[Anime] PlanetES (Review)

[xNoName]

Before writing the review, I would like to tell every one of you that this series does not have a lot of action, so action only seekers, please excuse and don't ruin it's records by dropping it. This series is mostly Sci-fi and drama, and consists of little bits of Romance. This is by far the most realistic and teachable anime for me, there are so many things to learn by watching it. This is a futuristic slice of life that contains a lot of themes that pertain to human nature.

Now if that's settled, let's move on to the review.

Set in the 2075 AD, Planetes traces the lives of the two main characters, Ai Tanabe, an innocent young woman who is recently arrived in space, and Hachimaki (Hachirota Hoshino), a young, churlish, but experienced EVA worker. Both of them work in Debris section which retrieves debris from space. The debris section consists of fairly good amount of interesting and resolute people, except for some idiots.

Story: (10/10)

The story revolves around several characters residing in the Space Station ISPV-7, owned by the Technora Cooperation. Their job is to retrieve space debris. Up till the first half of the series, the episodes are like individual pearls, i.e. they are independent and mostly all of them are aimed towards all the crew members of Debris section. One should not think that these are fillers and contain mindless crap, instead the first half is what is more concerned with character development and believe me you'll see the difference in the second half. Throughout the show, many points related to future space travel are addressed, such as the obvious problem with space debris, the problem with space radiation leading to cancer and other disorders, the concept of space born children suffering from the lack of normal gravity, etc. These are all consulted and are integrated with the overall storyline. The main plot of the show will be shown most likely in episode 16, that is the point where the series takes on speed. Terrorists attempts to slow down development in space. These episodes after 16 are very tense, with a lot of intense drama. The ending, in my opinion, was the best part of the series. The Climax was just amazing, During that period your mind would probably be thinking - What will happen next? Will terrorists win? Were humans all wrong by coming out in space? etc. Unlike most animes, the ending was apt and appropriate.

Characters: (9/10)

The underlying strength of an anime resides in it's character development. This has been considered fairly deeply in Planetes, the overall character development is great in the series. Like I said, The first 15 episodes, i.e. the first half, is mostly aimed towards the characters, so you'll find the characters to be all mature, except for Hachimaki who takes a stupid and kiddish decision on his own in the later half but he soon realizes that mistake.....[blocked due to spoilers].

Animation: (10/10)

This could be said Sunrise's one of the best projects. The animation is very crisp, more like "Realistic". The use of CG on the space station was a very good move. Monitor screens for the helmet are well conceived and the diagrams of orbits were nicely drawn.

Sound: (9.5/10)

The opening theme is surprisingly great, though there are some problems in the ending theme, it is very perky and cheerful. It is sometimes not apt for the serious dramatic scenes, like in the second half.

The Soundtrack, as expected, is phenomenal. Hitomi Kuroishi has done what she does best in Planetes too, the other project of hers would be Code Geass.

Value: (10/10)

In my opinion, this show has passed all my expectations and surely deserves a Killer 10. I initially downloaded this, but now I am going to buy the Blu-ray Box set of this. To sum it up, I completed this show within 4 days, which is quite fast for me, you can understand it's value by yourself now.

Enjoyment: (10/10)

This is by far the most enjoyable anime for me after Death Note and Welcome to the NHK. It touched on a lot of things - one's hopes, dreams, sense of justice, and even delved into what it means to "love someone". After completing this series, you'll be wondering with yourself - "Why in the hell was I born so early? I want to be in 2075" or at least you'll be thinking of experiencing "Space" yourself.

Overall: (10/10)

You can witness yourself How moved I am by watching this. It has got to be the best anime of 2003/04. This series should be more popular.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Emotional Outlet

[Legado]

Man i was saving this series for later since i am watching Mushi-shi but after reading this... i can't resist but to go right into it! Thanks for the revivew!

[CaNzCo]

Yeah, I pretty much just dropped what I was watching to give this series a shot too. I only read the first half because I was already sold and didn't wanna risk spoilers, but I am really glad you wrote it because I loved the anime.

[xNoName]

It's in my Top 5, so it's quite natural that I'd review it. Plus, it's quite underrated so I had to do it. I'm glad you people like both my review and anime.

[hmfaiq]

It's in my Top 5, so it's quite natural that I'd review it.

Which ones are the other 4?

[xNoName]

Which ones are the other 4?

Durarara, Death Note, Bakemonogatari, and Welcome to the NHK. If you wanna know more, then I definitely enjoyed watching Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Kara no Kyoukai, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch, Spice and Wolf, Mushishi, Deadman Wonderland, Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, Darker than Black, Nana, Baccano, Angel Beats, Samurai Champloo, The World God Only Knows, Clannad, AnoHana, Katanagatari, etc. Pick whichever you want, every one of them is great, at least in my opinion.