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With a rating of 5 being average this series is in between mediocre and perfection. So it's pretty darn good to view. You should enjoy the character interactions and revelations along with the story progression of this "who done it". It's not very psychological or mentally demanding so it's an easy watch. The excessive hints were a bit much, if they had cut back on it a bit the climax would have been much more fulfilling. After it's all over and done with there's nothing to be left for interpretation it's all relatively superficial and open before you.

Overall Planetes is a fantastically intriguing anime that will arouse your interest from the beginning. A beautifully animated and realistic Sci-Fi drama with strong character personalities that will grab you becoming memorable. The voice actors did a great job portraying the characters during the story and you can feel the emotion and the drama in the air. The character development is possibly the greatest aspect of this anime, it will keep you engaged watching the characters develop and how they do so. There is a duality in the anime that balances and blends themes of happiness and sadness so well together that you are not ... constantly overwhelmed by one. There are cynical and optimistic characters along with despairing and hope filled beliefs, revelations, or circumstances. Planetes is certainly a top anime which should be seen by any viewer that wants a story centered around character development.

I think that it would have been better to seal the series in a kekkai then metsu and tenketsu it so that people wouldn't waste their time on it. The most enjoyment I had from the series is listening to the voice actor who played Yoshimori, and that's because it was the same voice actor who played Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist. The story is bad plain and simple. The whole concept of teenage kekkaishi having to be awake day and night to go to school and protect the city was absurd. The plot of finding out and defeating the Kokuburo took a little while ... to get into, they waste precious episodes on dull premises, and the series ends with loose ties that do not offer any sense of fulfillment. The music is fine, on a good note was the opening music being one I enjoy listening to and bother listening to the opening song(s). The character designs were interesting to look at until everyone just started to look like a human instead of a monster. There was minor development and insight into characters, but nothing to base the series around as a selling point. Add to that the characters were pretty dull and in no way memorable. the fight scenes were decent, but all in all the series is mediocre at best. It gets three kekkais out of five.

Well I'm only a fraction in to the series, not even 300 episodes out of a bunch, but I'm catching the jist of the series so far. The sound is fine, the voice actors fit and the music is fantastic. The animation/art is adequate, pretty much typical of shonen series. There is an actual and serious plot at the core of the series, but it's buried under a ton of extra episodic entertainment that do not add to the plot. It's okay to watch, but if the story and progression thereof are important to you, then you can skip DC. It will take too long ... to get to the episodes that are crucial for plot progression. If you just want an episodic series (meaning you don't have to watch the entire series, every episode, to understand all of what happens later) that is mystery/drama entertainment with hints at comedy and romance, then give it a shot. I enjoy Detective Conan overall, even most of the episodes that do not add to the story and furthering Shinichi's quest to get his body back. It is a decent series for long term mediocre entertainment, still though, there are other series that could provide short term braingasms that are worth so much more than this.

Overall this is a pretty sad series. I don't mean sad emotionally, I mean it's pathetic. There isn't any real saving grace about it, it's not even an average action series because the actions scenes were pretty lame. It won't thrill you, but it won't kill you either. The story offers no real resolution, you're just cut off in the middle wondering what should have happened next. The music can be grating at times and ruin moments while you're watching, so that's a killer. The animation and art style is simply generic, it's typical of this type of series. If there were more action scenes ... this could have been a decent hack 'em up, but this was just an introduction to the actual story and progression of the manga. So there really isn't much to go on. I'd say skip it, go read the manga or do something else.

This is something you would want to stay away from, its saving grace could be the cast of voice actors who didn't completely suck the entire anime since they had plenty of chances to screw up while they talk or make sound effects in battle. The characters and their interactions together are rather dull there isn't anything memorable to keep a character around as one of your "all time favorites" even though you may like someone from this universe it'll pretty much stay only relating to here. Despite being an action and adventure series it's next to non existent, The battles themselves while being few ... are atrocious. The repeated line by Layla, "Try to kill me" when entering battle sounds so tedious and disinterested. The final conflict with antagonist and protagonist is horrible and the logic for the sequences baffles me. There are awkward times in this series where the sound and music do not fit the scenes they are playing in or are in the foreground instead of background while other characters are on screen. It's really a waste of about 5 hours time.

*Warning* Contains some spoilers.

