Arjuna 1 - Rebirth

Traditionally, Japanese culture has always had a great respect for nature; a respect that continues to this day and can be seen in the various nature reserves and natural wonders that dot the Japanese landscape. However, the wholesale adoption of wanton materialism in the second half of the 20th century has created an obvious, untenable duality that Japanese society is only now beginning to recognise. In the spirit of Princess Mononoke, Earth Maiden Arjuna is an anime series which tackles the issues of conservation, pollution and the eventual destruction of the Earth. In doing so, Arjuna’s creator, Shoji Kawamori, known mostly for his highly successful mecha-fuelled franchises Macross and Escaflowne, has turned from the apocalyptic futuristic visions that have made his name to pursue a more inward view of Mother Nature, the spiritual and the supernatural. Manifesting itself in terms of environmental degradation rather than that of technology misused, the armageddon that is the basis for countless anime productions seems finally to be hitting a lot closer to home.

The Easter Show: depressing.

The story centres around perky junior high school student Arjuna - a rather average member of the school archery team (she joined just to piss her mother off), who is killed in a motorcycle accident as she and her boyfriend Tokio speed north to enjoy some pollution-free serenity. Raised above the Earth in a holy light, Arjuna pays witnesses to the future of the planet; the extinction of all life at the hands of overpopulation and pollution that manifests itself in the form of the Raaja – enormous translucent demons who are born of the Earth’s suffering. Amidst these revelations she is confronted by a little glowing guy called, ordinarily enough, Chris, who offers to save her mortal life, to protect her and to give her guidance if she will act as Mother Nature’s saviour. Not a bad deal, considering.

Her earthly pulse returned, Arjuna is whisked off in a helicopter owned by S.E.E.D - a multi-national organisation with plenty of cash, cool gadgets and a working knowledge of Eastern mysticism. Here she meets the real Chris, a puny wheelchair bound individual who hands her ‘the drop of time’ – basically a magic number nine - that she proceeds to jam into her forehead. Resonating with the planet’s energy, this magic number nine allows Arjuna to become one with the Earth (oo-er), and Chris promptly proclaims her the new ‘Avatar of Time’. Yeah, whatever - it’s arse kickin’ time!

Episode 1: The Drop of Time
Saved by Chris on her deathbed, Arjuna is whisked away in a S.E.E.D. helicopter to a failing nuclear reactor and lands with an incursion team. She’s just in time, as it happens, to witness the meltdown of the core and for a huge Raaja demon to attack the site. As the destruction mounts, Arjuna must face her destiny as the Avatar of Time, but is held back by fear. Luckily Tokio arrives just in time to get himself in all sorts trouble, and that’s all the prompting a young padawan Avatar needs…

Episode 2: The Blue Light
Tokio is saved by Juna, but the crisis at the nuclear plant continues unabated. Somehow Arjuna. or rather The Avatar, summons her protector – a kinda spirity mechanoid beast ‘Ashura’ who does battle with the Raaja. But being The Avatar isn’t quite that simple and Chris intercedes to teach her the tricky craft of Avatar’in...

Episode 3: Tears of the Forest
The crisis at the power plant has been averted, but Chris deems that Arjuna must purify the filth that infests her body (oo-er). And so Chris and his S.E.E.D. cronies dump her in the wilderness for a touch of survival training. As she slowly starves in the forest, she becomes one with nature; getting all very, erm, touchy feely, and finally experiences her ‘earth-sympathy reaction’. Meanwhile Tokio, the ever protective boyfriend, rides in to save her, but in true style ends up in trouble again…

Motorbikin'.

All in all, despite being aimed at pubescent teenage girls, Earth Maiden Arjuna is quite a confusing little series. Although the environmental message is obvious (rammed down your throat one might say), it is unclear what Arjuna and her friends are actually meant to do to save the Earth from destruction. Chris gives Arjuna a weapon (remarkably similar to her old bow and arrow) but then continually castigates her for using it. And the targets of Arjuna’s wrath, the demons who are themselves a product of the Earth’s pollution, a symptom rather than the source of the problem. Now why isn’t young Arjuna, backed by a scantily clad, weapons-packing paramilitary organisation, storming the top floors of some of Tokyo’s top corporations and purging the wrong-doers execution-style? Now there’s an anime series in the making! But there’s no such luck. Oh well, hopefully things might become a little clearer in the next volume. However, I must say that although Arjuna is visually striking (more on this later), I haven’t seen enough on this first volume to make me rush right out and buy the next. With just three episodes, this first installment seems a little stingy to me; and may not provide enough of an introduction to get the casual viewer hooked.

Teenage drinking: cool.

