The Orbital Children can be confusing but has an important message

Japanese sci-fi anime series The Orbital Children was released on Netflix on Friday (28 January). It follows the adventures of children born on the moon and children from Earth at the Japanese-built Anshin space station, which is hit by a comet.

We've caught all six episodes of the anime series, and here’s what you need to know about The Orbital Children.

1. It's a two-part Japanese anime film released as a six-episode series.

The Orbital Children was originally a two-part anime film that was adapted into a series for streaming on Netflix. No reason has been given for the change in format. But it seems like a wise decision as it allows the two parts to be viewed as a whole (as compared to being listed as two separate films) and ensures a better flow and continuity to the story.

The fact that the films were sliced into episodes could have caused awkward endings for each episode, but that fear is unfounded as the episodes were cut at crucial, exciting points that encourage viewers to binge-watch, just like how an anime or drama series would be structured.

Each episode runs for about 30 minutes (10 minutes longer than the usual anime series), which gives a total runtime of around three hours.

2. The sci-fi story, set in outer space, takes place in the near future where artificial intelligence is a norm.

The Orbital Children features a literally out-of-this-world but not entirely inconceivable setting in the year 2045. Humans have ventured into living in outer space, and even giving birth on the moon. The world is surrounded by artificial intelligence (AI) that seems to have a mind of its own, constantly seeking new knowledge.

The most intelligent AI Seven even comes up with a string of cryptic messages known as Seven Poem. Some thought it predicts the future of mankind, akin to horoscope or zodiac predictions.

The situation deteriorates when a mysterious international hacker group John Doe seems to be carrying out terrorist attacks in the name of the Seven Poem.

3. It can get a little confusing sometimes.

The problem with science fiction is that it discusses unusual ideas that may become incomprehensible if not well explained. Undeniably, The Orbital Children presents interesting ideas about how technology can develop in the future, such as having a space vacation, turning your hand into a smartphone, and AI drones with intelligence limiters — think Iron Man’s Jarvis.

However, the constant bombardment of new ideas in the series makes it challenging to follow the story at times. In particular, there is a phase called Lunatic that AI will end up in if its intelligence limiter (a virtual limit added in AI to stop it from acquiring more knowledge) is not properly managed — think Marvel’s Ultron. In retrospect, it will all make sense, but it gets annoyingly mind-boggling when you’re halfway through the series.

In addition, the role of gravity in the story gets complicated as well. There are various instances when there should be no gravity, but the characters are still glued to the ground, or they are able to “fall” to a “lower area”. Although some situations can be explained by the special shoes they are wearing, we can’t know for sure due to the ever-changing conditions of the surroundings.

4. But it explores deeper issues such as the sustainability of Earth and the future of humanity.

The Orbital Children introduces a Thanos-like prophecy that foretells that a third of the human population has to perish for Earth to survive.

It once again plays on the morality of sacrificing for the greater good, but goes a step further to explore the meaning of humanity and humans. In the eyes of AI, they do not associate humanity with humans, thus killing humans does not pose a problem to saving humanity.

The series also examines other issues like the predictable fate versus the unforeseeable choices you can make, and the ability to step out of your comfort zone. Despite having a confusing beginning and buildup, the end of the series will leave you enlightened and pondering over the messages The Orbital Children is trying to bring across.

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