I was expecting full misanthropy and got betrayed.

Btw i would like to rebuke ur comment and lay out my opinions, feel free to disagree

My theory was that mc wasnt reborn as the earth he was just the earth itself, he literally went back into his og form in the end. The reason why he was reborn was because he is literally the Earth and he is nature and exists in all beings thats the revelation that was revealed in the end. In the beginning he hates humans since they disrupt the natural order of the universe aka the cycle of life he set, when he lost him memories and became obsessed with the girl was cause he wanted to understand why he can care for a creature he hates and understand his feelings about humanity and nature in general.

Btw for when he kissed the girl in the end i dont rlly see it as a romantic gesture more of a symbolic gesture towards humanity as a whole cause he learned to love all the creatures in the earth itself including humans. since he had already lived as all the animals that had existed in the past and had accepted and loved every one of them and all that is left is for humans. I see the kiss in the end symbolizing the end to his journey on earth and showing that him aka earth itself will still love all the creatures on it despite the destruction they cause.

It feels like a coming of age story tbh where the mc is arrogant and is resistant to the change humans bring to the system he has been living in for billions of years and at the end, mc learns to look at things through a human perspective and understood them to the point that even if mc dislikes the actions humans take, he will still love them no matter what because they are a part of him.

I couldn't have said it any better. 100% agree. I'm relieved to see this theory as seeing the lack of depth and understanding in the meaning of this masterpiece in so many others had truly been concerning.