Line #35 Anime/CaptainEarth


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captainearthpageimagev2_2994.jpg]]
2
3	->When I opened the door called Truth, my childhood ended.\
4	It was a summer I could never forget.
5
6	''Captain Earth'' is a {{Super Robot\|Genre}} anime from Creator/StudioBones and the team behind ''Anime/StarDriver''. [[SpiritualSuccessor And it shows]].
7
8	A second-year high school student named Daichi Manatsu spots a weird circular rainbow floating around above Tanegashima Island on TV on the eve of his summer vacation, noting that he's seen it before in his past. Getting a bad feeling about the whole thing, he goes by himself to Tanegashima Island, which houses Japan's Tanegashima Space Center where his Astronaut father launched on his final ill-fated mission. Thinking of other mysteries including his dad's accidental demise and the memories of other weird boys and girls he met when he was a kid, Daichi arrives at the island and enters a facility from his childhood, and as alarms sound at the center, he finds a giant robot known as "Earth Engine" and acquires a strange gun called a "Livlaster."
9
10	Oh yeah, there's also this problem that equally-mysterious all-mechanical life forms called Kill-T-Gang are coming from Uranus to invade Earth for... something. Yep, sounds just like your average anime about a kid from high school piloting a giant robot in order to save Earth.
11
12	Problem is, not everyone ''wants'' him to save it...
13
14	Not to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Captain Planet]].
15
16	----
17	!!This anime contains examples of:
18	* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: [[spoiler: The Livlasters are not guns. They are the physical extensions of a nigh-omnipotent extra dimensional being taking the form of guns.]]
19	* AGodAmI:
20	** The CEO of Macbeth Enterprises believes that he is destined to lead the humans who will survive the Kiltgang's assault to create a utopia of his design. He believes that the universe gave this destiny to him.
21	** [[spoiler: Puck declares himself the one true God of the universe after merging with Oberon and becoming Robin Goodfellow.]]
22	* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: Episode 23 has Daichi and Akari stuck in dreams caused by the ''Blume'''s Entangle Link. They both manage to break free with sheer willpower.]]
23	* AmbiguousEnding: The finale [[spoiler: does not make it clear whether or not Daichi and Hana survive the destruction of the Blume.]]
24	%%* AmbiguouslyBrown: Hana Mutou.
25	* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: The cause of much drama with the Designer Children due to their Telepathic Kiss.
26	** Hana [[spoiler: is afraid Daichi will hate her when he learns of her true origins.]]
27	** Teppei [[spoiler: is afraid of what will happen if he falls in love with a human girl and [[GoMadFromTheRevelation exposes her to his Kiltgang memories by kissing her.]]]]
28	* AuthorTract: The show is a giant love letter to space exploration.
29	* Main/BarbieDollAnatomy: Episode 19 ends with Hana floating naked [[spoiler: in the Blume's control module]]. While her crotch is obscured by something else, this initially appears to be an instance of GodivaHair. But no, her hair floats out of the way, giving the audience a clear view of her nipple-less breasts.
30	* BackToBackBadasses: [[http://i.imgur.com/Mj7bLRu.jpg Daichi and Teppei in Episode 11]], during a gunfight with Amara and Moco.
31	* BatmanGambit: Akari does this in Episode 9, [[spoiler: where she threatens Amara and Moco with the Earth's complete destruction if they don't release her, knowing that they would be forced back into hibernation without any of their precious Orgone energy to feast on. Moco finds out she's serious, and they reluctantly let her go.]]
32	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Kiltgang believe that having a finite lifespan means you are not truly sentient, and not a "real" person. As a result, they view earthlings as food.
33	* CrapsaccharineWorld: Don't let the gentle tone and bright colors of the show fool you, some pretty dark stuff occurs every other episode.
34	* DamselInDistress: Hana is kidnapped a few times during the course of the story.
35	* DefectorFromDecadence: Implied with Teppi, defecting from Kiltgang for reasons not yet known.
36	* {{Determinator}}: Daichi, Teppei and Hana all perform some pretty impressive feats that should be physically impossible purely because [[PowerOfLove they refused to let their loved ones get hurt.]]
37	* DisappearedDad: The dad's dead this time around.
