Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
geovannyboss
Of course I respect everyone's tastes, but if you told me this was a joke anime, I'd believe you. I hated this show.
This is going to contain spoilers for Planetes, but you know what? Who cares. It's bad. There's the review. Don't watch it. Not even for "haha wow this is so bad" laughs. It has a handful of moments at best. It's bad and gets worse as time goes on. And it's so, incredibly, unbelievably boring.
I'm a guy who likes things that are boring. One of my favorite games? Civilzation 3. I play on the map TETurkhan's Test of Time. It's a game that takes dozens of hours to complete. I adore it. It's slow and plodding. I liked Meek's Cutoff, a movie about being bored. I even like slice of life animes that are boring. There's something fascinating about trying to find beauty in the mund…
Read at the sourcenozomiEX
A mature low sci-fi drama set in space? "Sign me up!," or so I was thinking when I started this series. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed within the first episode. The plot in a nut shell is fine; it's a simple slice of life set in space, musing on various aspects of the human condition. Zoom in any closer than that, though, and the cracks start to appear. The show is preachy, to say the least. Every episode is some vehicle for the author to set up straw men and knock them down to carry a shallow message across. Every character that stands opposite the crew of Debris Section in some way is a cartoonish caricature of a human. Expect antagonists to be obese, old men with shockingly little tact, to a self-destructive point. They will say the worst possible thing with little care for advanci…
Read at the sourceSandSilos
Reading the synopsis and reviews, I really wanted to like "Planetes". Even given how slow the first ten episodes were, I kept hope alive and watched to the end, waiting for the magic which seemed to have charmed so many viewers. There is a lot to be said for the series: its vision for the future is exceptional, for one. Yet in spite of it all, I did not particularly enjoy Planetes and consider it a middling series. Overall, I would recommend giving it a try!
There were several major issues with Planetes which dulled its overall efficacy. First, like much anime, the show attempts too many different genres. At first, it displays the everyday trappings of life as a space janitor much like a slice-of-life, and then it delves into drama with action/survival elements, and finally plays with pol…
Read at the sourceNervin
Not often do you stumble across a slice of life having its setting in space itself, being the other worthy title Space Brothers. The idea of human exodus to space will be sooner or later a reality, and with that, debris in its area as well. Planetes narrates the daily life of Garbage Man collecting space debris to ensure a safe environment for all the different modules and ships in Earth's orbit, in addition to expanding on both politics and existentialism of humans related to its exodus. There were some issues with the anime, the comedic elements being the main culprit for hindering its immersion in the story.
~Story~
It is the year of 2075 where space travel has become reality, and with it, the colonization of the moon as well as commercialization of its resources. This is because Eart…
Read at the sourcethemegamancave
Coming from a former aeronautical engineering major, space was the first thing that drew me to Planetes, though it wasn’t quite the space exploration anime I was initially thinking it would be. Nothing flashy here, just the story of a space debris (garbage if you will) collection team and one man’s desire to own his own spaceship to explore space on his own. However, Planetes had so much more to offer, whether it’s romance, loss, real world comparisons or just great, relatable characters… this show had it all, and it had me eagerly skipping to the next episode and never let me down. The story of Planetes may not seem like much at the start, just a couple of people who pick up space trash for a living at the large space conglomerate Technora, trying to make ends meet. Out of respect for a f…
Read at the sourceZephSilver
Growing up, I'm sure many of us have stared into the night sky at one time or another, trying to process the sprawled out abyss, bewildered by its seemingly endless stretches into darkness. Just the very thought of how all-encompassing it is can be equal parts awe-inspiring and intimidating, as we try to find our place in it all. Like our ancestors before us and later generations yet to take our place, us humans have and always will be drawn to the great unknown; like moths to a flame, we pursue things no matter how unsure we may be about the outcome. Always seeking out the new frontier, both in our personal lives and places we inhabit. It's a driving force that we all intrinsically share, whether we're afraid of entering unfamiliar territory or excited of the prospect. Very few stories ca…
Read at the sourceRarestProGamer
Plot- Abandoned Artificial Satellites and Tanks jettisoned from shuttles refuse generated during space station construction. This vast amount of junk floating in the space, space debris, is a very serious threat. This is the story about 2075, a time in which space garbage has become a problem Technora's Debris Collecting section, its EVA worker, Hachirota "Hachimaki" Hoshino, and the newcomer to the group, Ai Tanabe!
