Honestly I could just leave this review as the title and say watch it, because you should; you really really really should. Planetes is without a doubt one of the best put together animes I have ever seen. Everything and I think it’s fair to say that quite literally everything with Planetes is executed incredibly well. The characters, the stories, the music, the art, the way everything melds together, the betrayals, the twists, the descent into madness, everything…. I’m almost positive this is one of few on the must watch list and if not, something is terribly wrong.
Planetes takes place in the not so distant future, the year is 2075 and space development has reached an all-time high, Earth has colonized the Moon for resources, there are cities on the Moon and it’s really quite amazing. To keep the space development continuing along, the debris in space needs to be cleared out. This is the starting point for Planetes. You’d think that because debris can be so disastrous in space that the workers who take care of debris are rather well liked and appreciated, but no, not at all, they’re looked down on, the lowest of the low, almost like the scum of the working class, but that’s how the politics work. From the very first episode, I had full body goose bumps, intense emotions and even teared up (not because some mega sad things happen, I’m just a bit sensitive), all from the first episode; each successive episode was just as powerful and others more so. It’s really unique and incredible how life like and human the characters in Planates can be, although there are some minor things I struggle with, 97% of it is perfection.
Of all the characters we watch, two of them would be our super mains; the focus of Planetes rests on them and they are Hoshino Hachirota, also known as Hachimaki and Ai Tanabe. Tanabe is the new worker, the naïve, extra happy, full of smiles girl who has always wanted to be an astronaut, whereas Hachimaki is our veteran of the Debris Section, working for years and going nowhere, stuck in his current position. Tanabe is great, I fell for her character immediately, but with Hachimaki, I really disliked him and during the latter half of Planetes, really really disliked him. He’s obnoxious, loud, stubborn and incredibly annoying. Sure he has his soft sides and can be rather nice, with many episodes showing off these qualities, but listening to him yell at everything all the time, yeah….. He’s the only issue I have with Planetes.
The supports, of which there are many, are incredibly well handled. There are 26 episodes in Planetes and almost every single support gets an episode or air time where we, as viewers, can understand them and feel for them. The exposition that Planetes pulls off is rather remarkable because by the time you get halfway through Planetes, you seem to have a connection to all these characters, all these people. It’s also around halfway through that Planetes takes a turn in direction and begins to really throw plots and issues and arcs your way. The most notable supports, I’d say are Carmichael Fee, the pilot of the debris collection ship named “Toy Box”, she’s a heavy smoker and is the most experienced and level headed of the team. Mihalkov Yuri, he’s interesting; a member of the debris team, he has a lot of screen time and the reasons for why he acts the way he does is quite strong and emotional; he’s the calm and very kind member of the debris team and is very aware of the situations that occurs. Nono, a… well I can’t say, that’d spoil a very funny moment, but she’s pretty amazing and she happens to be quite the savior in both her personality and the unexpected outcome during the last episode, she’s one of my favorite characters in Planetes, even if she doesn’t get a lot of time on air, but she’s great fun. Rondo Claire, she’s one hell of a women, working her way up the work force ladder and trying to become something/someone important; not much more to say, but wow.
The art of Planetes, a lot like everything else, is quite sublime. Everything is incredibly detailed, meticulously drawn and in a very realistic sci-fi sense. The faces and face reactions though, that’s the spot light if you ask me. It’ll go from well-drawn and detailed to incredibly realistic, with lines drawn for every possible detail; sometimes even exaggerating certain areas of the face to emit emotions. There were plenty of times where I just kept thinking, “damn, this looks so different and so good”. It was a visual treat, in quite a different way from what I’m used to watching.
Music….. Incredible. Honestly, truly, the BGM, the ambient sounds, the way it all works is phenomenal. BGM is ridiculous, it’s perfectly executed and expect to hear a ton, I mean an absolute ton of music; there are so many great scenes that are flown straight through the stratosphere of perfection because of how well the BGM is played. The ambient sounds, incredible stuff; when scenes change from indoors to space, you go from hearing noises to nothing. These cut back scenes occur often, but every time they happen, it feels like you’re really in space, where sound doesn’t exist. Driving on the Moon only to hear nothing, then cutting to the communication radios and back again, this type of detail, which probably isn’t hard to do at all, is so well done and so appreciated; one of my favorite things throughout Planetes was hearing (or not hearing!) how the sounds changed.
