Originally I picked up Boku No Chikyuu O Mamotte -- known to Americans as "Please Save My Earth" -- right in the middle. I bought volume 9, after hearing that that's where the OVAs and the movie left off. However, that left me in the middle of nowhere. So my first impression was that it was really boring. But, one day on a whim I finally picked up the earlier volumes, and realized what it is everyone loves about it.

Boku No Chikyuu O Mamotte is wonderfully sad. I say this in a good way; it has deep tragedies, but they aren't just sad. There's happiness all around it, and very human (in somewhat unhuman) ways. It leaves one completely affected; if you felt cold from it, then I truly do not know what is wrong with you. It is truly touching: The sort of story you can -- and just might -- cry about.

It is an incredibly complex story line, but to be simple, it's about a girl named Arisu, who has moved from Hokkaidou to Tokyo. She feels very lonely, and is often teased by her 8 year old neighbor, Rin. Arisu one day has a completely odd dream: She dreamt she was a woman named Mokuren, who had lived on the moon a long time ago. She overhears a conversation of two of her classmates, and they all realize that they were having the same dreams! Things become complicated quickly. Who are they really? Must they follow the lives of their pasts? The characters are never purely evil or good -- which, I think, is a good thing. It leads to a wonderfully sad and yet happy story line; it is wonderfully, truly.