In the sci-fi genre, there are few books that can generate excitement for the real possibilities of space travel. They reach into your chest and pull out something small and glowing that many of us felt during our childhoods while watching space shuttles go into orbit or seeing stock footage of men on the moon. These books draw out this pure sense of wonder that makes you want to put them down and look at the stars for a few moments. And as we remember the anniversary of man's first steps on the moon, they become more poignant-almost painful. Something catches in your throat,
...
and your head starts to buzz.
Well, that's how I react, anyway.
Planets is one of those books, and one of the best.
After reading Planetes I got the urge to change majors and learn rocketry. It's that good.
Planetes is in a genre of science fiction called "hard sci-fi" (I know some sci-fi fans are going to kill me for not calling it "SF", or speculative fiction...well, whatever.). Hard sci-fi series are categorized by an almost scholarly dedication to scientific accuracy. Typically, there isn't any FTL (faster than light, not for the lose, smartasses) travel, there aren't giant charged-particle cannons, giant robots, beam sabers...
Starting to sound boring, huh? Well, a lot of hard SF novels *are* boring, or at least dry and didactic, and some (like Ben Bova's Mars, which I highly recommend, as it is otherwise excellent) waste too much time dwelling on political drama in an attempt to make the story more presentable. Planetes avoids this problem altogether, even though it's science fiction at its diamond-level hardest.
Being a manga, it manages to maintain some lightheartedness; for instance, Hachi's dad Goro peppers him with porn to snap him out of a nervous breakdown, and a lot of humor is played off of Ai Tanabe's cluelessness. Thankfully, the humor doesn't go as far as atmosphere-destroying face-faults and huge sweat drops...often. The human stories that play out are so interesting that space seems more like a backdrop for the exploration of themes rather than new sources of energy. However, the writer balances the drama and the sci-fi so deftly you'd think he was a musician, and he plays with the metaphysical while he's at it. The inky black expanse of space (and a few more hospitable locations on earth) serve as a backdrop for Planetes' bread and butter: a love story to existence.
Planetes is deep without feeling pretentious. It tackles some subjects even harder than its science: war and peace, environmentalism and economic disparity, and racism. As in real life, there are no simple answers; characters struggle to find the right thing to do, because even though the "right thing" might be apparent, it's never easy, and the consequences for their mistakes have real weight. Yes, I know what this sounds like, but it's all very accessible. The writer doesn't waste words or space; like a spacecraft in itself, the manga series runs at only 4.5 volumes and expresses its themes with imagery rather than huge blocks of text. The rare soliloquy is short, punchy, and leaves you with something for your head to chew on. When the main character, Hachimachi, talks to god (in the form of a white cat) they share only a few paragraphs, but they have power behind them. I also commend Takimura for looking at the world (and the universe) through a more international lens, rather than one that's wholly Japanese. One of the more touching background stories was about the uncle of Toybox's black female captain (wha? Foreign characters that aren't painful stereotypes, or fanciful half-Japanese hybrids?) Fee, and their summers in the Mississippi forests. It has everything and nothing to do about space and its development at the same time, and it's all the more richer because of that.
It's almost impossible to describe some of the scenes in Planetes with mere words. Sure, you can describe the objects in them: the space debris, an astronaut slowly floating back towards the fragile safety of his spacecraft, and a rose drifting behind him, embraced in an ethereal halo of light with the earth looking silently on in the background... But the image speaks so much more by itself. It's a two-page splash with absolutely no text, and it evokes the presence of sounds by the very absence of them. There's this raw emotion slowly flowing behind the ink on the page, and reading all that went on until that point... It's amazing.
