Please Save My Earth:

Reviewed: Episodes 1-6 (subbed)

Basic Plot:

Arisu has always been able to communicate with plants, but she has no idea why. After over-hearing a suspicious conversation between two male classmates, she is approached by them to clear up what the conversation was about. They explain that they’ve been sharing a recurring dream about a past life on a mysterious moon base in which they were scientists studying the earth. Arisu doesn’t think much of it until she has a dream about the moon base herself! In the dream, she is the beautiful Mokuren and she meets Mokuren’s lover Shion. After giving detailed descriptions of the things and people she saw in the dream, the two male classmates are sure that she shared a past life with them as well. They begin searching for others who may be the reincarnations of the other scientists. When will Arisu meet the reincarnated Shion, and how does her rowdy young neighbor Rin, who is developing dangerous psychic abilities, fit into the picture? And, after having only one dream about the moon base, how can Arisu be sure that she really is Mokuren at all? All these questions must be answered as they try to piece together the tragic story of their past lives.

Review:

That plot description doesn’t do it justice. This is a very hard series to explain, since it has such a large amount of back-story. Regardless, this is an excellent anime that shouldn’t, for any reason, be missed. Between intense psychic battles and heartbreaking romance, there’s something here that any anime fan can enjoy. The action is breathtaking and exciting. The drama is excruciatingly beautiful. The plot itself is deep and involving. The characters are (for the most part) relatable and likable. You have to feel for these people, who have to dream about their own tragic deaths and deal with other such issues (one of the female scientists was reincarnated as a boy, and the man she was in love with was reincarnated as said boy’s best friend). Then there are the few side-characters that aren’t reincarnations and have to attempt to support these people.

The animation is beautiful, with some of the best imagery I’ve seen. The music is pretty good, but nothing I particularly wanted to download. Voice acting is perfect. The major flaw, however, resides in the length (or rather, lack of length) of this series. The manga was 19 volumes long, which was perfect length to tell a story of this magnitude. The anime should’ve been given much more than a measly six-episode OVA. They simply couldn’t cram all of the back-story and plot into those limitations. This flaw isn’t very noticeable until the end, where there really isn’t an ending at all. This does unspeakable damage to what could have quite possibly been the best anime ever made. It leads you through an enjoyable yet heart-wrenching journey, then drops you off right before you reach your destination. This is unforgivable. If you want a small bit of conclusion, I recommend watching the PSME movie, which is basically the OVA with a lot of scenes cut out and a few short new ones added in, which happens to include some ending footage that helps to smooth things over. If you want the full PSME experience however, I recommend getting a hold of the manga, or at least some good translations.