- Another hidden gem. As usual, I won't say much about the story. It's bit similar to other Hollywood Sci-Fi space movies like Gravity etc though this one is damn good. Although the first half is needs patience, because it's the 2nd Half where you realize the true potential of the anime. The MC's development and romance is superb in the 2nd half, I would give an overall 8.5/1…
Read at the sourceBear1211
Space, the final frontier, and what a frontier it is. Humans long ago looked up at the stars, and reached out to grasp them. From the words of Captain Kirk, "to boldly go where no man has gone before".
Story: 8
The human race, always moving forward, never looking back. So eager to abandon the cradle of life that raised them. The cause and effect of this ambition are highlighted within the 25 episodes of the show."Planetes" is something truly unique in the Anime scene. This is essentially a SoL (Slice of Life) in space, which alone makes it something different from the norm, but at its core the deeply rooted themes are one of the biggest factors that set it above the rest. The show is more or less separated into several Arcs that all tie into the overall theme of the show. The one big i…
Read at the sourceExOsc2
Planetes....what a gem, in so many unexpected ways.
I started Planetes the way I've started most animes: hoping for a decent romance that ends well. I've been a sci-fi can for most of my life so Romance+Scifi+drama seemed like a good fit. And it started off a lot like I expected: a slowly developing romance with dashes of comedy and hints of a love triangle...Back when I was in school studying literature we learned about the Dramatic structure, how a story will have rising action leading to a huge climax. Planetes starts that climb slowly...but as the series goes on (and approaches its end) it doesn't level off, it continues to climb more and more sharply.
As the show progressed I found myself asking just what it was I had fallen into. This wasn't just a simple love story. This wasn't a…
Read at the sourceBaconzombie
Director Goro Taniguchi has always been known for his extremely popular and critically acclaimed series, Code Geass. Boasting over 220,000 viewers on this site alone, you’d think that some of his other works would be shed into light because of this popularity. Planetes is a show that flies under the radar for two reasons: the first being that the show, as of this year, is a decade old, and the second reason being that it will always be overlooked by the 10x more popular (literally) Code Geass.
Story (9/10):
Tanabe Ai is a rookie at Technora’s Debris Collecting Section, spitefully labeled as “Half Section” because it only has enough manpower to be, well, half of a Section. The year is 2075, and after the unfortunate Alnair 8 accident that saw a piece of space debris destroy a suborbital…
Read at the sourcekyoscaum
This is a slow anime in the beggining, in which nothing happens, and too fast paced in the second half, in a way that may confuse one.
There are a bunch of annoying characters (Tanabe and the whole comic relief crew, I'm looking at you guys). Also, the relationship between the Debris team is not well made, and there is not enough time to build the characters that are very important in the final part of Planetes. They also didn't take enough time building the main couple.
Another confusing thing is that sometimes there is a lot of attention to little details to make the space atmosphere believable, but at the same time you can never be sure on whether there is gravity or not. I'd think that nowhere in the ship has gravity, but sometimes it seems like they walk like they would in earth and…
Read at the sourcekekekeKaj
If I told you "Planetes" is a sci fi anime, what are the things that immediately comes into your mind? Almost certainly, you'd think of massive space battles involving thousands of ships, futurisic worlds full of wonderous technology, or perhaps even outlandish alien races with strange cultures and customs. Well, "Planetes", an anime of this genre with more than its share of far fetched imagination, glory and grandeur, is about... none of those things. Instead it chooses to focus on the less far fetched, less glorious, less grand matters - "Planetes" is about space debris collectors... in other words garbagemen in space. Honestly, I kid you not! This anime IS about garbagemen in space.
Why the hell would I want to watch a show about space garbagemen, I hear you ask. Well, that's part of t…
Read at the sourceshanimebib
PLANETES is set in the Year 2075 A.D. when mankind have started fledging their occupancy into the solar system. However, constant travel to and from, between earth and space have started generating debris in the earth and moon's orbits. A space accident caused by the debris, which lead to the deaths of many passengers traveling in a space-shuttle lead to many concerns and for the first time the debris has been considered as a threat in space. Thus 'Debris Section' is made. Debris Section, as the name suggests, is assigned to collect debris to prevent any such tragic incident in the future.
Hoshino "Hachimaki" Hachirota, a Japanese, works for the Debris Section of Techonora Company, one of the giants in Space Investments. Yeap. Hachimaki works as a 'space garbages' hauler. You read it rig…
Read at the sourceIcehawkDown
It can be pretty hard to convince people to watch a show about garbage men... IN SPACE. How could a show like that possibly be interesting? Well I'm here today to tell you that this is one of the best anime out there, and something everyone should give a try.
