Planetes

by Makoto Yukimura
[cover name=planetes]

A lot of people think this might be the best science fiction manga (and anime) ever–and even if you don’t like manga, but you’re interested in space exploration, or you liked Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, etc., you should find this somewhere. Planetes is an extremely well-drawn and well-told story about several different people who work in space; although the focus of the story changes in different volumes and chapters, the multicultural core characters are debris collectors who clean up the garbage that (even in our time) is cluttering up outer space. One of the characters has a tragic past. Another dreams of owning his own spaceship (almost to the extent of losing his own humanity). Another is trying to remind him that compassion and love can co-exist with ambition and survival in space. Another wants … actually, who knows what Fee wants, except to keep everyone else from screwing up or getting themselves killed or slacking off too much. The characters have to deal with the normal daily-life stuff of their personal demons, their relationships, and their jobs; their bigger goals; and the background problems of terrorism and corporate/governmental questionability as humanity expands toward Jupiter. This excellent series avoids the over-the-top silliness that can make you roll your eyes at some manga; the adventure is just grand enough and the touching moments are just pointed enough. You can finish the series in only 5 books (the last two are both labeled volume 4–part 1 and part 2), which is also nice.

(Warning: volume 3 contains some nudity.)

[starratingmulti id=”1″]

Where to Find It

[linkplus name=Planetes url=”http://csul.iii.com/search/X?SEARCH=t:(planetes)+and+a:(yukimura)&SORT=DX&l=eng” series=true]
[librarydate]