PLANETES

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaPlanetes
SPECIAL ComedyPlanetes Picture Drama

REVIEWS

• 

  JellySnake

  80/100
  A unique piece of hard(er than most) sci fi anime that is well worth the time, despite a few hiccups.

  Planetes is an uncommon find in science fiction anime, where the focus isn't on warfare, aliens or mecha with a setting of outer space, but rather where the focus is on outer space itself and how it affects the people inhabiting it. This isn't a dismissal of those common elements of sci fi anime, I love those things, but from the get-go Planetes really stands out as being unique. However, it isn't a great anime simply because its different, its great for a whole host of other reasons as well as being different.

  (As a side note, I haven't read the manga so I won't address how accurate an adaptation it is, nor do I know what exactly is different about it, but from what I understand the anime deviates a fair amount.)

  

  Story 9/10
  The setting of Planetes is the near future of 2075, after humanity has taken its first steps into outer space and some years after a tragic disaster involving space debris. As a result, 'space garbageman' became a career.

  The main characters of Planetes are Ai Tanabe and Hachirota 'Hachimaki' Hoshino, two employees of Technora, a debris collection company. Aside from the main two, Planetes has a fairly large cast. Most notable are other members of the cleanup crew Fee and Yuri, Technora control support Claire and Hachimaki's friend/rival Hakim. As the names would suggest, the cast is very diverse in nationality and background and for quite a few characters it plays a big role in their development. For others, characterization is informed by other plot and story elements and the show does a great job of developing many of them, despite the sheer number.

  

  The best part of Planetes though isn't the characters, but the world building. For the first half of the series episodes consist of mainly stand-alone stories that the crew encounter about different aspects of space life, such as living in low gravity, being away from Earth or being part of humanity's rapid space development. These stories are all pretty interesting and are sometimes upbeat and comedic, sometimes sad and sometimes both. Through the slice-of-life-esque stories it simultaneously sets the foundation for what's to come in the latter half and provides a comprehensive look at the most feasible future setting I've come across in the medium, adding information piece by piece to slowly reveal its world's current state of affairs. Following a lot of the story from Tanabe's perspective allows a bunch of details about the technology and how it works to be explained naturally without feeling like infodumps and details like space radiation, proper vernier usage and why the suits use cameras instead of the usual transparent visors really help to make the world feel real.

  Around the halfway mark, things begin to take a turn story-wise as the episodic format shifts pretty suddenly into a more linear storyline that focuses heavily on Hachimaki's character and a more serious plot. It also has a significantly heavier tone than the optimistic first half, perhaps due to the switch in character perspective. I found this to be pretty jarring at first but as the story progressed I found that, while the change was sudden, it was definitely not unprecedented as many story points resurfaced after previously appearing in some form or another. I'm still unsure how I feel about the change; by the end I enjoyed it and thought the drama was well handled for the most part, but I did definitely miss the feel of the first half.

  Even though they aren't the main thematic element, Planetes tackles a lot of ideas that aren't often tread upon in anime such as poverty, economy, terrorism, the value of life and aspirations and the cost of humanity leaving Earth and for that I commend it. It also interestingly suggests that exploring space might be bad for the human race. This especially took me off guard as I was expecting it to glorify the new frontier and capture the feeling of excitement of wanting to explore space (which it does do, fantastically). But then it also shows the bad side, how space development affects Earth and it's inhabitants and the fact that humans weren't built for such a harsh environment. It creates a very interesting and unique dynamic of juggling the desire to explore space with the desire to not destroy yourself and the Earth.

  

  I found the ending to be pretty good. Everything wraps up in a way that makes sense, there are some really memorable scenes (Tanabe especially has some really great scenes near to the end) and the romantic subplot reaches a surprisingly solid conclusion.

  Overall, I'd say Planetes' story is the biggest draw to it as it combines good, enjoyable characters and interactions with an interesting story and a whole load of interesting concepts and ideas and then wraps it all up nicely leaving pretty much no loose ends.

