Anime: Planetes

Review in spanish, puede contener spoilers

Que pasaria si unes un slice of life con elementos de ciencia ficción fuerte y le sumas un gran trabajo puesto en el apartado visual técnico?, el resultado sería esta maravillosa joya hecha por el estudio sunrise. Planetes (que en griego significa planetas, que a la vez significa errante o vagabundo) es una gran prueba que hasta un slice of life puede ser grandioso si se desarrolla EN EL ESPACIO!!!.

Pero ya hablando en serio, que esas descripciones te hagan retroceder ni un paso, gracias a las cosas que ocurren en la serie, para empezar, aunque la obra sea un slice of life, a diferencia de la mayoría de sus compatriotas, posee una gran cantidad de tensión en casi todo el metraje, esto es debido a que la obra se enfoca en un grupo de recolectores de basura en el espacio, aunque no se oiga como la gran cosa la realidad es otra, la serie retrata los grandes peligros que producen los desechos espaciales a diversas instalaciones en el escenario donde se establece la serie, por lo que inclusive un mero tornillo es capaz de acabar con la vida de cientos de seres humanos sin que siquiera se puedan dar cuenta de ello, por lo que los personajes principales estarán a cargo de limpiar las distintas áreas espaciales transitables, es gracias a esto se les podrá ver en gran cantidad de eventos que pondrán en jaque hasta a sus propias vidas.

La serie además resulta que es episódica la mayor parte del tiempo, pero con la grata sorpresa de que todos los capítulos terminan por aportar algo al conjunto de la obra, ya sea para desarrollar al setting o los personajes, además que todos cargan con una gran cantidad de elementos en común, por que no terminan por ser autoconclusivos y por ende un desperdicio.

Es interesante la forma en como maneja sus capítulos, todos tienen cosas distintas que terminan por enriquecer aún más a la obra, a la vez que les llega a dar un giro oscuro a estos y le da un nuevo enfoque a muchas cuestiones a estos, por este lado la obra hizo que nunca se sintiera repetitiva en cuanto a su fórmula, así como dejar una buena moraleja al final de cada capítulo.

La obra, como mencione antes, toca otros topicos debido a que cada capítulo abarca muchas cuestiones más allá de la basura espacial, la obra también trata sobre la conquista del espacio y el impacto que tuvo en la tierra. Esto se hace muy evidente, ya que la obra muestra cómo los seres humanos han llegado a un punto en donde están alcanzando la capacidad para poder viajar a través del sistema solar, esto por un lado le permite hablar sobre cómo los seres humanos han logrado prácticamente superar una de sus más grandes adversidades y como estos desean avanzar aún más como especie humana, por el otro lado sin embargo, la serie también plantea las consecuencias negativas que esto conlleva, como el aumento del consumo de recursos del planeta así como la monopolización de estos, cosa que termina por mostrar cómo en la tierra los recursos están siendo consumidos a un nivel alarmante y como la acumulacion de estos por partes de las potencias del globo terminó por generar una desigualdad social y geopolítica enorme, por lo que muchas naciones tercermundistas sin la capacidad de desarrollarse se ven envueltas en guerras civiles, hambrunas y en la quiebra al no poder mantenerse en un mundo globalizado. La obra retrata esta situación de una forma bastante madura y creíble, en la que distintas personas de estas áreas intentan desesperadamente eliminar esta desigualdad. Algo que hasta a mi me dejo impresionado es la forma en cómo se produce el conflicto entre ambas visiones del tema, el hecho de que el conflicto es bastante gris, ambas visiones tienen sus puntos de vista bien desarrollados, se muestra tanto el carácter positivo de sus proposiciones a la vez de sus métodos tan cuestionables para obtener sus resultados, por lo que fácilmente uno logra entender ambos lados de conflicto sin ningún inconveniente. La obra además comenta sobre los problemas de la contaminación producto de dicha conquista, en donde la basura espacial se puede fácilmente cobrar la vida de cualquiera y el porqué este problema resulta ser de vital importancia.