As an overall package, Planetes is a must watch. It’s a great Sci-Fi anime, it’s a great Space anime, and it’s got good drama too. Its world is well realized and honestly, even believable. The progression from being sort of Slice of Life based to something “more” is well done, like seriously well done. I’d honestly say this is a must watch, you have to watch it, even with the dislike I have towards Hachimaki, I can’t give this anime less than a 10, it was a thrilling ride all the way to the end.
Note: I wasn’t going to talk about why I dislike Hachimaki, but if you’ve seen the show, then you know what happens around episode 16-17, right? (As I was typing this I got rather angry, so I did talk about it, all spoiler tagged of course)
Well after those episodes I didn’t like him and his attitude/personality and the absolute crap he made Tanabe go through, screw him, seriously, what a selfish entitled grrrr, he’s lucky that Tanabe is a super sweet, extra kind, mega sincere and forgiving person, because I hated seeing him act the way he did to her. The sudden change of heart near the end of the anime, I’d honestly say lame, he was so far down the path of madness and descent, he just “happened” to change whilst drowning, c’mon, I don’t accept that for a bit. I really don’t like him and it’s probably closer to hate than dislike too, he may not be the worst person in the anime with what he’s done and sure there was a happy ending and all, but I can’t just forgive him like that, I just can’t. He’s lucky it’s an anime and the writers went the happy route, it could have been so bad otherwise…… grrrrrr. It’s even worse that I actually hated having to listen to him yell and bicker and pick fights and yell some more so much, Tanabe is a breath of fresh air in this regard.
9/10 (Yeah yeah, I said 10, but after that little note, it’s 9 now….grrrrr)
Planetes was good up until the last arc, it shat the bed then and I can't recommend it to people anymore. And I'm apparently one of the few who enjoyed the moon ninja episode.
The price difference was pretty small when I got the first half on the May MCM. My issue is it didn't sound like it had much in it at all. The Anime LTD rep didn't really try to sell me on it when asked either so I just went with the normal one for 20 quid.
Honestly I could just leave this review as the title and say watch it, because you should; you really really really should. Planetes is without a doubt one of the best put together animes I have ever seen. Everything and I think its fair to say that quite literally everything with Planetes is executed incredibly well. The characters, the stories, the music, the art, the way everything melds together, the betrayals, the twists, the descent into madness, everything . Im almost positive this is one of few on the must watch list and if not, something is terribly wrong.
Planetes takes place in the not so distant future, the year is 2075 and space development has reached an all-time high, Earth has colonized the Moon for resources, there are cities on the Moon and its really quite amazing. To keep the space development continuing along, the debris in space needs to be cleared out. This is the starting point for Planetes. Youd think that because debris can be so disastrous in space that the workers who take care of debris are rather well liked and appreciated, but no, not at all, theyre looked down on, the lowest of the low, almost like the scum of the working class, but thats how the politics work. From the very first episode, I had full body goose bumps, intense emotions and even teared up (not because some mega sad things happen, Im just a bit sensitive), all from the first episode; each successive episode was just as powerful and others more so. Its really unique and incredible how life like and human the characters in Planates can be, although there are some minor things I struggle with, 97% of it is perfection.
Of all the characters we watch, two of them would be our super mains; the focus of Planetes rests on them and they are Hoshino Hachirota, also known as Hachimaki and Ai Tanabe. Tanabe is the new worker, the naïve, extra happy, full of smiles girl who has always wanted to be an astronaut, whereas Hachimaki is our veteran of the Debris Section, working for years and going nowhere, stuck in his current position. Tanabe is great, I fell for her character immediately, but with Hachimaki, I really disliked him and during the latter half of Planetes, really really disliked him. Hes obnoxious, loud, stubborn and incredibly annoying. Sure he has his soft sides and can be rather nice, with many episodes showing off these qualities, but listening to him yell at everything all the time, yeah .. Hes the only issue I have with Planetes.
