After nearly a decade of reading and watching Key's works, and now having finished Planetarian's unlikely adaptation, I think I have come to accept that Key does not appeal much to me anymore. I have aged and moved on since those times, as has the anime industry and its community, and no longer feel all too impressed by what their stories had to offer.
At the same time, I recognise that not everybody began watching anime at the same time. Some people have only just gotten into the medium in recent months, and so they may not yet be acquainted with Key's works. For these
...
people, there is still value to be found in Planetarian, for it is actually a surprisingly well-produced, if brief and heavy-handed tale. I cannot feel much of anything towards it, but maybe someone, somewhere, will feel that same fire and emotion I did all those years ago.
Planetarian's soundtrack, much like the rest of Key's catalog, is excellent, and the art direction, particularly during the projection scene, does a solid job of creating atmosphere and making time and space truly feel vast, with humanity's greatest achievements flashing before the Junker in the blink of an eye. Hoshino is also, fortunately, not treated as eye-candy or some sort of waifu fantasy, as her mechanical (and somewhat creepy!) eyes make it clear that she is a robot and not a living and breathing human being. She is cute, but she is also a genuine character with purpose in the story. While there are issues to be had with the content of Planetarian, the execution of said content (in the context of an adaptation) is certainly worthy of praise and difficult to fault. It's a very solid production all-around. All one needs to do to understand the difference in quality between a poorly-directed anime and a well-directed one is to compare Planetarian to Rewrite, the other ongoing (and perhaps somewhat abysmal) Key adaptation. Planetarian is leagues better, and is about as good as any fan of the source material could have hoped for, really.
But I do not know if that is enough to sway most anime-only viewers. The story is a nice, heart-warming little thing, but there is not much there with regards to depth and meaning. You will watch it, perhaps get a little misty-eyed during its dramatic conclusion, and that is where it ends. You will move on, get on with your day, and find the next thing to watch. A good anime or visual novel-- indeed, even a good story in general-- should have something to say or give to its readers. I am just not confident that this short little tragedy qualifies as that something.
Even though the conclusion is a bit more low-key and reserved than other Key works (particularly Angel Beats), it still falls much into the same issue of being too dramatic for its own good. It so desperately wants to make the audience cry, but with scenes such as Hoshino lamenting how she cannot shed tears (and the rain so conveniently falling into her eyes as if she were actually crying), it becomes a bit difficult to take Planetarian's cloying conclusion all too seriously. I loathe the term "forced drama" as it is not a valid criticism, but those who have used it to attack Key works in the past will absolutely find more reason to use it here. I would personally have liked to see a less artificial ending without so many unnecessary theatrics. The potential for a great story is here, with its bleak, post-apocalyptic setting, but Key overthrew and missed the strike zone with Planetarian.
It was somewhat disappointing to see the protagonist in the anime being a young-- no more than twenty-five years old-- jaded dude. If Key really wished to drive the emotional punch at the end, with the Junker regaining part of his humanity, it would have been much more powerful were he an older man who has been through and seen a lot of the new world. The anime does not sell me on his character being an emotionally broken and hardened soldier-- he just seems like a bit of an ass most of the time.
Planetarian would also have benefited from being a movie instead of an ONA series, as the gaps between episodes (even if it is only as much as clicking on the next episode and sitting through a couple minutes of logos and advertisements) make the experience feel rather disjointed. Planetarian is meant to be a single, continuous story rather than a series marked by chapters and episodes. If you ever have had to pause a movie in the middle of your viewing for hours or days at a time, you will know just how much it ruins the experience and how difficult it makes it to feel much of anything during the climax, what with all the build-up gone and wasted. This is what it has felt like for me to watch Planetarian on a weekly basis. Anyone with the privilege of watching the anime after its airing is highly recommended to do so in one sitting, assuming they want to get something out of it.
I may have been more excited with the concept of a Planetarian anime were it not 2016. The decade of the 2000's is a part of the past, and both the anime and visual novel industries have moved on from when Key was in their heyday. They have not released a new story in over five years, and seem more interested in having anime adaptations and remakes produced instead of something fresh and new. So I have to ask: do they intend to be the new Type-Moon, endlessly reliving its glory days and refusing to move on, or do they wish to regain their status and become relevant once again?
This is a world where visual novel masterpieces like Sakura no Uta and Full Metal Daemon Muramasa now exist. The industry has surpassed Key, and now Key needs to catch back up before they fade to dust.
Will they? Can they?
A part of me remains skeptical.