  Visuals 8/10
  Unfortunately, Planetes is a bit hit-or-miss concerning the animation. For most of it, Sunrise did a good job with some really nice character animation. Other times, animation quality can be pretty sub par. Sometimes a character will float through zero-g dynamically with their clothes reacting correctly, while other times a static image of a person will slide lifelessly across the frame. There is also some awful off-model scenes, though these are pretty rare. It's not the worst out there and its not often, but the inconsistency definitely detracts from the overall visuals.

  _Sunrise Smooth_

  On the upside, the character design hits a nice balance between being 'cartoony' and 'realistic' and it manages to never feel out of place, even with the wide variety in tone. Mechanical design is fantastic, everything looks believable and fitting in its setting and are often explained well. Yuriko Chiba's character designs are also fairly unique and it gives the show a recognizable look and easily distinguishable characters. The only issue I have with character design is how late 90s/early 00s everyone looks. While it makes sense considering when it was made, it does date the series a bit and is especially strange considering it's future setting. Similarly, as with most early 2000s anime the show has not aged particularly well unfortunately.

  Sound 8/10
  Sound design in Planetes is really great, with the silence of space often being used really effectively. All the sound effects of the suits and the ships are great and the soundtrack is fitting, with some really good tension building tracks and a lot of pieces that help emphasize the emptiness of space.

  The opening for the series is absolutely fantastic. Aptly named 'Dive in the Sky', it perfectly captures the feel of wanting to explore space. The visuals are mostly character portraits interspersed with highlights of humanity's quest to reach space and coupled with the music it makes a perfect way to set the tone for the series.

  The Japanese dub for the series is top-notch, all the voices fit the characters and are easily distinguishable. Tanabe and Hachimaki in particular have a lot of character in their voices; Hachimaki sounds unrefined and kind of dumb and Tanabe's VA really gets across the naivete of her character. The English dub unfortunately isn't as good, with a really horrible casting for Hachimaki. Where he should sound strong or tough he often sounds whiny and the voice just isn't a good fit for the character, which is a shame since the rest of the English cast do a pretty good job, especially Fee and Yuri.

  

  Overall
  Planetes creates a great world with a great story, some great looking animation and sound design. Occasionally it stumbles a bit in each category but its never enough to ruin the experience and the show itself is unique and memorable enough to make up for it.

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• 

  faktory

  75/100
  far from perfect, but still better than most

  the planetes manga is one of my favorite pieces of media of all time, and i put off watching the anime for years because i was afraid that anything less than perfection would spoil the manga somehow, or at the very least waste my time. i even re-read it for the third time shortly before watching the anime to refresh my memory. so i want to preface this review by saying that i have held this anime to exceptionally high standards because of its source material. this review is, in essence, a comparison of how it measured up. as such, you can expect some significant plot spoilers. i also apologize if it is somewhat disorganized as well, as it was written in a rather stream-of-consciousness fashion.

  to begin with, one of the anime’s greatest strengths was one that might be easy to overlook—the relationship between the weight of existential awareness and the fragility of the human psyche. the line between the highly romanticized idea of existential despair and the very real life consequences of the depression and anxiety it begets is so thin as to be non-existent, and acknowledging that is what makes the difference between needless, detached navel-gazing contemplation and storytelling that appeals directly to the human condition. the viewer can empathize deeply with characters’ struggles with these deeply familiar psychological demons, even though they are often triggered by (what are to us mere earth-dwellers) extraordinary circumstances.

  another thing the anime nailed was its scientific accuracy. after all, the planetes manga is pretty much universally agreed to be the single most scientifically accurate sci-fi manga ever written, and the anime certainly takes that notoriety in stride. because it takes place only about half a century from now, space exploration is still in its relatively early stages, rooted in technologies recognizable from space travel today. as such, planetes isn’t the kind of story that can ass-pull some random gadget for plot reasons—everything must be rooted in the principles of real engineering and astrophysics. and although there are some things that are somewhat dumbed down from the manga, the anime never strayed toward any fantastical embellishments and stuck to the recognizable science of near-future space travel. the closest it came to anything unbelievable was the anime-only “combat mode” transformation added to some of the ships, but even this was relatively downplayed in that the majority of the conflict was fought via hacking, espionage, or good ol’ fashioned guns and bombs—nothing unbelievably far off from how wars are fought in the modern day.

