Earth Maiden Arjuna: An Anime Review

Episodes:  13

Earth Maiden Arjuna, unlike other animated endeavors for ecological change, does not mince words with its audience.  “There is obviously something wrong here,” it says, pointing an accusatory finger, “and it’s all your fault!”

The protagonist Juna Ariyoshi, learns this lesson the hard way after she is involved in a vehicular accident with her beaux/potential boyfriend.  On her death bed, a young man appears to her and give her a choice:  die or become the avatar that will save the earth.  And that’s just within the first episode!

Thus, Juna is thrown into the world of SEED, an international organization working to fight the forces behind the dying earth: Raaja.  The Raaja are worm-like creatures of varying size that can only be seen by Arjuna and other special members of SEED.  But where did they come from?

Earth Maiden Arjuna is not for the faint of hear–for two reasons:  First, it attempts to tear apart just about every “normal” aspect of your life–from the food you eat, to the car you drive, even to your familial disagreements–and and make you feel guilty as hell for all of it.

Secondly, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed, the “Arjuna” from the title and the name of the protagonist June is referring to Arjuna of the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata (most famously, of the Bhagavad Gita) and the character by the name of Chris is named after Krishna, the Hindu god who reveals to Arjuna the infinitude of his being.  Crazy, huh?

Well, it may behoove you to do a quick Wikipedia search on Hinduism/Hindu philosophy before taking on the task of Earth Maiden Arjuna–just so you can get a better grasp of its philosophical references.  In essence, only watch Earth Maiden Arjuna is you are prepared to be at least a little offended by its blatant accusations.  On the other hand, if you are not offended it does not mean you have not committed some egregious slight against Earth.

Here is the trailer for the series: