Pale Cocoon

[Board of Command]

Ok to bring this thread back to life...

I just watched this and I'm a bit puzzled about the ending. During the time of the music video, the Earth was still in ruin. The singer says something along the lines of "They're trying to restore the Earth." In the very last scene the Earth is nice and blue: the way it should be.

My understanding is that Ura was hallucinating. He was about to die and the thing he wanted to see the most was a blue and green Earth, and so he imagined it. The Earth is still "rusted" and uninhabitable. Now the questions is: how does that tie into the rest of the OVA? And also, how does Riko's grandmother tie into the story (i.e. what is symbolized by her falling?)

Now, here's a totally different perspective on things. What if it's not about pollution on Earth? In the second video (after the music video) the singer mentions "the mother star wakes up." It would make sense if the "mother star" is in fact our sun. Maybe humans did something to the sun causing it to die out faster or get weaker. This would result in the death of all life (including plants) on Earth's surface, which explains the "rust colored Earth." It also explains why things would get better if the "mother star wakes up."

More on the sun theory: Ura's "coworker" says "maybe the archives are all lies?" Maybe he's right! The archives seem to focus on pollution and how it ruined a perfectly serene world. Then out of nowhere comes a strange video talking about the "mother star." Also, the fact that nobody remembers any history hints at the possibility of the archives being fabricated.

But the biggest issue regarding both theories is why can't they stay on Earth? ala Matrix-style? If they built the facility on the moon, surely they could have done it on Earth as well, which is probably even easier. And it doesn't matter if the environment is ruined because they're underground and separated from the outside world anyway.