La serie en cuanto al manejo del mundo es increíblemente detallado y plausible, tanto las instalaciones espaciales, el impacto que tiene el espacio en cosas como los alimentos, los humanos y otras cuestiones, así como la forma en cómo la sociedad ha evolucionado hasta el punto de colonizar otros planetas, esto no significa que sea enteramente futurista, por lo que aun las ciudades en la tierra siguen teniendo las mismas características que hoy en dia, por lo que se siente mas cercano a nuestros días, salvo aquellas instalaciones en el espacio donde el ambiente clama unos cambios menores frente a las ciudades. Es agradable también ver como para dar mayor plausibilidad y veracidad al mundo se intentó dar un gran nivel de cuidado al trabajo técnico, este es prácticamente perfecto, salvo las escenas con CGI que ni son muchas y además no ha envejecido del todo mal, el movimiento y la ilustración fueron pulidos a un nivel asombroso, cada detalle puesto no es solamente para que se vea increíble y nada más, puesto que esto se usa para darle un mayor grado de verosimilitud al escenario para que todo se vea real, como el tipo de movimientos que dan los personajes en gravedad cero, el nivel de iluminación que hay en el espacio, el realismo de la maquinaria, los lugares de trabajo, la ropa, etc, lo mismo aplica para los diseños de los personajes que se aleja de la estética común de anime así como los colores apagados y el buen contraste de estos que usa la serie. Lo mismo podría decirse de los efectos de sonido, por el hecho de que en el espacio no hay sonido o la forma en como se oye las máquinas o naves, sumado a un ost que queda con cada escena solo suma más a la perfección

Ya hablando de los personajes, estos son bastante atípicos para un anime, el cast está compuesto enteramente de adultos, pero aun asi y mas tomando en cuenta el sitio donde deben trabajar resultan ser bastante inmaduros e incluso infantiles de momentos, cosa que por lo menos dio bastantes momentos cómicos en donde los personajes comenten extravagancias durante sus ratos libres y nunca se volviera aburrida la experiencia, esto no significa que lleguen al nivel de lo caricaturesco, siguen siendo adultos con responsabilidades y un trabajo muy peligroso, además de tener los mismos problemas que alguien en esta edad tendría, el mantener una familia, el lidiar con las muertes de tus conocidos y allegados, el mantener sus empleos, el progresar o incluso tener frustración sexual. Varios de ellos debido a su inmadurez pueden ser ridículamente idealistas, lo que llegaba a contrastar con la actitud de los demas personajes, lo que daba origen a luchas ideológicas interesantes como el honor, las nacionalidades, los rangos, etc. Pero todos intentan superar estos problemas que llegan a ser tanto entendibles como identificables para aquellos que pasan por esta edad por lo que es más maduro que la inmensa cantidad de animes existentes, además que todos tienen un buen grado de desarrollo y maduracion a lo largo de la duracion del anime, teniendo buenas y satisfactorias resoluciones a sus conflictos

A pesar de todo lo que las serie es capaz de ofrecer, no es perfecta. A la final el cast principal termina por desarrollarse y aportar algo al conjunto de la serie, pero por otro lado es molesto el ver como algunos personajes pierden relevancia mientras más avanza la serie en lugar de que todos aporten lo mismo que en sus subtrama a la hora de desarrollarse. Pero su mayor error es la enorme armadura argumental de los personajes, ya que para tener un trabajo tan peligroso es raro como ningún personaje en el cast recibe un daño significativo por sus misiones, o como en momentos tan extremos son capaces de sobrevivir contra todo pronóstico, como aquella vez donde uno de los personajes entro en la atmósfera terrestre y sobrevivió sin ningún rasguño, además que el final no se deja muy en claro cómo fue que uno de los personajes sobrevivió y escapo a pesar de haber sido amenazado con un arma.