38	** Teppei's dad [[spoiler:or rather, genetic donor, has been in cold sleep for most of Teppei's life]]. It goes so far that for some time of his life, Teppei ''didn't even know what a father was''. After the episode where Eiji [[spoiler:is wakened from his sleep and escapes to Earth]], [[PutOnABus he is never seen again]].
39	* DiscardAndDraw: [[spoiler:Teppei gave up his Singularity and Killtgang powers... and got a Livlaster, which can draw on Orgone energy without making the wielder evil.]]
40	** [[spoiler: Hana switches out the Flare Engine for a ship.]]
41	* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: Teppei's Singularity is creating rainbows out of thin air.
42	** [[spoiler: His Killtgang-form]] Albion is also heavily associated with rainbows, mainly through his sword and shield.
43	* EvilFeelsGood: The Kiltgang describe piloting their mechs as being immensely pleasurable, and seem to want to feed on humanity [[TheHedonist just so they can keep doing it.]]
44	* EvilIsBigger: The Impactors used by the protagonists never go beyond 60 meters in height, while the Kiltgangs used by the Planetary Gears are never smaller than 75 meters.
45	* {{Expy}}: The Earth Engine[=/=]Livelaster has a combination sequence similar to the [[Anime/GaoGaiGar Final Fusion]], shares the look and fins of ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' and has the color scheme of ''Anime/{{Heroman}}''.
46	** The head design and manskirt are also very reminiscent of [[Anime/StarDriver Tauburn]].
47	** Young Daichi's jacket bears a heavy resemblance to [[Anime/EurekaSeven Renton's]].
48	** A boy with purple hair? Check. Red eyes? Check. Pilots a white, somewhat girly-looking mecha? Check. Affinity for pastel clothes? Check. Voiced by Creator/HiroshiKamiya? Check. [[spoiler: Has always known he's different from other people, and is later informed his race is humanity's enemy? Gets his own "I am human!" moment?]] Double-check. Teppei Arashi could be younger ([[VagueAge or older?]]) [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Tieria Erde]].
49	** Eiji [[spoiler:(Teppei's biological father)]] is widely considered to be one to [[Anime/StarDriver Head]], mostly by virtue of purple hair and eyes, having Creator/AkiraIshida as his seiyuu and being [[spoiler:the father of one of the main characters]]. Sometimes he's also called Head's "good twin", due to his relatively pleasant behaviour in the episode he appears in.
50	* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Akari's "'''SUCK-IT-UP-FORTE!'''".
51	* GovernmentConspiracy: Of the benevolent variety. The space station holding the Earth Engine is actually a [[spoiler: cold sleep ark, meant to keep certain elite humans who can easily rebuild and repopulate safe]] in the event that the Kiltgang succeed. The public think that it's just a deep space telescope.
52	* HandCannon: The Livlasters, extremely powerful weapons used by the protagonists to power the Earth Engine. [[spoiler: They are also apparently the extension of a benevolent [[EldritchAbomination extra-dimensional being]] given to the worthy to help fight off the Kiltgang.]]
53	* HeroicSacrifice: Daichi's father pulled one in the backstory.
54	** Technically, Teppei pulled one [[spoiler:when he sacrificed his [[BroughtDownToNormal Ego Block in Kiltgang form]]. Of course, this became a case of DiscardAndDraw]]
55	* HumansAreBastards: No one's called mankind out on this specifically, but the backgrounds of the various Designer Children all showcase this trope.
56	* HumansThroughAlienEyes: The Planetary Gears believe that humanity is not a true sapient species because they are not immortal and have libidos that the Gears can consume. The Gears find the idea of ''not'' living forever to be bizarre and confusing, [[spoiler:although Siren does mention that the Kiltgang were once mortals.]]
57	** In episode 21, [[spoiler: Teppei]] muses about how strange and alien day to day human life feels [[TimeAbyss after living for thousands upon ten thousands of years]] as an [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot immortal space-vampire mecha.]]
58	* HumongousMecha: The Earth, Nebula and [[spoiler: Flare]] Engines.
59	** The Earth Engine Ordinary [[spoiler:and its sister units, Nebula and Flare]] can combine with three modules in order to form its larger, more powerful Impactor form. Makes you wonder why the Earth Engine [[spoiler:and its two sister units]] don't combine with each other, though.
