AKA: チ。―地球の運動について―

Genre: Seinen Historical Fiction

Length: Web release, 25 episodes, 25 minutes each

Distributor: Currently available streaming on Netflix.

Content Rating: TV-MA (Violence, torture.)

Related Series: N/A

Also Recommended: Altair: A Record of Battles

Notes: Based on manga by Uoto, published by Shogakukan

Rating:

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Synopsis

In a story set circa the early 15th Century, various adherents to the heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of the Solar System struggle to develop and promulgate the theory, despite the counterefforts of an Inquisitor who wants to expunge the theory, AND its supporters.

Review

Fun fact: Galileo was not actually tortured by the Church, but he WAS shown the instruments to be used for that purpose, and allowed to to make up his own mind; and, showing perhaps less resolve, or more discretion, than Joan of Arc (take your pick), he yielded to the Church authorities. The authorities even sweetened the deal by allowing Galileo to teach the heliocentric theory, as long as he taught it as "just a theory", and not necessarily something that actually represented reality. (Galileo's sin in the eyes of the Church authorities was asserting that his telescopic observations provided strong evidence for heliocentrism. This reviewer finds strong parallels here to the way some feel that biological evolution, if taught at all, should be taught. The more things change...)

But neither Galileo nor telescopes are seen in Orb, and I composed a first draft of this review on the theory that this was kind of an alternate-Earth history of heliocentrism. (There are STILL some things here that don't seem compatible with humans in OUR world- for example, the idea that someone could have sharp enough eyesight to spot the phases of Venus without a telescope.) I HAVE to spoil this, but the last episode finally puts all the events in Orb in some kind of historical context, as a prelude to the Copernican Revolution. The show really (completely unfairly) diminishes the originality of Copernicus and his ideas, instead portraying the heliocentric theory as an old idea of unknown origin. It first appears in the show cited by a "heretic" (and we don't know where HE got it), and for a long time we see a string of people working on it; but progress is fitful, because those followers of the theory tend to end up as martyrs, usually at the hands of Nowak, a mercenary turned Inquisitor. (Nowak is the sort who doesn't bother with formal trials, settling on confessions extracted through torture (the torture gets pretty graphic here), followed by summary execution.) The show is, basically, a long procession of folks pontificating on their own philosophies about the cosmos, in love with the heliocentric theory- and even precociously discovering some Post-Copernican ideas- but ending up with Nowak, in particular, crushing those ideas, the proponents, and all attempts to spread them.

One example of the show's letting its Pre-Copernican cast anticipate not just the ideas, but even the personalities, of the real-life Post-Copernican world, is found in the interchange between one Count Piast and a rogue priest named Badeni, which seems to be loosely based on Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Piast, like Tycho, has a team of celestial observers amassing mountains of measurements of the heavens. (The show's compression of time and place explains why studying astronomy can be a death penalty crime in one place, but perfectly fine just a few miles down the road.) Badeni wants to use Piast's measurements to help develop heliocentric theory, and eventually discovers that the planets' orbits are elliptical, which was the final piece necessary to explain planetary motion; in real life Kepler, similarly, would use Tycho's measurements to do the same thing. Oh, there are other differences, of course: Count Piast is a dedicated geocentrist (believer that the Earth is the center of things), while Tycho favored a hybrid model, in which the other planets circled the Sun, but the Sun circled the Earth. And Count Piast seems to be dying of tuberculosis, while Tycho's death was somehow more pathetic and embarrassing than that. (See Kitty Ferguson's book Tycho and Kepler for details.) And Kepler was a modest schoolteacher, while Badeni is an ultra-elitist priest who believes that perfect knowledge is attainable, but that it should not be shared with common folk, who he believes are not able to use it responsibly. (Still, Badeni's explanation of Mars' retrograde (backward) motion, and how it makes perfect sense in the heliocentric model, is clear and concise, and is quite a service to viewers. And here's Fun Fact #2: while the retrograde motion was strong evidence for heliocentrism, the strongest proof of Earth's motion was the aberration of starlight, discovered in the 19th Century; but after Kepler's Laws there really wasn't much doubt about a Sun-centered solar system, especially after Newton discovered the mathematics that described planetary motion.)