Pero esos problemas son una insignificancia con el nivel de elaboración puesto en este anime (a diferencia de su manga y material original), sumado a un final satisfactorio, emotivo y alegre, y a todos los temas que trato y de dar una visión realista del desarrollo espacial, y el hecho que transcurre EN EL ESPACIO, hacen de este anime una gran mirada a todo aquello que quiera disfrutar tanto del realismo como de lo entretenido que es, cuantos animes o series pueden decir esto?, 100% recomendada

I will never tire to say that 2002 and 2003 were the most amazing years for the anime industry. There are many reasons for that. It was an age of experiments, of trial and error, where creators were not only worried in pleasing hardcore fans, but also giving life to their own selfish ideas. Animation quality went sky high. Sound direction became a major player to entice viewers. Creative workers left behind their vain attempts to please the western market like in the late 90's and focused on doing whatever came to their mind.

Planetes was released in the later period of these amazing seasons. It didn't promise much from its proposal: a series about space debris and astrounauts whose work was to catch them. An idea that certainly felt silly when compared to alchesmists trying to revive the dead, space warfare bewteen natural and genetic modified humans, or a fantasy world ruled by mythical kirins. Could something good be done with this idea? Was Planetes fated to be a boring show about mundane slice-of-life stuff? Well... if you have any such doubts, fret not. Planetes is simply one of the most amazing series ever made.

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Art & Animation
Studio Sunrise did twelve years ago what many shows are short of achieving today. Planetes is a masterful work of art, made with such care and detail that is stunning to see it every time. Animation-wise the show may pose some small issues considering still frames and many scenes were drifting in space means only sliding a model across a simple star-filled scenario, but nothing that compromises the beauty of the rest.

1. 
   Realistic Style
   It all starts with the gritty realism attempted. The characters all have realistic proportions, the faces are sober and there are no bishounens, deres, big-eyed cuties or comical animals. What is most amazing, however, are the locales and equipment, varying from offices and spaceships to drifting satellites filled with carbon plates and screws. Everything here has such care and detail it grows to slowly immerse you in this near-future setting. Considering its age, Planetes also make superb use of computer graphics, using it subtely and without ever harming the overall presentation of the show. If more shows attempted this bold and solid art direction from Planetes, perhaps we could see far more masterpieces as it is.
   

Sound
Planetes' production value does not stop at its art direction. The sound staff also did a superb work here. The opening is amazing, not only with an interesting montage that slowly changes as the show progresses, but also with a song that really pumps you into watching episode after episode. Within the show itself there are a good mixture of background music, but unfortunately it leaves you wanting for more at some points. Every scene, however, is promptly filled with a characteristic and great voice-acting, varying form comical characters with funny voices to a sober and charismatic approach according to the needs of the scene. This capability of being funny and serious at different moments makes certain the show will never get stuck for long. Whenever you are about to get tired of serious scenes a stupid remark from Lavie or a naive dialogue from Tanabe kicks in.

Story
Planetes is set in a near future where humanity started exploring space to the fullest. Although technological advancement is constant, wreckage from old satellites, broken fuselage, discarded turbines, and any sort of debris in space are a real threat to real development. In order to counter that, space corporations have their teams whose work is to collect debris and keep the orbit clear. Hachirota Hoshino, known as Hachimaki, is an astronaut from the Debris Section of the Technora corporation. His dream is to someday buy his spaceship, yet everything starts to change when Tanabe Ai, a young energetic girl, joins the section.

1. 
   Unexciting idea, but it is far more than that
   Basically, Planetes narrates the daily life of the Debris Section, presenting the current state of the world, developing Hachimaki, Tanabe and other members of the crew, as well as polishing the Technora corporation and its many workers. This is kinda silly and boring, if you tell me, even if the progression and events that happen are fun on their own accord. Planetes, however, is more than that. It tackles many social problems derived from uneven technological and financial advances, such as terrorism, prejudice, unequal social rights, poverty, and so on.
   