Despite being produced for television, Arjuna is a visually impressive piece of animation that, combining conventional cel-based images with beautiful CG vehicles, cityscapes and backgrounds, struck me as similar in style to work done by Koji Morimoto in his Animatrix episode Beyond. Traditionally animated, the characters display a high level of detail both in and out of the action sequences. In contrast, due to the fact that they are just a little more realistic and fluid, the CG animated sequences are easily discerned from their cel animated counterparts. However this in no way reduces their impact, with some shots – in particular the shots of Tokio weaving his way along the freeway on his motorbike – being jaw-droppingly impressive. CG is also used to a large extent in creating many of the backgrounds used in the production; the cityscapes – including a large ferris wheel – of particular note. The result is that many of the normal cost-cutting techniques inherent in more traditional television productions, in particular panning stills – are nowhere to be seen. Indeed, Arjuna is one of the most polished anime series’ I’ve come across in a long time.

In terms of its digital incarnation, Madman’s anamorphic (1.85:1) transfer is very close to perfect, with only a couple of minor quibbles. The vivid colours, from Arjuna’s purple eyes to the green forests to the brilliant azure skies, literally leap from the screen and contrast nicely with the muted greys and browns of the Earth’s desolation. The image is sharp and as detailed as the source material allows, without the introduction of aliasing related artifacts. Apart from a single instance of posterisation during a fade in Episode 3 (unforgivable given the short running time) the image is free of compression-related artifacts.

Furnished with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio transfers in both a serviceable Engish dub and the original Japanese, Arjuna sounds wonderful; eclipsing its modest television pedigree. While dialogue is clear and distinct throughout, the remaining four and a bit channels are used continuously and vigorously to support the onscreen action. By far the most enveloping aspect of the soundtrack, balanced nicely between the front and rear channels, is the score composed by none other than Yôko Kanno - dubbed by some fan sites the goddess of anime music. Critically acclaimed for her work on the hugely successful Cowboy Bebop franchise, Kanno’s work here is eclectic and enthralling – at times subdued and melancholy, at others lifting into light Japanese pop ballads and upbeat world-music styled tunes when the tone turns to conservation. The mix of styles suits the action and tone of proceedings perfectly and 5.1 mixed deftly places instruments at various locations throughout the room.

In addition to the score, the surround channels are used extensively to provide ambient sound, from mystical singing, cicadas of the Japanese summer, to the constant whir of helicopter blades. Directional effects also abound, placing the voices of off-screen characters, criss-crossing the room with spectral noises, zooming aircraft, soaring gulls and the thrash of twigs and branches as Arjuna crashes through the forest. The LFE channel also has a large part in proceedings; used to great effect for the many explosions that punctuate the action, as well as pounding Japanese taiko drums.

In terms of the dub, the English translation is thankfully very close to that of the original Japanese script and the English voice actors, while not a patch on their Japanese counterparts, acquit themselves reasonably well.

What looks like quite a swag of extras quickly reveals itself to be hardly worth the effort, except maybe for the Spirited Away and FlCl trailers! Oh my god, must-see trailers? My standards must be slipping…

• Arjuna Karaoke: Sing along to the Japanese closing tune Mameshiba arranged by the one and only Yoko Kanno! Both the original Japanese kanji and a romanji version are presented in standard Karaoke form, along with typically banal visuals. Unless you can speak Japanese you’ll probably not want to bother.

• TV Spots: Two 15-second spots for the DVD release that were produced for Japanese television; the only difference between them being the swap from a female to male voiceover.

• Episode Previews: The 15-second trailers that typically follow the episodes of a Japanese animated series are presented here, providing introductions to episodes 2, 3 and 4.

• Artwork Sketches: 18 still images provide inked portraits of the series’ six central characters.

• Madman Propaganda: Trailers for the sublime Spirited Away, Tenchi Muyo, Jubei Chan, .hack/SIGN, the ultra-cool looking FlCl, and a teaser for the provocatively named Geneshaft.

Arjuna is yet another title that adds to the increasing body of anime for the string-bag set. Featuring striking visuals and a great soundtrack, Earth Maiden Arjuna certainly isn’t wanting in the technical department, but I just can’t make my mind up about the series as a whole. With only three episodes, this first volume doesn’t provide the viewer with enough of a handle on the series’ future direction to convince me to shell out for the next installment. With only 12 episodes in total, turning Arjuna into four volumes does seem a little tightfisted; something we were used to seeing with VHS releases but is almost unheard of on our shiny new media. Now this reduced running time may or may not be borne out in the retail price, but personally I’ll try to rent the next volume. If only that was as easy as it sounds…