The supports, of which there are many, are incredibly well handled. There are 26 episodes in Planetes and almost every single support gets an episode or air time where we, as viewers, can understand them and feel for them. The exposition that Planetes pulls off is rather remarkable because by the time you get halfway through Planetes, you seem to have a connection to all these characters, all these people. Its also around halfway through that Planetes takes a turn in direction and begins to really throw plots and issues and arcs your way. The most notable supports, Id say are Carmichael Fee, the pilot of the debris collection ship named Toy Box, shes a heavy smoker and is the most experienced and level headed of the team. Mihalkov Yuri, hes interesting; a member of the debris team, he has a lot of screen time and the reasons for why he acts the way he does is quite strong and emotional; hes the calm and very kind member of the debris team and is very aware of the situations that occurs. Nono, a well I cant say, thatd spoil a very funny moment, but shes pretty amazing and she happens to be quite the savior in both her personality and the unexpected outcome during the last episode, shes one of my favorite characters in Planetes, even if she doesnt get a lot of time on air, but shes great fun. Rondo Claire, shes one hell of a women, working her way up the work force ladder and trying to become something/someone important; not much more to say, but wow.
The art of Planetes, a lot like everything else, is quite sublime. Everything is incredibly detailed, meticulously drawn and in a very realistic sci-fi sense. The faces and face reactions though, thats the spot light if you ask me. Itll go from well-drawn and detailed to incredibly realistic, with lines drawn for every possible detail; sometimes even exaggerating certain areas of the face to emit emotions. There were plenty of times where I just kept thinking, damn, this looks so different and so good. It was a visual treat, in quite a different way from what Im used to watching.
Music .. Incredible. Honestly, truly, the BGM, the ambient sounds, the way it all works is phenomenal. BGM is ridiculous, its perfectly executed and expect to hear a ton, I mean an absolute ton of music; there are so many great scenes that are flown straight through the stratosphere of perfection because of how well the BGM is played. The ambient sounds, incredible stuff; when scenes change from indoors to space, you go from hearing noises to nothing. These cut back scenes occur often, but every time they happen, it feels like youre really in space, where sound doesnt exist. Driving on the Moon only to hear nothing, then cutting to the communication radios and back again, this type of detail, which probably isnt hard to do at all, is so well done and so appreciated; one of my favorite things throughout Planetes was hearing (or not hearing!) how the sounds changed.
As an overall package, Planetes is a must watch. Its a great Sci-Fi anime, its a great Space anime, and its got good drama too. Its world is well realized and honestly, even believable. The progression from being sort of Slice of Life based to something more is well done, like seriously well done. Id honestly say this is a must watch, you have to watch it, even with the dislike I have towards Hachimaki, I cant give this anime less than a 10, it was a thrilling ride all the way to the end.
Note: I wasnt going to talk about why I dislike Hachimaki, but if youve seen the show, then you know what happens around episode 16-17, right? (As I was typing this I got rather angry, so I did talk about it, all spoiler tagged of course)
Well after those episodes I didnt like him and his attitude/personality and the absolute crap he made Tanabe go through, screw him, seriously, what a selfish entitled grrrr, hes lucky that Tanabe is a super sweet, extra kind, mega sincere and forgiving person, because I hated seeing him act the way he did to her. The sudden change of heart near the end of the anime, Id honestly say lame, he was so far down the path of madness and descent, he just happened to change whilst drowning, cmon, I dont accept that for a bit. I really dont like him and its probably closer to hate than dislike too, he may not be the worst person in the anime with what hes done and sure there was a happy ending and all, but I cant just forgive him like that, I just cant. Hes lucky its an anime and the writers went the happy route, it could have been so bad otherwise grrrrrr. Its even worse that I actually hated having to listen to him yell and bicker and pick fights and yell some more so much, Tanabe is a breath of fresh air in this regard.
9/10 (Yeah yeah, I said 10, but after that little note, its 9 now .grrrrr)
The price difference was pretty small when I got the first half on the May MCM. My issue is it didn't sound like it had much in it at all. The Anime LTD rep didn't really try to sell me on it when asked either so I just went with the normal one for 20 quid.
Fair enough. Like you said it doesn't contain much extra, just the top loader box, the book and the different (reversible) artwork. It's a decent set. Not my favorite, not the best but I ended up picking it up for around £25 so I can't complain
Planetes was good up until the last arc, it shat the bed then and I can't recommend it to people anymore. And I'm apparently one of the few who enjoyed the moon ninja episode.
No Baccano, Escaflowne, Shinkai Collection this year. I've had that pre-ordered since early 2013 lol. Still can't believe AL are releasing garbage like Fate/kaleid liner Prisima Illya, utter filth. But as I take it, they received it as part of a package license wise. Disgusting.
