Underplayed Gems

The Orbital Children (2022)

The Orbital Children poster
Original title
地球外少年少女
Directed by
Mitsuo Iso
Genre
animation, action & adventure, sci-fi & fantasy, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country
Japan
Length
1 season, 6 episodes
Rated
TV-14
Rating
7.3 of 10 from 81 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A group of children are stranded at a space station after a disaster. They must survive using their wits and technology while uncovering a conspiracy.

futuristicmysterioussuspensefulfast-pacedthought-provokinginventivespace-boundyouthful

What happens

The Orbital Children (Japanese: 地球外少年少女, Hepburn: Chikyūgai Shōnen Shōjo; transl. "Extraterrestrial Boys and Girls") is a Japanese science fiction anime television series written and directed by Mitsuo Iso. The character designs for the anime were provided by Kenichi Yoshida, and the main animator is Toshiyuki Inoue. The film's soundtrack was produced by Rei Ishizuka, while the theme song, "Oarana", was written and composed by Vincent Diamante and performed by the virtual rap singer Harusaruhi The Orbital Children was released in Japan as two films, with Part 1 premiering in January 2022, and Part 2 in February. Netflix announced in November 2021 that it had acquired the global distribution rights. On Netflix, The Orbital Children was released as a six-episode miniseries in January 2022, to coincide with the Japanese debut of Part 1. The animation style and story focus on children and technology bear resemblance to Mitsuo Iso's 2007 television anime series Den-noh Coil. The animation style emphasizes dense motion while working with simplistic-looking character designs, which works effectively to convey the complicated movement of drones, gravity, and orbital vehicles aboard the space station. The Orbital Children explores interactions with artificial intelligence (AI) and considers the different outcomes that can occur when AIs come to different conclusions about humans as they acquire different levels of understanding on the complexities of humanity. AI within the series have restrictions placed upon them to limit their capabilities and prevent them from becoming too smart and potentially threatening humanity, a story element that becomes relevant in later episodes of the miniseries. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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