Planetes starts about how you might expect a show with such an odd premise to begin. It's a very quirky show, practically a comedy/sitcom type show. The first 13 episodes or so are all episodic, there's lots of laugh, and the show rarely takes itself too seriously. At this point I would call the show very good. It was entertaining, but, I never felt compelled to watch the next episode immediately after finishing one. I'd be fine to wait a while before booting up a new episode.
And then, the second half of the show begins. This is wh…
Read at the sourceZhang1222
If you are not over 16, do not watch this anime. You will not get the plethora of social, political, psychological, and moral motifs. Plus, it is a bit too heavy hearted.
My honest opinion, if I compared Planetes to Evangelion, I would say that Planetes had a better quality to it. I am a optimist, and you pessimists and mecha lovers would probably prefer Planetes. However, Eva at points shuffled the philosophy around, and the ideas were far more open-ended and spread out. Planetes had much more centralized points to cover, and the crew did wonderfully to amalgamate these points into a driven story. Like Eva, Planetes had its pessimistic interlude towards the end, however, it does not end with pessimism. The characters showed the ability to break through psychologically and connect. The c…
Read at the sourcekiriska
It is a time... when collecting space debris... is very important! Really seriously business here, guys!
STORY - I laughed when the narrator said that at the end of the introduction, but I can definitely appreciate the realistic approach to space in Planetes, especially when so many other sci-fi series completely disregard the issues it presents. Radiation exposure and space debris in particular are hugely important real life topics concerning space, and it was both interesting and educational to hear and learn about them. Planetes starts off pretty episodic, but while each episode contains a more or less standalone adventure, the events that take place and the people they meet are revisited and remembered, so you still get a feeling of relevancy and continuity.
Most of these adventures…
Read at the sourceeNyoron
Planetes best falls into the genre of hard sci-fi; it deals with events and technologies of the future, yet does not introduce impossible/ridiculous technologies. Although 2075 may seem a bit early, the most absurd aspect of the future actually introduced by Planetes seems to be a fully functioning moon colony and the process of sustainable cold fusion. Even minor aspects of space life such as the loss of movement control in microgravity or the effects of living at 1/6gs on the moon is covered in the anime.
Yet the collection of debris is really just a tool to introduce greater concepts and develop characters. One of the great questions posed by the Planetes asks is "why do we need to develop space at all?" Some characters will give simple, optimistic answers, ranging from the collection…
Read at the sourceBanpaia
The story of PLANETES gets off to a slow start which may put some viewers off, however the slow paced introduction of the characters and their personalities adds a more personal feel to the show, allowing you to get to know the characters as if in real life, finding more and more about them as things progress. As the main storyline begins to develop we are given an even deeper insight into the personal lives of the team aside from their "garbage collector" jobs in outer space, their aspirations for the future and the past that they can't forget.
There are many issues addressed in PLANETES that make the show an overall deeper experience, not to mention the many heart wrenching and tear jerking moments that the main characters find themselves in. PLANETES has many different story elements…
Read at the sourcemdauben
This was one of the few anime series I have picked up sight-unseen, based just on reviews in an industry magazine. Luckily, I was not disappointed.
At first the story would seem to be about the young woman Ai, who we are introduced to first. While she remains an important character, as the show develops we realize the story is really about the young man Hachimaki, the jaded veteran of the “debris section”. As the series progresses, we learn more about both of them, but especially Hachimaki, and see him fight against his personal issues with life and relationships, and grow as a person. While these two are the main focus of the show, they are surrounded by a colorful supporting cast that makes even the “filler” episodes enjoyable. Overall, in spite of some great ac…
Read at the sourceXinil
First, I feel I need to mention something that I think a lot of people have overlooked with this show. Planetes has romance. Quite of bit of romance in fact. It's packed full of drama and action along with that too. So, drama, action and romance. What more could you ask for (yeah, boobs, I know)?
With that being said, on with the review.
Story: Planetes starts off rather slow. In fact, the "main" story doesn't even really pick up until about episode 10 or so. Before that, you're introduced to character personalities and dreams/motives. This is absolutely necessary though, because without this strong intro, the latter part of the show wouldn't have had nearly the same kind of effect.
Animation: The animiation is pretty well done. CGI is used in quite a few scenes and I didn't notice any…
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