Orb: On the Movements of the Earth Episode 7 Review – New Favorite Character!

Welcome to Anime Rants. I’m so excited about this anime and these characters! This episode of Orb was my favorite since Rafal’s arc. The new character introduced is Jolenta, a talented and intelligent writer/researcher who can’t get credit for her work because she’s a woman. Let’s take a look at this intriguing episode together.

Episode 7: Matters of The Truth

Episode Rating: 10/10

Jolenta is extremely cool and brave. I think she’s a great example of a well-written female character who represents what a lot of women and AFAB people feel as they grow up. Besides Rafal, Jolenta is my favorite character in this series. I expect her to die tragically at some point down the road, but I hope we get more cool character moments with her first. I also want to note that due to certain experiences, I empathize with Jolenta more than usual. Let me explain.

Most women in first-world countries grew up with more freedom than Jolenta. (However, systemic misogyny remains, so feminism is still needed.) But some of us were unfortunate enough to grow up in backwards, cult-like communities that were far more sexist than the broader culture around us. I’m a survivor of the Quiverfull Movement, and I was constantly told that I needed to submit to men and be apologetic for my existence as a woman. If a man were to touch me wrongly, it’s my fault. My destiny was to have lots of babies. That environment definitely limited my freedom.

This episode is extremely important because it shows in real time how things were for many women across the ages. Historically, there were so few documented women in academia because 1) so few of them were ever permitted to study, and 2) those that were permitted to study were not given credit for their work. I can’t blame Jolenta for refusing to take credit when directly asked – because if she said yes, her very life could be in danger. Knowledgeable women were often persecuted as heretics and witches. Back then, I might have also chosen to “live smart.”

My favorite line in this episode was when Jolenta said, “This is wrong. I won’t do it,” followed by, “But I don’t care if it’s wrong. I want to know the answer!” This describes what many women go through as they break away from dogmatic thinking and misogynistic indoctrination. It also accurately describes my thoughts when I started investigating the arguments for God’s existence. My family said it was wrong to dare to doubt God, but I eventually didn’t care because I was so hungry for knowledge.

I think I’ve gushed enough about Jolenta for now. But on a related note, the seiyuu who voiced her character did an excellent job so far. Her name is Saya Hitomi and she has a very peaceful, melodic voice. I was also happy to hear another talented voice actor, one of my personal favorites: Nobunaga Shimazaki. He played Kolbe in this episode. I love his voice so much, even when he plays morally questionable characters. In addition to the voice-acting, I thoroughly enjoyed the music in this installment, too.

I haven’t said anything about Badeni and Orczy yet, so let me go back to them. It became clear in this episode is that Badeni is an asshole. I knew he was arrogant, but I thought he was also reasonably considerate and honorable. I was wrong. First of all, Badeni wants to burn the research materials if he fails to publish them. He doesn’t want to pass on the knowledge because that would make him a “stepping stone for someone else.”

That was the first sign of a poor attitude, but Badeni gets worse. When he hears that ten percent of the publishing profit needs to go to Potocki, he responds by burning the letter that made the request. Orczy insists on honoring the letter, and Badeni carelessly tells him to use his own share to pay Potocki. What douchebag move. Later, in town, Badeni also badmouths a bunch of beggars, saying that the poor get what they deserve and are the worst sinners of all. Wowww.

I love the idea of a public posting board where academics and nobles post difficult problems to solve. Using the posting board to find a desirable scholar was a good idea. Badeni is certainly intelligent. But given how arrogant and callous he can be, I’m worried about how he’ll respond to Jolenta. I doubt he will be okay with a female writer. If he does allow it, then he will still want to take credit. I hope Badeni chills out soon and that Jolenta gets some time to shine. That’s all for today.