Planetes Volume 6

When a series as good as Planetes finally ends, it’s hard to know what to say – from start to finish, it was consistently worth watching. It had no flaws, no blips in animation, no random fan service – Planetes is just a wonderful anime. I’m hesitant to label it science fiction because its greatest strengths have nothing to do with giant robots or whatever else is synomonous with the anime sci-fi genre. It’s about people – the trouble, love and ambition we all face in our lives, a universal human drama that just so happens to be set in space.

As bad and opened ended as some TV series can leave us, Planetes finishes off perfectly with a new era in Hachimaki’s life just about to begin. The 7 year journey to Jupiter is set to take off, his troubles with Tanabe are resolved (they end up married!) and he managed to burst himself out of that bubble of isolation, thanks to an epiphany he gradually realises about life – that drifting alone in space, no matter what you’re doing, is pointless, lonely and sad.

It’s quite brilliant how every main character has carefully reached an important cross road in their life by the end. The most gut wrenching and heart warming is of course Tanabe who is literally forced to risk her life and put her regularly stated faith in “love” on the line. It’s poetic justice that Claire – the one most in need of (and having lost faith in) love – is eventually saved by Tanabe.

There are many other battles and resolutions to be found in this final volume, but the stand out element by the end is clearly Hachimaki and Tanabe’s budding romance – suitably aided with some tender, heart felt music. Their interactions and chats during the final coupe of episodes are warm and touching, especially in the case of Tanabe who has been through such emotional turmoil with Hachimaki, seeing her pushed about in a wheel chair (as a result of her bravery with Claire) provides the viewer with such a strong empathy for her; seeing her honestly risk it all and come out happy in love makes watching Planetes all the more involving and completely worth while.

That the main conflict of Planetes is resolved so early into this volume, thus giving the final two episodes over to tying up loose ends between characters, should be enough of an indication as to where the heart of this series lies. It’s ironic that one of the finest science fiction anime produced for years features not one mecha or angsty teenager.

In Summary

Planetes #6 is a perfect end to a perfect series. The over arching political wranglings (third world countries fighting against massive funds for space development when people are starving at home) are resolved as clinically as they began, but the real star – twinkling high above anything else, is the understated, touching friendships and romances lost and found during the series. The characters, especially Tanabe, are strong willed, idealistic but not without empathy, or love, and to see them win out in the end, set against the beautiful landscape of space, is a joy to watch.