Please Save My Earth- Cult Manga Series Review

Please Save My Earth is a series I only knew of through a soundtrack which I purchased from Forbidden Planet in London over 30 years ago. It was on sale and was an impulse buy as at the time manga and anime CDs were very expensive so a CD for under £10 was a bargain. I had never seen the series before but recently found all the English dubbed episodes online so thought I'd dive in. Was it good though?

Well, one thing that comes through clearly is how weird a series it is, one with timeslips, past lives, reincarnation, alternate timelines and the eternal love triangle. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

The story concerns Alice, a typical high school student in Japan who dreams that she is the reincarnation of an alien scientist who lived on the Moon. She find other youths who have a similar dream and the group decide to find others in order to understand what it all means. However, they soon discover that their present and alternate lives clash and combine in interesting ways as past loves, hates, jealousies and worried bleed into the present.

The series, produced by Studio I.G. and based on the shojo manga by Saki Iwatari, was apparently quite influential back in the day and I can kind of see why. During our formative years we go through change and growth and the show isn't scared to look deep into our humanity to see what makes us all individual and unique.

As with many OAVs of the time, the art is stunning and has aged very well. The music is haunting and melancholic to create the perfect mood. As for the story, it reminds me of The OA in some ways with fate, destiny, The Garden of Forking Paths and the eternal battle between good vs evil playing out through time, or Sense 8 which is all to do with the interconnected lives of individuals across the world who share a mysterious connection. Mostly, I think it shares ideas that were explored further in David Mitchell's sublime Cloud Atlas- the grand story of people whose  destinies are entwined across time and space in the most profound way, sometimes for good and sometimes for ill.

At 6 episodes of 30 mins in length, it's not the most time consuming series to dedicate some time too but it does linger in the mind. Considering that only in the last few years have more mainstream shows depicted the ideas presented here this series was a bit of an outlier. Not bad for a lesser known series (at least in the West) which was created in 1993.

LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East

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LINK- The Mysterious Cities of Gold Retro Soundtrack Review

LINK- Sonic Mania Video Game Vinyl Soundtrack

LINK- Thomas Was Alone Video Game Vinyl Soundtrack Review

LINK- Akira Soundtrack Vinyl Review

Lost Manga and Anime

I've recently immersed myself in a nostalgic journey through the late 80s and early 90s manga and anime that shaped my youth. It has been a truly enlightening experience traveling back to an amazingly formative period in my life as I navigate through what some may call a mild mid-life crisis. It was a golden time for 'Japanimation' - that term still makes me shudder a little- and this period holds a truly special place in my media-consuming heart.

Now, I had a lot of VHS tapes, both original and recorded but with my many house moves and the transition from VHS to DVD I shed a lot of my manga and anime VHS collection along the way. I give them away to friends, exchanged them at CEX for credit or donated some to charity shops. I had many bootleg copies of series that I have saved on a hard drive but my physical collection has whittled down somewhat.

Manga Entertainment built a bit of a cult following in its heydey of the late 80s and early 90s. When the transition of VHS to DVD came, it re-released its main titles but all the others disappeared as VHS was phased out. Classic series like 3x3 Eyes, Crying Freeman, Guyver, Angel Cop, Devil Man and Doomed Megalopolis remained stuck on VHS, never getting an official DVD release in the UK. I praise the sun for my multi-region DVD and Blu-Ray player as I know some of these have been released abroad but there is so much more that has been lost. Even the early anime rippers and translator forums, which were the lifeblood for fans seeking unreleased or undistributed media, are empty. As a result, we have lost many good anime titles that may have otherwise found their way to eager modern audiences who want to look into the past.

Determining the exact number of titles that lack official releases on DVD or Blu-Ray poses quite the challenge and, while not classified as lost media (as they can often be accessed through alternative means such as various video streaming platforms and torrent sites) it would be great to see specialised distributors, similar to those catering to horror films, to consider producing limited print runs for these sought-after titles in contemporary formats at a reasonable price.

I'm beyond excited for the Macross Plus Blu-Ray but the limited edition £150 release is too rich for my blood. The 4-part series is an all-timer for me as it introduced me to the music of Yoko Kanno and the wonders of rogue AI Sharon Apple. Hopefully, a £30 or so regular Blu-Ray release will be forthcoming and pave the way for other classic anime and manga OAVs, films and series to finally see the light of day again. I think there is a niche market for physical releases of old skool manga and hope we get more.