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Orb: On the Movements of the Earth
A beautiful matatextual narrative touching on human curiosity and the nature of history. Though, that’s not really what I’m interested in talking about here.
Yoshiyuki Tomino, Gundam’s creator, heavily critiqued the adaptation in a recent interview around the time it finished airing; and I found my sentiment throughout the experience mirroring his own.
Orb’s Anime is a competent adaptation of the source material, but not a faithful one. Just not in the traditional “they changed stuff!” sense.
It’s uninspired and inoffensively directed, the anthesis of the Manga with its bold sketchy look and careful paneling. Watching the adaptation, you can visualize the production going through the motions instead of tailoring their approach to the strength of the source material.
That said, I still enjoyed it, but that was in spite of the adaptation and not because of it. I’d still recommend the anime with no caveats. It’s a complete, slightly above serviceable adaptation of the source, and the narrative carries the adaptation through its weakest points.
It’s just unfortunate that everything surrounding it—everything unique to the medium it was adapted into—was an afterthought.