Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Omnibus (vols. 1 & 2)

For an orphan ward of the church living in 15th-Century Europe, Rafal looks like he has it made.  He’s the brightest of his Father’s students and will be going away to university to study theology in the near future.  So the fact that a former heretic named Hubert will be staying at his place, because Father and the church are all about forgiveness and second chances, shouldn’t throw up any roadblocks to that.  Right?  Except that the heresy Hubert believes in has a name:  Heliocentrism.  He’s also got the science to back it up, which appeals to Rafal’s sense of righteousness, and promises to make his life more interesting as a result.  How will it change his mind, and how will it connect to the adventures of two mercenaries and a disgraced monk ten years later?

This is an odd series in that it’s dealing with a scientific concept that we all know to be true today, and one that was properly established by Gallileo in the 17th Century.  So is “Orb” trying to be the prequel backstory to that?  Possibly, but this first omnibus gets points for positioning the story as a personal struggle for its protagonists to pursue the truth no matter where it leads.  There’s also some nice misdirection regarding where the story is actually heading over the course of these two volumes and its protagonists are appealing in their own distinct ways as well.  We’ve also got a worthy antagonist on display in these first two volumes in a torturer who’s quite blase and matter-of-fact about how he goes about his job.

While I’m waiting to see how this series lines up with actual history, there’s also one other thing holding it back.  That would be the art as it’s decent at best and plain or amateurish at most other times.  It could be down to mangaka Uoto’s lack of backgrounds in most scenes or how his characters sometimes look impressively detailed and emotional, and utterly static at others.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this is his first series, but that also means there’s room for him to improve.  Which is something that I hope to see from “Orb” overall in that regard.