Copyright © 1989 Kouga Yun / Shinshokan - Youmex

I remember seeing part of EARTHIAN for the first time a few years ago: The scene opening with images of past human tragedies and wars, and then highlighting upon a bird flying through a city scene.
The main characters, Kagetsuya and Chihaya, are Angels sent to investigate humankind in order to decide whether they are worthy to survive. Kagetsuya is a handsome male, cool and skeptical, and in charge of evaluating the darker side of people. Chihaya appears younger (and almost female), more optimistic and naive, and is responsible for reports on the good nature of humans.
The plot of this episode revolves mostly around Chihaya, still dealing with a mistake he made while on assignment in Hong Kong. He accidentally runs into a strange girl running from pursuers, and thus finds himself involved in a dark project.
Honestly, this series, or at least this particular episode, sometimes seems to cross into too many genres. For instance, at one point it takes on a very shoujo style appearance with the character designs and interactions of the main characters, and next we have hand to hand combat with strange men in dark suits and the occasional robot.
The subtitling work by AnimeWorks is decent, and I commend the English dub for being quite reasonable. One truly minor nit-pick on my part; I truly dislike the company logo screens. (I said it was minor).
Overall I have mixed opinions about EARTHIAN. The animation quality is good for its time, and the main characters are interesting, but the potluck of plot elements and general story turned me off it. Also, in this one 45 minute episode, I still do not have a feeling of what the future episodes will be like. Perhaps this series would have better been divided into only two volumes, rather than three. EARTHIAN is definitely worthy of a rental, but I need to see more of where this series is headed before I would suggest a purchase.

Released in N. America by AnimeWorks
VHS, 45 minutes
English Subbed: AWVS-9834, $24.95
English Dubbed: AWVD-8938, $24.95
Available now in the USA
Where to buy