Alternative Titles
Japanese: planetarian~ちいさなほしのゆめ~
More titlesInformation
Type:
ONA
Episodes:
5
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Jul 7, 2016 to Aug 4, 2016
Producers:
Visual Arts
Licensors:
Funimation
Studios:
David Production
Source:
Visual novel
Duration:
18 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#17852
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#2262
Members:
100,293
Favorites:
481
Available AtResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 48 / 51
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Your Feelings Categories Aug 4, 2016
After nearly a decade of reading and watching Key's works, and now having finished Planetarian's unlikely adaptation, I think I have come to accept that Key does not appeal much to me anymore. I have aged and moved on since those times, as has the anime industry and its community, and no longer feel all too impressed by what their stories had to offer.
At the same time, I recognise that not everybody began watching anime at the same time. Some people have only just gotten into the medium in recent months, and so they may not yet be acquainted with Key's works. For these ... Jul 23, 2016
"Planetarian is an one in many futuristic possibilities of our world."
Humanity is almost extinct due to some type of biological attack 30 years ago. Out of the people left some are called "Junkers", who scavenge for foods and goods from the destroyed cities to survive. Now one such "Junker" Kuzuya is searching for supplies in one such ruined city called Sarcophagus City, escaping from some bots he enter into an old military facility where he meets a robot who has been on sleep for almost 30 years. ... Aug 3, 2016
Based on the visual novel made by Key, a Planetarian adaptation is what fans have been dreamed for years. It’s been far too long but now, it’s a reality. With that out of the way, fans should anticipate and expect this to be a neat clean series that isn’t too short or long to take all in. Taking place in a dystopian world nearly 30 years after the failure of the Space Colonization Program, Planetarian’s storytelling is pretty simple. Humanity is mostly gone and the main protagonist (a Junker, someone who scavenges for useful goods) seeks refuge at an abandoned planetarium. It’s there that he
...
Aug 4, 2016
This show takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, like many stories we got the past few years. I'm not usually a fan of the genre, but what got me is that the story set in the atmosphere is quite different compared to what we are used to see : here the survival or wandering parts are not the center, it's all about the encounter between a junker (human) and a robot that has been waiting for years for a customer to come in the "planetarian", it's workplace.
Kuzuya, after years of wandering in this dangerous environment, will come to the planetarian and meet yumemi, a robot ... Aug 4, 2016
Character: 10/10 We are met by the two main and really only characters one being a robot named Hoshino and the other a junker named Kuzuya.
Hoshino is seemingly oblivious to the condition of the world but in actuality is aware of the "broken" world yet refuses to believe it. She simply accepts it as an error on her part. Then we have Kuzuya who only sees the world as trash with a few salvageable parts scattered around. But what truly makes it is the chemistry (not love) between the two. Hoshino's inability to see the world as broken eventually gets to Kuzuya. She ... Aug 10, 2016
You know... I've never written a review before, and let me preface this review by saying; I am not your average viewer, nor will I be your average reviewer. Having said that, lets begin. This will be very short and very simple.
This show made be cry like a little bitch. "Whaaaaat?" You might be saying, and that is fair. I am a 26 year old man. The last time I cried was when my mother died when I was 8. I also happen to be a sucker for romance anime/manga and other mushy stuff, and NOTHING has hit my quite like this in some time. The ... Aug 4, 2016
Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume (Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet) is based on the Kinectic Novel/Visual Novel of the same name by Key. It is the shortest VN in their library of works which includes such greats as Clannad, Kanon, Little Busters, Angel Beats and Rewrite.
Now the main difference of this anime that most people will probably notice right away is that it consists of a story that has only two characters. As a huge fan of Key’s storytelling and someone who has watched every anime based on their VNs, I was excited when it was announced that Planetarian was being made into an ... Aug 4, 2016
The only thing more confusing than the existence of visual novels is the fucking awful fanbase that tend to be behind the popular ones, who will chastise you to no end for being a filthy casual who didn't play the game if you so much as sneeze on the anime adaptation of their messiah. I mean when a video game to movie adaptation turns out horrible, everyone is united in declaring its poor quality. And when a JRPG to anime adaptation turns out horrible, the fans cry about how it ruined the game and that anyone within a ten-mile radius of their tears should play
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Jul 15, 2016
Would you consider yourself that you admired or loved a robot once? Even if that robot has a malfunction or not stable? Out of this world, would you still accept it that robots are robot and cannot feel the same as you.
Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume was originated in a PSP game and it is a Visual Novel (I think because I have played this in my PSP not long ago. This anime is set in a post-apocalyptic setting. It is said that due to the depletion of natural resources, overpopulation, and the failure of the Space Exploration Project, humanity has virtually eradicated itself ... Aug 9, 2016
Why don't you come to the planetarium?
