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This second season was all about legacies. Though the first season had some of these themes too the final season was solely based on them and it brought closure to it.
The legacy of Sukeroku. In every generation, the Sukeroku were better than the ones who became Yakumo but fate led to them having that position taken from them. The seventh-generation Yakumo only got the title because he used his power as the son of the previous Yakumo, the eighth generation Sukeroku died before he could take the title and the ninth generation Sukeroku(she never took the title but was the daughter of a Sukeroku) was ... denied by default because she was a woman. But in the end a Sukeroku did inherit the Yakumo name and that was Yotaro. This symbolized the end of an era.
The legacy of Yakumo. The Yakumos dedicated their lives to Rakugo. They had the responsibility of keeping rakugo alive, they were always the faces of rakugo. In every generation, they were the biggest influence.
And lastly, The legacy of Rakugo. How modernization affected rakugo and the way performers handled it was very interesting to see. In the end, rakugo lived on but it was only because of the joint efforts of the past and current generation Yakumo and Sukeroku.
My favorites from this season were Yakumo and Konatsu.
The melancholic aura around Yakumo was so well done that you could feel his pain at any given time. His best friend and his motivation for doing rakugo died in front of his eyes and he blamed himself for it but in the end he finally opened up to Konatsu. He had always loved Konatsu of course he would but he never showed it because of the pain and regret he had.
Konatsu was the true future of rakugo. She was the reason Yakumo kept going and it was because Yakumo kept going that Yotaro chose rakugo and then she supported Yotaro too. She bore a child who went on to inherit the Sukeroku name and keep the legacy going and he would probably one day inherit the Yakumo name thus making it three Yakumos who were directly influenced by Konatsu.
Oh and mandatory mention of Yakumo's lit final Shinigami which was the most lit performance ever (hahaha).
All in all a very enjoyable show. My only complaint would be that I didn't like Yotaro's rakugo it just didn't hit me the way Yakumo and Sukeroku's did but other than that everything was just perfect

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Pulse of Awakening. What is it? Who’s awakening? Why are they waking now?
Episode 1 is the perfect hook. It shows you enough to make you start speculating but it doesn’t clearly elaborate on anything.

The show encourages you to speculate, the more knowledgeable you are, the faster you can grasp the narrative. Ergo Proxy doesn’t follow the conventions of storytelling, it doesn’t have unnatural exposition dialogue. There are hints in every dialogue which piece together to deliver the narrative and it’s underlying themes.

But it is not until the final five minutes that everything truly connects and that my friends is the ... genius of Dai Sato. All those monologues you thought were frivolous well guess what? They all make sense now. The actions taken by the characters, which may have felt out of place, are all explained in the last five minutes and even then it isn’t overloaded exposition to tie everything up, it’s a harmonious blend of visuals and dialogue and the realisation moves you harder than the climax of a grand symphony.

The trumpets of revelation blare as you bask in the grandeur of the most majestically exquisite and perspicaciously stimulating work of art.

━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━

Cogito ergo sum
Throughout it’s 23 episode run, Ergo Proxy challenges the aspects of existence.
What makes a human special? If it’s the soul then how are autoreivs with cogito any different? If it’s consciousness then is a split personality a different person? Re-L believes that there is a wall dividing the three types of life on the Earth. But is there really a wall? In the last few moments of the show, all of these questions are answered. Re-L, Pino and Vincent come together as ‘friends’. They share the same mindset, there is no division.

Raison d'être
Why do I exist? What is my reason for being? This is a question we see many characters asking themselves.
When a fancy word is repeated several times, we tend to assume that it’s just shallow and pretentious. But in episode 10, Sato used this technique to proactively emphasize on the most central theme of the show while also showing Raul’s descent into a narcissistic breakdown.
“The thing you seek might be something cruel. Do you still want it even so?”- young Re-L.
This conveys the toughness of the search for one’s Raison d'être. The strain in the face of perplexity can be lethal.
That is not to say that it’s all pessimism. Our determined lead characters persevered throughout. Vincent and Pino lost a lot of friends. It was a really painful journey with many lows.
But by the end, they gained something priceless. They learned to live.
Pino developed an understanding of human emotions, naive, but after all she’s just a child.
Vincent on the other hand overcame his destiny as a proxy and gained complete autonomy.

These were my favorite aspects of the narrative, but there's so much more to it. Mythos references (that are actually thematically relevant), visual direction that's in a league of it's own and finally, recontextualization that is inhuman levels of genius.

If you gave this show any thing less than a 10, you didn't get it.

