Summary: >

In the distant future the Earth has become nearly a wasteland. It is decided that the planet needs time to heal, and thus the people take to the stars while they wait for the day when everyone can return. Society is ruled by a few super computers and human lives are plotted with efficiency in mind. Children are created in test tubes, raised by selected parents, and if they pass the test to adulthood; have their memories wiped so they can become a functional member of society.

Not everyone is keen on having a machine rule them. There are a band of outcasts called the Mu who have ESP abilities that are on the run from the regular humans. Many years will entail hardship and war, but a boy named Jomy Shin will rise to lead the Mu. But will he choose to destroy the humans, or try to coexist with them? Would the humans even be willing to do so?

Thoughts: >

Toward the Terra is a movie circa 1980, so needless to say it's pretty dated but the animation is of fair quality. It's also got a lot of wacky music. While I'd like to be kinder to a classic anime title, if this were a live action movie then I couldn't let the problems with this title slide. The big problem is typical of a film that tries to take a big series and squash it down to a movie length.

The movie starts in Jomy's youth, and tries to capture various elements of his life but scenes are just way too disjointed to flow well, although they manage to get the point across (a bit forcibly). Characters are lacking in believability in general in this one, but due to the way this is put together Jomy comes out a bit scatter brained. He goes from denying he's a Mu and hating them, to accepting the whole thing, to becoming their leader in something like 2 minutes. That's not to say it's a bad idea, but just not properly fleshed out.

I didn't think some of the logic flowed well either. Everyone seems to be obsessed with returning to the Earth, however the Earth is literally a crap hole and there's only one underground city. There are various inhabitable planets that look just as nice as the earth, but yet people still seem bent on Terra. Aside from that society is orchestrated by a computer, and the title makes a point in showing how people dislike this as being inhumane, but the reality is that if people had never known another life, they wouldn't even know any better. One amusing thing is that natural childbirth hasn't occurred in 200 years. Jomy declares to his band that they should try it. He looks at Carina and she's like "Oh, you want me to volunteer? OK!". I'm like, holy crap is that guy smooth. I guess when you have your own cult, dating becomes very efficient. Actually there are a lot of points that seem like logic flaws, but probably just weren't well explained.

The other main drawback is that this title devolves into a disaster movie a few times where it spends way too much time focusing on people trying to escape whatever catastrophe befalls them. There's also two space battles that were out of place in length and detail.

I liked the story of Toward the Terra, but the way it was told was rather poor. Likewise the characters seemed plastic, but again I think that's because they aren't given enough time to develop. If you're interested in seeking out a title that is specifically an old school anime sci-fi title, then Toward the Terra is a decent watch. Excluding people seeking a film on those merits, it's probably better to avoid this one. The more recent TV series has thus far been well praised, so you may want to check into that instead.