~Overall (5.91/10)
Personally I would say that Simoun is an okay anime. The main focus of this series is about the characters and their interactions together. To a fault at that. It takes an incredibly long time to get into, more so than my usual standards, and had I not been watching this as part of a group or been watching something to review I would have ditched it after 4-6 episodes in. The characters, while I do not like their designs, are all mostly interesting and you can easily gravitate towards or away from a couple, however you'll still be left with ... a few you care nothing for. I had major issues with the excessive usage of still frames that they pan over, it was wrong and ruined a lot of moments. There are a lot of parts I disagree with how the incidents should have happened in a world that would make sense. If you don't mind guys sounding like girls then the voice work and sounds are all mostly decent and enjoyable. I would say that this anime in particular didn't tickle my fancy but others seem to adore it. As always interests are subjective and my opinion states this to be "meh" due to a variety of complaints throughout this series. Even with those issues, it rates at an average-okay view.

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~Story (3.0/10)
Plot (5/10)
The plot of Simoun revolves all around character development and some minor conflicts/battles most episodes due to the war they are in. Along with the nature of their world, their purposes, and truths about Simoun and Sibyllae. Actually what purpose the conflicts serve is usually to affect the characters and their development. The battles themselves are not very interesting for the most part, also instead of feeling the pressures of the enemy it's still about the characters and what they're doing together or how they're doing it most of the time. Apart from that we have Sibyllae who are the pilots (and navigators) of the "chariots of the gods" called Simoun, and the main focus of this title is around Chor Tempest which is comprised most of the time by 6 pairs of 2 girls each. This is a world where there are no males born, only females and when they turn 17 they are allowed to go to "The Spring" where they choose which gender to become, male or female. For the pilots of the Simoun during war times however, it is not necessary that they go to "The Spring" as long as they are needed for the conflicts. The plot really boils down to a yuri love story and all of the obstacles that the pair of Neviril and Aaeru must overcome to find and realize their love for each other which leads them into the "Land of Hope." The way that this series ends, the entire thing boils down to Aaeru and Neviril, the rest of the time when it does not focus on them, it is on the back up characters and their bonds between each other. Nothing good to say about the plot, and nothing bad.

Progression (1/10)
The progression of Simoun was abysmal, in all honesty it was incredibly hard to bear with and it took a real kick in my ass to even finish the series. Firstly there are minor conflicts and loads of character development during the first few episodes, it isn't enticing and it didn't draw me in to wanting to watch more. My thoughts for a 26 episode series, if the first 5-6 episodes did not grab you then it has progressed poorly. This series did not become interesting for me to watch until episode 16, and even then it only lasted until about episode 20 or 21 then I became disinterested in the content again. It takes you so long to get into, they have a large cast (10-12 girls most of the time + outside minor characters) that you have to develop and go through that it just takes too long to get into the series, too long to become interesting while they develop characters. Then they kill off, exchange, and add in new characters that you have to learn about and get a feel for replacements and new girls. It is a really slow anime for me personally.

Logicality (3/10)
I find myself constantly questioning this Anime and the way that it progresses. Always questioning the content and a lot of which doesn't make sense to me for that universe or for those characters. Just for example in the first episode when a pair steps up from their controls on the Simoun, open their hatches, and in the midle of a huge fleet ready and trying to kill them, they kiss before performing a powerful attack. Now logic dictates at this point in time as they were sitting ducks, they would be shot and killed thereby killing off 1/2 of the main characters. Then the tactic that these cannon fodder used in the first episode is rarely if ever used again, erasing the trails of the Simoun so that they could never perform a Ri Maajon. One more thing is the flying airship, I have severe disagreements with the logic used aboard that giant air ship and how that whole thing played out. Of course they couldn't do what made sense in it because then it would ruin the character development. Flawed. I honestly can go on and read through my episode reviews and reflections to find every litle bit that I question, but that is unessessary. I find a lot of the content questionable.

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~Sound (6.3/10)
Background Music (7/10)
For the most part the background music was really good. Much of the time it fits the circumstances and situations well, much of the time it is very appropriate to play. However there are points in time where I hated the choices in background music and felt that it was a poor choice to play it there. Along with that, the background music can become repetitive, always using the same track over and over at different points in different episodes. So yeah it was good but I have a few issues with the music.

Sound Effects (9/10)
The sound effects of things like the Ri Maajons, ships explosions, banging on doors, etc all that good stuff. I really don't have anything much negative or positive to say. Nothing ever wow'd me though, and maybe I'm forgetting a few negative instances but at the very least for the most part all of the sound effects were spot on. That 9 is there because I likely forgot about something and there's a lot to look through in my notes but I'm sure that I had issues somewhere.