The beautiful twinkling of eternity that will never fade, no matter what. All the stars in the sky await you. Story: Being only 5 episodes long, the story is kept simple. Kuzuya starts out not caring about that ridiculously cute robot at all, but ends up staying in the planetarium anyway, slowly growing fond of her. We all know that feeling, things that shouldn't grow on us (a car, a house or other things) and we have a hard time letting it go. If that "something" is a friendly humanoid robot, it's even easier to understand why Kuzuya can't just leave her ... Aug 4, 2016
Have you wondered what kind of world it'll be when it's ended? Perhaps, will it be one where we can no longer look up at the sky and gaze at the stars during the night? The anime I'm reviewing started out as a visual novel (a kinetic novel, to be exact) from Key, and I actually played it over a year before the anime adaptation was even announced because I just love Key's works; although it started off as a bit of a disappointment, it gradually got a lot better and left me close to tears in the end. With how short it was, however,
...
Aug 6, 2016
I must say I am impressed. After watching only 5 episodes this anime has done a lot more than most anime I see these days. The story was great, characters were great, and I overall enjoyed it a lot seeing as how I watched through this anime in one sitting.
The story was very well done. It showed us how robots are built for one thing and they can't adapt to others unless we program them to do so. The characters were great even though it really only had two characters. One character knew what the world had become while the other was completely lost. She ... Aug 4, 2016
"Are you a Junker ?".... "No... I am a Starteller" This was one of those what if anime for me at first but grew on me after the first episode.. Its always raining and he happens to here about a girl robot in this town from his master and she shows him a world he never saw... It was a good watch even with its 5 episodes its really great and the ending just made me burst into tears... Its defiantly one of those shorts that actually have so much to it that you can't get enough of.
Though I do say if you have not ... Aug 6, 2016
Key, you did it again. You made me cry again in the end of fifth episode. Now, I have no regrets picking up this series. Now let's get back to the review.
What do I love from this series? It would be all of them. I mean look at it. Look at the animation. It may not too impressive but it's great enough to make me say that the animation is very good. I mean look at the combat sequences. The fluid movements of the combat robots were great. And Planetarian nailed it with combining those great things with a great character development and music. Planetarian did ... Aug 8, 2016
When i saw this anime was announced i knew that there was going to be something special.
The story is very flushed out despite it being short and the art is really beautiful, breathtaking and sometimes awe inspiring but im getting too ahead of myself. I loved the way that sound was used to add meaning to not only the anime itself but also too particular scenes like for example the sound of footsteps to certain music scores adding depth and meaning to the scene that its used in. Character development is really good because it not only steadily paced but it also makes us the viewer like ... Mar 14, 2018
This is the second time that I write a review for an anime, and I am brazilian... So again,I would like to say sorry if I make some mistakes...
Before starting the review, I would like to say that this anime is... Underrated... Sound. (6/10) It isn't a bad sound... But it's too simple and I did not enjoyed it... So I think a 6 is a fair rate... Character. (7/10) They are good characters, they have a great development, but a specific character is a bit... "annoying" Yumemi cof cof*, BUT I still like her,I just think they could do a "better Yumemi" BUT, Kuzuya is a very good ... Aug 2, 2016
So i´ve been stumbling upon a little anime wich almost got ignored by me but THANK GOD that i have checked this one out. Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume is a anime adaption of a little visual novel wich steam recommended me. Solely because i read all this positive feedback i threw an eye onto the anime.
First off, the story. I couldn´t really decide wether it should be a score of eight or nine but i decided myself for the worse. Not because something negative came in my mind but rather because i figured i shouldn´t let myself be blinded by the first impressions, as ... Aug 12, 2016
planetarian ~reverie of a little planet~ was the first visual novel I've ever read and completed fully. That was way back in 2014. I remember loving it to death and always wanted to see a movie adaptation of this, since I didn't really think it'd fit for an anime. And here we are with an...anime adaptation of planetarian. While they did manage to execute this fairly well, I still think a movie version would've been better.
Regardless, let's get into the review. I will not be spoiling anything, I'm gonna give my thoughts and nothing else. --STORY AND CHARACTERS-- I'm really surprised to say that David did not seem ... Aug 8, 2016
Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet Review (NO SPOILERS)
If you know about some of my favorite anime series of all time, you'll more than likely know that I am a HUGE fan of Key. Key is a company that makes visual novels that are centered around ripping your heart right out of your chest and tearing it to shreds, while burning it to crisp right after beating it into the ground. In other words, they're good at making you cry. I've been a fan of Key for a LONG time. I discovered them by accident and I am forever grateful for it. My first ... Aug 21, 2016
Planetarian is a short and concise story that will most certainly make you cry.
To start off, the plot is fairly simple and straightforward without to many complicated details or mysteries; but that is how it should be. The point of the series is to show how people connect with each other, and become attached to one another through simple action and conversation. There are really only two characters in this series, but that only makes this premise all the more visible. You really get to feel, and understand these characters, not only through their interactions with the other, but also in how they behave. While ... |