   Perhaps it drags far more than necessary
   Planetes is not all perfect though. Through these 26 episodes, the show takes around 18 episodes presenting the setting and characters. Only once in a while you see intersecting information, recurring events, and other important stuff that could be brought together to form a bigger picture of a tale. This is perhaps a legacy from the late 90's shows, where the lone episodes were far more common and mostly shared this same issue. It wouldn't be a problem if this happened while connected by larger plotlines, but sadly these 18 episodes are far too long to keep up the high quality the show establishes in the first episodes.
   
   A final arc does the gran finale
   After this long series of episodes presenting the world and developing the cast, Planetes finally focus its attention to a larger, single plotline: the selection process to Jupiter. This string of episodes serves to consolidate the amazing characters, finish off their tales and bring together many of the points explored during the previous episodes. During this part Planetes also shows how it can manage to lure you to the next episode with cliffhangers, decisive points, or simply by making you want to know more about what is happening. The drama and slice-of-life changes the focus to a coming of age tale filled with tense moments and harsh decisions.
   

Character
Planetes, in the end, is a character-driven experience. Although it achieves an amazing quality with its tale and narrative, what glorifies it are the characters that permeate the show.

1. 
   The main guys
   The Debris Section is the focus of Planetes, especially the two protagonists: Hachimaki and Tanabe. These characters all start as archetypes of the most basic ideas. Comical guys. Silent girls. Silent guys. Energetic newcomer. These templates, however, are slowly improved as each event happens, forging the silly ideas into deep and meaningful people of the world, people you grow to care and will feel the emotions they emanate. Hachimaki and Tanabe certainly get the most spotlight, but Lavie, Fee, Yuri, even Edel manage to grow a lot from episode one to the later parts. This solid development that turns cliches into nice representation of living beings is certainly Planetes' greatest asset.
   
   The rest of the army
   There's a lot more to Planetes than the Debris Section. Chairmen, directors, annoying rich kids, parents, psychotic engineer. Damn. So many great characters, some only slightly presented, others a bit more explored, but even with little time on screen they manage to pass on their remarkable personalities and important roles in this world. With such a powerful support cast, the main guys only grow more and more and the setting becomes so vivid you can rarely point out flaws in it.
   

Value
Planetes is unique. I mean, there were other realistic space dramas before it, but none was as deep and meaningful. The silly initial idea works nicely to make the premise remarkable. You will certainly remember "the anime about space garbage collectors". What truly makes it shine, however, was the capacity of turning such idea into something as deep and amazing as in Planetes. The exotic crew grows, tumbles, evolves, and finally you have its members moving on with their lives, making harsh decisions about future and what is right or wrong. Many later shows tried to copy the formula, but none achieved the sheer quality of Planetes. Unfortunately, the dragging of lone episodes for nearly two thirds of the show makes everything a bit hard to rewatch, but nevertheless Planetes is a masterpiece that every otaku must watch.

Enjoyment
Planetes works to entertain in many differents way. Its episodic format works as a charm for those who like to take it slowly. Its cast and setting keeps thing together and is filled with enough content to urge people to watch multiple espisodes in sequence. Finally, it does what is needed to please slice-of-life fans, scy-fy fans, and typcial shounen fans around with its constant mix of comical and dramatic moments.

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Comments
Planetes. This is certainly one of my most amazing experiences watching japanese animation. It took me a while to watch though. The idea of a show about space garbage collectors never apealed me, most of my friends back in 2004~ never heard of the show, and overall it was overshadowed by popular franchises such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Gundam Seed that were released in the same period.

When I first watched it, back in 2006, I was stunned. The charming show caught me by surprise and I instantly started recommending it to nearly everybody I knew. People still struggled to start watching Planetes though, when I told them it was about space debris collectors they were "meh" and when I told the character-driven experience was awesome they were "nah, not action? no explosions? no Haruhis?". Few tried my recommendation, but the feedback was always the same "It's frakking good".

