Planetes

planetes is an anime very particular.

the genus to which it belongs is sometimes referred to as "hard sci- fy " a fiction that has no scientific errors and inconsistencies , and then describes a possible world and in the case of planetes would say even likely. The series is about a near future, after fifty years, the central theme is the colonization of Earth's orbit. some details are very interesting: devices to be able to spin in space taking into account the center of gravity, propulsion with liquid helium, lunar installations etc. ...

I must say that I really do not understand why it is a genre so little explored, for once, you can even do without aliens headless demons of death and time travel. I felt the lack of an anime of this type, I was very impressed 8/10

Some Japanese animes have this style of starting silly and happy, then suddenly turning all serious and philosophical. This is one of them, and, if it weren't for those stunts in the very last episodes, when they left the outcome of very tense moments for the next two episodes, I would have marked it with a 9.

Anyway, this is all about humans exploring (finally) space and the people that venture doing it. In the end, it becomes clear that the point of the series was not technology or space, but human nature, the way we all connect to each other, and what we can accomplish together.

All in all it is a cute anime. It starts really silly, but ends very well. And for a 26 episode anime, it certainly kept me on my toes. A word of mention about the soundtrack, which I found good towards very good for an anime, with mostly Japanese songs (even if sprinkled with the now customary English words).

Bottom line: worth seeing.

The protagonist in Planetes is Ai Tanabe a young woman with ideals that seem naive to some, if not many, of the other characters in the series. The series centers around her newly acquired job and all that follows in Debris Section aka. Half Section because it has half the employees it should have. Due to an accident involving space debris and a spacecraft Debris section was formed. Planetes has been described as being one of the most realistic animes science-wise. While this may be true Planetes is so much more than just a science based anime. The series progresses really neatly throughout the 26 episodes it spans and at first the episodes are about general debris retrieval, but later develops into other subjects like the gap between the poor and rich down on Earth due to space exploration etc. and what consequences this may lead to. Furthermore it is a love story between Tanabe and the male protagonist Hachimaki and their struggle to maintain their relationship through hardships since they both (especially Hachimaki) have some existential problems to solve. The animation is great and the mood is even greater, it is a joy to watch a scene when the characters float in zero-G or when they are out in space in total silence. A series that shouldn't be missed if you like love stories and Space or just one of those two. You Copy!

...and often this is exactly what makes good sci-fi.

Focus is heavy on character development, and the debris-hauler protagonists are repeatedly called to ponder on what space is, and what it means to them and to the rest of the people that are far from being astronauts. As the story unfolds, their answers to these particular questions change dramatically along with their psyches - this is something audiences rarely see in such entertainment genres.

The main plot device with the terrorists never manages to take center stage, although it is above average and it does end with a bold twist; an alternative post-9/11 narration made back in 2004, which one rarely sees even 13 years after the actual events.

The writers have tried to keep the whole thing realistic and have been successful at it; one will not see anything out-worldly happening in 26 episodes. Sure, books/pens/motorcycles do look very much out of place in 2076 but such anachronistic elements can easily be dismissed in favor of suspension of disbelief.

Although the mood is starkly uneven, turning from generalized lighthearted-ness in the first half to *very* dark overtones as the series progresses, in the end heroes and viewers alike have made a complete circle and are ready to move forward, only this time they are wiser and more optimistic than in the beginning. Overall this is a must- see for space-loving teens, boys and girls alike. A very welcome change from spaceships blasting each other to bits.

I am truly amazed how great this show turns out to be from a science-fiction fan's point of view, and I do not mean the kind of movie science fiction which relies on CGI as its main asset and suffers from poor unrealistic plot. I mean the kind of literary science fiction that gets awarded with a Hugo award.

Perhaps one should forget that this is an anime, for the simple reason that the stereotype of anime is something like a TV show for kids where a bunch of clichéd, depth-less characters battle supernatural enemies with their superpowers. If that is what anime means for you, think of Planetes as an animated series made in Japan. Removed around eighty years from the times it was made in, it presents quite a believable picture of what space exploration might be like at the end of the 21st century, with a load of detail comparable only to the movie adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is one of the strongest points of the show - the richness of little details, like how rooms have to be adapted to zero G, makes the sci fi elements more believable.

The strongest point, however, would be how great science fiction this is. One definition of science fiction would be that a science fiction story depicts the way more-or-less imaginary technology (or the fruit of some science not directly related to technology, like chemistry) impacts human lives. Apart from the development of the regular characters of the show, every episode contains a story in that vein, with a great deal of insight and care for consistency. It is harder to show something gripping in science fiction with more-or-less realistic technology than in a flashy movie where the technology used is nothing short of magical, yet Planetes achieves that in every episode. Also, since the future gadgetry depicted is so often directly connected with the plot, and at the same time, so believable, Planetes could also be categorized as a cyberpunk show set in Earth's orbit, and I mean cyberpunk like in the later William Gibson stories, not like in, say, Cyber City Oedo 808. As I said, you won't see any technological magic, not even at the "AI virus gaining consciousness" level.

I'm sorry I can't recommend this further without any spoilers, but if you have ever enjoyed good SF literature, be sure to check out this show (at least the first 5 episodes, to see what it's like after we've gotten to know the main characters), and you won't be disappointed.