Captain Earth

Captain Earth (キャプテン アース) is an original mecha action series by Enokido Yoji.  The 25 episode  series originally aired in Japan between April and September of 2014.

   Manatsu Daichi is a troubled high school student who struggles with the expectations set upon him and runs away from his foster fathers home.  He returns to Tanegashima island where he met two strange children years earlier, in hopes to see then again.  His deceased father was an astronaut who worked at the launch facility on the island.  One day while Daichi was by himself he wandered into a restricted area and met a mysterious boy named Teppei.  They sneaked into the facility where they met a girl enclosed in liquid.  The girl, Hana, reacts to Daichi's presence.  Now Daichi seeks Teppei and the mystery girl again, searching to calm his unease and uncertainty.  He finds both and discovers that a secret organization is stationed on the island whose sole purpose is to defend Earth from alien agressers who are trying to destroy all human life.  Hana had bestowed a power to Daichi that allows him to pilot the mecha, Earth Engine, and fight against the aliens.  The three once again reunite and join forces with a spunky hacker girl, becoming Earths best and last defense for total human extinction.  Things don't seem as they really are as the group discovers the sinister forces moving in the back ground that don't particularly want the aliens plan stopped.

    The only reason I continued to watch this show to the very end was due to the interesting story, otherwise it was a pretty miserable show.  I could care less for the characters and their success or failure.  The enemies were ridiculous and the mech designs were either Gundam rip offs or horrible.  What kept me coming back each week was the intrigue, I wanted to find out what was up with all the factions behind the scenes and what their motivation was.  That's all...and it was pretty horrible in the end.  It could have been done significantly better and more mature.  The whole 'libido' thing was just plain idiotic.  The artwork was slick and modern and some of the character designs were nice.  This show could have been so much better though, if it was darker and had more original mech designs.  There was a lot of potential wasted I think, but that would be to cater to my tastes and I know I'm a bit in the minority.

    The series was simulcast via Crucnhyroll with no word on it seeing a disc release in North America.  A video game spin off is slated for 2015.