Where other hard sci-fi books fall flat and dull- with their lengthy descriptions of plain white spaceships and speculative technology, Planetes entrances. You don't just read about the hull of the Toybox, you *see* it, and that seeing cuts to your insides instead of rattling in your head. It goes past the limitations of text that novelists face, and Yukimura's technical and detailed art does an excellent job in showcasing the power of comics as a medium. You can tell a lot of work went into crafting the future the books present, and it amounts to much more than typical sci-fi fluff. The characters themselves are very simple-looking (I confused Fee and Ai a few times) but they serve their purpose, emote when they have to, and do it well...sometimes too well. While the characterizations are solid, far too many of them wore on my nerves, such as Ai Tanabe's grating naivete and Hachimachi's harsh personality. Despite their flaws, you'll end up rooting for them all in the end.
What I took away from Planetes was a better understanding of how the universe worked, a better appreciation for it, and a desire to see humanity push deeper into her, and to expand its understanding along with our reach into the stars. I desperately want our governments to spend less money on weapons development and more on exploring Mars, and for our people to turn their ambition away from the dirt and towards the sky. At the same time, Planetes reminded me that even if I never leave earth myself, I'm already in space. We're *all* already in space together, on a spaceship called "Earth". Everything is within space: the blue skies, sandy beaches, icy wilderness, the people and animals and trees and buildings...it's all hurtling through space at frightening speeds. And I should be thankful for being able to experience that much.
And stuff.
 Alternative TitlesJapanese: プラネテス ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ More titlesInformationType: Manga
Volumes: 4
Chapters: 27
Status: Finished
Published: Jan 14, 1999 to Jan 8, 2004
Demographic:
Seinen
Serialization:
Morning Authors:
Yukimura, Makoto (Story & Art) Statistics Ranked: #3742 2 based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded. Popularity: #294
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Jul 21, 2009
In the sci-fi genre, there are few books that can generate excitement for the real possibilities of space travel. They reach into your chest and pull out something small and glowing that many of us felt during our childhoods while watching space shuttles go into orbit or seeing stock footage of men on the moon. These books draw out this pure sense of wonder that makes you want to put them down and look at the stars for a few moments. And as we remember the anniversary of man's first steps on the moon, they become more poignant-almost painful. Something catches in your throat,
...
Jan 5, 2010
Introduction:
I’ve always been into Space. I’m a big fan of Star Wars, I’ve done a work about Space for school and when I was younger I wanted to by an Astronaut. But later I’ve seen the Movie Apollo 13, and realized that Space isn’t as friendly as it seems. It’s quite scary. And the Human being wasn’t meant to go to Space. But the Human being wasn’t meant to fly either, and we’ve defied Nature and today Flying is as normal for some people as taking a walk. And so again we’ve defied Nature and send Yuri Gagarin on the 12th of April 1961 ... 
Oct 26, 2022 Recommended Well-written 
"I learned that I couldn't stop loving people."
Since the birth of humanity, the sky has always been a source of ceaseless wonder and amazement for our species, whether they be grizzly cavemen in their roughly hewn lodgings or exuberant young kids staring up through a lens, mouth agape. Humanity has always feared the unknown, but they've always been inexplicably drawn to the sheer vastness of the cosmos - a vastness that makes them feel small, and yet continues to beckon, daring them to reach out in return. Planetes is that involuntary gasp, that inexorable sigh that exits our throats once our meagre existences are confronted by ... 
Aug 30, 2015
Who hasn't dreamt once about going into space, or yearned to know what there is beyond Earth? Or even imagined living in space? Space travel for not only a select few people will become, sooner or later, a reality, be it in the next 50 years or even more than a century. Planetes is a psychological sci-fi manga that covers the story of a crew of space garbage man, cleaning Earth's outer space of space debris. The story doesn't seem interesting at first glance, but in reality it has so much more to offer, making it for anyone with a slight interest in space a
...
Jan 22, 2018
Yukimura Makoto's Planetes is, as I've seen, hailed as a space odyssey that keeps itself grounded by its human elements. That much may be true, but the crucial point which prevents this manga from being great is that very element lauded as its strongest: Planetes is a manga which clearly prides itself on Moments, but which lacks the wherewithal necessary between those to make the Moments impactful. This highlights a pattern in Makoto's work (of which I've now read all, barring some more recent chapters of Vinland Saga) which I would call a fear of subtlety, a fear manifesting most strongly in his character development
...