Just finished Planetes and i loved it. This show was magnificent and i especially loved how it explored the concept of love.
The show doesnt rub the concept of love into your face nor does it need to because the beautiful writing and the dialogues speak for themselves. It explores the concept with such subtlety yet such beauty.
What connects all the episodic situations is one common factor that is love. In every instance, the people are doing what they are for the love of someone be it a person, a thing or a place. It's episodic tales are like fairy tales albeit often with ... a dark twist and in every situation the motivation derives from love. Many kinds of love are shown in the series. A few notable are as follows.
First and foremost is the unconditional love of parents shown through the parents of a girl who turn over a new leaf for their daughter. When they were on the verge of suicide the love for their daughter draws them back.
Then there is the romantic love that is between our protagonists Ai tanabe who is deeply in love and Hoshino who is torn between his love for Ai and his ambition of going on the Jupiter Explorer(the first ship to go to Jupiter). He decides that he doesnt love Ai and the only thing important is his dream so he abandons her. After a fateful experience, Hoshino realizes that Ai is really important to him and he embraces his love for her. He goes onto the Jupiter Explorer for a 7 year trip and Ai patiently waits for him with an enduring love.
And last is the manical love of an astronaut with space. When he learns that he has leukemia and he cant stay in space he chooses to end his life in space because for him space is everything and without it there was no reason for him to live on.
And thats not all on top of that it had a well thought-out world with an ingenious political system which perfectly portrays how the hierarchy is always with the poor being oppressed no matter what happens.
There is a lot more i have to say but then i would be spoiling the show so i won't go into more details. I would recommend everyone to check it out.
Planetes had some of the best character development and some of the most consistently beautiful dialogue i have ever seen. The animation and sound design was also really good. It was a journey of 26 episodes that i am glad i experienced
I personally rate this show a 10/10.

Cute girls do survival things is something i never thought i wanted but now i want more.

In a post apocalyptic world where everything was destroyed in wars, we follow the everyday lives of two girls, Chito and Yuuri, who are probably the last humans on the face of the Earth. These girls haven't had an interaction with any other person other than their grandpa therefore these girls have an extremely limited knowledge about people and the world in general. The dialogue exchanges and the thought processes of the girls are the main highlights. Chi knows how to read and she reads alot of ... books therefore she has knowledge about the world while Yuu is totally oblivious. Yuu doesn't know the most basic of things and that fact results in alot of very beautiful dialogue. Because they know so little about the world they come to their own conclusions about everything from why some songs make us feel sad to why people fight wars.They cherish small things like eating fish and chocolate. They dream of having what we call a basic room but they don't obsess over it like we do over everything. They take what they get and are content with it. Actively aware that one day their all is over once their rations end they still stay positive and keep moving forward.

The direction in this show was top notch. You get absorbed in the mood the show sets with magnificent industrial landscapes in the background and two girls riding their Kettenkrad moving up layers aiming to reach the topmost layer. The sounds or rather lack thereof gives it a monotonous and melancholic feel but it doesn't rub off on the girls at all. The girls have never none other than the monotony so they don't care in the least about it. It makes us realize just how ungrateful we are, having so much we still call our life monotonous when in reality it's us who have made it that way. This is just one of the many things this show makes u think about and that's my favorite part about it. It leaves you with open ended questions which you can find an answer for yourself.

Also the way it handles world building is great. It gives u only a little information through dialogue and the rest u can piece together with what u see of the world. From giant robots and unknown lifeforms there is a lot of detail in just the backgrounds.

The dialogue, the background, the minimal sfx all together made it a melancholic and fun experience. I already know I'll be rewatching this show in a few months.

Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai!

This was a very interesting watch. I'd heard people saying it's a "taxing watch" or not suitable for casual viewing but i believe that it's perfect for both casual and critical viewing and that's exactly what was on Mamoru Oshii's mind when he decided on the screenplay. What I mean by it is the fact that the show is presented as a stage drama. Much like Sheakspeare's plays, this show is an artistic commentary on a subject while also being a compelling and enjoyable narrative.

It’s a commentary on the typical japanese family with poor family bonding conveyed through the three characters designed as marionettes ... fitting a certain archetype.
Almost two third of the first episode is spent showing the seething discontent the three of them have. The entrance of Maroko was nothing more than a catalyst. Her actions had nothing to do with the family breaking apart, she just gave everyone an excuse to let out all their feelings.This is where the aforementioned theatrical screenplay becomes a plot point. It isn’t just a setting, the audience and the author are in a sense, characters in the show and all the other characters are aware that they are merely part of a drama where they are to fulfill their roles. This can be interpreted once again as a commentary on people sticking to traditions and following them due to which everyone lives a harmonious life. But they aren't satisfied with this and therefore break the harmony or better, in Inumaro's words, "seek out their own story". This view is further strengthened by the mini documentaries at the start of each episode. They show that as long as one goes with their role, everything works out fine.

The show also discusses biased gender roles and deeply ingrained traditions in general. Inumaru doesn't let Maroko work even though he can't provide for them alone. Tamiko comes back to her family after all the discontent because it's in their culture for the wife to be with her family and try to make things work.
There is also mockery of the ancestor worship culture in Japan where ancestors are highly regarded and worshipped when they were just ordinary or even bad people.

All in all, the takeaway from the show is that sticking to traditions isn’t the best thing but straying too far from your roots can have negative implications. This message is conveyed with elegance through the long soliloquies and memorable musical performances.