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Earthian #1
Earthian, Volume 1
After observing the people of Earth from a base on the Moon, Archangel Michael decides to eradicate "Earthians" if he counts more than ten thousand incidences of corruption and misbehavior, while mutant angel Chihaya hopes to be allowed to balance Michael's negatives with a "plus" count of his own.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 11, 2014
What a letdown. I really wanted to like this one.
Earthian Volume 1 is so all over the place. A real chore to read. I'm not sure if this is entirely the fault of the mangaka or if it's a just a bad translation, but I had to start and stop multiple times before finally plowing through this one.
The main characters are dull stereotypes, the adventures they go on aren't that interesting, and there's just a strangely hateful undertone to this "angelic" world they are a part of.
But, there is good news. I flipped through the later volumes and the series does appear to improve. The art is nicer, the stories look more interesting, and there appears to be more of that BL we were promised (which can only help this snoozefest). So there's that.
Really it's just a shame, though, because I remember genuinely enjoying the anime adaptation I saw years back. It had that late 80s cheese factor going for it that made it enjoyable in a retro/nostalgic kind of way. Add to that a really awkward sex scene, and well...At least it was entertaining!
This manga just left me so cold I'm not sure when I'll be motivated to pick up the other three volumes.
Earthian Volume 1 is so all over the place. A real chore to read. I'm not sure if this is entirely the fault of the mangaka or if it's a just a bad translation, but I had to start and stop multiple times before finally plowing through this one.
The main characters are dull stereotypes, the adventures they go on aren't that interesting, and there's just a strangely hateful undertone to this "angelic" world they are a part of.
But, there is good news. I flipped through the later volumes and the series does appear to improve. The art is nicer, the stories look more interesting, and there appears to be more of that BL we were promised (which can only help this snoozefest). So there's that.
Really it's just a shame, though, because I remember genuinely enjoying the anime adaptation I saw years back. It had that late 80s cheese factor going for it that made it enjoyable in a retro/nostalgic kind of way. Add to that a really awkward sex scene, and well...At least it was entertaining!
This manga just left me so cold I'm not sure when I'll be motivated to pick up the other three volumes.
January 17, 2019
Well damn, I found an actual review of this in my blog instead of that small primer. Well you know what this means: I'm gonna put it here. I'll just spoiled the other one now haha
*this is for the whole series from my old blog*
This might sound like such a simple story of angels and plus and minus checking, but the truth is there a an incredible depth to the story, to the narrative it tells.
Homosexual love is just one, extinction of animals, global warming, predujice, racism, they're all talked about, approached with such a sensitivity. Yun Kouga comes from a place that clearly says she is passionate about these themes, and how she delivers them poignantly.
This is both a dreamers tale and a rude awakening to those that look away from reality.
This is no common manga, and it is exactly for that reason that it stands out and is one of my favorites ever.
Chihaya matures throughout the work, just like the manga delves deeper into harder themes like human experiences, androids, sin, incest, death.
Chihaya and Kagetsuya are both such beautiful and flawed characters, and their slow descent to Love that transcends their capabilities of holding back from expressing it is riveting, emotional.
When they have sex it's beautiful, it's ethereal, it's beyond this world, it is treated delicately and the transitions and the panels are so gorgeous.
I love this era of her artwork, before her art changed to more deformed like in Loveless, you can tell its age, and it's such a bold story to tell.
When Chihaya tries to atone for his "sin", as perceived by Eden, in order to protect Kagetsuya I just 😭
I don't have enough words, really. My heart goes out for him, and for Kagetsuya. It also reminds me that Chihaya has a beautiful, caring, loving soul, and it's why he's still trying to help his fellow angels from the Black Cancer.
Earthian doesn't follow just them two either, the cast is big. In particular, Taki's tale is beautiful, sad and its message is so important. What DOES make one human? Our infinite capacity for hatred? For evil? For disregard of life and the planet without qualms? Or is it love, affection, passion, tears?
You'll also get to know why Michael and Raphael appear so much throughout the story, and the true purpose of the angels, and the minus and plus checking.
Earthian does in 4 volumes what 100+ chapter series can never hope to achieve, it is not about quantity, it is about impact, the approach and the hand behind it. Yun Kouga has a sensibility that shines through, and she never makes a single story throughout this series that isn't relevant, interesting or poignant.
