Search - Planetes (Vol. 2) on DVD

Entertaining and moving

Terry Dawson | Appleton, WI USA | 09/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The second volume of this series is again released as a two disk set. One disk contains five episodes of the show, the second has plentiful extras. With the title available for less than $20, this would be a good value for an average anime. But Planetes is far above average.

The story of the anime continues to be generally faithful to the original manga, but to introduce a few new and unique characters and twists. The first episode on this disk is played largely for laughs, as our protagonists visit the moon and encounter a goofy gang of ninja wannabes. The remaining episodes are more serious, with good comic relief, but considerable poignancy, as the character development continues and we get more backstory. The story of Yuri's wife, which was prologue in the first volume of the manga, shows up as episode 10 of the anime -- a tribute to the intelligent way that the series has adapted the source material for a different medium.

The combination of intelligent writing, interesting characters, good storytelling, fine animation and -- above all -- true science fiction, makes this a uniquely valuable title, worth having and rewatching."