Jan 6, 2021
this review is writen in 2 parts: the first with no spoilers and the second with potentiel spoilers
With no spoilers: When i watched vinland saga and after that read the manga, i thought i've seen too much of yukimura's greatness i won't be surprised by his works anymore. But man i was wrong, this mangaka kept blowing my expectations and never ceased to amaze me with his incredible ideas and art work. In this essay i'll be reviewing another masterpiece of probably my favorite mangaka (along with urasawa), a piece of art that managed to achieve, in only 4 volumes, what most of manga are unable ... 
Feb 13, 2014
Set in an alternate future where the government spends more on space exploration instead of military hardware, Planetes explores a different genre of the manga community where the slice-of –life invaders have not yet reached. Categorised as hard sci-fi, Planetes which offers a bulk of information, presents it in an enjoyable format and leaves you hungry for more.
The story revolves around the crew of Toy Box, a ship which collects debris revolving around the earth. (Take a minute to appreciate how imaginative this concept is.) It tackles the life of the crew (Garbage men) and their struggles with space and themselves. Presented with a scholar’s ... 
Feb 2, 2017
I loved these volumes so much I wrote a review especially to put on one of the manga shelves at work. It went something like this:
Planetes is a riveting, beautifully depicted piece of sci-fi realism that is, at its heart, a love letter to humanity in space. Focusing on the crew of spaceship 'Toy Box,' a debris-collecting vehicle roaming the dark and cluttered space skies, we are introduced to a vast world filled with all sorts of mysteries and conspiracies, terrorists and dreamers in a world where space is a part of everyday life. We follow Commander Fee, Yuri, Ai and Hachirota as they ... 
Jun 19, 2017
Planetes is probably one of the most impressive debut works in the manga world thus far. Yukimura nailed it with the art and intriguing cast of characters, creating compelling drama out of a somewhat vague premise about debris collecting in space. Vague it may be but since I’ve always been highly interested in space exploration and space physics, Planetes caught my attention faster than hysterical feminists offering me a free blowjob.
The story is fairly basic and straight forward – we follow a crew of space debris collectors amounting to 4 main characters and many well characterised secondary characters. Planetes is very much a character ... 
Sep 16, 2017
I found Planetes by chance at the library, and [it] being a manga with a space man on the cover, I had no choice but to crack it open. I was immediately hooked by the premise as described by the back cover, and What I discovered was a series rich with world building, captivating characters, and a delightful art.
As much as I would have been happy for Planetes to be a story just about space, it is ultimately a story about people in space, which necessitates interesting characters. Our main characters are simple yet powerful, while many side characters are used as episodic catalysts for ... 
May 26, 2020
Story-The mangaka make it a very good sci-fri manga.He building it so good until us readers easily through into the world.The space ship,the ppl,the concept ,he took time to search the real shit out of it,so it can be logic ,but and the same time it is like very frictional.He just like bring us to the space, and it's incredible.Who never thought about travel to space?!LITERALLY EVERYONE had thought about it at least once when childhood.He just help us complete our little wish. 8.5/10
Art- The art is very good and can see the mangaka took effort to learn a lot of space things order to ... 
Sep 19, 2017
Planetes is a seinen, science-fiction manga series that is written and illustrated by Makoto Yukimura (Vinland Saga). It follows a small group of astronauts who are tasked with keeping near-Earth’s orbit clean of debris. In the four volumes of the series, or two omnibus editions, we get familiarised with the individuals who are doing the disgusting jobs no one else wants to do. We see them as professionals in their trade, and as regular human beings with everyday, normal problems in their personal lives as well.
The chapters within Planetes tend to be very episodic in nature, with a few of these “episodes” spanning multiple chapters ... 