It all culminates about war, about justice, about what is right and wrong, and who has the right to decide extinction, death for a large group of beings? Who has given us, or any other creature, such power or right?
And don't let this work deceive you, this is not the common "all male" cast, in fact the strongest characters are the females, and there's a lot of them. I find I can't hate any of them, not just because they're strong, emotionally or physically, but because Yun Kouga shows both sexes being what they are, flawed. There is no "all girls are evil", or bitches, nor all the guys falling into love with one of the MCs or females. Let's just say this isn't a manga with tropes.
If you don't choke up, cry or feel emotional by the end of Earthian, then its message of love is not for you. Because that's what the message is in this series, love for family, love for mankind, love for animals and species, love for the planet and universe. And maybe it sounds cliche, but trust me that the way it is delivered and executed does it in the best way.
This is pretty angsty in the second half but it's because the subjects it broaches are darker and harder, so it figures.
I really do advise everyone to read this if this sounds like something you'd like to. I find you can't go wrong with Earthian, but it's so unique there isn't many mangas like it, so it isn't a mainstream work. It's thought provoking, and subversive, so get on it because we need more works like this.
*this is for the whole series from my old blog*
This might sound like such a simple story of angels and plus and minus checking, but the truth is there a an incredible depth to the story, to the narrative it tells.
Homosexual love is just one, extinction of animals, global warming, predujice, racism, they're all talked about, approached with such a sensitivity. Yun Kouga comes from a place that clearly says she is passionate about these themes, and how she delivers them poignantly.
This is both a dreamers tale and a rude awakening to those that look away from reality.
This is no common manga, and it is exactly for that reason that it stands out and is one of my favorites ever.
Chihaya matures throughout the work, just like the manga delves deeper into harder themes like human experiences, androids, sin, incest, death.
Chihaya and Kagetsuya are both such beautiful and flawed characters, and their slow descent to Love that transcends their capabilities of holding back from expressing it is riveting, emotional.
When they have sex it's beautiful, it's ethereal, it's beyond this world, it is treated delicately and the transitions and the panels are so gorgeous.
I love this era of her artwork, before her art changed to more deformed like in Loveless, you can tell its age, and it's such a bold story to tell.
When Chihaya tries to atone for his "sin", as perceived by Eden, in order to protect Kagetsuya I just 😭
I don't have enough words, really. My heart goes out for him, and for Kagetsuya. It also reminds me that Chihaya has a beautiful, caring, loving soul, and it's why he's still trying to help his fellow angels from the Black Cancer.
Earthian doesn't follow just them two either, the cast is big. In particular, Taki's tale is beautiful, sad and its message is so important. What DOES make one human? Our infinite capacity for hatred? For evil? For disregard of life and the planet without qualms? Or is it love, affection, passion, tears?
You'll also get to know why Michael and Raphael appear so much throughout the story, and the true purpose of the angels, and the minus and plus checking.
Earthian does in 4 volumes what 100+ chapter series can never hope to achieve, it is not about quantity, it is about impact, the approach and the hand behind it. Yun Kouga has a sensibility that shines through, and she never makes a single story throughout this series that isn't relevant, interesting or poignant.
It all culminates about war, about justice, about what is right and wrong, and who has the right to decide extinction, death for a large group of beings? Who has given us, or any other creature, such power or right?
And don't let this work deceive you, this is not the common "all male" cast, in fact the strongest characters are the females, and there's a lot of them. I find I can't hate any of them, not just because they're strong, emotionally or physically, but because Yun Kouga shows both sexes being what they are, flawed. There is no "all girls are evil", or bitches, nor all the guys falling into love with one of the MCs or females. Let's just say this isn't a manga with tropes.
If you don't choke up, cry or feel emotional by the end of Earthian, then its message of love is not for you. Because that's what the message is in this series, love for family, love for mankind, love for animals and species, love for the planet and universe. And maybe it sounds cliche, but trust me that the way it is delivered and executed does it in the best way.
This is pretty angsty in the second half but it's because the subjects it broaches are darker and harder, so it figures.
I really do advise everyone to read this if this sounds like something you'd like to. I find you can't go wrong with Earthian, but it's so unique there isn't many mangas like it, so it isn't a mainstream work. It's thought provoking, and subversive, so get on it because we need more works like this.
