Review: Planetes (anime)

I first saw Planetes two years ago on Anime Central. I finished the 26 episodes yesterday, streamed without few breaks in between except all the activity needed to keep my human body employed and alive and eating-disorder free.


First off - after EVA, I loved the drawing style of Planetes. It's quirky and expressive and I loved how Tanabe had purple eyes but that didn't detract from the overall realism of her appearance.

The world of Planetes is set in the future when "space debris" is a problem for the  many orbital satellites and shuttles/cargo freights operating from Earth to the Moon and back. The job of collecting space debris (disused satellites, stranded shuttle parts etc) are contracted out privately. Enter the "half section", much like Shomuni, a late 90s Josei drama - the understaffed department located in the basement of the space Technora company ship.

The goal of Planetes is basically to show what it is like for an everyday salary-man in space. Everyone has dreams - but does everyone have the means to achieve it? And the future is not necessarily glamourous, especially when being in space and having to pick up the waste of others is as mundane as the weekly rubbish disposal crew on your street/borough. In fact, the main character, Hachimaki is called the "diaper man" - astronauts need to wear diapers in case the jobs out in space are long and there is of course....no toilet.

The first 15 or so episodes follows Tanabe, a 20 year old who has just entered Technora and is assigned to the "half section", the Debris department - trials and tribulations, a bit of romance thrown in and further background for the other section members. It was a little loose in the episode with the "ninjas" on the moon but this didn't happen often and my attention was generally quite consistently focused. It made for easy viewing. The latter half provides an evenly and plausibly developed climax - issues and themes such as the controversy of space development and its impact on the world economy, third world economies and the environment (all touched upon in the first fifteen episodes) pull together, along with the characters. I finished the last 12 episodes in 2 days whilst the first 15 took about a week.

Emotional attachment to characters (the more of the cast the better) is generally a good yardstick. It's better, even, if the theme of the series keeps my mind occupied for a while after I have finished it. There were characters I hated, because they were created to be despicable bastards, characters I loved, because I saw all the troubles/trials they were going through and characters whom I felt ambivalent about because I could see that they themselves were unsure what they did was morally right or wrong.

I guess the themes of terrorism and splinter groups is tying in with what I am reading about in Eden (Hiroki Endo - BRILLIANCE manga series). What do terrorists exist for? The label "terrorist" is very different from how or what they see themselves as. The term is modern. Back in the 1930s, communist guerrillas were the contemporary "terrorists" but their vision was idealistic or at least supported by a certain idealism which believes that change for better is possible, whatever the means.

Moreover - how much do you sacrifice for your childhood dream? Your job? Your marriage? Tanabe and Hachimaki might have been married at the end but seven years is dauntingly long. Personally, I would find it difficult to believe I might be able to maintain faith in someone for seven years - but then again, I occupy the end of the spectrum shadowed in cynicism about people in general and satisfy myself through animation and fiction. Well, if a 26 episode series if going to up my levels of introspection and appreciation for my peaceful existence in the world then bring it on!

Planetes - recommended!