Please Save My Earth
Encyclopedia
, sometimes abbreviated Bokutama, is a shōjo
science fiction
manga
by Saki Hiwatari
. It was published by Hakusensha
from 1987 to 1994 in Hana to Yume
and collected in 21 tankōbon
volumes. The series was adapted as a six-part anime
OVA in 1993. It is about six teenagers and a seven year old boy who share common dreams about their past lives as alien scientists who observed the Earth from the Moon. Both the anime
OVA and manga
are licensed for distribution in North America
by Viz Media
.
A sequel manga, Boku o Tsutsumu Tsuki no Hikari (The Moonlight That Embraces Me), is currently being serialized in the bimonthly Hana to Yume
as well as the special edition magazine, Hana to Yume Plus.
student Alice Sakaguchi, her seven-year old neighbor Rin Kobayashi, and five other teenage students who have recurring collective dream
s about a group of alien
scientists stationed on the moon
observing and collecting data about the Earth
.
Initially, when Alice learns that fellow classmates Jinpachi and Issei have been having common recurring dreams since middle school
, she thinks nothing of it until she has one of these "moon dreams" herself. Because of the nature of these dreams, the way Issei always dreams as the same person, and Jinpachi as well, now that Alice has provided a third perspective, they start to believe that people who dream as the other four scientists in their "moon dreams" can each be found.
Almost like it's a game, the three make plans to seek these other people out in the hopes of making sense of these dreams. After a suggestion from Issei, and a little bit of time and luck, they are finally able to make contact with the other four people. But as the six teenagers and one child start to piece together the timeline and content of their dreams, they began to realize that their "dreams" are not simply dreams, but rather suppressed memories of their past incarnations (as those same moon scientists) that ended tragically. And now, as their "game" begins to unravel, the kids must strive to come to terms with what happened in their past lives, as they struggle to prevent their past incarnations' rivalries, jealousies, and dubious actions from taking over their new ones.
. The series was serialized by Hakusensha
in the monthly shōjo (aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine Hana to Yume
from 1987 to 1994. The serial installments were collected, without chapter divisions, in 21 tankōbon
volumes. The series was later reissued in 12 bunkoban volumes in 1998. It is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media
, with all volumes translated.
(OVA) directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and produced by Production I.G. The six-episode OVA anime
covers roughly the first half of the manga storyline.
The OVA is licensed in English by Viz Media
. As of September 2007, it is out of print.
These image videos were released with the movie on a single DVD in Japan entitled "Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte Vol.4" (Victor Entertainment, VIBF-77).
Image Video Titles
Of these, the two most significant contributions to the plot that was left out of the OVA are from Mikadzuki no Shindai and Ring.
Mikadzuki no Shindai contains a number of new scenes from Mokuren's past. In the OVA, only Shion's past gets any amount of screen time but Mokuren had just as much, if not more than he did in the manga. This image video will likely not make a whole lot of sense to someone who has not read the manga, but the scenes in it are meant to demonstrate that Mokuren's life up to the point when she goes to ZKK-101 has not been nearly as happy as the OVA makes viewers think.
The image video Ring, on the other hand, shows a very pared-down version of the end of the manga that was left out of the OVA. It explains why Rin needed Tokyo Tower and why was he was collecting the passwords of the other scientists. The title of this image video is another way to write "Rin" in English, as mentioned in the manga a few times.
Moon Light Anthem ~Enju 1991~ is an image video dedicated to Enju, depicting Issei's struggle to deal with Enju's incredibly strong feelings toward someone she cannot have.
Toki no Kioku is the ending animation from the OVA with a slight modification: Mokuren and Shion looking out across the sea near the end instead of Alice and Rin. This image video is the only occurrence of this version of the ending sequence; the movie uses the OVA version.
As of 2006, over 15 million copies of Please Save My Earth volumes had sold in Japan, making it one of the best-selling shōjo manga ever.
