Planetes

Planetes (ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ, Greek for "Wanderers", written in Japanese as プラネテス) is manga by Makoto Yukimura and a 26-episode anime of the same name, that was produced by Sunrise and broadcasted on NHK in Japan from October 2003 through April 2004. The story concerns a team of eccentric and unusual space debris collectors around the year 2075.

The manga is published in English by TokyoPop and it retains its right-to-left format. The anime has been licensed for US distribution by Bandai Entertainment.

Contents

1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Realism 4 External link

Plot

Planetes follows the Space Debris Section, a unit of the Technora Corporation, whose task is to prevent the damage or destruction of satellites, space stations and spaceships from debris in Earth's orbit. They accomplish this through the use of EVA, where the participants are all licensed to collect debris.

The episodes themselves sometimes revolve around debris collection itself, but more often the concept of collecting "trash" in space is merely a storytelling method for building character development. The members of the Debris Section are looked down on as the lowest members of the company and they often must work hard to prove their worth to others and accomplish their dreams.

Other ongoing plot elements include an upcoming exploratory mission to Jupiter on the new fusion-powered ship, Von Braun, and the lead character's attempts to join the mission. Many other plot threads are also developed throughout the series that help to explain each characters' motivations and personalities.

Characters

• Hachirota "Hachimaki" Hoshino (星野 八郎太 Hoshino Hachirōta, voiced by Kazunari Tanaka) is the protagonist of the series. Everyone simply calls him "Hachi" or "Hachimaki" (Japanese for "headband", because he always wears one). His dream has always been to own his own spaceship, but between the cost of purchasing one and his low-paying, seemingly dead-end job, Hachi struggles with even deciding whether or not to pursue his dream. Hachi's father is an expert engineer, a source of much ambivalence to Hachimaki. Much of Hachi's drive is summed up in "bigger, faster, and further". Loud and brash, Hachi has difficulty expressing himself adequately, especially in romantic matters.

• Ai Tanabe (田名部 愛 Tanabe Ai, voiced by Satsuki Yukino) is the newest member of the Debris Section. She is bright and earnest, but mostly unsure of herself. As a newcomer to space, the Debris Section and to extra-vehicular activity all at the same time, she has to slowly learn the ropes from everyone else. Kind and sweet, she is willing to do almost anything to help others. However, her kind spirit also masks a drive to become better than she is. Loves Hachi, but the two have difficulty expressing it to each other.

• Fee Carmichael (voiced by Ai Orikasa) is the American pilot of the "Toy Box", the main ship that is used to go out on debris collecting missions. Even more loud and brash than Hachi, Fee often becomes violent at others' actions and inactions, but she always means well. An obsessive smoker, she often has difficulty finding places to smoke (as smoking is outlawed in most places in space). This often makes her quite irritable. Married with a young son, Fee normally lives in Florida when not in space -- which doesn't seem to be very often.

• Yuri Mihairokoh (Mihairokō Yuri) (voiced by Takehito Koyasu) is the Russian member of the Debris team. Calm and stoic, but also kind and compassionate, Yuri often acts as the level head of the group. Several years before the events of the story, Yuri and his wife were in a low-orbit craft traveling to England when a small screw slammed into one of the ship's windows at high velocity, causing the plane to depressurize and make an emergency landing. However, many people died in the highly-publicized incident, including Yuri's wife, who was never found. The incident and Yuri's desire to retrieve his wife's lost heirloom, a compass she wore around her neck, drives him to collect more debris.

• Pops is an repairman who complains about Hachi's team damaging its ship.

• Harry Roland is a veteran astronaut who is in love with outer space. He attempts suicide when it appears he cannot go into space anymore.

• Nono is a twelve-year old girl who, along with three other children, has lived her entire life on the Moon. She is committed to the study which she is a part of yet she wishes to go to Earth.

Other characters in the office including Lavi, the manager who is constantly concerned about not making waves with upper management, the overweight but jolly director of the Debris Section and the quiet and stoic temp secretary. Many other characters, including main characters' friends and family, also make regular appearances throughout the series.

Realism

Unlike many other anime set in space, or even other science fiction stories, Planetes prides itself on following a very realistic depiction of space and space travel. The story depicts ships that make no noise in the vacuum of space and astronauts who routinely suffer from space illnesses like radiation poisoning, cancer, brittle bones and mental illnesses spawned from isolation in the vacuum of space. One character who was born on the Moon grew to be abnormally tall due to the lesser gravity. Concepts like momentum in weightlessness are early plot points and are always illustrated naturally. Even the necessity for the retrieval of space debris that is central to the plot is rooted in the growing problem with space debris today.

The show also works to connect itself to the history of rocketry and space flight. The opening sequence is similar to the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, featuring a montage of the history of space flight from Greek mythology to the "modern" setting outlined in the series. Along the way, animated images of important milestones in space travel like Robert Goddard's early rocket tests, the V-2 rocket, Sputnik 1, Laika the dog, the Vostok spacecraft, Apollo 11, Skylab, Mir, the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle Endeavour are displayed. References to early pioneers in rocketry like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert Goddard, Wernher von Braun and Hermann Oberth are also made regularly. It is often speculated that the character Yuri is also a sly reference to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.

External link

• Planetes Official Web Site (http://www.planet-es.net/) (in Japanese)de:Planetes

it:Planetes ja:プラネテス ru:Planetes