Captain Earth is a 25-episode Japanese anime television series produced by Bones. It is directed by Takuya Igarashi and written by Yōji Enokido. It aired in Japan from April 5 to September 20. 2014 on MBS. The series follows high-school student Daichi Manatsu who starts working for the Globe organization to pilot a giant robot called the Earth Engine Impacter to protect the Earth from the invading alien force known as the "Kill-T-Gang", that intends to drain all the life force of mankind to empower their immortal existences.
Plot
High-school student Daichi Manatsu works for the Globe organization to pilot a giant robot called the Earth Engine Impacter to protect the Earth from the invading alien force known as the "Kill-T-Gang", that intends to drain all the life force of mankind to empower their immortal existences. In order to aid Daichi, Globe starts gathering allies including Teppei Arashi, a Kill-T-Gang whose memories have been erased and trapped inside a human's body; Hana Mutou, a mysterious girl connected to the ship Blume; and Akari Yomatsuri, a 17-year-old genius hacker. Together they form the Midsummer's Knights and fight the Kill-T-Gangs who are in search of more of their allies.
Tenkaido is Globe's space station, where Kill-T-Gang attacks are monitored. The station also houses several thousand people in stasis as part of an evacuation plan should the Impacters ever fail. ;Tsubaki Yomatsuri ;Mia ;Rena
The Planetary Gears are a group of alien beings, known as Kill-T-Gang, who feed on orgone energy originating from human libido. Their essences are contained in Ego Blocks, which are digitized forms of consciousness, stored on a ship stranded in the orbit of Uranus. Nine years before the start of the series, the Planetary Gears wiped out a research team stationed on the dark side of the moon, draining their libido and creating a giant, glowing crystal that covers most of the moon's surface. Kill-T-Gang are able to inhabit genetically engineered, artificial bodies known as Designer's Children, and can inhabit and pilot their true forms, giant mecha-like energy beings, through cockpit-like devices known as "Machine Goodfellow," which can also be converted into small mecha for Earth-based combat. Kill-T-Gang have access to special abilities known as "singularities" that differ on the individual but have the common trait of both sharing memories and communicating telepathically through kissing. Because the Kill-T-Gang's true forms absorb libido through proximity, humanity would be wiped out should even one make it to the Earth, necessitating the use of Impacters. ;Amara ;Moco ;Setsuna ;Zin ;Ai ;Lin ;Baku
Macbeth Enterprises
Macbeth Enterprises is a greatly successful conglomerate, and one of the major stakeholders of the Planetary Gears, designing the Machine Goodfellows and the Designer Child program, and assist the aliens in different ways. After the Kanda Incident, a major scandal that involved several government agencies discovering the illegal genetic modification of children, and the apparent suicide of its former CEO, the company is under the management of Masaki Kube, a member of the company's founding family. ;Masaki Kube ;Hitomi Makino ;Puck
Other characters
;Taiyou Manatsu ;Toshiaki Manatsu
Development
The series was officially announced on September 6, 2013, in the October issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Monthly Newtype.
Release
The anime series is directed by Takuya Igarashi and produced by Bones. Igarashi made sure the title did not sound like a made-up word when revealing it. Through it, he wants the viewers to imagine what it would be like and create a different impression when watching the show. Unlike his previous work, Star Driver, Captain Earth focused less on high schools and more on the relationship between human characters who pilot mechas. Something the team was aiming for with Captain Earth is having a good looking launch sequence as he believes "robots and rockets are deeply imbued with childhood dreams and that sort of giddy excitement in boys’ hearts." The series is being simulcasted by Crunchyroll in their website. It premiered in Japan on April 5, 2014, on MBS, and at later dates on Tokyo MX, TVA, BS11 and MBC. It is set to last twenty-five episodes. For the first thirteen episodes, the opening theme is "Believer's High" by flumpool, and the ending theme is "Amethyst" performed by Ai Kayano as "HANA star. Ai Kayano". Kayano also performed the song "Mugen no Hana" as her character Hana Mutou, which was included in the first episode. From episode fourteen onwards, the opening theme is "TOKYO Dreamer" by Nico Touches the Walls and the ending theme is "The Glory Days" by Tia. Satoshi Ishino is adapting Fumi Minato's original character designs for animation, and he is also the chief animation director. A Star Driver veteran, Shigeto Koyama, designed the Earth Engine and other Engine Series mecha, while Takayuki Yanase handled the Machine Goodfellow designs and other mecha. Shinji Aramaki and Takeshi Takakura are the other mechanical designers. Masaki Asai and Takeshi Yoshioka designed the enemy Kill-T-Gang, and the artist okama is contributing concept designs. Tsuyoshi Kusano is the graphic designer, and Masatsugu Saitō is credited for design works. The series was released onto DVD and Blu-ray format with the first volume published on July 18, 2014. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks for digital and home video release.
Episodes
Video game
A visual novel titled Captain Earth: Mind Labyrinth was released on February 26, 2015, for the PlayStation Vita.
Reception
UK Anime Network called it "Eureka Seven meets Star Driver", and noted that this might grab the attention of fans of the prior works. Critical reception to the first episode has been mixed within the Anime News Network staff, with several comments focused on the pacing but mostly praise given to the animation. In an extensive review of the first three episodes, UK Anime Network was disappointed with the series' beginning, noting Bones could do much better. The reviewer praised the animation and potential but criticized most of its characters.
