Planetes | Volume 1

First off I’ll say that I’m generally not a massive fan of anything that Tokyopop comes out with. It seriously lacks most of the class that other companies that manga publishers have. Specifically I’m comparing manga fare brought as from the likes of Dark Horse and Viz. Two companies whom I put a lot of faith in at least 80% of what they decide to publish. On the contrary to that, we’ve got Tokyopop who seem intent on publishing absolutely EVERY that the Japanese market has to offer and filling the book stores with it. Their bread and butter seems to be the likes of 15 year old girls doing the Shojo (manga for girls, think pretty boys doing strange things). And then there’s Planetes.

I have no idea how this little gem of a comic got through the Viz and Dark Horse net to be honest because it is easily one of the best manga series I’ve read, and I’ve read a lot of manga series. I guess I should be confessing that I have a mild and unhealthy obsession with outer space. This is easily realised in the types of books and movies and TV series I choose to watch. I can’t get enough of the big black void of nothingness.

I remember clearly picking this book up. I knew absolutely nothing about it but I was intrigued by two things. The first was the name, Planetes. That’s basically planets in Greek. The second was the absolutely haunting cover. An astronaut in full detail looking directly at me with the earth as the backdrop. I didn’t even read the back cover to find out what the story was about. I didn’t need to. One flip through the book confirmed to me that the artist on the inside was the same one that had created the cover artwork.

So let’s talk about the artwork a little bit. Yes this is a black and white book, like most manga are, however as I’m starting to realise, the really exceptional manga also have several pages that are painted by the artist. It’s like when you pick up a book and the creator/writer/artists have thought about the world so much that they’ve created a map for this story, it’s a similar feeling I get. It’s really all in the details to be honest. Everything looks and feels completely plausible, while the character’s body language and expressions are simple and yet completely believable and extremely expressive.

Of course my conceptions were completely shattered as I thought the story would be a second citizen to the first class citizen of the artwork itself. I was more than pleasantly surprised to find that the actual story stood on equal ground to the high quality set by the artwork, if not higher. This first volume (there are 5 volumes in total is split into 5 chapters, each tells a separate tale. What’s very interesting is that it takes a good long while before the reader finally starts to realise who the focal point or heroes of this series actually are. That’s actually a very refreshing approach, since it’s not predictable in any way. Without a doubt my favourite story is the very first one, which concentrates on the character of Yuri, who is part of a team of orbital garbage men and women, it’s a great tale that ends on an emotional note. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this was just a collection of stories however, because each chapter ends on a great note. One that brings about a certain sense of resolution. As though the characters have moved forward. However it’s not until the final chapter that it becomes apparent that there is more to this than meets the initial eye. It’s slowly building, putting in the layers for a much larger arc. As with most manga it’s taking it’s time to get there and allowing the story to breathe as the creator explores this world he’s created.

Planetes is most definitely one of those rare manga series where the reader finally understands why this medium works in Japan. What I mean by this is that Manga in Japanese culture is a respect artform. It’s a respected medium of expression as an artist. American and British (and many other nationalities) have tried to recreate this lightning in a bottle phenomenon that is called the Japanese Manga industry. The truth of the matter is that while Planetes is a science fiction story, it is all about people. Their interactions with one another. Their relationships and their faults. It’s a story with heart. It’s a story about humanity as it tries to reach for the stars and reach for other planets.