Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Captain Earth: Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Mecha anime isn't going anywhere, although if Captain Earth were the only series by which to judge the genre, it wouldn't be around for very long. Tired, trite and horribly tropey, the beautifully animated Bones actioner is actually quite the snooze-fest, gaining too little speed far too late in its first 13 episodes. It isn't a terrible show, just a terribly disappointing dud, with tough-to-warm-to heroes, corny antagonists, flashy space battles high on style but low on substance, and a prevailing feeling that the villains' desire for galactic domination is neither scary nor all that much of a threat. There isn't much in the way of suspense, and even less in the way of satisfaction, with episodes dragging, stalling or earning unintentional laughter. Even when Captain Earth's would-be planet defenders finally assemble, there isn't a lot that endears them to the viewer. Conflict demands audience devotion to the characters, but the conflict isn't all that dire and the characters aren't all that interesting. What remains is a paint-by-numbers mecha anime that looks great but offers next to nothing in terms of long-term viability or short-term entertainment. If eye candy is your thing, there's enough here to keep you invested. If you crave more, though -- particularly in terms of story and nuanced plotting -- the Bones-produced series will struggle to hold your attention. It was a difficult slog. Perhaps Collection 2, due this August, will redeem Captain Earth's slow start. Or perhaps it will be more of the same. If so, spend your time and money elsewhere. It's not like this is the only mecha anime on the market; just the latest.

• Earthengine Open Fire: Daichi Manatsu sees a rainbow circle on TV that reminds him of when he was young. On the first day of summer vacation, he goes to Tanegashima Island meets a mysterious girl named Ariel and a giant robot named the Earth Engine deep below the ground.
• The Name of the Gun is Livlaster: Daichi completes the transformation of the Earth Engine, and with the help of a girl who calls herslef a Magical Girl he defeats the Kiltgang Molekin. When he returns to Earth, he learns that the organization his father once belonged to, Globe, exists to defend the Earth from invaders.
• The Rainbow of Albion: Akari Yomatsuri, daughter of the Globe commander Nishikubo, joins the team, and everyone enjoys a summer rest in Akihabara. However, a new foe, Amarock, appears. Daichi launches in an unrepaired Earth Engine. Just when he is about to be destroyed, a new Kiltgang, Albion, saves him.
• Assault of the Planetary Gear: Teppei was the one piloting the Kiltgang Albion. Worried about the quarantined Teppei, Daichi visits him. Teppei is unease, but Daichi tells him, "You're you, right?" Meanwhile, Albion's appearance has shocked the two planetary gears.
• Starry Sky's Picture Book: There are two factions divided over how to deal with the Kiltgang: the interception faction that wants to fight them and the ark faction that wants to send out a new humanity to escape. Commander Nishikubo, a member of the Interception faction, sends Teppei to rescue Eiji, the man who gave him his genes, aboard the orbital space station Tenkaidou.
• Kivotos Plan: Tippei's "father" has gone missing after the incident on the Tenkaidou. The "ark" faction seeks to allow a few chosen people to escape from Earth to avoid the Kiltgang. They try to steal Hana, because she is the key to their plans. Reito, who has been assigned as an observer to the Tanegashima base, tries to kidnap hana but is interrupted by Daichi, who stops him with his boomerang.
• The Midsummer's Knights: Just like Hana predicted, the Kiltgang appear inside defensive zone 1. Daichi is pinned between them and almost defeated, but Teppei and his Kiltgang Albion save him. Teppei destroys his own ego block, and with his help, Amarock and Moko are defeated. And after this success, Nishikubo authorizes the creation of a new interception team, the Midsummer Knights, and names Daichi their captain.
• Sign From the Dark: There are five other designer children besides Teppei. To stop one of them, Jin, from awakening, the Midsummer Knights go to Odaiba, where he is working as a dealer. "In the end, I can never hold anything in my hand," he says. Isolated from his friends, he regrets the choices he's made in life. Just then Amarock and Moko appear. Moko's kiss awakens him to his full power as a planetary gear, and he smiles an evil smile.
• Magical Girl Akari-chan: The fifth member of the Planetary Gears is the idol Ai. She and her Machine Goodfellow Hebihanabi are a fierce match for Daichi's group. Meanwhile, Amarock kidnaps Akari to make her use her hacking to shut off all the low orbit impactors. Akari uses her final trump card, and threatens to use all the world's nuclear weapons to annihilate humanity. Amarock fears the loss of his food, and is forced to release Akari.
• On the Windy Planet: Rin loves speed more than anything. When she awakens as a Planetary Gear, she challenges Daichi to a battle in the Ningyohime. He succeeds in destroying her libido capsule, but allows the Abreaction to occur at the last second. Teppei, who'd been upset at not being able to contribute to the team, decides to go to space in Daichi's place.
• Through the Window of Setsuna: Setsuna is one of the six designer children. She lives with Mao Marimura, one of the staff at Ayingott Company. Marimura is planning to use her to stay young forever. Meanwhile, Amara and Moko succeed in finding Setsuna, and encounter Daichi and Teppei at the research lab.
• Boys' Battlefield: The identity of the last designer child has been found. It's Baku, a boy who works at an illegal fighting ring run by the Asanoda yakuza. Rita sends Daichi to find him. Meanwhile, Amara and Moko also visit the underground tournament.
• My Town: Baku is in love with the only daughter of the leader of the Asanoda Yakuza, Kumiko. Amara takes her hostage and tries to convince him to join them. Haruhiko, a member of the Asanoda gang arrives, and his bullet strikes Kumiko. But her wound disappears almost instantly. It all happened because Baku wished that Kumiko would live again.

Captain Earth: Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Captain Earth may not be anything special but Bones animation is always cause for a bit of celebration. Thankfully, Sentai's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation delivers the goods, without any significant issues that might spoil the proceedings. Hints of banding creep in here and there, and slight aliasing appears from time to time during space battles, but distractions are few and far between, if notable at all. What is notable is just about everything else. Colors are bold and vibrant, with piercing primaries, dazzling reds and blues, striking contrast and saturation, and deep, inky black levels. Detail is excellent, with clean line art and lovely backgrounds, and there isn't any noise or macroblocking to interfere with the integrity of the art and animation.

Captain Earth: Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Captain Earth: Collection 1 only includes one audio option: a Japanese-language DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track. No English sub, lossless or otherwise, is available. The two-channel mix is certainly decent, though it's difficult not to be disappointed by the lack of LFE and rear speaker support, considering how action-packed the giant mecha space battles become. Fortunately, voices are crisp, intelligible and carefully prioritized, effects are engaging, and music is full and involving. It isn't all that remarkable, but it also isn't underwhelming. Fans of the series will be pleased.

Captain Earth: Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Blu-ray release of Captain Earth: Collection 1 includes the usual Sentai special features -- Clean Opening and Closing Animations (HD, 3 minutes) and a small collection of Sentai Filmworks trailers -- but there aren't any extensive behind-the-scenes extras.

Captain Earth: Collection 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Captain Earth stumbles early and often, and has trouble with everything from pacing to plotting, character development, world building, and other fundamentals. It's not a complete waste of time -- by Collection 1's end, the series does have a few things going for it -- but even mecha fans will really have to search for something to latch onto, particularly prior to episode 8. The Blu-ray release is much better, despite its lack of supplemental features, thanks to a terrific video presentation and solid Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio stereo track.