Jul 30, 2016
Well, when I first looked at Planetes, I imagined what kind sci-fi story could be made in just 4 volumes. The slice of life style surprised me when I noted it by the second volume. That's original, huh? I think there's nothing better than a sci-fi background to explore the human nuances. Sci-fi is the most human thing ever. It's man being God, it's a Second Creation, it's an extension of the humankind.
In this case, space. The true focus of Planetes are people. However, the information and how the technology works in space looked very accurate to me, showing the understanding of the author about ... 
Aug 16, 2016
Overall: 9.5
Planetes by Makoto Yukimura is one of the more underrated manga I've read. It is by the same creator as Vinland Saga, so it is often overshadowed by the more popular work. However, Planetes displays Yukimura's talents just as well as Vinland Saga. The art is incredible, the characters are very vivid and believable, and it is obvious that a lot of thought and research went into creating the setting. When it comes to Sci-Fi and Fantasy, world building is very important. Planetes has some of the best world-building I've ever seen in a Sci-Fi series. It feels like this really could be what ... 
Sep 16, 2021
Short Spoilerless Review
Planetes is a Manga that was in my plan to read for a long long time. It has the same author as Vinland Saga ,one of my favourite manga,but it failed to make me feel the same as his other work did. The story had some interesting parts and in my opinion peaked around the second half of the manga ,but there were still many points that I was straight up bored. The characters were nice with enough depth and the art was pretty good too. Nonetheless ,I didn't enjoy Planetes as much as other people did, cause it made me feel tired more than enough ... 
May 17, 2023
Simply the GOAT
i LOVED it it is a short manga but a very good one IT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE ANIME (the anime is good but i prefer the manga, not by a lot tho) Story: A story about a man that cleans trash? it cant be that good yes it can, and it is Everyone who likes space or sci fi things should read it ... 
Oct 29, 2023
GOOD BITS: The art is magnificent, it is crazy impressive how Makoto Yukimura drew such detailed spacecraft before moving onto vikings. It's clear he understand what he's drawing as well, the pages detailing the propulsion system in spacesuits and the helmets etc. are quite detailed despite not being necessary for the plot.
The characters and the growth they go through are fascinating, each character is wholely different from one another and they each change in meaningful ways. The story, while simple, is also interesting and involves a couple twists and turns which help make it interesting. The main story is simple but it provides room ... 
Jul 8, 2019
tl;dr: A manga with some pretty interesting concepts and that looks at some pretty interesting issues, but doesn’t really do much with them in the end.
I found this manga pretty unfocused and while I think it did a lot of things decently, I didn’t think it did anything particularly well. I believe one of the key aspects of this manga was diving into space exploration, and looking at some of the less looked at aspects of such, mainly debris collecting and groups that oppose such on principle. I think that if it focused on that entirely and went more in depth into that, it could ... 
Mar 1, 2022
Sorta Minor Spoilers Below
I picked up Planetes because I wanted to read a manga from a genre I don't explore much, science fiction, and it was definitely a nice change of pace especially since fantasy/isekai have been the mainstream for a while now. The beginning of Planetes was a little slow for me, for one the characters are drawn quite a bit differently (I'm assuming this is the mangaka still working out their designs?) and it's alot of character introductions, but once I got acquainted I started to really enjoy this read. The beginning of the first book (or first omnibus technically) starts off pretty casually ... 
Dec 27, 2015
I love how Planetes talks about a future that could be real. A future without heroism, incredible missions or fights. But just something that could most likely happen in 2075.
The story, fluent and interesting, revolves around four main characters, it manages to explore deeply their personality, behaviours and actions. They all work as part of a team of debris cleaners on a space ship called the Toy Box, to clean the orbit from space debris produced by humans in order to keep spaceship's paths clean and avoid catastrophic collisions. My impression while reading Planetes was that the plot's main aim is to develop characters: they ... |