  as far as characterization goes, i think the anime got hachi and yuri down really well, and even expanded on their characters at a few choice opportunities (yuri’s little speech to tanabe about how it feels to lose someone you love was absolutely chilling, and a splendid anime-only addition). they captured hachi’s misanthropic, often depressive nature and the psychological circumstances for his sudden renewal of passion after the first (but not last) time he hits rock bottom midway through the series. they also do well overall with managing the complex dynamic of how this interacts with tanabe’s optimism and hope, as well as her comparative naïveté, and the conflicts and miscommunications that can arise because of their disparate—but ultimately compatible—personalities. the emphasis on how hachi really needs tanabe to balance him out, to keep the world in perspective, is well done.

  something of note that might seem small but was a major issue for me was that the took out locksmith’s meeting with the sister of one of the engineer’s killed by the von braun engine explosion. this scene happened near the end of the manga, and it really drove home one of the manga’s most important themes, that no pursuit of scientific advancement, no matter how “great” in magnitude, is truly greater than the value of people’s lives. the idea of what it means to pursue space travel at the expense of one’s own humanity, and the humanity of others, is something the anime does a very good job of exploring in the general sense. but locksmith is an important figure in hachi’s character arc, the symbol of everything he aspires to be in his pursuit of jupiter—yet his purpose in the anime is not fully resolved due to the absence of that pivotal scene. only when locksmith is forced to confront with the true consequences of his actions, in the most literal sense possible, do we fully recognize how unrealistic hachi’s own misguided pursuit of übermensch-esque inhumanity really was. that even the sociopathic genius locksmith could not truly escape the consequences of his connections to other humans is an important point to keep in mind.

  i also think it did both tanabe and fee a disservice in general. there is certainly a more misogynistic undercurrent to how tanabe’s story plays out in particular, which couldn’t be further from the original manga. the problem, i think, starts from the very beginning; they introduce her as a hapless OL who’s found herself a job in the space industry practically by chance, with no particular attachment to the field. she’s just a young woman looking for a job somewhere. while i can understand this choice to turn her character into a vessel for the viewer’s introduction to space travel, the “everywoman” if you will, it does a disservice to her character to remove her very particular attachment to space. while it’s worth noting that she does acquire this attachment more as the series progresses, the significance of her identity as an astronaut is never quite as clear-cut as it is in the manga. this becomes most obvious with the anime’s choice to ground tanabe—even temporarily—and relegate her to the role of earthbound homemaker at the series’ end. i understand that given the added plot with her and claire stranded on the moon (a scene which i did absolutely love, by the way—the vast cosmic horror of suffocating to death while stranded in space hit real hard), it makes sense for her to face physical consequences for her brush with death. but to disempower a woman who became such a driving force for this story and limit her role to “the astronaut’s wife” (as implied by her comparison to hachi’s mother) is insulting to her character.

  on that note, tanabe’s backstory, as well as fee’s, were totally neglected. tanabe’s backstory in particular gives us some key insights into why she believes in the power of love so damn much, it gives roots to the flowers of her kindness and compassion. i also have a sneaking suspicion that fee in particular was neglected in part because her backstory is steeped explicitly in anti-black racism in the american south and the anime wanted to make her “ambiguously brown” instead. they cut a lot of great fee-centric scenes, actually, which disappointed me a lot because she’s my favorite character and the anime kind of sidelined her and didn’t do justice to her true depth. even the pivotal scene where she destroys that government mine loses a lot of depth because we never see her interactions with her son and how we re-ignites that spark of justice and bravery to rebel inside of her. also the whole thing of fee being literally declared a criminal for her rebellion against the u.s. military and how it relates to her lack of faith in the government’s sense of “justice” due to the racism in her backstory…all of that was just scrapped. which is odd, considering they gave claire a similar sort of character arc when it comes to her disillusionment with the powers that be...yet they robbed fee of that very important aspect of her character.

