#02 – Planetes by Makoto Yukimura

Planetes by Makoto Yukimura
Published by Kodansha & Tokyopop
Serialized in Weekly Morning

When you look outside your window, what do you dream? For Hachirota Hoshino, he dreamt of reaching the deep ends of the dark void with a big spaceship of his own. I believe it’s universal to be enchanted by space’s beauty. However, we discover that space isn’t merely a painting for us to adore. It is a reality that we all live in. Makoto Yukimura beautifully drafts the life of DS-12 “Toybox” as they encounter space. From what is commonly seen as just another space odessey, Yukimura takes it a step further to offer to us not just a tale, but a reflection on the importance of life, love, humanity, and space. Planetes explores the being in Being as the crew of DS-12 struggles in space. Sounds a bit complex, but hey, that’s life.

Let’s keep things simple
Planetes is the story of the crew of DS-12 and their experience as debris collectors outside space. It is a very simple yet presentable manga about man and his encounter with space. If the SF genre could be represented by a chocolate fondant cake, then Planetes would look like one. It has every element of the SF genre. It has high-end technology, futuristic time, war (just a little bit), and cheesy lines. However, underneath the blanket of chocolate is an entirely different cake. Unlike most SF mangas whose primary focus is always on the technology and how it affects mankind, Planetes’ focus is on man and space. It is the story of man vs. the whole universe.

Now, we aren’t talking about big guns and battlescars. Planetes doesn’t need to lure you with technology or fast-paced action in order to understand the point of the story. Instead, it takes you through the experience of man being in space. What are his concerns? Dreams? Apprehensions? Fears? Through the lives of the crew of DS-12, you’d get an idea of what it feels to be in outer space.

Going back to the cake model, Planetes’ cake would contain around four layers, representing the four volumes of Planetes. Each volume has a particular flavor to it, representing the different themes tackled by each volume. Volume 1 tackles man and space. Volume 2 would be about relationships, how we form them and how we need them. The third volume would be about love and a place you could call home. And the last volume would be about humanity.

I may sound like a lunatic to say this, but reading Planetes is like reading Descartes and Marcel. It talks about man’s journey: from his self-centered beginnings, to one that is truly historical. Before this leaps into a philosophical paper (which I myself am evading as my head still hurts from last semester’s reflections), maybe we could place ourself further into the manga by looking at the importance of space.

“This world has no limits. Now, I find that wonderful.”
I wish I had the energy to remember where that line was said. But my memory fails me now. But I remember it being said somewhere in the manga, and me being struck by it so much so that I remember the line vividly. The world that they refer to is that of the entire universe. The realization that the world is much bigger than themselves was a great place to start Planetes with.

Makoto Yukimura stressed this idea throughout the manga. At first, it would be the infinite physical possibilities in space. The idea of a small debris being able to rupture titanium space ships is something we never really heard of. More so, if space travel was done en masse, the possibility of accidents caused by debris is high. There are also solar flares and radiations which have often placed the crew of DS12 in great worry. So many things could happen in space. So many things can be seen in space.

In Planetes, Yukimura shows us the mystery and beauty of space. Lovely pages showing the curve of the earth just takes you to a breath taking vision of life in space. This new perspective not only gives you light on the vastness of the universe, but also how little we are in the grand scheme of things. Like Hachirota, you can’t help but be lured by space to the point that you lose yourself in it. And when we are lost, where do we go to? Do we keep on pushing forward? Or do we go home?

“What do great astronauts do when they don’t have space anymore? He comes back home.”
This is the best part that I love about Planetes. For those familiar with some bit of Marcelian Philosophy, you would be swept away by the personal transition of Hachirota. You see, Marcel once said that man does not realize himself alone. Man will always be in the presence of others, and it is through his social encounters that he becomes a man closer to his fullness. Hachirota’s journey in finding love and a home was certainly one of the most beautiful aspects to the story. His reflections captures your heart, without being too philosophical like Marcel. All that Yukimura had to do was turn Being into the universe, and our being as Hachirota. This struggle to find path and meaning in our life was the very heart of Planetes, which to me, completely turns this manga different from any other SF manga I’ve read.

Planetes all boils down to the person and his experience, whether it be at space, or on earth. This reflection done by the characters in Planetes makes you realize your own journey in life. Have I been lost to the world, or have I made a meaningful world with others? Sans the cheesy lines, this manga is Yukimura at his secondary reflection, offering us a new perspective on how we have lived our lives.