I truly love character-driven shows, especially those who manage to keep the cast on the trail of a, at least, decent plotline and give some meaning to their development. Planetes is exactly that, a must see for fans of superb cast and one of the most amazing works of the anime industry.

Note: Planetes has a new remastered version for newcomers. I must say... it's f'kn superb. It just works to demonstrate how marvelous the production values were back then and how it still kicks ass of nearly every modern show. If I was to give a score for Art & Animation considering the show to be released in 2015, I would still give it a 10. Yup. It's that good.

Planetes (the Greek word for “planets” literally meaning drifters) combines hard science fiction with corny coming-of-age storytelling while having a high budget. There isn’t much plot, since to its core the series is the daily lives of garbage men in space. Although many episodes seem to be standalones, they usually spend time in fleshing out the characters and the world, so nothing is going to waste. It is not one of those unbearably boring school based settings, where there is nothing to explain, and it’s not a road movie type of show, where the events of one episode do not matter in the next one.

Unlike typical slice of life, there are stakes here, as it’s pretty easy to get killed if an accident happens and you don’t fix it in time. There is far more tension compared to a bunch of teenagers trying to win in a school competition, or form some school club where they play videogames all day. Not only there are no schools, but also there are almost no teenagers as well. The major characters are all adults, they have a job which can kill them, and they have the freedom to smoke, drink, and have sex. How thought-provoking is that for a medium that is not supposed to be holding back?

I even liked how the stories feel like a shounen series which subverts expectations. And yes, I know it’s not a shonen and the word subversion has lost its meaning, but it’s done almost deliberately in this case. The writers did not stop at making the main characters super idealistic underdogs who want to prove their worth to those above them, while occasionally yelling and blushing over peanuts and sexual frustration. Despite most of them behaving in a very immature way and yelling all the time, they are still adults, dealing with adult problems. Despite feeling like cranky old maids with cartoony voices at times, the show is still more mature than 99% of all anime in existence.

In the same way, most of the missions play out like a simple fairy tale with an obvious moral message at the end, yet in many cases there is a dark twist which breaks the formula. The negative consequences are never devastating since the heroes clearly have a lot more plot armor than they deserve, but the threats they are facing are engaging nonetheless. No crappy shonen full of angsty teenagers with superpowers and edgy violence can beat that.

Although it lacks brainless action, it makes up for it with aesthetics and cinematics. The shading of the sun on the ships, the motions in zero gravity, the wonderful previews, all of those pull you in and never cease being creative in presentation. The art is close to perfect and is easy to see the passion in the attention to detail, leading to a work full of heart. And yes, I am praising the pretty colors not only because they look pretty but because they are adding to what is already good about the show, instead of just hiding its problems. Space stations, workspaces, uniforms, mechanical gears, motherboards and even drifting screws in space look and feel real. Even the new turbine they build at the end, is not that relevant to the plot and doesn’t wave hands at your disbelief. It’s the plot armor you are mostly going to be struggling with.

So yeah, as a whole it is a lot more interesting that almost any other Earth-bound slice-of-life thanks to its setting, and a lot more captivating than a cheesy sci-fi adventure. Plus it offers some good life lessons and does have a satisfying conclusion for a change. How many shows have a proper ending these days? It’s worth the ride almost all the way.

Story

8 kilometers per second. That is the velocity of space debris orbiting Earth.

A single collision between a piece of space debris and a spacecraft in orbit creates even more debris and escalates the probability of yet more collisions. Taken to its logical extreme, this chain reaction, known as the Kessler Syndrome, eventually renders the space surrounding our planet completely impassable, and space exploration and travel would be halted indefinitely.

