Planetes

[JyL]

I was gonna hold off until I finished the series but I can't resist. I'm finally getting around to finishing Planetes (way late, I know) and I have a few things to say. Spoilers ahead.


The series up the episode 19 was very mediocre for me. That's why it took me so long to slog through it. There were episodes and moments here and there of brilliance, but there was just too much filler. Characterization episodes of bland characters like Rabi or E-Chan and other isolated episodes of little worth detracted greatly from my enjoyment.

But then I watched episode 19 through 21 and the show's got me really excited. It's as if the creators thought to themselves "oh shit, we only have 8 episodes to finish the series, we better shit together".

A few key issues that were only hinted on earlier in the series are brought up again. The notion that the money spent going to Jupiter with the Von Braun could've been used to help humans on earth is brought up by a reporter character in ep 19. The show reminds us that the world portrayed in the series is NOT a perfect one, where everyone on Earth is living well and space exploration came sheerly from surplus. There are people starving on Earth, yet "The Union" is more interested in space.
This growing divide between the rich and poor of Earth is personified later in ep 21 through Ai and Claire. As they argue they are arguing for their people as a whole. Claire, who's from a poor nation in the midst of a civil war is disgusted by Ai's thoughtless idealism. Ai can't help herself, she's from Japan and knows nothing about the troubles of poorer nations.

Then there's the test. When the tennis player character cut her own oxygen tube and lost control of her EVA, I kind of rolled my eyes and thought to myself "Oh, ok. All the other guys will ignore her and continue with the test, while our hero Hoshino will save her, failing his own test, but that's ok because he'll be rewarded in the end and pass the exam."
Nope. In fact the exact opposite happens. All three of the other contestants except Hoshino go the help the girl, while he ignores her and finishes the test. Everyone fails, but Hoshino advances. The leader of the program explains that on Jupiter, the person will be expected to weigh the life of one crew member against the well being of the whole crew and mission of the whole, and that he has no need for "humanists". It's little moments like these that defy cliche and accepted liberal thought that make me smile at the series.

Another thing that I'm liking about the later part of the series is that they focus less on the interesting characters and more on the central ones. The inner conflicts of Ai and Hoshino are brought to the forefront, and Hoshino's personal choices of The Jupiter mission versus his relationship with Ai are under scrutiny. Another small part that I loved was the degeneration of Chenshin, where he goes a little crazy and literally molests Ai at the Space Dock.
Also there's the welcome return of Hakim. The buildup to the showdown at the end of episode 21 was well done, and not too obvious for me to be annoyed.

Anyway I look forward to the last 5 episodes of the series, and am sorry that I took so long getting through the first half of it.

[psyren]

The series was pretty good for me, but there were moments where I wanted to boot some of the characters out of an airlock.

Not to mention the show was very true to the laws of physics.

[AceHigh]

Not to mention the show was very true to the laws of physics.

The only two series where there is no sound in space:

Planetes
Firefly

I love them for that and so much more. And since we got to this topic, Star Wars sucks.

[apo12]

I am watching it right now and I am amazed !
Character development,realism,plot,animation,character design and sound are top notch.
The first episodic anime I am actually enjoying.

[nstgc]

I've seen plenty of series where there is no sound in space. All of the Gundams for instance.

[edit] To what degree do you mean "no sound in space"?

[AceHigh]

I've seen plenty of series where there is no sound in space. All of the Gundams for instance.

[edit] To what degree do you mean "no sound in space"?

Heh, only to some degree, even the best of them make mistakes. I was referring to the view from space (there will of course be sounds inside the ship etc)

[nstgc]

The reason I mentioned Gundam is because they never talk through space and make a point of making sure that the helmets touch if the radio is off. You do however have the various sound effects. If I remember correctly, to my surprise, Genocyber, at the end, didn't have any sound until they (that psychic cyborg) were enterering the atmosphere or something.

I know I've seen some where they don't even have sound effects when the camera is in a vacuum. I can only think of the one, GC, however.

[Quadlazer]

Spoilers ahead, but yeah, this whole thread should be marked spoiler.