This is just as brilliant as I remember it being. It was fantastic, is fantastic, and will continue to be fantastic. Even though Sonia proves her ability as a master assassin time and time again, Yasuna still insists on ribbing her and treating her as a normal friend despite that. Agiri is still the most skilled conman on the planet.
This is just as brilliant as I remember it being. It was fantastic, is fantastic, and will continue to be fantastic. Even though Sonia proves her ability as a master assassin time and time again, Yasuna still insists on ribbing her and treating her as a normal friend despite that. Agiri is still the most skilled conman on the planet.
This. It shifted tones radically and turned into something that I had not expected nor wanted when I watched the rest of the show. The dramatic character change didn't help either.
A nice episode that was good slice of life and the rest fighting.. it was well made even if most of the footage was old , but they really did well with the recycled footage ..there was a couple of new atacks mixed in and the overall result is great.
As much as i dislike the "innocent form" power-up , i really like the innocent song attack.
Next episode is phantom final fight ... can i be hyped ??? can i , right ?
Ctrl + F 'Gangsta' for the last 15 pages. No results. It saddens me that this show is slipping under the radar of so many people. If you're the type who isn't a fan of the cutesy new age anime going around and like to reminisce over the era of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex then I highly recommend this show. Amazing animation. Story is ramping up as it goes along. Mature themes and intriguing setting. As a person who doesn't watch much anime, it's the one summer show that's almost by itself bringing me back to checking out more anime.
please don't compare Cowboy Bebop to Gangsta. Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece. Gangsta is a bologna sandwich with a sharp knife on the side. It's no different than a shonen action series, except they put prostitutes and drugs to remind you they're adult.
please don't compare Cowboy Bebop to Gangsta. Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece. Gangsta is a bologna sandwich with a sharp knife on the side. It's no different than a shonen action series, except they put prostitutes and drugs to remind you they're adult.
I'm not comparing them directly. I said 'reminisce over the era'. Cowboy Bebop came out during a really great era of certain anime types that barely gets touched upon nowadays. Even if Gangsta isn't a 1 for 1 comparison to Bebop in quality, it's a good step in the right direction to what was lost.
At the end of the day it's a step in the right wrong direction. I don't mind a show heading to less moe, but I'd rather have a seinen action series. And that terrorist show by Watanabe had the strong first episode and then plummeted. I'm afraid my only hope for solid seinen is the occasional random show that shines through. And One Punch Man.
edit: should probably also add Monster by Del Toro if that ever comes to fruition
Considering the last three AOTY winners (Ping Pong the Animation, Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and Hyouka) have all been fairly atypical and serious shows there isn't a drought of them at all unless you don't know where to look.
Considering the last three AOTY winners (Ping Pong the Animation, Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and Hyouka) have all been fairly atypical and serious shows there isn't a drought of them at all unless you don't know where to look.
I've been discovering lately that it's not a drought, however there's no denying that the ratio of atypical shows and serious shows to comedy/slice of life/romance has been leaning in one direction more for a while now, and it hasn't been a fun ride because more and more people really get into the latter as time passes.
Big sis' man is tryign to mess with Takeo, but Yamada prevails without knowing it. Also, thankfully, that homewrecker didn't mess this up for them Takeo and Yomada either. It's just more proof Suna is best bud looking out for Takeo in the background like that. Sooner of later this dude has to get himself a woman..... Waaay past due.
The show continues to be super sticky sweet and is alwys good for a smile at the end of each episode. I'm lovin' it...
I want to like Gangsta since it has a nice dark tone for a change ,but everytime i see an action sequence, i just can't seem to ignore how stupid the melle vs guns fights are in it.
I've been discovering lately that it's not a drought, however there's no denying that the ratio of atypical shows and serious shows to comedy/slice of life/romance has been leaning in one direction more for a while now.
I guess? There's way more genres then that and atypical shows have to be kind of sparse to be atypical. I don't think there was ever really a time when action/serious shows outnumbered slice of life/comedy ones anyway.
I guess? There's way more genres then that and atypical shows have to be kind of sparse to be atypical. I don't think there was ever really a time when action/serious shows outnumbered slice of life/comedy ones anyway.
I guess? There's way more genres then that and atypical shows have to be kind of sparse to be atypical. I don't think there was ever really a time when action/serious shows outnumbered slice of life/comedy ones anyway.