Since mankind's first foray into space, humans have ignored the consequences of littering in space. In the year 2068, a stray screw hit a passenger shuttle. The resulting explosion left no survivors. It is a rude wake-up call to all the mega-corporations who exploit outer space from their space stations for economic profit. In a knee-jerk reaction, these companies establish debris collection departments, whose job it is to clear space of dangerous objects in orbit. Over time, budgets for these "space-cleaning" efforts dwindle, as one company looks to the next to shoulder the huge financial burden of cleaning up the ever-growing mess.

This is the stark and grimly realistic backdrop of Planetes, the story of the debris collection department of Technora Corp., told through the eyes of the department's newcomer, Tanabe Ai. Each episode shows the audience what life might be like for an average space worker in the not-so-distant future. Because the anime itself is hard science fiction, technical details are exceedingly accurate, and the portrayal of the different environments of a space station and a lunar colony are all extremely believable.

Few slice-of-life anime are as comprehensive and authentic as Planetes. The level of detail is sublime. The events of the anime do not occur in some sort of isolated bubble; rather, the socio-political environment on Earth and in outer space is constantly changing and affecting the lives of the characters. So masterfully are all these minutiae worked into the story that a person watching Planetes casually may not even notice them, beyond remarking how "naturally" everything fits together in this fictional world.


Animation

My high regard for the realism and authenticity in Planetes is also due in part to the fidelity with which the animators have brought to life Yukimura Makoto's vision of humanity's future outer space. It is no small feat to introduce an audience to the many facets of the futuristic world they see on screen, with the same casual nonchalance of someone telling a bedtime story.

Unfortunately, the visual quality of Planetes is let down by some truly bizarre colouring choices. For an anime so obsessed detail and realism, I was surprised that a many Earth-born characters were drawn with strange features such as purple pupils or green eyebrows. Furthermore, the characters in Planetes have horrendous fashion sense. I recall being distracted at least once per episode by the questionable appearance of the characters.


Sound

The seiyuu fail to deliver outstanding performances, but also refrain from detracting from the rest of the anime. There is one notable exception: the supposedly humourous moments are made even more cheesy and obnoxiously out of place by the poor delivery and timing of the "punchlines".

The soundtrack draws from various styles to create the diverse spectrum of musical moods needed to accompany a slice-of-life series like Planetes. Despite the anime's fair share of dramatic moments, the music is always understated, never amplifying the intensity of the events on screen. Rather, the musical selection seems geared towards letting the visual animation do the communicating with the audience. Particularly noteworthy is the anime's title song, Planetes, which really complements the scenes in which the piece is played.


Character

As is the case with many hard science fiction stories, characters are treated with far less importance than the technical accuracy of the plot. Planetes is no exception to this rule. It is not so much that the anime's characters are poorly designed, as they are bland and generic given the rich background of the story which permits for them to be so much more interesting and unique. Surprisingly, it is a supporting character which ends up being the most fully developed, while unanswered questions about the main characters still remain at the end of the series.


Overall

I have to confess that I started watching Planetes with the wrong expectations. Perhaps this is a function of the highly captivating manner in which the director set up the first episode, but potential viewers of this anime should not expect the plot to culminate in some sort of brilliant climax. It is a straight-up slice-of-life anime. Period. End of story. It is great at what it aims to do, but does nothing more.

As such, the anime shines in the way it draws the audience into its world. If all anime brought the level of detail and consistency displayed in Planetes to the creation of their worlds, I daresay the quality of anime will rise a notch or two. Few anime of this length can convey so much insight into the way their characters live, and how their lives change when the social, economic and political values shift over time in reaction to new events.

For lovers of true science fiction, this is an automatic must-see. For those who enjoy slice-of-life, Planetes will open your eyes to the definition of detail and immersiveness.

Planetes is a great show. It has a very realistic view of the future. In 70 years we might look back and see this as one of the shows that did a good job of predicting the future. However, it still remains interesting. Even though the show is basically based on outer space janitors, the show is always exciting. The characters may think their jobs are boring and menial, but it's a very exciting show for the viewers. The show is funny with a bit of heartwarming drama in there. It also gives a good message: your dreams, no matter how foolish they may seem to other people, can always come true.

