Planetes.

by Makoto Yukimura

No cover — Makoto Yukimura: Planetes. (2005, Tokyopop)

195 pages

English language

Published Jan. 6, 2005 by Tokyopop.

(22 reviews)

Fee decides to spend more time with her family. With all the debris in Earth's orbit, she may never be able to return to space. Plus, Hachimaki and the crew of the Von Braun reach Jupiter, and Weiner Locksmith becomes haunted by the lives lost pursuing his vision.

11 editions

ospalh reviewed Planetes by Makoto Yukimura

Bad science, odd characters

3 stars

This tries to do the »hard SF« thing, and fails. It tries to combine space debris with Earth-bound garbage collectors, and throws out orbital mechanics at the very start. That’s not the only example.

When Hachimaki actually gets any kind of character, i found it rather off-putting. »Space, space, space. No love. I must land on Jupiter (!) to get money. Nothing else matters!«

Also, the ship’s name, »von Braun« (or, going by the Uniforms, »VON BROWN«. Ugh. They had to pick the literal Nazi. »›Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down. That’s not my department.‹ says Wernher von Braun.« »›Maybe I’m just like him (von Braun). Some people will do anything to get into space.‹« Well, don’t be that way! But in the manga that’s it. End of discussion. He is that way. Just like the Nazi. (That is from volume 2, but meh, whatever)

A. Rivera reviewed Planetes by Makoto Yukimura

Review of 'Planetes' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I discovered this by luck, and I was very pleased. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is that some small parts of the story were things I did not particularly like (I tend to dislike bratty younger siblings of main characters, for instance). However, that small detail aside, this is an excellent manga with a very strong hard science fiction element. The premise is very good as well. Space exploration is a given. It has left a lot of trash and debris in space, and someone has to pick it up. Our protagonist is one of those space garbage men. The author writes very good stories of this character and his team mates. There are moving moments, some action, and it is all presented in a good science fictional setting that pays attention to the science as we learn a bit about astronauts and how space affects them mentally and physically.

On investigating a bit, I learned this manga is out of print, so I may have to scour a bit to find the other four volumes in the series. This is a series I definitely want to continue following. Even if you do not like mangas, if you like science fiction, this is a pretty good series. Definitely a very pleasant discovery for me.