30th January 2008, 1:40 PM
Synopsis: In the near future, the development of colonies on the moon and other outerspace endeavors has led to a build-up of debris floating around the Earth. To remedy this problem, the Debris Section was formed. Their task being to collect harmful debris and remove it from orbit in order to keep ships and satelites safe. In other words, outerspace garbage collectors.
First Glance: A hard-scifi series that takes a serious and realistic look at space and space travel.
Impressions: Planetes is one of the few anime series...no, scratch that. Planetes is one of the few works of scifi that isn't a book to show a realistic and serious depiction of space and what it's like to actually be there. Newtonian physics are proudly on display and there's no giant robots or impossibly talented heroes to muck things up.
Space is a dangerous place. One mistake and you can die or get others killed. And even avoiding mistakes can cost you your life, such as spending too long out there and getting cancer. We also get to see the effects that being born on the moon can have. The series even depicts what happens to third world countries that are rapidly being left behind. Very few scifi series have ever gone this far in setting up a realistic and believeable world. This is the closest thing that television has come to 2001: A Space Odyssey, though the two aren't exactly similar in other regards.
As far as the characters go, there's quite a few to choose from. Some are merely there for a little comic relief from time to time, while others play key roles in revealing some aspect of life in space. The two main characters, Tanabe and Hachimaki, can be either interesting or annoying, depending on what your tolerances are. Tanabe sees everything in a positive light and always tries to do her best, along with spreading her belief that love solves all problems. Hachimaki tends to see the bad in everything and is often grumpy or disinterested regarding most things. Their best scenes are probably in the last few episodes, but don't let that deter you because their are plenty of other interesting characters that show up along the way.
The animation is really good and, as I said, depicts outerspace very well. As in, things that are put into motion stay that way unless acted on by another force. I wouldn't say that it's the best I've ever seen, but it's among the best I've seen in the past few years certainly. The art style compliments the animation and tone of the series very well, so that's another plus.
Conclusion: There's really not much I bring up about this series that would be a negative. In my book, it's one of the best out there and certainly near the top as far as science fiction goes.
Score 4.5/5
Specs: 26 episodes available as part of perfect collection.
Acquisition Difficulty: Easy.
First Glance: A hard-scifi series that takes a serious and realistic look at space and space travel.
Impressions: Planetes is one of the few anime series...no, scratch that. Planetes is one of the few works of scifi that isn't a book to show a realistic and serious depiction of space and what it's like to actually be there. Newtonian physics are proudly on display and there's no giant robots or impossibly talented heroes to muck things up.
Space is a dangerous place. One mistake and you can die or get others killed. And even avoiding mistakes can cost you your life, such as spending too long out there and getting cancer. We also get to see the effects that being born on the moon can have. The series even depicts what happens to third world countries that are rapidly being left behind. Very few scifi series have ever gone this far in setting up a realistic and believeable world. This is the closest thing that television has come to 2001: A Space Odyssey, though the two aren't exactly similar in other regards.
As far as the characters go, there's quite a few to choose from. Some are merely there for a little comic relief from time to time, while others play key roles in revealing some aspect of life in space. The two main characters, Tanabe and Hachimaki, can be either interesting or annoying, depending on what your tolerances are. Tanabe sees everything in a positive light and always tries to do her best, along with spreading her belief that love solves all problems. Hachimaki tends to see the bad in everything and is often grumpy or disinterested regarding most things. Their best scenes are probably in the last few episodes, but don't let that deter you because their are plenty of other interesting characters that show up along the way.
The animation is really good and, as I said, depicts outerspace very well. As in, things that are put into motion stay that way unless acted on by another force. I wouldn't say that it's the best I've ever seen, but it's among the best I've seen in the past few years certainly. The art style compliments the animation and tone of the series very well, so that's another plus.
Conclusion: There's really not much I bring up about this series that would be a negative. In my book, it's one of the best out there and certainly near the top as far as science fiction goes.
Score 4.5/5
Specs: 26 episodes available as part of perfect collection.
Acquisition Difficulty: Easy.