Yuu kopi? Ai kopi!

Plain and simple, the series “Planetes” [aka ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ], is a garbage story. That is, a story about garbage. Okay okay, “space debris”, to be exact. Basically, it follows the everyday lives of a team of people who clean space debris for a living. However, the plot is neither plain nor simple, and it cannot be so easily summed into a single sentence. But if I had to come up with one word to describe it, I would use “enjoyable”.

The story starts off with Tanaka Ai joining the Debris Section, a team devoted to the collection of space debris for safety concerns. Now an anime series that is only about the collection of debris would have a rather… questionable entertainment value, but Planetes isn’t simply focused on that one aspect. Instead, it branches off and focuses on character development and the journey that each person faces. Each character is full of life and has a deep story attached to who they are. For some characters, we see them battle their past that they need to break free from. For others, they need to fight for the future, to create a place they can finally call home. We’re all along for the ride as they continue their fight through life.

We also get to see how the world would be like in the near future. As technology develops and humanity grows, the need for space development and colonization will become a primary concern. Planetes explore this by showing precisely what’ll happen in such a world. The politics of space is a recurring theme that emphasizes the difference in power between countries that have, and countries that have not. Additionally, the series also touches on life in space and what it takes to survive. It’s an environment completely different from Earth, and is one that is quite unforgiving, as many different characters find out the hard way.

After having several smaller story arcs in the beginning of the series, the ending arc begins to focus on a single story to conclude everything. Unfortunately, I felt that this was about the time when the series started going downhill. Although the series would feel incomplete without a long conclusion arc, I still felt that it neglected key aspects that needed addressing. Most notable would be the relationship between Tanaka and Hachimaki, or lack thereof [I apologize for the slight spoiler, but it’ll become fairly obvious by the first episode]. It just felt like the story focused too highly on just one issue, and threw away everything else. It was as if the ending was independent of everything else

However, I will admit that not all things were thrown away. Unlike many other anime series, Planetes went back and in one way or another, addressed the previous arcs dealt with earlier in the series. We were shown the aftermath of those arcs, even after their original conclusion. It was nice to see, as it gives closure and shows that the previous stories weren’t randomly thrown in just to waste our time.

The animation was fine, no glaring defects that would bother me, but such is the norm. It’s obvious by the animation style that it’s a more serious anime, as they cut all the cutesy stuff like chibi animations and all that. But perhaps I shouldn’t say “serious anime”, as they do have their comedic moments. Rather, it’s more of a series aimed for the older audiences. I don’t think the younger generations will be able to really appreciate some of the subject matter, as they would never have needed to give it any thought. Death, politics, and the intricacies of space aren’t really always on the minds of today’s youth, so I’d expect.

Overall, I would say Planetes started off rather well, but began to falter at the end due to the sudden change in direction. Although I voiced plenty of negative comments, I won’t deny that I felt the series was overall enjoyable and positive. My main gripe would be the ending arc’s separation and isolation from the rest of the series, and if that could be improved on, then my review of the series would no doubt go up drastically. It wasn’t a BAD ending, I just think it could’ve been improved somewhat.

Recommendation: I didn’t feel like it was a masterpiece, but it certainly wasn’t a disaster. If you’re in the mood for something a bit more serious that makes you think, Planetes can do just that.

Edit: I liked Planetes =0

Edit #2: Since my comment turned out so long, check out comment #5 for my followup on the review.

//Soda