Planetes Volume 5

As a continuing drama, it’s quite remarkable to think how far Planetes has travelled in over just 21 episodes. This is all encapsulated in Hachimaki, who has gone from being a pleasant if tightly wound dreamer to a viciously ambitious man, verging on the point of insanity.

Behind all of this complex drama runs a sophisticated world view that often raises the kind of questions you just do not see in science fiction. Everyone is so in love with the idea of space travel that we forget everything else- in the end, space travel benefits only a clutch of first world countries while the rest of the world is left struggling with its same old problems; civil war, shortages of oil, petrol and even water. All of the money being spent on Hachimaki’s dream journey to Jupiter seems like such a waste to those still living without the bare essentials like electricity, so you can forget about going into space.

When countries are living in these kinds of desperate conditions, it makes our dreams seem meagre, almost superficial. Tanabe has her heart in the right place, but you can’t blame Claire for flying off the handle when Tanabe begins one of her trademark “love will save us all!” speeches. Claire comes from a country torn apart by war; life for her will never be simple and the idea that love could save all is almost an insult, especially when coming from one of the “gifted few”.

Hachimaki so badly wants to get on the Von Braun (Jupiter spaceship) that you get the feeling that he is pushing himself too far, isolating himself from his friends and almost cutting off his relationship with Tanabe, should he have to go to such great lengths to achieve his dreams?

By the end of this volume, it is suggested that Hachimaki lacks true determination. Hakim will go to the greatest lengths to achieve his goals, but morally is it right to put peoples lives on the line to get there?

In Summary

Planetes #5 sees this series moving into complex, thought provoking territory; the story is now centred on Hachimaki’s attempts to get aboard the Von Braun and how it affects everyone close to him. It is becoming a question of ambition over life and it remains to be seen just how much Hachimaki is willing to sacrifice to sate his dreams.