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Introduction:
Crusher Joe: The Movie, is a Movie from 1983, by Studio Nue. It was adapted from the Crusher Joe light novels, written by author Haruka Takachiho. Directed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, who had already worked on the 1979’s Mobile Suit Gundam, it won Animage Anime Grand Prize in ’83.

Story (6/10):
Crusher Joe follows the adventures of Crusher Joe and his team, Alfin, Talos and Ricky. Our main characters are the so-called Crushers, a kind of legal and controlled mercenaries. The movie revolves around a group of Pirates, which have stolen a highly dangerous weapon, while Crusher Joe and his team are fighting the Pirate faction. The ... Story overall is quite generic and is something that one would expect from this kind of movie. And although it’s not a complex story, it’s intelligent.

Art (9/10):
The Art is stunning in this Anime. While I was watching this, I forgot that it’s almost 30 years old. There were quite an amount of awesome fight scenes, and the design was splendid. Crusher Joe is without a doubt, one of the best-looking Anime’s from the early 80’s.

Sounds (8/10):
The Music in this Movie was always a crucial point, to create the perfect ambient. There wasn’t a moment where I thought the Music was misplaced, even when there wasn’t any. I don’t have any complains about the Voice Acting (Japanese Version), where the seiyu’s did a flawless job.

Characters (8/10):
All Characters are the most 80’s cliché possible, but everyone is likeable. They are all funny, serious and distinctive. The relationship between the 4 main Characters is very interesting, where they despite being all friends have the occasional fights, which can bring a good laugh.

Enjoyment (9/10):
With great fighting scenes, funny situations, enjoyable characters and a bit of romance, this Movie is really a great joy to watch. Even with its 120 minutes, you won’t ever feel bored, because there is always something happening.

Overall (8/10):
This is really an underrated and especially underappreciated Movie. This is one of the best Movies I have seen from the early 80’s and I don’t understand why it’s so underappreciated. A good way to sum this movie is to say that it’s a generic 80’s Anime at its best. So if you like more old school stuff or you just like a good action/comedy anime, than this is definitely one for you.

Note: If you don't know where to watch this, PM me.

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 ... to Space. After that day Space was at the reach of Mankind. And until today, evolution has brought Mankind and Space even closer. As of Today, you can already book a flight to Space in Virgin Galatics.

Planetes sets in 2075, in a World where Space flights are ordinary, people live in the Moon and Work in Space. So for me Planetes was quite appealing, but before I’d just heard of the Anime. So when I found out that the Anime was an adaptation of a Sci-fi Manga written by Makoto Yukimura I was delighted (especially because I know Makoto Yukimura from his more recent work Vinland Saga). So I picked it up and read it in one week-end. And at the end, I couldn’t believe how good it was. For me, it was too good to be true. It was the first Manga I’d read, that I really felt that it was a Masterpiece, perfect in every aspect, and which should be read by everyone who is into Space and ,more importantly, psychology.


Story: 9/10
Planetes Story is quite straightforward. In the Universe of Planetes, Space Debris has been a serious issue. So to prevent the accumulation of Debris in Orbits around the Earth and the Moon, there are the so-called “Garbage Men” who clean up Space. Planetes follow a 3-men (later 4, with Ai Tanabe) Crew, who clean up Space. Simultaneously engineer Werner Locksmith is working on a Space ship called Von Braun, which will have a 7-year mission of taking the first Humans to Jupiter, a Gold mine of Helium-3, the Fuel of 2075. Hachirota Hoshino, the most ambitious of the Crew members decide that he will do anything to take part in the greatest Mission in Space History, and to board the Van Braun.


Characters: 10/10
The Characters in Makoto’s Manga are, in my opinion, the Strongest Element of Planetes. Each Character has an amazing depth, and Makoto explores this depth by putting them through the extreme experiences that Space has to offer. Makoto uses the Space to expose the feelings of the Characters, and for doing so he shows the reader how dark Space can be. In Planetes there are four Main Characters, among which you could depict Hachirota for the most important character, and all these Characters are amazingly built. Each Character has a background story linked to him, which connects the reader to each Character. And so the reader begins to understand the actions and feelings of each single Character. What is amazing about all this is that none of the Characters is perfect. Each one of them has flaws, and their actions are dubious most of the times. This can annoy some readers, but it only shows that they all are human. And with all the complexity that the reader is given about the each one of the Characters on Planetes, he starts to find the reason behind those actions, and this is the major reason why Planetes is a Masterpiece.


Art: 10/10
Already with Vinland Saga, I’m amazed with Makoto’s art. I must say that I love the characters drawn by Makoto. But what shocks me the most is the detail of the Backgrounds. They are nothing less than paintings. And Planetes Art is everything and even more that I was expecting. The Characters don’t change from Planetes to Vinland Saga, and the Backgrounds are just stunning. Each Spaceship is drawn with full detail, and looks perfect. What is also very interesting is that this Work is considered to be Hard Sci-fi, so realism is most important, and the Art totally matches up.
Makoto also uses extremely well his Art, to show the darkness and void of the Space. Large Panels, filled up by Darkness really give the reader the feeling of loneliness. And so again Makoto manages to input the characters feelings to the reader, showing how talented he is in both storytelling and Art.


Enjoyment: 10/10
Me, as a reader, felt everything as the Characters in Planetes. There were lots of Negative feelings but when I ended the Manga I couldn’t feel anything less then just pure joy. I can’t describe why I enjoy this Manga so much, so I really recommend for you to read it, and sense all the feelings that Planetes has to offer.


Last Comment:
When I discovered that the Manga existed, I was surprised that it had only 4 Volumes. So I didn’t expect much from it. And now I must say that this Manga has more than some Mangas have in 10, 20 Volumes. For me a Manga like this just comes out every 10 years. But I understand that some people may not like the Manga or just prefer the Anime (which in my opinion is a total distortion of Planetes). This is a Seinen Manga, which for me personally is about Space, but above all it’s about the "Human being", and it couldn’t deliver this theme any better.