Starting in volume 8 of the manga, a disclaimer
appeared at the bottom of the first page of every compilation volume
, stating that the story was entirely fictional. This was due to disturbing letters to Hiwatari received from people who were convinced that they had been part of the moon scientist's society (or even one of the moon scientists themselves) and had been reborn
on Earth. These disclaimers have since appeared in her others works, most notably on the first pages of each volume of Global Garden
.
Several manga artists have cited Please Save My Earth as an influence on them, including Naoko Takeuchi
and Bisco Hatori
.
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by Saki Hiwatari
Saki Hiwatari
is a Japanese shōjo manga artist. Her first work, Mahōtsukai wa Shitteriu was published in the weekly shōjo anthology Hana to Yume in 1982. Hiwatari is probably most well known for Please Save My Earth, a 21-volume series concerning several alien scientists who are reincarnated as high school...
. It was published by Hakusensha
Hakusensha
is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....
from 1987 to 1994 in Hana to Yume
Hana to Yume
is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...
and collected in 21 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes. The series was adapted as a six-part anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
OVA in 1993. It is about six teenagers and a seven year old boy who share common dreams about their past lives as alien scientists who observed the Earth from the Moon. Both the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
OVA and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
are licensed for distribution in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
.
A sequel manga, Boku o Tsutsumu Tsuki no Hikari (The Moonlight That Embraces Me), is currently being serialized in the bimonthly Hana to Yume
Hana to Yume
is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...
as well as the special edition magazine, Hana to Yume Plus.
Plot
The story centers around high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
student Alice Sakaguchi, her seven-year old neighbor Rin Kobayashi, and five other teenage students who have recurring collective dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s about a group of alien
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
scientists stationed on the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
observing and collecting data about the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
Initially, when Alice learns that fellow classmates Jinpachi and Issei have been having common recurring dreams since middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
, she thinks nothing of it until she has one of these "moon dreams" herself. Because of the nature of these dreams, the way Issei always dreams as the same person, and Jinpachi as well, now that Alice has provided a third perspective, they start to believe that people who dream as the other four scientists in their "moon dreams" can each be found.
Almost like it's a game, the three make plans to seek these other people out in the hopes of making sense of these dreams. After a suggestion from Issei, and a little bit of time and luck, they are finally able to make contact with the other four people. But as the six teenagers and one child start to piece together the timeline and content of their dreams, they began to realize that their "dreams" are not simply dreams, but rather suppressed memories of their past incarnations (as those same moon scientists) that ended tragically. And now, as their "game" begins to unravel, the kids must strive to come to terms with what happened in their past lives, as they struggle to prevent their past incarnations' rivalries, jealousies, and dubious actions from taking over their new ones.
Manga
Please Save My Earth was written and drawn by Saki HiwatariSaki Hiwatari
is a Japanese shōjo manga artist. Her first work, Mahōtsukai wa Shitteriu was published in the weekly shōjo anthology Hana to Yume in 1982. Hiwatari is probably most well known for Please Save My Earth, a 21-volume series concerning several alien scientists who are reincarnated as high school...
. The series was serialized by Hakusensha
Hakusensha
is a Japanese publishing company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo.The company mainly publishes manga magazines of various genres and is involved in certain series' productions in their games, original video animation, musical and their animated TV series....
in the monthly shōjo (aimed at teenage girls) manga magazine Hana to Yume
Hana to Yume
is a semi-monthly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Hakusensha.The magazine is published on the 4th and 22nd of every month. It is often nicknamed as among the readers...
from 1987 to 1994. The serial installments were collected, without chapter divisions, in 21 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes. The series was later reissued in 12 bunkoban volumes in 1998. It is licensed in English in North America by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
, with all volumes translated.
OVA
Please Save My Earth was adapted as an original video animationOriginal video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
(OVA) directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and produced by Production I.G. The six-episode OVA anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
covers roughly the first half of the manga storyline.
The OVA is licensed in English by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
. As of September 2007, it is out of print.