  speaking of claire, they really wasted her potential in a lot of ways—and she was honestly the best anime-only character—by having her punished and spat on by the narrative at the very end in spite of the fact that the entire story leading up to that point had only served to vindicate her in her choices. in general, i can appreciate the character arc of building up a highly intelligent and skilled woman of color who is barred from the success she has earned due to the immense bigotry of those in power, and earnestly depicting her struggle against it. but what ultimately becomes of her, while sympathetic, spoils the great character she could have been and ultimately validates many of the racist stereotypes that the narrative spent so much time condemning previously.

  relatedly, i appreciated the expanded commentary on the evils of imperialism and capitalism, which in some ways were actually highlighted even moreso than the original manga by way of greatly expanding the space defense front’s role in the story. however, the fact that they removed all the explicit reference to the u.s. government in particular and made up the exploited countries made it feel a little cowardly to me. furthermore, the consequence of the greater focus on imperialism was that it made crystal clear how the SDF was essentially entirely in the right in their beliefs and their anger, but the narrative ultimately turned them into cliché evil bad guys in the end in a manner that was really incongruous with how everything up until that point had validated their existence. basically, my issue with the handling of the SDF is the same as my issue with the handling of claire’s character, but expanded to a much larger scale.

  in general, i was honestly pretty peeved at how they seemed to cut so many great parts of the manga when they had so much room, and instead bloated it with unnecessary comic relief characters, relationship drama, and a list minute action-suspense climax which was so totally incongruous with the kind of tone the manga takes. the expansion of the conflict with the space defense force into an action-packed sci-fi battle in the final few episodes was somewhat tacky and decisively the weakest point in an otherwise mostly strong presentation, even relative to other anime-only material. those final few episodes honestly lowered the score of this anime from what otherwise might have been a 9 or even a 9.5/10.

  i’ll note that there were many anime additions i did like, such as the couple on the suicide vacation with their daughter, which fit neatly into the themes at atmosphere set by the source material. i also quite enjoyed the addition of hachimaki’s mentor figure and how their whole relationship played out, and especially how it fleshed out his relationship with hakim. it was a great opportunity to further explore his psychology which the anime took full advantage of. i appreciated the additional focus given to nono as well, partly in conjunction with the focus on hachi’s mentor. these were areas where the anime saw the potential for adding some extra meat to the story which made it richer without detracting from its central themes.

  overall, although this review has focused heavily on my criticism of specific plot elements and characterizations, i did enjoy the anime quite a bit overall. i think ultimately most of the weakest points were anime-only plotlines, but when it comes to the source material alone the anime did an excellent job portraying the the themes with deftness and accuracy. it is unfortunate that these anime-only additions somewhat muddled the tidiness of how these themes were meant to explored, but it is also important to note that some of the anime-only content did an excellent job of bolstering and expanding upon those themes.

  IN SUMMARY: this anime was well above average but had some major flaws that shine through extra clearly in light of comparison to the source material. if you like the anime, do yourself a favor and read the manga as well.

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• 

  RuneRuneCure

  100/100
  "Perhaps man wasn't meant for paradise. Maybe he was meant to claw, to scratch all the way."

  "Things are only impossible until they're not." -- Captain Jean-Luc Picard

  I always had a great fascination towards space and everything that lay beyond our tiny piece of dirt, in the vastness of this unimaginable universe, and naturally, that reflected on things that I watched, read and listened. that also happens to be anime, and this specific anime I’ll talk about here was something of a personal touching experience to me, but before I delve on the show I want to comment a bit more on the things outside of the show that made it more impactful to me.