I loved this entire series, even all the episodes before the Jupiter storyline (even though the transition was quick and rough). The depiction of space and how regular, yet still special it is perfectly fit in their timeline of 2075. The directors really payed attention to details. The ending is just perfect: full of omgwtfbbq twists, but still completely believable and satisfying. I also have a thing for Tanabe now.

The only one I didn't like was the ninja episode. WTF was that? Out of nowhere and went nowhere. Stupid filler.

[Zalis116]

I was gonna hold off until I finished the series but I can't resist. I'm finally getting around to finishing Planetes (way late, I know) and I have a few things to say. Spoilers ahead.

Anyway I look forward to the last 5 episodes of the series, and am sorry that I took so long getting through the first half of it.

No shame in being "way late" -- who are you apologizing to, the "You must download and keep up to date with every single new anime" Thought Police? There will always be these little "gems" of series that we overlook when they're first released and then go back to years later. I myself only watched Planetes at the beginning of 2007. I actually did like the first part of the series; it's rather rare to come across "working adults" anime, and Planetes does a great job of showing space debris collection as just another ordinary job. Even though it's IN SPACE, it's as down-to-earth as it can be, including the "no sound in a vaccuum" element. (Though I think sounds do start popping up in space later in the series.) It's hard to look at other, more idealized space anime such as Stellvia the same way after watching Planetes -- you keep thinking, "What about the debris?"

As a sidenote, I thought the English dub did a good job at portraying the multinational cast of characters, and I daresay it "fit" the series better than the Japanese track. Overall, Planetes was one of the best $27 I ever spent.

[Hadouken]

I just started watching Planetes too, great series

[beezer08]

It's definitely one of my favorite shows ever......and managed to do so while being outside my favorite genres, which says something. 

[apo12]

Finished it an hour ago.This show is made of WIN.

[JyL]

oops I forgot I made this thread. Spoilers:

One comment I'd add about the series' ending is that it was kind of abrupt. All the conflicts just seemed to solve themselves or ended too easily. It just felt too neat. The gap between episode 24 and 25 was a bit jarring to me considering the buildup of the last 5 or 6 episodes leading up to it. And I understand it could've been an artistic choice, but I don't like how the 2 major plot points ended off camera and in flashback (Tanabe/Claire on the moon, Hachimaki/Hashim on the ship). Also, the terrorists getting their demands met and preventing the crash by themselves was a pretty big surprise/anticlimax.

[sdedalus83]

oops I forgot I made this thread. Spoilers:

One comment I'd add about the series' ending is that it was kind of abrupt. All the conflicts just seemed to solve themselves or ended too easily. It just felt too neat. The gap between episode 24 and 25 was a bit jarring to me considering the buildup of the last 5 or 6 episodes leading up to it. And I understand it could've been an artistic choice, but I don't like how the 2 major plot points ended off camera and in flashback (Tanabe/Claire on the moon, Hachimaki/Hashim on the ship). Also, the terrorists getting their demands met and preventing the crash by themselves was a pretty big surprise/anticlimax.

The deal that stopped the crash was one of the coolest things I've seen in any show.  Two businessmen calmly negotiate the biggest business deal in the history of humanity while one threatens to murder an entire city and destroy humanity's space capabilities, and the other actually holds out for the best terms.  Easily the best single episode I've seen in a science fiction show, especially with the Ai/Claire cliffhanger.  The change of pace was certainly jarring, but so were the events of that episode, especially for Ai.

[apo12]

When I saw Ai on wheelchair I almost cried.I really liked that in the end she remained true to her qualities and didn't use Claire's oxygen tank.
Claire's development over the course of the series was excellent.

[wolkec]

but she did recover

[kagerato]

It's little moments like these that defy cliche and accepted liberal thought that make me smile at the series.

Accepted 'liberal' thought ? *[1]  What the hell does this have to do with political thought ?  You're apparently advocating for a strict utilitarian viewpoint, which has broad acceptance among people in very different political and social classes.

I find strict utilitarianism morally repugnant.  Is a society that only considers the collective and never the individual really worth living in?  What value does anything have if you don't prioritize the worth of individual persons?