Movie
Please Save My Earth Movie: From Alice to Rin-kun is a two-hour movie narrated by Alice, reminiscing on the events of the OVA as she is on her way to meet with Rin in a park. The "present day" scenes of Alice and Rin from the movie add scenes that were not present in the manga.Image Videos
Please Save My Earth Music Image Video: The Passing of the Golden Age contains six music videos with footage not seen in the OVA and scenes taken from the manga, as well as a slightly different version of the OVA ending sequence, and the ending credits for the image videos.These image videos were released with the movie on a single DVD in Japan entitled "Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte Vol.4" (Victor Entertainment, VIBF-77).
Image Video Titles
- Prologue ~kiniro no toki nagarete~
- Mikadzuki no Shindai
- Yume no Sumika
- Moon Light Anthem ~Enju 1991~
- Ring
- Tokete yuku Jikan
- Toki no Kioku
- Epilogue: Etude ~Tensei Gensou~
Of these, the two most significant contributions to the plot that was left out of the OVA are from Mikadzuki no Shindai and Ring.
Mikadzuki no Shindai contains a number of new scenes from Mokuren's past. In the OVA, only Shion's past gets any amount of screen time but Mokuren had just as much, if not more than he did in the manga. This image video will likely not make a whole lot of sense to someone who has not read the manga, but the scenes in it are meant to demonstrate that Mokuren's life up to the point when she goes to ZKK-101 has not been nearly as happy as the OVA makes viewers think.
The image video Ring, on the other hand, shows a very pared-down version of the end of the manga that was left out of the OVA. It explains why Rin needed Tokyo Tower and why was he was collecting the passwords of the other scientists. The title of this image video is another way to write "Rin" in English, as mentioned in the manga a few times.
Moon Light Anthem ~Enju 1991~ is an image video dedicated to Enju, depicting Issei's struggle to deal with Enju's incredibly strong feelings toward someone she cannot have.
Toki no Kioku is the ending animation from the OVA with a slight modification: Mokuren and Shion looking out across the sea near the end instead of Alice and Rin. This image video is the only occurrence of this version of the ending sequence; the movie uses the OVA version.
Reception
As of 2006, over 15 million copies of Please Save My Earth volumes had sold in Japan, making it one of the best-selling shōjo manga ever.
Starting in volume 8 of the manga, a disclaimer
Disclaimer
A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship...
appeared at the bottom of the first page of every compilation volume
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
, stating that the story was entirely fictional. This was due to disturbing letters to Hiwatari received from people who were convinced that they had been part of the moon scientist's society (or even one of the moon scientists themselves) and had been reborn
Reborn
Reborn may refer to:*Reborn, a Digital Creative Agency in Sydney, Australia*Reborn!, a manga series and a character in the manga*Reborn , a novel by F...
on Earth. These disclaimers have since appeared in her others works, most notably on the first pages of each volume of Global Garden
Global Garden
is a manga by Saki Hiwatari, who is best known as the creator of Please Save My Earth.The series was published in Hakusensha's Hana to Yume which comes out bi-weekly in Japan. The series is completed at 8 volumes.-Story:...
.
Several manga artists have cited Please Save My Earth as an influence on them, including Naoko Takeuchi
Naoko Takeuchi
is a Japanese manga artist who lives in Tokyo, Japan. Takeuchi's works have a wide following among anime and manga fans worldwide. Her most popular work, Sailor Moon, rose to become one of the most recognized manga and anime products to date.-Early life:...
and Bisco Hatori
Bisco Hatori
is a Japanese manga artist. She is well known for her series Ouran High School Host Club.-Personal:Born in Saitama, Japan, this successful manga artist uses the pseudonym Bisco Hatori. She has worked for such magazines as LaLa. Her manga debut was A Moment of Romance in LaLa DX...
.
See also
- The Tale of the Bamboo CutterThe Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, also known as , is a 10th century Japanese folktale. It is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative and an early example of proto-science fiction....
- Japanese folktale with elements similar to Please Save My Earth
External links
- Official Viz Media manga website
- Please Save My Earth at Anime-Online
- Plot summaries of OVA episodes
- "Shojo Manga Pick of the Month" -(J-pop.com review)