Please Save My Earth

 Title: Boku no Chikyuu wo Mamotte (Please Save My Earth)
 Creator(s): Saki Hiwatari
 Publisher(s): Hakusensha Inc., VIZ Media
 Year: 1987
 Genre(s): Shoujo, science fiction, drama, romance
 Length: 21 volumes
 Reviewed by: Yukari on January 10, 2008

Synopsis

Alice Sakaguchi has recurring strange dreams about living on the moon. One day, she finds out that her classmates, Jinpachi Ogura and Issei Nishikiyori, also share similar dreams about living on the moon. They discover that these dreams are glimpses of their past lives as a team of alien scientists stationed on the moon. As they try to figure out what happened to them in their past lives, complications arise and they discover tragedies that continue to haunt their present lives.

Review

When I first started reading this series, I was excited to find a new series that I thought I would enjoy. The original and highly intriguing plot piqued my interest. "Please Save My Earth" had potential to become something great, but I started to lose interest as the story progressed. The story was confusing, the pacing was slow, and many questions that were left unanswered in the first few volumes are still unanswered ten volumes later.

In volume 20, the author herself admitted that her story was flying in all directions. The series has an interesting plot but the author tends to get sidetracked. Hiwatari needs to find a focus and stick to it. Sometimes, less is more. Many good movies have deleted scenes because they are considered unnecessary or do not fit well into the story. This series is like an unedited movie, a big jumbled mess. Hiwatari also mentioned that her characters take a life of their own. While good authors have vivid imaginations, great authors are able to control their characters.

"Please Save My Earth" focuses mainly on the relationship between lovers, Mokuren and Shion (reincarnated as Alice and Rin). When a deadly disease breaks out on the moon, the scientists slowly started to die one by one. The last three left alive are Shukaido, Mokuren, and Shion. Shukaido gave a vaccine to Shion so that he is the only one to survive on the moon. As a result, Shion is reincarnated as Rin nine years later than the rest of the cast. Being alone for nine years drives Shion near the brink insanity. He uses his reincarnation as an opportunity to seek revenge.

One relationship I can't accept in this series is the one between Alice and Rin. I understand that they were lovers in their past lives, but in their present lives, Rin is a little boy and Alice is a high school girl. A brother-sister relationship would make more sense than a relationship as "lovers." When the word, "marriage," was mentioned, I thought that it was a joke. But the author was serious. How can anyone imagine a seventeen year old girl marrying an eight year old boy? It is absurd, no matter what the circumstances. (I later found out that a sequel to this series exists, in which the author writes about the child Alice has with Rin. Can anyone say, "Ew?")

Masashi Kishimoto, the author of "Naruto," once said, "No matter how much you enjoy creating manga, you always need to think of your readers because you're writing for them." Until Hiwatari gets out of her own little world and acknowledge her readers a bit more, I do not think I will be reading her other works any time soon.

Overall Rating: 2/5