The animation is superb, and the art is simplistic, but well done. The spacesuits are well designed and are pretty cool. Sound isn't anything out of the ordinary, but it's not bad. The opening is very fitting, though. The story is split up into parts, any isn't only focused on our favorite debris collectors. It also deals with space politics, so it's kind of space opera-y in that way. But it's still entertaining no matter where the show goes.

It's pretty factually sound as well. In other shows, living in space is just treated as a simple thing, but Planetes shows its true problems, like radiation and lack of gravity and its effects on the human body. You don't really have to suspend your belief at all.

As a side note, I think that the Japanese voice actors are much better than the English dubs. The voice actors do a great job of changing the characters' tone when they're joking, to when they're serious. They have some sort of silly voice acting that they can do, which the English voice actors can't seem to imitate. I'd recommend watching it subtitled, but that's just me.

So, if you're looking for a not-too-futuristic space compera (word I made up; comedy and opera) in the same vein as Moonlight Mile, but better, than check this masterpiece out.

So you think humans getting into space is that easy, huh? One cannot simply waltz into the Earth's orbit and start expanding like crazy (and putting the USA national debt even deeper lol!). Nor can one own a spaceship in the same generation.

As much as even I wished that were the case (damn the timeline I was born in!), space exploration will take a damn hell long amount of time, along with all the dangers and vacuum that can crush humanity's dreams within milliseconds as one single nail flies thousands of kilometers per second relative to a target spaceliner, killing hundreds of people and creating more potentially hazardess by-products. And this is what PlanetES builds on - an all-too-realistic view of mankind 70 years later, when millions of pieces of debris orbit the Earth and space exploration provides its benefits to mankind, at a slow pace. Taking the realism, turning it into fiction, and adding to it one extremely wonderfully fabricated plot, PlanetES is a jewel among the sci-fi genre and should not be missed for any of its assets.

The realism in this anime is taken to a whole new level - somebody did their research. The situations are engaging, from views on capitalism to third-world countries, and from various transportations to daily mishaps. Space physics is, of course, not ignored as people actually float around in zero-g environments (...how I wish I was born later in time...). The introduction of the "big overlord" plot is not unfamiliar at all, and adds to the experience of the already-too-real experience from just watching it.

The views on issues are extremely varied and makes the anime very much neutral. Each character shows a different view on life in space, each with an enormous amount of depth in addition to their quirky personalities. Tanabe is all about humanity and love, while Hakim shows a dangerous side from his origins of a third-world country; the ninjas show poverty from a supposedly high-quality colony, and the lone Lunarian tells what it feels like to never be able to be on Earth, her parent's home planet. It seems more like the portrayal of this realism is just to get a glimpse of what could be said in 70 years, and perhaps how to prevent the bad from happening.

Of course, with all this talk about realism and point of views, how the heck can this anime show this and not get boring? The arching storyline and a quirky cast of characters really makes this show come to realism. EVERYTHING in every episode is connected, just like how Hachirouto says they are. Tanabe, as annoying as she can get (and for some people, really piss them off :P), is a fantastic female lead. Her opposite, Hachirouto, is always seen around wearing his Hachimaki, and his revelations are hauntingly dawning. The debris crew really makes the job of being a debris collector interesting and fun. Even the higher-ups are likeable, like Dolph and his maniacal ways of pushing the company past its limits. Hakim is a very unexpected character, but even he is likeable (oh, and this is Sunrise: IF YOU DON'T SEE A DEAD BODY, THEY AREN'T DEAD. There - he won't die (so technically I'm not spoiling the non-fact that he's dead). :D). The whole daily-life-to-overarching-plot setup has been done many times over, but here it still works because of the exploration of as many realistic aspects as possible. Everything is very dead on target and you will fail to find any flaws, if there even are any at all.

For all sci-fi fans, and maybe even some politicians.