I'll give Death Parade a shot. I'm not saying the serious ones have to outnumber them, I'm saying their numbers are lessening as time goes on. They will probably always exist but you can't deny the dwindling numbers.
Also no it's not that type of argument, because I know better than to rely on nostalgia. If I were truly that way, I wouldn't be tuning in to these seasonal threads every now and then trying to find new shows to spark my interest. I would be sticking to old stuff all the time. The older shows opened a door for me but I'm not walking back in and out of that same door like a revolving one. I didn't come here to complain and bash all of these new shows as evidenced above.
MetroidPrimeRib has been much more helpful with his(or her) opinions and recommendations.
I guess? There's way more genres then that and atypical shows have to be kind of sparse to be atypical. I don't think there was ever really a time when action/serious shows outnumbered slice of life/comedy ones anyway.
I'll give Death Parade a shot. I'm not saying the serious ones have to outnumber them, I'm saying their numbers are lessening as time goes on. They will probably always exist but you can't deny the dwindling numbers.
Also no it's not that type of argument, because I know better than to rely on nostalgia. If I were truly that way, I wouldn't be tuning in to these seasonal threads every now and then trying to find new shows to spark my interest. I would be sticking to old stuff all the time. The older shows opened a door for me but I'm not walking back in and out of that same door like a revolving one. I didn't come here to complain and bash all of these new shows as evidenced above.
MetroidPrimeRib has been much more helpful with his(or her) opinions and recommendations.
I didn't realize you were looking for recommendations or were asking genuine questions, if so I apologize. I thought it was a nostalgia trip combined with grasping at whatever comes close to it nowadays.
I'm not going to say for certain, but unless there's some form of site that lists every show that aired on that time period by genre and demographic I'll take a stance that even then no. Plenty of shows that likely didn't make it to the west.
No, not really. If you look at a seasonal chart from back then it's not all that different a ratio. Of course there are more shows per season now and genres have come back in forth in popularity. Just looking at the charts there will be multiple series that we have never heard of, or at least most of us have not because we were mostly getting popular stuff or the cream of the crop before streaming became popular and everyone got internet.
Of course that info is kind of hard to find reliably anyway.
90s shows mixture was pretty much the same as now. a whole lot of magical girl stuff though.
By the way, there is a lot of absolute garbage in the 90s that never made it oiut of Japan. Like stuff drawn worse than a VN with gigantic hanging titbags and zero plot whatsoever and made Eiken look like a masterpiece.
Just be thankful if you werent aware of those.
Ctrl + F 'Gangsta' for the last 15 pages. No results. It saddens me that this show is slipping under the radar of so many people. If you're the type who isn't a fan of the cutesy new age anime going around and like to reminisce over the era of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex then I highly recommend this show. Amazing animation. Story is ramping up as it goes along. Mature themes and intriguing setting. As a person who doesn't watch much anime, it's the one summer show that's almost by itself bringing me back to checking out more anime.
I didn't realize you were looking for recommendations or were asking genuine questions, if so I apologize. I thought it was a nostalgia trip combined with grasping at whatever comes close to it nowadays.
I'm not going to say for certain, but unless there's some form of site that lists every show that aired on that time period by genre and demographic I'll take a stance that even then no. Plenty of shows that likely didn't make it to the west.
It's alright, no nostalgia trip here. Gangsta has actually gotten me into Rampo Kitan and Overlord this season. I understand where you're coming from though because me doing that would be the same as someone coming into an E3 thread wondering why they aren't featuring more 8-bit and 16-bit indie games. I mainly wrote my post the way I did for the ones out there who might click this thread, look at the imagery posted and say 'nope' and promptly exit.
Some friends of mine are that way and have done what you've described above and stuck with Dragonball Z and 90s/2000s Adult swim stuff and it's concerning because I can try to say 'come back there are still some good shows coming out', but they can't find seem to find them most of the time, when the ones being advertised more are the all of the comedic and cutesy stuff. When they check out the front pages of Crunchyroll or Funimation, that is exactly what it is and it turns them off. I don't blame them.
Along with Sky Wizards and Prison School dub. Ill check out Prison school, though only for two of the characters. Hopefully its not a bad anime.
I dont know why they are dubbing Sky Wizards Academy, its not a bad standard LN that shouldnt really be animated, but it isnt something I see people buying enough to justify the dub costs