September 12, 2022
(((review for the whole series)))
godddddd this was such a disappointment.........!!! i was expecting so much from this series but it was a total shit show. totally shitty, and not even in a "this is a very shitty work but i enjoy it" or even "i hate this but i find it entertaining" because it was so! mind boggling BORING
it was all over the place, the pacing was shit and there were cut scenes and time skips that didn't make sense and just made the reader lose immersion in the story. while it does admittedly get better towards the end, it's still not good. not to mention the author has a horrible case of same face syndrome. i was over here fighting for my life trying to tell apart all those little blonde bitches! (TДT) and im not even gonna go into the whole yaoi proportions or i will CRY (from laughing or from suffering is a 50/50 tbh)
and the worst thing is: all of this and for what?!!!!! the "message" (if we can even call it that) of the story is either a) awfully bland; a cheap ecological message about world peace and the generic hashtag love is love all "allies" love to mindlessly spew; b) problematic: the many racist and misogynistic undertones throughout the entire story, or c) outright WRONG: condoning pedophilia + incest. like my god WHY is there so much underage stuff and incestous relationships????? what was the NEED?!!! i can count, of the top of my head, at least 3 relationships that involved underage (some of which were also incest) and the worst is the author, while never explicitly going "yeah this is fine" very clearly doesn't say it's wrong either. she always paints it as "love is love" and the whole there can't be anything wrong in loving someone else theme is soooooooooo WRONG when taken into this context.
every time i read something in this series that made me consider perhaps giving it a second star three pages later there would be something that would make me change my mind.
GOD and the characters were so annoying!!!!! yun kouga looked at the uke/seme tropes and decided to crank up the levels to the THOUSANDS. is2g i was *this* close to ending it all MULTIPLE times while reading this
i- i just cant anymore. this was terrible im out i hope one day i will be able to look back and convince myself it was all just a bad terrible horrible fever dream
godddddd this was such a disappointment.........!!! i was expecting so much from this series but it was a total shit show. totally shitty, and not even in a "this is a very shitty work but i enjoy it" or even "i hate this but i find it entertaining" because it was so! mind boggling BORING
it was all over the place, the pacing was shit and there were cut scenes and time skips that didn't make sense and just made the reader lose immersion in the story. while it does admittedly get better towards the end, it's still not good. not to mention the author has a horrible case of same face syndrome. i was over here fighting for my life trying to tell apart all those little blonde bitches! (TДT) and im not even gonna go into the whole yaoi proportions or i will CRY (from laughing or from suffering is a 50/50 tbh)
and the worst thing is: all of this and for what?!!!!! the "message" (if we can even call it that) of the story is either a) awfully bland; a cheap ecological message about world peace and the generic hashtag love is love all "allies" love to mindlessly spew; b) problematic: the many racist and misogynistic undertones throughout the entire story, or c) outright WRONG: condoning pedophilia + incest. like my god WHY is there so much underage stuff and incestous relationships????? what was the NEED?!!! i can count, of the top of my head, at least 3 relationships that involved underage (some of which were also incest) and the worst is the author, while never explicitly going "yeah this is fine" very clearly doesn't say it's wrong either. she always paints it as "love is love" and the whole there can't be anything wrong in loving someone else theme is soooooooooo WRONG when taken into this context.
every time i read something in this series that made me consider perhaps giving it a second star three pages later there would be something that would make me change my mind.
GOD and the characters were so annoying!!!!! yun kouga looked at the uke/seme tropes and decided to crank up the levels to the THOUSANDS. is2g i was *this* close to ending it all MULTIPLE times while reading this
i- i just cant anymore. this was terrible im out i hope one day i will be able to look back and convince myself it was all just a bad terrible horrible fever dream
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2023
Full series review: Earthian by Yun Kouga
There's so many ingredients I like in here, from otherworldly angels, to a judgement day (because humans are destroying the planet), to a mystery (how to cure an epidemic), to forbidden love, to the question what makes one human... And still I felt bored reading this story.
Chihaya is on earth to count positive qualities in humanity, while Kagetsuya is here to count the negatives. There are more duos in the same partnership infiltrating earth, but we follow these two and their challenges. They are bound by rules: during your stay, don't show your wings to more than three people, report back to the basis on the moon periodically, and don't get down and dirty with someone of the same sex.
