ourchair
Well-Known Member
[IMGL]http://www.sunshinebreakdown.net/ourchair/temp/07-planetes01.jpg[/IMGL]I've decided to start a thread to promote the awesomeness of anime, especially since there is so much ambivalence toward the stuff on the board in general. It's sad really, because now that Marvel and DC are busy trying to outgeekgasm each other to death, it's my only reliable source of pop culture 'awesometity' these days.
So here's some of the awesome anime that ourchair is watching and why you should watch them too!
PLANETES
Planetes is basically about the working class that makes sure that the pioneer fantasy of outerspace travel remains logistically safe and practical. It focuses on the Space Debris Section, a section that collects loose hull plating, stray bolts and other miscellaneous interstellar garbage littering the spaceways, and the working class anxieties of the people that staff it.
Although no one would deny the tremendous importance of their job --- its stated that the debris floats at such high speeds as to be a hazard to all spacecraft --- the people who work at the Space Debris section are generally looked down on as 'The Half Section', named for the fact that they receive half the funding, half the manpower and half (maybe less) the respect of other divisions.
The characters who act as the viewer's anchors are Hachirota Hoshino, a jaded veteran of interstellar cleanup, and Ai Tanabe, a newcomer who believes that love and hope can solve all problems. Both are field crew from the cleanup ship Toy Box They're polar opposites who serve to keep the themes groundedly present at all times.
[IMGL]http://www.sunshinebreakdown.net/ourchair/temp/07-planetes02.jpg[/IMGL]Hoshino, who is nicknamed 'Hachimaki' or 'Headband Guy', used to have a boyishly optimistic attitude towards outerspace life, having long dreamt of owning a spaceship of his own. But with his meager salary and lack of connections, such a dream seems impossible to accomplish.
As such, he's grown tremendously cynical about his lot in life. For him, space is not a source of aspiration and hope but disappointment and desperation.
Tanabe on the other hand serves to remind the viewers of some of the more optimistic views of space that speculative fiction has handed to us since before the Soviets and Americans started launching small animals into the void. She firmly believes that humanity can hold onto the power of hope that space travel is meant to afford us.
But she's no sentimental wimp, as she shows on more than one occasion that she can stand up for the dignity of her thankless job by knocking some sense into those who would burden her existence with cynicism.
The other members of the Toy Box include Captain Fee Carmichael, a take-charge no-nonsense chain-smoker who pilots the Toy Box and generally acts as leader and fields communications from their superiors.
Yuri Mikhairokoh is a taciturn fellow who also works in the field and is the most level-headed of the bunch. He lost his wife to a shuttle accident involving space debris and is driven to collect debris in the hopes of one day finding his wife's keepsake, a small compass just as the other characters try to find their dreams and self-worth in the drudgery of their work.
The technical strength of this anime lies primarily in the amount of technological detail and realism invested into its universe. Its premise of space trash as a future hazard is grounded in the concerns that many present day futurists have expressed.
A high frame rate is used to communicate the weightlessness of scenes without gravity both indoors and outdoors, and the lack of sound in space is also a nice touch. Plus, much of the outerspace hardware is rendered with great technical detail, particularly the environmental suits used by the cleanup crews.
The theme song is totally ace as well. I'm one of those people who recognize that Star Trek: Enterprise's "Where My Heart Will Take Me" was essentially a bad song, but at the same time I've always loved it without irony because it was very appropriate for the explorer/voyager spirit that the series and the franchise as a whole embodied (or was supposed to embody). Planetes' "Dive in the Sky" strives for the same optimistic spacefaring sentiment.
Anyway, it's an excellent series that I highly recommend for fans of comics like Warren Ellis' Ministry of Space and Orbiter or even for those of you who have a soft spot for things like Star Trek (and I do) and Battlestar Galactica.
If you're still not sold, check the Wiki entry too.
So here's some of the awesome anime that ourchair is watching and why you should watch them too!
PLANETES
Planetes is basically about the working class that makes sure that the pioneer fantasy of outerspace travel remains logistically safe and practical. It focuses on the Space Debris Section, a section that collects loose hull plating, stray bolts and other miscellaneous interstellar garbage littering the spaceways, and the working class anxieties of the people that staff it.
Although no one would deny the tremendous importance of their job --- its stated that the debris floats at such high speeds as to be a hazard to all spacecraft --- the people who work at the Space Debris section are generally looked down on as 'The Half Section', named for the fact that they receive half the funding, half the manpower and half (maybe less) the respect of other divisions.
The characters who act as the viewer's anchors are Hachirota Hoshino, a jaded veteran of interstellar cleanup, and Ai Tanabe, a newcomer who believes that love and hope can solve all problems. Both are field crew from the cleanup ship Toy Box They're polar opposites who serve to keep the themes groundedly present at all times.
[IMGL]http://www.sunshinebreakdown.net/ourchair/temp/07-planetes02.jpg[/IMGL]Hoshino, who is nicknamed 'Hachimaki' or 'Headband Guy', used to have a boyishly optimistic attitude towards outerspace life, having long dreamt of owning a spaceship of his own. But with his meager salary and lack of connections, such a dream seems impossible to accomplish.
As such, he's grown tremendously cynical about his lot in life. For him, space is not a source of aspiration and hope but disappointment and desperation.
Tanabe on the other hand serves to remind the viewers of some of the more optimistic views of space that speculative fiction has handed to us since before the Soviets and Americans started launching small animals into the void. She firmly believes that humanity can hold onto the power of hope that space travel is meant to afford us.
But she's no sentimental wimp, as she shows on more than one occasion that she can stand up for the dignity of her thankless job by knocking some sense into those who would burden her existence with cynicism.
The other members of the Toy Box include Captain Fee Carmichael, a take-charge no-nonsense chain-smoker who pilots the Toy Box and generally acts as leader and fields communications from their superiors.
Yuri Mikhairokoh is a taciturn fellow who also works in the field and is the most level-headed of the bunch. He lost his wife to a shuttle accident involving space debris and is driven to collect debris in the hopes of one day finding his wife's keepsake, a small compass just as the other characters try to find their dreams and self-worth in the drudgery of their work.
The technical strength of this anime lies primarily in the amount of technological detail and realism invested into its universe. Its premise of space trash as a future hazard is grounded in the concerns that many present day futurists have expressed.
A high frame rate is used to communicate the weightlessness of scenes without gravity both indoors and outdoors, and the lack of sound in space is also a nice touch. Plus, much of the outerspace hardware is rendered with great technical detail, particularly the environmental suits used by the cleanup crews.
The theme song is totally ace as well. I'm one of those people who recognize that Star Trek: Enterprise's "Where My Heart Will Take Me" was essentially a bad song, but at the same time I've always loved it without irony because it was very appropriate for the explorer/voyager spirit that the series and the franchise as a whole embodied (or was supposed to embody). Planetes' "Dive in the Sky" strives for the same optimistic spacefaring sentiment.
Anyway, it's an excellent series that I highly recommend for fans of comics like Warren Ellis' Ministry of Space and Orbiter or even for those of you who have a soft spot for things like Star Trek (and I do) and Battlestar Galactica.
If you're still not sold, check the Wiki entry too.