Planetes Recommended

Publisher
Bandai
Director
Goro Taniguchi
Production
Bandai, NHK, Sunrise
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
2003

Planetes - Volume 6

By Joseph (Joe) Wood
28th Apr 06

The final volume of Planetes is here, one of the most unexpectedly enjoyable titles that really deliver the goods, garbage this isn’t.

The Von Braun didn’t suffer any permanent damage from the terrorist attack last volume, but as the testing continues Hachi, disturbed over the recent events tries too come to terms with the things Hakim revealed. Meanwhile the Debris Section head to the moon to make sure Luna space is clear for the up coming Federal Summit. Tanabe goes to visit Hachi on the Von Braun, whilst the Space Defence Force terrorist group make their boldest move yet. They hijack the Von Braun, and seemingly having seemingly just come out of a Gundam marathon decide to crash it into the largest city on the Moon.

The first three episodes on this disc are high packed with tension, there are a number of serious confrontations between several of the characters and all are pulled of unbelievably well. Some of the episodes end on huge cliff-hangers that will have you on the edge of your seat, but the outcome of these events aren’t resolved straight away in the episode after. Instead it isn’t until over the half way mark, of the episode after, that the show goes back to explain what happened. While this feels like a strange move at first, it works quite it allows the viewer to form their own ideas about what may have happened before the show explains it for them.

The final few episodes spend most of their time tying up all the little loose ends of the story. While certainly they are less action packed than the previous episodes, they are no less dramatic as we see our characters come to terms with the events that have transpired. All the major characters are accounted for, and they are all given some sort of conclusion to their parts, this is also true for most of the minor characters (including several who only featured in one or two episodes).

Planetes rounds everything up into a nice neat little package, although the ending is unlikely to present any major surprises, some things have been fairly obvious from the start. Planetes has proven that it can handle a huge range of subjects whilst at the same time remaining an entertaining show. This series has felt like it deserves to be called an anime classic since volume one and is certainly a must have for any collection.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English and Japanese 5.1, English and Japanese 2.0, English German French Dutch Subtitles, Audio Commentaries Episodes 24,25 and 26.

Release information: Publisher: Beez Released: April 3rd 2006 Classification: 12 Running Time: 100mins

Notes: Three more Japanese audio commentaries (with subtitles). These are very funny as the staff and cast talk about the show whilst cracking open beers.

-- Joseph (Joe) Wood 28th Apr 06

Planetes Images