Now that last part sounds like a realistic temptation considering how dang beautiful everyone is, but does tie in with how the alien society in Eden is slowly dwindling due to a fewer children being born and a deadly cancer that's causing the usually fair 'angels' wings to slowly turn black. Maybe Chihaya, who is the only angel with black wings without being sick, is the key to salvation.
See? Sounds interesting! But the story jumps back and forth too much to my liking, with characters failing to communicate just a tad too often, and despite some high stakes there's too little actual resolution. It's a classic manga, but it'll remove from my shelves to make space for something more modern (probably Frieren).
There's so many ingredients I like in here, from otherworldly angels, to a judgement day (because humans are destroying the planet), to a mystery (how to cure an epidemic), to forbidden love, to the question what makes one human... And still I felt bored reading this story.
Chihaya is on earth to count positive qualities in humanity, while Kagetsuya is here to count the negatives. There are more duos in the same partnership infiltrating earth, but we follow these two and their challenges. They are bound by rules: during your stay, don't show your wings to more than three people, report back to the basis on the moon periodically, and don't get down and dirty with someone of the same sex.
Now that last part sounds like a realistic temptation considering how dang beautiful everyone is, but does tie in with how the alien society in Eden is slowly dwindling due to a fewer children being born and a deadly cancer that's causing the usually fair 'angels' wings to slowly turn black. Maybe Chihaya, who is the only angel with black wings without being sick, is the key to salvation.
See? Sounds interesting! But the story jumps back and forth too much to my liking, with characters failing to communicate just a tad too often, and despite some high stakes there's too little actual resolution. It's a classic manga, but it'll remove from my shelves to make space for something more modern (probably Frieren).
June 20, 2020
There are a lot of problematic themes in this book. Incest, homosexuality being a horrible crime and creepy older dudes being creepy to mention the big ones. They aren’t the focus of the story... but they keep popping up.
That being said, I think the premis is pretty damn interesting and I would to continue the series. This was written 20 years ago so I’m willing to overlook a lot of things.
Hopefully the plot will also become more fluid. The time hops got a little confusing towards the middle.
That being said, I think the premis is pretty damn interesting and I would to continue the series. This was written 20 years ago so I’m willing to overlook a lot of things.
Hopefully the plot will also become more fluid. The time hops got a little confusing towards the middle.
January 11, 2018
A beautiful sad story with delicate lines, more shonen-ai if I recall. Each volume of the four book set (if I recall correctly) was larger than regular sized yaoi books, lots of pages and a gorgeous textured cover. I sold the set for a tidy profit. Liked this but not a favorite, I never felt the need to reread.
April 21, 2024
A classic among BL manga. Features many themes that might make readers uncomfortable, like ruthless torture or hints of incest etc. Its stories are also rather sad, death is not an exception but a rule. Definitely not everybody's cuppa.
March 27, 2018
La forma de dibujar de Kouga es hermosa. Sus historias me hicieron llorar. Pude conectarme con los personajes y amar a Chihaya. ♥
February 24, 2019
This series could have been much better if the plot followed a more coherent plot. It was kind of a mess, but when you piece it together it was okay.
October 31, 2021
So today I narrowly avoided a Mandela Effect cause it says the Kennedy Space Center is in California.
Not why I rated it 1 star, but still hilarious.
Not why I rated it 1 star, but still hilarious.
December 24, 2021
This was first published in the 80's and it is definitely not something that has aged well. It's racist, misogynistic, sexist and for something with STRONG queer coding, DEEPLY homophobic.
May 12, 2010
I really love Yun Kouga's series Loveless, so I was hoping I would love this series as well. The summary sounded interesting, something about earthbound angels. But from the first page - or maybe not the first page, since the library copy I looked at had a loose (as in completely detached) first page and then resumed numbering at page 7 - I didn't like the artwork and the plot seemed to involve NASA. Seriously, the people looked like pinheads, whereas most manga characters I've seen have proportionally larger heads than normal. There was none of the adorable artwork I had expected from the illustrator of Loveless. I barely got a few pages in before deciding not to waste my time.
June 4, 2013
loved it!!!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews