cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50387285

Next up in my “education through entertainment” series is the family-friendly Heaven’s Design Team (Tenchi Souzou Dezain-Bu).

This manga-turned-anime series is another “it’s ironic that this is as educational as it is” series, given the premise is that creationism is real and all of Earth’s creatures were intentionally designed by a team in heaven in response to (often arbitrary) requests from God. Before the pitchforks come out, rest assured that this premise is presented as fictional and fantastical (the Japanese are not known for being big believers in creationism, after all), and is just a fun setting to explore the various ways that animals’ biology helps them overcome issues they might encounter in their environment, or even as a result of their own anatomy.

In an amazing feat (for anime at any rate), the series manages to stay engaging for older audiences while maintaining a PG-ish content rating, making it one of the few anime appropriate and engaging for the whole family. Additionally, unless you’re a zoology nerd, the biology facts presented in the series are likely not the kind most adults have encountered before; despite being a nature documentary aficionado, I found myself learning quite a bit about zoology/biology/evolution, and had a lot of fun guessing what animal they were building up to as they struggled with God’s latest design assignment.

You can read my full review of the series here.

What were some of your favorite educational animated/comic series as a kid?