Dialogue (3/10)
I became increasingly confused irritated and agitated at the character voices and dialogue in Simoun. There isn't a great deal of action, it revolves mostly around characters and how they are together. I have major issues with the male cast, I don't care that they were once girls, when they became male they should sound like men. No, nearly every male character sounds female or feminine an it was a huge turn off to this series. Having to listen to it was frustrating at times, having to deal with the way the characters sound. Other than the males, Floe's voice is incredibly annoying which makes me want to punch her every time she talks, especially when she becomes a man. Men aren't supposed to sound like that. Aside from this, most of the character voices I liked, but it isn't enough to get over my problems with the male cast.

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~Animation (7.0/10)
Facial & Body Movements (10/10)
There is plenty of time in this series for up close shots of facial features and their bodies to look at their movements. Nobody was really stiff or their expressions mismatched what was happening often. I especially like Paraietta's twisted expressions around the mid-late part of the series, when she begins to have issues and break down. Well done mates, well done in this regard. I'll put in the Simoun movements here since that's an extension of their bodies. The Simoun fly smoothly through the skies, gracefully murdering all who oppose.

Settings & Backgrounds (8/10)
I did very much enjoy the animation for the settings and backgrounds. The world this takes place is interesting and the ships are nice. The only minor issues I have is that, the settings and backgrounds are repititious. Yes, a lot of the content and development happens in the same rooms or places, from different angles, and things like that. Granted it is a ship and they are set to certain places that the progression can take place, but most of the time even the battle fields look similar. Overall I did enjoy the settings.

Animation Style (3/10)
I have to give a low grade to the animation style. They cut a lot of corners when they would use the still frames. They used those to an excess which made unimportant points in the series less interesting because that was supposed to be for dramatic effect, or they used them during critical points but the frames over stayed their welcome. It is a major complaint and if you didn't notice all the awkward and downright wrong placement for these frames then if you rewatch the series you'll begin to notice them now. Apart from that flaw, the animation was good. The colors and vibrance along with smooth scenes was a plus keeping this rating from going lower. I also have an issue that at times there is an exaggeration of characters' hair or clothes that I dislike. I felt those instances were unnecessary.

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~Characters (7.3/10)
Character Designs (3/10)
I have my issues with the character designs chosen for this series. There is an issue with some characters, how they have big round eyes, which for me in anything outside of an anime whose target audience is 10 or less, is unacceptable. I have an issue with the hair + eye color combinations that are unnatural and awkward to see on a character. The main example of that is Neviril with long pink hair and bright blue eyes, the character looks bad and awkward to me. To go with that are the clothes of a "priestess". Now the Sibyllae are priestesses but their clothes do not reflect that, they are scantily clad especially during Maaju pool training which is offputting for who they are supposed to be.

Character Development & Insight (10/10)
Oh boy there is a wealth of character development and insights into their past in this Anime. The creaters spend a great deal of time introducing the characters and developing them throughout the series while also giving insights into their own pasts. That is afterall what this series is about, development and relationships. You will spend every episode around the characters and learning of their bonds and how they are being formed. A great deal of time is spent on massive development throughout, although a few of the minor members of Chor Tempest do not receive much development they aren't very important. Actually there is so much development that it is done to a fault, and it takes forever to get into the series, to make it intriguing.

Character Gravitation & Personalities (9/10)
Character Gravitation is here to show how easily people can both connect and reject a character. How well they make an impact on you whether you love them or hate them. And personalities shows what kind of variety in the cast do we have, if there are just boring clones around or if everyone is different and interesting. For the most part I could easily gravitate towards a few characters, Paraietta and Aaeru. Those are the ones I liked in this series, and Paraietta not for obvious reasons probably, but I wanted to see her personality go from that strong leader to a broken mess, unfortunately her perverted and twisting actions came to a close and did not continue after trying to rape Neviril. And Aaeru, just because she was the character that was different and saw what they did as missions or battles instead of praying, the religious topic got boring when they kept repeating it and Aaeru wasn't a part of that. I hated characters like Pinky and Floe, oh yeah Pinky was my name for Neviril. Instantly I had emotions and feelings drawn towards these characters. Everyone else, not really, they were just around. However much I didn't care for all of the characters, they all have unique and at times interesting personalities. Mamiina while her appearance was short, had interesting bits here and there for example. the reason for not being perfect is that while they did take time to introduce and develop everyone, not everybody was always interesting.