Among the show's cast of Heliocentrics is a girl named Jolenta, who resents that her mathematical work is stolen by her (male) mentor, because of the attitude of the time toward women in any kind of intellectual pursuit. (In real life, in astronomy, the chemical composition of the stars; the variable stars used to determine the distance of the galaxies; pulsars; Io's volcanoes; and dark matter, were all discovered by women; and yet I saw a recent video by a female astronomy popularizer, who shared some of the misogynist hate messages she's received- because some folks apparently still think women aren't credible in STEM fields. Again, the more things change...)

Orb also features several other memorable characters, including a man named Schmidt, who finds God in the natural world; and Draka, a young woman with capitalist ideas that are at odds with the little socialist community that raised her. And, finally, there's my favorite character in the whole show, named Ockzy, originally a simple soul who just wanted to get to Heaven when he died, but who got dragged into the whole heliocentric enterprise- and eventually became another enthusiast for it. I really didn't believe his seemingly sudden acquisition of literacy, any more than his exceptionally keen eyesight, but I liked HIM a lot. (He gets the opportunity to represent, basically, the modern notion in science that there are no "final" answers. The show's philosophical discussions, as I said, get a bit ahead of their time a lot.)

I would also note that if the real night sky were as spectacular as the one in Orb, I think there would be almost universal fascination with it; Orb's Milky Way glows in gorgeous color, and its skies are packed with stars, both bright and faint. I'd always thought that the geocentric (Earth-centered) cosmology was based on the idea that God exalted the human race, but the clergy HERE inverts that- in their view, we're put in a lowly place, beneath the perfect heavens, because of sin. The clergy themselves, here, engage in quite a bit of backstabbing to attain power and resources, just like in the secular world. In Orb's world, the persecution of heliocentric "heretics" also varies according to the whims of the local ecclesiastical authorities. And yet, even a couple of flawed priests are able to pray a couple of heliocentrists into Heaven; in a cameo appearance by God, a glorious light appears in each case, so we know that God has given the OK. (God's appearance is, alas, uncredited.)

Oh, I do have one complaint. At one point our Heliocentric Heretics acquire a printing press to publish a book on the theory, and, since we're told the book is only 60 pages long, judging by the sheaves of paper we see I'd guess they had already printed multiple copies. But Nowak and Company are on their way, so what to do? One thing they MIGHT have done, if there ARE multiple copies, is simply dispatch each member of the group with a copy of the book in different directions. I would think this would maximize the chance that the book would survive, but they thought they only had two options, and that wasn't one of them.

While it's better to avoid attachment to any of the cast- here, there ARE no permanently "safe" characters- nevertheless the show somehow manages to bring back a character we were sure was long dead. In the end, it might have been better if they'd let that one remain dead. The final episode, while finally placing the show in time, nevertheless gives us an unpleasant surprise, as well as some of the most abstruse dialogue we'd encountered yet.

The art is as it should be for a show aiming for gravitas, but the title of William Manchester's book, A World Lit Only by Fire, applies literally as well as figuratively here; daytime scenes are not that common.

I will also note the shaved crowns of the heads of the monks. THESE days, Grampa sports THAT look without any use of a razor at all!

The Rec is another ambitious work of historical fiction, though since its era is better documented it's more blatant about its Making It All Up.

Making your story an interpolation into a poorly-documented part of science history, and FURTHER covering yourself by featuring an Inquisitor who wipes out all the heliocentrics and their works (AND who doesnt keep any records of his actions, as we're later told) is a rather clever way to avoid charges of historical inaccuracy, since, where there's no documented HISTORY, there can't be any historical INACCURACY. (Alleged) Psychic Criswell's line in Plan Nine From Outer Space, "Can you prove it didn't happen?", applies I guess. This seems a better way to write complete and utter ("historical") fiction than the blatant rewriting of established history in either the Rec or in Le Chevalier D'Eon. (The "revision" of King George III in D'Eon into someone who graciously allowed the independence of the American colonies, without a fight, I always found particularly bizarre.) Orb's structure- long philosophical discussions, punctuated by moments of grisly violence- will obviously not appeal to some viewers. I almost docked it a star, but the show's AMBITION is nearly unrivaled, and, besides, Orb's skies could lose PLENTY of stars and still look impressive. If you're wondering what the definition of a Tour de Force is, this is one of the best examples I've come across. — Allen Moody

Recommended Audience: Netflix says TV-MA. The issue is its (sporadic) violence, which includes graphic depictions of torture, brutal stabbings, etc. No fanservice; the Middle Ages were, after all, quite modest about most things- except casual murder and mutilation, of course.