Posted on Sunday, January 14, 2007 8:44 PM
Well, this week's rollercoaster came finally to an end with the start of the week-end, so I celebrated that by watching the final DVD of
PLANETES.
In 2075, travelling to the Moon and the various space stations orbiting our lovely planet is as common as driving a car. However, a problem we already encounter today, has increased enormeously by then; space debris.
Gloves, jettisoned fuel- and oxygen tanks, pieces of metal that were torn off, abandoned satellites, bolts, tools, and billions of paint flakes, all travelling at approximately 8km/s, which can inflict serious damage to space ships and stations.
When in 2068 the Alnair 8 suborbital passenger liner collides with a bolt, the main cabin depressurizes and nearly everyone aboard is killed. From that point on, mankind focuses on what's on their doorstep and various companies are started to try and clean it up.
One of those companies is Technora, and Ai Tanabe (voiced by Yukino Satsuki) starts in Technora's Debris Section at the start of the series, 7 years later. This Section is often called Half Section in the company gossip, mainly because of the Section's reputation.
While the series starts somewhat light-hearted, with the introduction of the characters and the way things go at ISPV-7 (the space station where Technora is based), but gets more serious at the final episode of the first DVD.
One of the things about PLANETES that struck me, is its exceptional level of technical accuracy and realism in general. As they say: "In space, no-one can hear you scream", and while there aren't any aliens that threaten the lives of our protagonists; gravity, radiation and debris do their very best to fill in for those. And as it's silent in space, it's silent in the series where the camera switches to the vacuum and shows a coupling or decupling of a ship, for instance.
THere is only so much a human can do, and the studio captured this very well.
In fact; PLANETES got a NASA recommendation for its realism.
The second half of the series is more focused on the further development of space and its resources, with groups of people both in favour and against, leading to terrorist attacks on those who try to get ahead.
Very impressive series, worth recommending to anyone who's in for a series containing action, reality and humour.
Cheers, K.