“ORB: On Earth’s movements“Is one of the best new Anime in recent years. This is a drama about the pursuit of knowledge and resilience in human curiosity for persecution, about how difficult it is to kill ideas and the sacrifices that lead to scientific breakthroughs. The show is located in Europe in the 16th century at a time of the Inquisition, a time when heretics are burned on the game and it is mainly forbidden to look at the stars. You understand, the church seems particularly anxious to kill a stupid little theory that the earth is revolving about the sun.
One thing that makes the show unique is the lack of a protagonist. Instead, the show focuses on following several people for many decades, each being introduced to the heliocentrism theory and being unable to release the idea of doing research to prove it. Eventually, their lives are consumed by the pursuit of knowledge and the desire to drive the envelope on theory just a little longer. The theme of the knowledge and inevitability of human curiosity is central to “orb: on the movements of the earth.” Or at least that’s what the theme should be, unless it was for a big mistake in English subtitles on Netflix.
Several times throughout the season, the English subtitles use “orb: on the movements of the earth” word “truth” in relation to the resistance of it and its endeavor. It makes sense. After all, the season’s action is the pursuit of proof that the earth revolves around the sun, an absolute truth about the nature of the universe. In addition to being a simplification of what the original dialogue says and a location error with major consequences. In Japanese, the word “chi” is spoken several times by different characters throughout the season.
Like many Japanese words, it can mean different things depending on how it is written – it can mean the word for blood “血”, the word for soil or land “地” or the word for knowledge or intellect “知.” Even the Japanese title uses the word “chi”, why in other languages titles the show as “chi, earth, blood and knowledge.” Although you can claim that both “truth” and “knowledge” apply, there is a great thematic difference between them.
In the English translation, the show constantly refers to the concept of “truth” as absolute, and it changes the main theme for Anime. The main theme is not just about the religious persecution of the truth, but rather the conflict between the church and the pursuit of knowledge and the intellect of humanity. Having Nowak says in section 3 that he despises the “truth” is very different from that he confesses his hatred for “knowledge”, since he specifically against people’s thirst for knowledge that leads to dangerous truths being spread.
And the pursuit of knowledge drives each element in “Orb: on the movements of the earth.” As mentioned, the best part of anime is that it does not really have a protagonist, and the focus is on the very idea of heliocentrism being passed and inspiring new generations of people who want to gain knowledge. When the idea of heliocentrism takes hold of a new character, they slowly become unable not to work on proving heliocentrism even before torture and execution. Instead of focusing on the individual or group of individuals who make the discovery or who become known for an performance, “orb: on the earth’s movements”, the importance of building on what came before. In it, Anime claims that there is no such thing as a mistake, because every failure is knowledge that helps who comes after you. It may be a small thing, but it means that the range and tone of the show stand out from other stories about discoveries in science.
Location is an art, not a science, and just as there are many dubs that are just as good if not better than the original, there is also show and movies with initially terrible location. There were controversy about the loss of deeper importance in the English subtitles for “squid game”, and there are plenty of titles that lose something in the translation. That is why location is important, because it can change the whole meaning of a story.
“Orb: On the Movements of the Earth” Season 1 is now flowing on Netflix with a new episode which premieres Saturday 15 March.