Don't mistake me; deontological ethics has substantial weaknesses as well.  I find it simplistic to think that any one principle, consideration, or philosophy can solve any moral dilemma.  A broad consideration must be made for any issue of substantial complexity to reach a conclusion one could consider unambiguously correct.

[1] This is especially puzzling considering, on most issues, it has traditionally been progressives who took a firmly Utilitarian viewpoint.  Poverty, gun control, mandatory public education, and the progressive tax system are all prime examples.  Conservatives did or do fight each of these issues on Deontological grounds ("we have a right to bear arms", "a right to choose our education", "a right to keep what we earn", and so forth).

The stereotypical political issue in the US, abortion, breaks the mold a little.  In that case, it is both utilitarian (fewer children helps reduce poverty and elevate the status of women) and deontological (women have a right to control their reproductive capacity).  Conservatives have been arguing against abortion for a long time on pseudo-deontological grounds, claiming there is a "right to life".  Well, persons have a right to live, sure.  The problem is getting from a blastocyst or embryo to a person, especially once you start to think about the fact that there is no brain.  I would hope that "pro-life" proponents don't actually believe every living thing, regardless of its capacities, has a right to have its life protected.  No, they simply think that all human beings are magically endowed at conception with a "soul", the presence of which cannot be detected and the absence of which would not be noticed.  In other words, a theological and vacuous argument.

Some issues are fought for on deontological grounds from both sides of the aisle in this country.  I'm speaking especially of increasingly draconian copyright laws and child porn laws in particular ("you have a right to profit!", "think of the children ['s rights]").  The "debate" on these issues is so weak that I think it strongly showcases how conservative our supposedly "liberal" party can be much of the time.

In any case, if you read this far, thanks for indulging my little rant and have a nice day.

[sunweb]

It's little moments like these that defy cliche and accepted liberal thought that make me smile at the series.

Accepted 'liberal' thought ? *[1]  What the hell does this have to do with political thought ?  You're apparently advocating for a strict utilitarian viewpoint, which has broad acceptance among people in very different political and social classes.

I find strict utilitarianism morally repugnant.  Is a society that only considers the collective and never the individual really worth living in?  What value does anything have if you don't prioritize the worth of individual persons?

Don't mistake me; deontological ethics has substantial weaknesses as well.  I find it simplistic to think that any one principle, consideration, or philosophy can solve any moral dilemma.  A broad consideration must be made for any issue of substantial complexity to reach a conclusion one could consider unambiguously correct.

[1] This is especially puzzling considering, on most issues, it has traditionally been progressives who took a firmly Utilitarian viewpoint.  Poverty, gun control, mandatory public education, and the progressive tax system are all prime examples.  Conservatives did or do fight each of these issues on Deontological grounds ("we have a right to bear arms", "a right to choose our education", "a right to keep what we earn", and so forth).

The stereotypical political issue in the US, abortion, breaks the mold a little.  In that case, it is both utilitarian (fewer children helps reduce poverty and elevate the status of women) and deontological (women have a right to control their reproductive capacity).  Conservatives have been arguing against abortion for a long time on pseudo-deontological grounds, claiming there is a "right to life".  Well, persons have a right to live, sure.  The problem is getting from a blastocyst or embryo to a person, especially once you start to think about the fact that there is no brain.  I would hope that "pro-life" proponents don't actually believe every living thing, regardless of its capacities, has a right to have its life protected.  No, they simply think that all human beings are magically endowed at conception with a "soul", the presence of which cannot be detected and the absence of which would not be noticed.  In other words, a theological and vacuous argument.

Some issues are fought for on deontological grounds from both sides of the aisle in this country.  I'm speaking especially of increasingly draconian copyright laws and child porn laws in particular ("you have a right to profit!", "think of the children ['s rights]").  The "debate" on these issues is so weak that I think it strongly showcases how conservative our supposedly "liberal" party can be much of the time.

In any case, if you read this far, thanks for indulging my little rant and have a nice day.

(I read it through, quite interesting to say the least, but why is this on Anime Discussions > Planetes?)

[Quadlazer]

tl;dr

[adion]

The post is actually full of own, he totally handed it to JyL. Probably the longest post on Box I've bothered to read.