60	** Then there are the Kiltgang's actual robot forms, which are even considerably bigger than the Engine Series Impacters (which are already very huge), making them truly ''gigantic''.
61	** [[SerialEscalation Dwarfing even the Kiltgangs]] is [[spoiler: Robin Goodfellow, which appears to be bigger than the Moon.]]
62	* IdiotBall: The Ark Faction would rather keep humanity's brightest and best in cold sleep, so that the human race can rebuild if the Kiltgang make it to Earth. However, for their plan to succeed, they need the ''Blume'', which only Hana can control. So what do they do? Antagonize her by trying to kidnap her and [[spoiler: attempting to kill her friends and lover]]. Repeatedly.
63	** Gets even worse when it's taken into account that they're actively sabotaging GLOBE and the Intercept Faction so that their "contingency" becomes necessary.
64	* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: Implied in Episode 16. While musing on [[HumansAreBastards the humans' treatment of their Designer Child forms]], Siren admits that while she can't forgive the humans for using her, if they go ahead with their plan to harvest all human energy, ''they'll'' be using the ''humans''. She stops just short of asking what the difference would be between them and the humans, but that's clearly what she's thinking.
65	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Hana. She simply doesn't understand what a pretty young girl flashing her undercarriage does to a boy Daichi's age.
66	** [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Akari]] on the other hand, is fully aware. [[RefugeInAudacity She even teaches Hana some "spells" to cheer Daichi up.]]
67	* JerkAss: Literally every member of Salty Dog introduced so far. The very first member seen is implied to sexually harass Hana and seems to take sadistic pleasure in announcing to Daichi that he's going to pretty much become their prisoner, complete with a [[ShockCollar lead gear]] for whenever he steps out of line. [[spoiler: Episode three also confirms that they're willing to endanger the entire planet and sabotage the Earth Engine just to get Daichi out of the picture and in episode 6 they kidnap and hold Hana ''at gunpoint.'']]
68	** It (temporarily) caps in episode 19, where they're trying to get [[spoiler:Hana]] at every cost. They need her alive, but for them it's totally alright to ''kill Daichi and Teppei'' to cripple the Intercept faction.
69	* JuxtaposedHalvesShot: Between Daichi and Teppei.
70	* LockingMacgyverInTheStoreCupboard: In episode 9 the Planetary Gears kidnap Akari, having grown frustrated with her hacking screwing up their plans. Instead of simply imprisoning her or killing her and depending on their own high-tech hacking skills, they give her a computer and tell her to hack for them against her allies. [[TooDumbToLive This goes about as well for them as could be expected]].
71	* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Akari is one to Teppei, Daichi and Hana, being eccentric, playful and doing everything she can to encourage them to lighten up and enjoy life.
72	* MeaningfulName: The series has multiple {{Shout Out}}s to Shakespeare's works:
73	** The evil megacorp is called Theatre/{{Macbeth}} Enterprises.
74	** The AI coordinating Macbeth and the Planetary Gears is called Puck, based on the the faerie from English folklore also known as Robin Goodfellow. The special weapons the Planetary Gears use are called Machine Goodfellows, while Puck uses the alias Robin when dealing with people outside Macbeth.[[spoiler: Robin Goodfellow is also the name of his final, Kill-T-Gang form.]]
75	** Daichi's team is called the [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Midsummer's Knights]]. In a further ShoutOut, the Planetary Gears' mothership is called Oberon.
76	** And subtly, while Globe is a perfectly reasonable name for a worldwide space exploration organization, it is also likely a reference to the Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare's plays debuted.
77	* AMechByAnyOtherName: Machine Goodfellows are Earth-manufacture machines, Kiltgangs are the alien ones.
78	* MiniMecha: Machine Goodfellows, Earth Engine Ordinary, Nebula Engine Ordinary[[spoiler: and Flare Engine Ordinary]].
79	* MsFanservice: The first invader, Moco, wears a skin-tight piloting suit that leaves little to the imagination.
80	** Lampshaded by Akari, who comments that exposing so much skin all the time stops it from being special.
81	** Speaking of [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Akari]], [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1hana_and_akari.jpg here's her with Hana.]]
82	* MissingMom: While we do see a picture of Daichi's mother in the first episode, we don't know where or who she is. Though later on her name is revealed as Umi. [[spoiler: She died when Daichi was a child]]
83	** Also Akari's mom, who the governor of the Tenkaido space station.
