<b>Review of Planetes #3 by Raz112</b>
Hachimaki is living the dream. He has successfully entered the expedition team to Jupiter, on the technical marvel that is the Von Braun. The successful completion of the mission should save the human race, make him a hero, and in turn give him a fortune with which to get the spaceship he so wants. It has taken a lot for Hachimaki to get to where he is. As seen in the previous volumes, he kept everything to himself - his fears, anger, pain, loneliness - and used it as the fuel to drive him on to achieve his goals. Now that he has reached this first milestone, that first taste of success and achievement, an almost unexpected feeling pervades his mind: emptiness. His fire and passion seem to have mysteriously disappeared from his body, and starts to question his own significance in this vast universe.
Meanwhile, we get to see how Tanabe's story began, adopted by her parents after being left on their doorstep. It gives us an insight into why Tanabe is so insistent on the human ability to love, whilst also showing us why she feels empty in her life, despite being in space.
Whilst Goro and the crew try and stop Hachimaki's downward spiral in the most typically male fashion, it is his British crewmate, Sally, who comes closest, reminding him of a feeling he had forever purposefully pushed away - love. His feelings for her rekindled, Hachimaki regains his sense of desire and purpose, and seeks out Tanabe.
He initially searches for her back on the Toy Box 2 but to no avail. With their brief cameo in this volume, Yuri and Fee tell him that Tanabe headed back to Earth to visit her parents. He follows, and catches her at her home. After some comical misunderstandings, Tanabe leaves with Hachimaki on an EVA mission together, leading to a wonderful pivotal moment under the Earth's gaze involving a superb game of <em>shiritori</em>*.
After this life changing scene, Tanabe meets all of Hachimaki's family for the first time, with some comical results. As night approaches, the two that were once thought to have been lost in the ether find something to treasure and hold on to, and Hachimaki comes to a soul-saving revelation.
Finally, author Yukimura treats us with an extra chapter, giving us another look back to the past; this time Goro's, as a first time rookie on Mars. We get an insight of his nature during his prime, with his love for baseball being a very significant factor for a very important event that occurs at the end of the chapter.
Yukimura's art is as good as ever, consistent with the other volumes, though the customary colour pages at the beginning are sadly missing with this volume. What is particularly interesting with this volume is how Yukimura illustrates age and withdrawal, with most chapters flicking between past and present versions of Goro, Tanabe and her parents, as well as Hachimaki's deprived state in the first half of the book. Yukimura's style of realism is a joy to behold, and his ever persevering attention to detail must help significantly with his character drawings.
Other nice little touches with this volume include the return of the four panel comedy skits in between chapters, and a nice gesture of giving us a translation of the poem from the last volume that had been left untranslated.
People say that the world is a small place. It may feel so at times, but what is definitely true is that the universe is vast, infinite in size and nature. In such a big place, it is easy to feel small and insignificant, and to aspire to be extraordinary to gain meaning in life. However, what Yukimura reminds us is that despite humanity's fascination with the extraordinary, normality is just as important and crucial to one's well-being.
This volume is Yukimura's most emotional yet, absent of any noticeable action sequences. It is totally character driven, showing us that hard science fiction can devote itself to pure emotional content rather than having to rely on action and fantasy.
[*<em>'Shiritori'</em> meaning <em>'taking from the bottom'</em>, is a Japanese word game where one must say a noun or pronoun beginning with the preceding word's last syllable. The game ends if one can't think of a word or if the last word ends with a syllable that cannot be used to make another word, usually the 'n' syllable.]
<b>Final score: 9 out of 10</b>
Hachimaki is living the dream. He has successfully entered the expedition team to Jupiter, on the technical marvel that is the Von Braun. The successful completion of the mission should save the human race, make him a hero, and in turn give him a fortune with which to get the spaceship he so wants. It has taken a lot for Hachimaki to get to where he is. As seen in the previous volumes, he kept everything to himself - his fears, anger, pain, loneliness - and used it as the fuel to drive him on to achieve his goals. Now that he has reached this first milestone, that first taste of success and achievement, an almost unexpected feeling pervades his mind: emptiness. His fire and passion seem to have mysteriously disappeared from his body, and starts to question his own significance in this vast universe.
Meanwhile, we get to see how Tanabe's story began, adopted by her parents after being left on their doorstep. It gives us an insight into why Tanabe is so insistent on the human ability to love, whilst also showing us why she feels empty in her life, despite being in space.
Whilst Goro and the crew try and stop Hachimaki's downward spiral in the most typically male fashion, it is his British crewmate, Sally, who comes closest, reminding him of a feeling he had forever purposefully pushed away - love. His feelings for her rekindled, Hachimaki regains his sense of desire and purpose, and seeks out Tanabe.
He initially searches for her back on the Toy Box 2 but to no avail. With their brief cameo in this volume, Yuri and Fee tell him that Tanabe headed back to Earth to visit her parents. He follows, and catches her at her home. After some comical misunderstandings, Tanabe leaves with Hachimaki on an EVA mission together, leading to a wonderful pivotal moment under the Earth's gaze involving a superb game of <em>shiritori</em>*.
After this life changing scene, Tanabe meets all of Hachimaki's family for the first time, with some comical results. As night approaches, the two that were once thought to have been lost in the ether find something to treasure and hold on to, and Hachimaki comes to a soul-saving revelation.
Finally, author Yukimura treats us with an extra chapter, giving us another look back to the past; this time Goro's, as a first time rookie on Mars. We get an insight of his nature during his prime, with his love for baseball being a very significant factor for a very important event that occurs at the end of the chapter.
Yukimura's art is as good as ever, consistent with the other volumes, though the customary colour pages at the beginning are sadly missing with this volume. What is particularly interesting with this volume is how Yukimura illustrates age and withdrawal, with most chapters flicking between past and present versions of Goro, Tanabe and her parents, as well as Hachimaki's deprived state in the first half of the book. Yukimura's style of realism is a joy to behold, and his ever persevering attention to detail must help significantly with his character drawings.
Other nice little touches with this volume include the return of the four panel comedy skits in between chapters, and a nice gesture of giving us a translation of the poem from the last volume that had been left untranslated.
People say that the world is a small place. It may feel so at times, but what is definitely true is that the universe is vast, infinite in size and nature. In such a big place, it is easy to feel small and insignificant, and to aspire to be extraordinary to gain meaning in life. However, what Yukimura reminds us is that despite humanity's fascination with the extraordinary, normality is just as important and crucial to one's well-being.
This volume is Yukimura's most emotional yet, absent of any noticeable action sequences. It is totally character driven, showing us that hard science fiction can devote itself to pure emotional content rather than having to rely on action and fantasy.
[*<em>'Shiritori'</em> meaning <em>'taking from the bottom'</em>, is a Japanese word game where one must say a noun or pronoun beginning with the preceding word's last syllable. The game ends if one can't think of a word or if the last word ends with a syllable that cannot be used to make another word, usually the 'n' syllable.]
<b>Final score: 9 out of 10</b>