Orb: On the Movements of the Earth has become one of the most critically-acclaimed new anime TV series this Fall 2024 anime season, thanks to its compelling story set in the 15th century "P Kingdom" where the ideas in opposition to the teachings of the "C religion", such as that the Earth revolves around the Sun, are seen as heretics, and are burned at the stake or tortured in other ways. Other than its story and well-written characters, there's one other aspect of the anime that fans have been enjoying: its catchy opening sequence.
The official YouTube video for Orb: On the Movements of the Earth's opening has surpassed 2 million views in just 12 days. The title of the opening theme song is Kaiju, which is performed by the Japanese rock band, Sakanaction. At the time of this article's publication, the opening video has 2.2 million views, and with only the anime's first four episodes out on Netflix, we can expect that to keep rising. Watch the opening here:
Toru Iwasawa storyboarded and directed the opening sequence, and Reiko Nagasawa directed its animation. Iwasawa also storyboarded the seventh and eighth opening sequences for Black Clover. More recently, Nagasawa was the animation director for the anime adaptation of Frieren: Beyond the Journey's End. He was also the chief animation director for takt op. Destiny.
Studio Madhouse is in charge of the animation of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth, with Ken’ichi Shimizu (Parasyte -The Maxim-) as the director, Shingo Irie (Kuroko’s Basketball) as the series composer, and Masanori Shino (Black Lagoon) as the character designer.
The Japanese voice cast of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth are listed here:
Maaya Sakamoto as Rafal
Kenjiro Tsuda as Novak
Shô Hayami as Hubert
Yuichi Nakamura as Badeni
Saya Hitomi as Yolenta
Katsuyuki Konishi as Oczy
What is Orb: On the Movements of the Earth about?
Orb: On the Movements of the Earth is based on the historical mystery science fiction manga written and illustrated by Uoto. The series was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits manga magazine from September 2020 to April 2022, with its chapters compiled in eight tankōbon volumes. The manga won multiple awards including the “Best Comic” at the 54th Seiun Award, the 26th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and the Mandou Kobayashi Manga Grand Prix in 2021.
Seven Seas Entertainment, which licensed the series in English and released 2-in-1 omnibus volumes of the manga, shared a description for Orb: On the Movements of the Earth:
In fifteenth-century Europe, heretics are being burned at the stake. Rafal, a brilliant young man, is expected to enter university at an early age and study the era’s most important field, theology. But Rafal values reason above all else, which leads him both to the shocking conclusion that the Earth orbits the Sun, and into the hands of the Inquisition! A decade later, two members of the Watch Guild, the dour young Oczy and the cynical Gras, find a hidden stone chest that details the secrets of the universe Rafal left behind. Dare they try to change their own stars by selling the heretical texts, or would that only lead to the stake and the fire?
New episodes of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth are released weekly every Saturday on Netflix. Check out the official website of Orb: On the Movements of the Earth for more information about the anime.