84	*** MrFanservice: Amara isn't any slouch either, wearing an equally revealing suit when it's his turn to pilot.
85	* TheMole: Salty Dog is working for the Ark Faction, a group of people who ''want'' the Kiltgang to get to Earth and eat everyone.
86	* NietzscheWannabe: The CEO of Macbeth Enterprises, the seeming leader of the Ark Faction. He wants the Kiltgang to succeed so that most of mankind will be eradicated, [[spoiler: leaving only the especially important and talented ones selected for cold sleep in the ark as a reserve emergency measure are the only ones left]], allowing him to manipulate the world into a utopia of his own design. [[spoiler: Until Puck takes control of his body.]]
87	* NiceGuy: Daichi, Hana, Teppei, and Akari are all kind, friendly, caring, and supportive with each other.
88	* NoLovesIntersect: So far in both the episodes and first opening/ending, they have been pretty consistent on going with Daichi/Hana and Teppei/Akari, with no LoveTriangle whatsoever.
89	* NotQuiteTheRightThing: The Ark Faction's plan to deal with the Kiltgang menace is indeed a viable plan of last resort, as the fight with the Kiltgang is genuinely fraught with peril, and the chance of losing is very high, even without sabotage and collusion from Earth agents. Unfortunately, the Ark Faction is run by a cabal of self-righteous lunatics that are so determined to make their plan the ''only option'' that they're more than willing to actually aid the Kiltgang in turning Earth into a giant crystal coffin in the process.
90	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:In episode 23, Daichi gets stuck in a dream by the Kiltgangs. However, Akari is also trapped in one, and Teppei implies she did just as good of a job escaping, but we don't get to see it.]]
91	* OffWithHisHead: Once on Earth, the Planetary Gears can activate their Machine Goodfellows, which after a certain amount of time, transfers their consciousness to their Kiltgang form, meaning they can attack Earth and consume humanity's libidos. To stop this, Daichi must remove or damage the Machine Goodfellow's head before the Kiltgang can activate.
92	* OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: A small group of sharply dressed men and women known as the Ark Faction are not pleased to find that Earth stands a fighting chance. They are rivals of the Intercept Faction, and they believe that mankind staying on earth is a doomed endeavor, a la [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Char Aznable.]]
93	* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchPhrase: "Earth Engine, expand!" Later changes to "Earth Engine, scramble!"
94	* OrdinaryHighschoolStudent: Daichi, he also lampshades it.
95	-->I'm just a high school student.
96	* ParentWithNewParamour: Akari seems to have mixed feelings about her divorced father's attempts to hook up with Rita.
97	* PlayfulHacker: Akari. "Logical, logical!"
98	* PutOnABus: Eiji.
99	* RammingAlwaysWorks
100	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure
101	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Pitz, Hana's pet [[BuffySpeak squirrel-looking]] [[CallASmeerpARabbit thing.]]
102	** Setsuna has a pink version of Pitz named Lappa.
103	* RocketPunch: With an interesting twist to the trope: [[spoiler: Daichi blows up a rocket behind him so he can push the Earth Engine forward and punch Amarok. It works.]]
104	* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/CaptainEarthDVD.jpg Daichi is about to shoot you.]]
105	* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: Eiji mistakes Akari for Teppei's girlfriend in episode 5. Teppei denies it, Akari is silent, and Eiji is amused and asks Akari to take care of Teppei for him.
106	* ShipTease:
107	** A lot between Teppei and Akari, starting with episode 5.
108	** And the episode after, Daichi and Hana get the same treatment. [[spoiler: [[RelationshipUpgrade They eventually make it official.]]]]
109	* ShockCollar: The lead gear placed on Teppei, Hana, and later Daichi by Salty Dog in episode 2, which causes pain if they try to leave the area around the base. [[spoiler: They're forced to abandon them when Daichi destroys the antenna, rendering them useless.]]
110	* ShoutOut:
111	** The camera angles during the Livlaster introduction are evocative of the introduction of the [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evas]].
112	** There are a lot of names that reference the works of Creator/WilliamShakespeare: The organizations Theatre/{{Macbeth}} Enterprises and Globe, the AI [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Puck]], the mothership Oberon, and the robots are called Machine Goodfellows, after Robin Goodfellow, another name for Puck.
