Chikyuu wo Mitsumete

Chikyuu wo Mitsumete is a 2011 film from Nippon animation. The same studio behind Kazoku Robinson Hyouryuuki: Fushigi na Shima no Flone. So, what is this science fiction/ edutainment film about? Let's have a look. Story: We open with a look at Earth from space with some rather grandiose prose about how amazing it is. This is quickly followed by some scientific explanations about how the Earth was formed and how life on the planet evolved set to classical music. After a combined total of about seven minutes for those segments, we transition to the main plot. Aliens are watching us from a disguised space stationand using a miniature camera that can change its size to track what they call a Z-atom. This leads to their camera being discovered by a pair of children, after its used to briefly discuss how cells work. There are a couple elements that hold the film back. First off, it likes to repeat itself. There are multiple scenes that show the footage captured by the camera including large chunks of things we already saw. The worst being a five minute chunk towards the end that just recaps the film thus far. And this isn't a long film where it really benefits from reminding the audience of prior events. It's a half hour. The aliens are also incompetent to a silly degree. Their secret, special camera gets seen multiple times. On a positive note, the educational aspects of this film are actually handled really well. It provides good information that's presented in a fairly simple, easily understood way while still providing plenty of entertainment. Unlike 90% of edutainment works that are lacking in one or both. Seeing young Naoko's journey in life is also kind of cute in spite of us only getting snippets from different points. Characters: The two big characters are Satoru and Naoko whom we get to see at different points in their lives. Naoko is more closely focused on while Satoru only gets briefly mentioned when it gets to the end. It's surprisingly solid given how short the film is. Art: The artwork really shines when it comes to outer space, showing the circle of life and cellular structure and illustrating the evolution of life on Earth. Basically, every time they're showing something educational they absolutely nail it. When it comes to character designs, especially the aliens, it's a bit more mediocre. Sound: Toyoguchi Megumi & Nanao Haruhi both give strong performances. Gustav Holst's Jupiter is used to great effect as well. And, unlike some anime that make use of classical compositions, they don't fuck it up with awful sound mixing. Ho-yay: There's no romance of any kind in this. Unless you think there might be a reason the two male-presenting aliens are on a small ship by themselves for years. Areas of Improvement: I think they would have benefited from showing something more substantial in place of the flashbacks. Possibly some more snippets from the lives of our leads. There's really no reason for Satoru & Naoko to see the alien's camera since the film really doesn't do anything with it. The aliens could have used some personality. I understand that their main purpose is to explain things to the audience through the lens of discussing it but they could at least make some jokes or something. Final Thoughts: I kind of like this film, actually. This is edutainment done properly. Its narrative has charm to it and the artwork can be beautiful, especially when showing the Earth from space. Normally, I'd give something like this around a 6, but factoring in that this was made to show children at Planetariums to get them excited about space, and the fact that I think it most likely worked very well, I'm going to be generous and go up to a 7/10.