child’s genes and brainwashes them to conform into society. This system following strictly the rules refuse to acknowledge an advance human race called Mu having psionic abilites. Instead, treats it as a virus and terminates it. Jomy our main character turns 14 an…
Read at the sourceapatch3
I ended up marathoning Terra E in one day, and I never really intended to but it had me hook line and sinker by the end of the first few episodes. Now don't get me wrong, Terra E has definitely won a place in my heart not least because of how well it addresses social constructivism v technological determinism BUT it suffers from clichés that I can't find it within me to forgive, especially considering the show is very recent (Yes I know the manga is much older).
The show begins by introducing us to Jomi who appears to be just another whiny reluctant protagonist (cliche1) but in a few episodes and a lot of drama later he comes around and turns into a great character.
We're then introduced to Keith the antihero who is very well developed, to the point where one can palpably feel his inte…
Read at the sourcekabbinet
As a space saga fan, I had good hopes for this anime (It was recomended from the Heroic age entry).
The story had potential but as with much else of this anime it is poorly executed and to be fair it would need atleast +70 episodes to cover all the aspects that I look for when reading a story. The story is too hastly executed and dosn't give justice to the potential and vision that the authors have had. A 7 for story 3 for execution.
The art is really good, although I personally dislike this style of drawing.
A 7 for art
Some music pices are irritating sometimes but unnoticable. Voice acting was ok.
Now I come to the part I really disliked so bear with me.
Character relations are among the worst I've seen in an anime, I guess it's because the episode limit the authors had, they charact…
Read at the sourceZJun
Towards the Terra, released among the hoard of other April animes, was probably one of the most overlooked and underrated in comparison due to the 'old school' look it gave plus character designs that appealed more to the shoujo genre (which in fact had little to do with it), thus unable to target the specific audience most likely to appreciate it. In fact, this anime is one of the best space opera sci-fi gems to be released in recent years and should not be missed for fans of this genre.
Animation:
Yes it may appear old school but at closer observation, you'll realize that it is very fluid and remains consistent throughout. The CG animations do appear a bit out of place but since it is a 2007 anime, it is only natural that space battles are animated that way, nevertheless, this should no…
Read at the sourceNayrael
Terra e... (Toward the Terra in English) is one of those anime's that are great but never got attention they deserved. So what does this hidden gem of Spring-Summer 2007 have to offer?
STORY: the unique setting is interesting and intriguing while the plot, with many timeskips, is interesting and easy to follow. In short, we have a conflict between humans who's society is controlled by computers on one side and the Mu, evolved humans with telepathic and other powers on the other side. However, unlike most series, the humans are the antagonists here, more because of their ideals and opinions then because of computers who actually just do what humans want them to do. The humans seek to destroy the Mu whom they are afraid of.
On other side, the Mu are peaceful and the only thing they want is…
Read at the sourceTinsley
This is my all time favourite anime. It is is ONLY anime (or book, manga, movie, ect) to EVER make me cry. I found such a connection to the story and the characters, and few animes can do that to me. Even though this story is futuristic, it still sends out deep messages concerning things that matter today. I reccomend watching this anime for anyone and everyone: it is good for both genders, and all ages. It has everything; drama, sci-fi, romance, action. I admit that I was skeptical of this anime at first because of the art style, but I came to like the art style a lot by the end of the anime. Just be warned: this anime might make you cry.
Read at the sourceIceAndCream
I don't usually watch outer-space sci-fi animes. To me, most of them are geared toward a male audience, and are filled with space ship battles, cheesy dialog with forced emotions, and scantily-clad female officers. Or they are very dark, dystopian, and have a cyberpunk theme and maybe some mechas.
"Toward the Terra" defies the mold. It's a surprisingly sensitive sci-fi that focuses on the human factor. I'd classify it as an adventure drama. It deals with discrimination and genocide, defying a "big brother system," and ethics in war. And I HIGHLY enjoyed it. I've added it to my top 5 favorites.
It's hard to say what series I can compare this to, because it has such a unique feel to it. Perhaps it's most similar to Star Trek in its tone. I was so drawn into the story and events, I was temp…
Read at the sourcejchang
*not native english speaker
ok, i got introduced to this series searching in this site as it was recommended from other serie but well at fist sight it seem like a pretty un popular old style-new anime. however i was very curious to one of the phrases in the reviews which said something like this was a real sci fi or something like that. so well i decided i wanted to try it as the very few reviews there was at that time told me was good.
by the way yeah its GOOD xD
Story: 10/10
This is were the serie shines its not only focused on one character but it tells the story of a whole civilization and the fight for their dreams very inspirational and very unique plot.
here i understanded what the reviewers told me. you really get transported to that time and feel identified with the Mu. the…
Read at the sourcezawa113
It would seem I’m not the only one who has been compelled to write a review for this series after having just watched it, and who can blame me? It’s the type of series that you feel compelled to tell someone else about even if it doesn’t do everything flawlessly. It’s not necessarily the best show out there in either the sci-fi, shojo, or sci-fi shojo drama, but it’s such a good watch with nothing else quite like it that you rather want everyone to experience it once.
Plot: 9
The plot is the strongest point in the show, it has a few time skips as important characters grow up to become more important to the plot and situations will change over the course of many years. It’s a distopian type future, not the worst place to necesasrily live, until you find out that the Big Brother Is Watching…
Read at the sourcealienninjasaiyan
Toward the Terra is a 24-episode anime series by Wellthink-Aniplex. It’s a spectacular space adventure (based on the hit 1980 movie) that’ll thrill, enthrall and charm you into continuing to watch it.
The story of Toward the Terra is the strongest point of the show. Coming as it does from the Wellthink-Aniplex stable (another gem of which is Jigoku Shoujo), this anime is spectacularly designed and conceptualised. I don’t know if it’s based on a manga or not, but if it is, it’s going on to my must-read list.
What a delightful story! The creators weave an intricate tale and tell it with gusto-as is evidenced by the lavish explanatory speeches and indepth rationalizations engaged in by the characters. But what is even more attractive is that they have also apparently introduced several d…
Read at the sourceturkeymeister
As long as I live, I'll probably never understand those people who rave about Terra e as if it were a great piece of literature, or indeed, good enough to be considered a piece of literature at all. For something that whose source material won the Seiun Award, and whose manga won the Kodansha Award, Terra e manages to be.... I'll be honest here. It's really, really bad.
Setting
Terra e is a sci-fi piece. That is about all one can describe, because the setting is indeed quite plain. Although earlier episodes would have you believe that it takes place in some sort of... Orwellian nightmarish environment, for all intents and purposes, Terra e has a vanilla sci-fi setting.
Humanity has polluted the Earth to a state in which it is uninhabitable. Humanity has taken to the stars, colonizing an…
Read at the sourceHaiAlwaysHungry
Watching nowadays' anime, many tends to forget, what sci-fis really are. It's not just something about future, about robots or mechas, about time travel or the twin paradox. Terra e is a real sci-fi - I can assure you - it's the anime this genre should be proud of. Indisputably Terra e is one of the best science fictions ever made. What makes this anime good or bad, will be discussed in this review and I would like to warn you, that the review contains a good amount of spoilers, so try not to read it, if you haven't finished the series yet.
Story:
The story starts off with a dystopia. Humanity is ruled by a programmed computer system, children are brainwashed at their age of 14. Since the adults are all brainwashed and the bad children are to be disposed of, there is noone to resists, but…
Read at the source