113	** Daichi's attack in episode 18 is similar to an infamous moment in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]''.
114	* SpiritualSuccessor: Is widely considered to be one to ''Anime/StarDriver''.
115	* SupernaturallyYoungParent: Eiji Arashi, [[spoiler: Teppei's biological father. Teppei is a [[DesignerBabies Designer Child]], and Eiji has been in cold sleep for a while.]]
116	* SuperRobotGenre: Using their [[RayGun Livlasters]], [[spoiler:which, in reality, are [[EmpathicWeapon extra-dimensional aliens that choose which humans to wield them]]]], the Midsummer's Knights can harness their [[HotBlooded near-limitless Orgone energy]] to power up their [[AMechByAnyOtherName Impacters]], and thus essentially break the laws of physics to save the world from the invading Kiltgangs.
117	** The Kiltgangs are practically like that, as well, but for a different reason. Any time even a single Kiltgang makes contact with the Earth, it could [[VampiricDraining parasite off of its entire human population's Orgone energy]].
118	* TitleDrop: At the end of episode 7, with the Midsummer's Knights team finally formed, Tsutomu dramatically declares to Daichi that, as the pilot of the Earth Engine and leader of the team, "You are Captain Earth!"
119	** Done again in the final episode, this time Daichi declaring this name himself before entering the final battle with [[spoiler:Robin Goodfellow]].
120	-->I'm Captain Earth!
121	* TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler: Hana and Daichi confess their mutual feelings this way]] in episode 15.
122	** Episode 21 has [[spoiler: Akari giving one to Teppei.]]
123	** [[spoiler: How Daichi frees Hana from Puck's control in the finale.]]
124	* ThemeNaming: Outside of the previously mentioned numerous ShoutOutToShakespeare, the Manatsu family is composed of [[LandSeaSky Daichi (earth), his father Taiyou (sun) and his mother Umi (sea)]]. Naturally, Daichi and Taiyou pilot the Earth Engine and Star Engine respectively. And their last name means "midsummer", which is actually pointed out by Akari at the formation of the Midsummer's Knights.
125	* TouchTelepathy: Designer Children can read a person's mind and transfer memories by kissing them. This is how Amara and Moco awaken the Designer Children's former memories.
126	* TrueCompanions: The Midsummer's Knights are all this.
127	* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Hana was originally created to be a tool by the [[spoiler:Kiltgang]] for the sole purpose of getting the Livlaster to function, but ultimately defected.
128	* UnwittingPawn: The Macbeth Enterprises CEO and the Ark Faction think that the Kiltgang are this to them, whereas the Kiltgang feel this way about the Ark Faction and CEO. It's not yet clear who will ultimately wind up benefiting or getting screwed over.
129	* UsedToBeASweetKid: All the Planetary Gears prior to being awakened.
130	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Officially, the Ark Faction is just an alternative approach to allowing humanity to survive the Kiltgang invasion and Salty Dog is a neutral third-party that monitors alien technology on Earth. In reality, the Ark Faction is actively attempting to facilitate the Kiltgang's arrival by sabotaging the Intercept Faction, and Salty Dog are their muscle and spies within GLOBE.
131	* WhenSheSmiles: Well, When ''He'' Smiles, in a GenderInvertedExample: In episode 3, Akari notes that Teppei's cuter when he smiles.
132	* WhenYouComingHomeDad: In episode 3, Akari calls out her father for not having seen her once in the last five years, to the point that he pretty much doesn't know anything about her life at all. Played for laughs, as she deliberately dramatizes it since [[GenkiGirl her personality]] isn't the sort to be angsty over that sort of thing.
133	* WorkingWithTheEx: Akari's divorced parents are the commander of the Tanegashima Launch Center and the governor of the Tenkaidou space station, but they're able to maintain their professional relationship and defend the earth.
134	* WorldOfBuxom: While not an ecchi show by any means, a majority of the female characters are very well-endowed.
135	** Except for Akari, who is [[ACupAngst clearly jealous of the attention her peers' busts get.]]
136	* YouCantThwartStageOne: The Midsummer's Knights can't stop Amara and Moco from awakening the other Planetary Gears, and can't stop them getting in their Machine Goodfellows.

Context Anime / CaptainEarth