Chi. Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite

Twelve-year-old prodigy Rafal believes in living rationally, so as to earn praise and respect from society while not being led astray by his emotions. To this end, he publicly states his intention to study theology—the academic field held in highest regard in early 15th century Poland. However, an encounter with a mysterious man upends Rafal's life, sparking an illogical desire to instead pursue his passion for astronomy.

Rafal is determined to prove the beauty and rationality of heliocentrism—the theory that the Earth revolves around the Sun. This belief is considered heretical by the powerful Church, which promotes geocentrism—the Sun revolving around the Earth—as the sole truth of the universe. Those whose beliefs do not align with the will of the Church suffer unfathomably gruesome consequences.

In pursuit of evidence for a heliocentric model of the universe, Rafal grapples with obtaining precise calculations and building empirical theories. His greatest challenge, however, lies in conducting this research discreetly—lest he wish to meet the same fate as other heretics.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Rafal Main

Sakamoto, Maaya Japanese

Badeni Main

Nakamura, Yuuichi Japanese

Oczy Main

Konishi, Katsuyuki Japanese

Nowak Main

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Jolenta Main

Hitomi, Saya Japanese

Schmitt Main

Hino, Satoshi Japanese

Draka Main

Shimabukuro, Miyuri Japanese

Brudzewski, Albert Main

Ishige, Shouya Japanese

Hubert Supporting

Hayami, Show Japanese

Potocki Supporting

Makishima, Kouichi Japanese

Yoshida, Yuuki Producer

Oka, Tsunenari Producer

Okamoto, Junya Producer

Naeshiro, Kenichirou Producer

Reviews

Sep 4, 2026

chumchummaru

Recommended

I have to admit that this anime impressed me. When it was first announced, I watched it out of curiosity to see what it was about and was surprised that there was torture, but only when I watched it did I understand what it was really about.
A beautiful demonstration of how the church actually works (or once worked), that it is just a pretense that does not hold back and will do anything to subjugate you.
What surprised me was the setting of the story in the Polish environment in the Middle Ages when there were two types of theories about the universe, one claims that ... the earth is the center of the universe, i.e. geocentrism, and the other that it revolves around the sun, i.e. heliocentrism. And we have a view from both sides, both from the side of researchers who are trying to find the truth, and from the side of opponents, i.e. religion, which is fighting against them fiercely so that only they will believe in it.
The animation was perfect (this is what seinen animation should look like) the OP/ED were great to listen to, I also liked the OST and the plot was quite exciting that from the beginning I was in suspense as to how it would develop further. But it just blew me away.
In conclusion, I would just add a thought: The test that is coming upon you is only human. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the test he will also give you the ability to endure.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 31, 2026

Oqh

Mixed Feelings

Orb: On the Movements of the Earth.
The story here is about humans, discovery, and all those existential questions man has always asked himself and will keep asking until he finds an answer... searching for the truth.
A different kind of anime, where characters flow across many historical periods. This whole thing feels like a treaty on taboos that up until that point were branded as heresy and an overly obsessive adoration for God.
The dialogues are plenty and interesting, totally stealing the show; the characters are smart and cultured, and there’s a continuous pursuit and search for cosmology, completely turning upside down concepts that for the depicted ... era were rigid and unquestionable.
Anyway, Orb is something that enlightens the viewer, putting so many primordial questions right on the table with an elite storytelling full of educational dialogues and massive themes, it should genuinely be studied in schools and discussed with so much passion.
It's a pity there's no sequel even though the manga is finished, but the anime ended in literally the best way possible, for sure.
Remarkable!!!

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Aug 22, 2026

OrigamistToo

Not Recommended

Funny

If we put it briefly, ORB is a story by a Japanese author about brilliant martyrs from 15th century Eastern Europe, striving to uncover the grand "Truth" that will change everything.

Pros:

Decent visuals: The starry sky shots are truly well-drawn, and the battle scenes, while often unrealistic, are dynamic and engaging. Madhouse definitely earns its paycheck here.

A complete story that stays faithful to the source material: You won’t need to dig into the manga to figure out what the author meant; everything is wrapped up within the anime.

If you approach the series as a comedy, the first half turns out to be quite lively, even though ... the humor often feels like Hollywood's stereotypical take on the Inquisition and the Middle Ages, where characters do all sorts of silly things while maintaining a stone-faced expression 90% of the time, expressing emotions with just a single drawn bead of sweat on their faces.

Cons:

Characters:
The main characters are all super smartish, not like everyone else, and often burdened with tragic backstories.
Everyone else can be summed up in a single sentence and feels like they’re standing in a T-pose the moment the camera pans away.
Essentially, there’s no real "life" outside of the main cast, which makes the protagonist's interactions with the world feel forced and hollow.
The author struggles to write intelligent characters without making everyone else look like complete idiots.

Dialogue:
While it tries to come across as profound and dramatic, it often feels like rambling about nothing under the guise of philosophy.
For example, a character might spend 4 minutes giving a lecture on the interconnected fates of humanity just to convince someone to deliver a letter. After the monologue, the other character just says "okay," takes the letter, and the plot moves on.
The narrative is almost entirely composed of these long, dramatic speeches about "the Truth", astronomy, and religion, as if someone is reading out Wikipedia excerpts.
In reality, we end up with very shallow discussions of these topics: astronomy never goes beyond doodling circles in a notebook, religious themes boil down to "religion bad, science good," and the philosophy is about as deep as Jason Statham quotes on a Facebook meme page.

The plot:
Scenes lack logic, and the story often progresses on flimsy plot devices.
When the author wants action, the "brilliant" characters suddenly act like fools and fail at basic tasks.
When the author wants drama, the inquisitors suddenly become psychic and locate everyone instantly.
It’s hard to believe in what’s happening, and the story’s setups feel rushed and underdeveloped.
It feels like the author approached the series with a "whatever" attitude, and it just happened to resonate with people.

The "Historical" tag:
A source of endless online debates.
From the very first scenes, we’re shown that this is a fictional "Kingdom P."
However, the anime clearly wants to be taken seriously, building itself around real historical contexts like the church’s inquisition or the role of women in medieval society, but it never delves deeply into these issues.
Ultimately, the whole "Kingdom P" setup feels like a way for the Japanese author to mask their lack of knowledge about 15th-century European history. This way, they don’t have to explain why every second peasant has astrolabe and library of modern style books or why the gypsy characters are discussing 19th-century economic theory.

Torture scenes:
These are overly graphic and drawn out. While some viewers might enjoy watching fingers crushed in vices, it’s definitely not for everyone.

The music:
It’s intrusive and grating. The main violin motif plays in every episode and feels deliberately designed to get on your nerves.
Even though I skipped the opening after the first time, its obnoxious "NANDODEMO!" still managed to get stuck in my head.

Final Thoughts:
The show tries to appear intelligent and aims to tackle philosophical themes, but it gets bogged down in a sea of pointless dialogues and scenes that have no real impact. Strip away the endless recitation of well-worn truths everyone already knows, and what’s left is a plot riddled with holes, propped up by endless contrivances and constantly pushed forward by the author’s heavy-handed nudges. However, if you’ve never heard of philosophy, the series might make you think and you’ll discover something new.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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