  My father worked as an IT specialist at the Observatory next town over. so he always spent his time he could showing me there and teaching me a lot about space and its wonders, what the astronauts who worked at the ISS did to better our world and what we could achieve in that final frontier, where no man has gone before.

  this show was precisely what I wanted to see, well not quite, but it certainly showed the promise of what lies ahead in the endless possibilities of space and how even the minutiae was important for that. Our titular garbage men (and women) working to make sure space is secure for other spacecraft. Also, the way it posits on the nature of the relationship between men and space was something else which fascinated me. Bringing me nostalgia of those old days where I watched Captain Picard tell the crew of the Enterprise to engage to the next wondrous encounter with the mysterious vastness of space.

  I saw myself a lot in Tanabe, her passion for space and energetic attitude brought what the show needed to contrast with the other characters. Being a shining example of goodness and humanity even in place where such sentimentalities aren’t recognized as useful, countering the cynicism that seems to initially be a part of the routine of the other debris section members. It was important to have her functioning as a viewpoint character that we, as the audience, could experience the looming future Planetes pictures for man. Ai Tanabe is your uber-idealistic individual whose naivety is noticeably visible and lack of experience helps serve her role as the audience surrogate character. Her teacher, and foil, is none other than rash and brash hachimaki. Who, despite sharing her passion for space is sceptical and believes her naiveness. A man who dreams of owning his own spaceships so he could freely navigate space. As it progresses, both of them come to experience a variety of events that helps them learn about themselves, their limitations and their goals on the debris section team and beyond.

  With these two characters on the helm of the show, we sail the sea of stars (and space trash) that makes up this universe.
  The story focus on the lives of the debris section team of the ISPV 7 space station, right as Tanabe transferred to work there, a rag tag team of seemingly unorganized and awkward people. Here I would like to notice how much of the narrative structure of the episodes reminds me of star trek, starting by introducing a moral dilemma the crew (usually) resolve by the end of it, making the audience reflect upon what the show introduced to them. I see the same here in planetes, each episode building up to a question to the audience, sometimes answered or left open to reflection.

  However, you cannot have a space show without its crew and ship and that is where the rest of the cast comes to shine. I won’t go down into the details of every character who plays a role in the story, I feel that some of it should be experienced on your own. The crew of our flagship, the toy box, is comprised of 3 EVA (extra-vehicular-activity) members. Two of which are our main characters, and the enigmatic and dour Yuri Mikhalkov. At first a mysterious figure, we come to learn more about Yuri later on in the series, where his drive for working on something as demeaning as space debris collection comes from and how that plays into his personality and relationship with the other cast members and space itself. A lovable dork with some scars left from bitter memories. And the commander and pilot of the mighty toy box, Fee Carmichael. One boisterous woman with an even more tempestuous attitude than hachimaki, she can be quite crass and rude towards others, however she is the guidance and unifying force of the team, perhaps it’s a side effect of her being a mother. Despite her rude exterior, she has a soft side to her that she shows from time to times. These four make up the team responsible for debris cleaning, big or small, their roles and interactions helped define Planetes and everything the show stood for.

  Planetes isn’t only about the characters, it is a story of human ingenuity and perseverance. In a harsh and cruel emptiness of space, humanity ekes out their survival, risking their lives everyday braving the cosmos. In this mad ambition to seek out new resources, new planetes and perhaps even new life. this is not a sci-fi where the there is a convenient super alloy that allows them to safely navigate space, micro meteorites and debris are a real threat they all go through, alongside the harmful radiation and lack of gravity. Yet despite all these hurdles humanity still wants to go on. With different ambitions in mind, but the goal is the same, that which lies beyond our cradle, the earth.

  Essentially, I believe anyone who watches planetes has something to gain from watching it, be it as simplistic as enjoyment or provocative events, which occur on the show, mirroring many of our own. Truly, an experience that is worth to share with everyone, and if you love space as much as I do, something you will never forget.
  in memoriam of my beloved father Chandler, who is my guiding star.

  "There is a way out of every box, a solution to every puzzle; it's just a matter of finding it." -- Captain Jean-Luc Picard

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