Planetes’ twenty-first episode is called “Tandem Mirror.” It’s an appropriate name for this episode, which focuses on both Locksmith’s great invention in an overt narrative sense and also on various other mirrors in a metaphorical one. Both the gleaming new Von Braun and the tandem mirror of the original, wrecked craft come into play this episode, but this episode also investigates how members of Planetes’ cast mirror each other in a variety of ways. How Hachi and Tanabe still have so much in common, even as they’re drifting apart. How Hachi is still haunted by his own reflection, in spite of succeeding in getting on the Von Braun. And how Hachi isn’t mirrored by those he’d once believed in, like his rival and ambiguous friend Hakim.
Tag Archives: Planetes
Planetes – Episode 20
Having passed the first round of testing, Hachimaki has successfully isolated himself from the world and home he once knew. Even Planetes’ opening monologue seems to know it – instead of the classic explanation of space debris, the narrator now speaks solemnly of the course of space travel, and the mighty grasp of humanity in the current age. The narrator doesn’t play coy about the consequences of this shift, either – the economic partitioning that has underlined so many of the show’s episodes is directly referenced, and the monologue ends on “the Von Braun is about to set sail, carrying with it humanity’s hopes and dreams.” We’ve already seen that exact vision dismantled by Hachimaki’s father, making its appearance here an intentionally grim irony. Planetes is not pulling its punches.
Planetes – Episode 19
The Von Braun is preparing to set sail, and all likely crewmates must head to earth. In the wake of last episode’s mine defusal, the Debris Section has found itself with a new lease on life. Having leaked the footage from the event, the section is hailed as heroes, and become too politically popular to fire. That’s all that their footage accomplishes, of course – INTO is a multinational corporation, and so the revelation that they’re laying mines for their political enemies doesn’t really have any other effect. In an age where the United States already bombs civilians to take out kill-worthy targets, it’d be more fantastical for INTO to actually be harmed by this setback.
Planetes – Episode 18
Planetes’ seventeenth episode was an oppressive demonstration of the inhumanity inherent in the exploration of space, and of the corporate institutions that erect themselves to foster and defend that inhumanity. That was a heavy episode, and was itself following an episode focused on post-traumatic shock, so it’d make sense for the debris crew to finally got a break this time. And in fact, they do end up getting a break: a permanent one. The debris section is disbanded. You’re all fired.
Planetes – Episode 17
Planetes’ seventeenth episode begins with a shot of an open hand, as pills are shaken into it from an unmarked container. As the next shot reveals, these are Gigalt’s pills, a symbol of his fraying health here used as the very first thing introducing us to this episode. Victory and legacy and career trajectory, all pointless in the face of our constantly encroaching mortality. Gigalt is a decorated employee and a credit to his company, but at this point he’s becoming just another old man.
Planetes – Episode 16
Planetes’ sixteenth episode opens with heavy, panicked breathing, thick gasps presented to us before we even understand what’s happening. That’s intentional, as we soon learn – Hachi has spun free in space, and so in order to simulate his immediate confusion, we are left in the dark as well. Extreme closeups convey the claustrophobia of the situation, mixed in with shots framed to highlight the vast emptiness of space. And the sound design remains important throughout, that breathing soon finding itself accompanied by creaking, hissing noises from Hachi’s suit. As his breathing accelerates and pulse becomes audible, those mechanical noises impress on us a constant and oft-overlooked truth – that for all his confidence and security, Hachimaki is only separated from disaster by the thinnest layer of human engineering.
Planetes – Episode 15
With Fee and Yuri both having earned a scattering of focus episodes, the only one-note characters remaining in the debris section were the buffoonish bosses and long-suffering temp worker Edel. Those bosses remained buffoons this week, but Edel finally got a chance to shine, pinning down a winding episode that broke from fourteen’s close focus to check in on basically all of the show’s minor characters. Things are stirring together now, even if anything approaching a focused narrative still seems very far away.
Planetes – Episode 14
You know, I was ready to get extremely mad at this episode. Based on the setup of the first half, it looked like the show was going to throw half a dozen new wrenches into Tanabe and Hachi’s relationship, delaying progress purely for the sake of more juicy, artificial drama. But while this episode was a little heavy on the will-they-or-won’t-they stuff, it actually pulled their story together with some real grace. Tanabe and Hachi’s relationship has at times been Planetes’ weakest element, but it turns out you can’t keep a good ship down.
(I’m sorry)
Planetes – Episode 13
Having long explored the winding corridors of Seven, spent at least a dozen missions cramped inside the Toy Box, and twice visited the moon, this week’s Planetes took us somewhere the show had never visited – the earth itself. With Fee’s heroic exploits leaving the crew without a ship, the debris team was given some needed time off to visit friends and family. And so we finally visited Hachi’s home, as Tanabe and Yuri tagged along to meet his mother and brother.
Planetes – Episode 12
Planetes’ eleventh episode was easily the series’ high point so far, a thoughtful meditation on the inequality of space colonization that ended in a firm restatement of the series’ ultimately hopeful worldview. In light of that, it’s not too surprising that the followup episode is a much lighter adventure, focusing on such frivolities as romantic misunderstandings and international terrorism.