Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume

Going into Planetarian, I was totally unaware that it was an adaptation of a visual novel, but having discovered this after I finished it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Planetarian has a lot of the characteristics that reveal its VN roots, like well-written dialogue, intriguing story concepts, and interesting music. Though, it also harbors some of the notable drawbacks, like flat characters, basic motivations, and sometimes rigid animation. Beginning with the story, it starts with a simple yet engaging concept about a postapocalyptic world where humans are very scarce, and a planetarium robot which still manages to function. Of course, when the first customer in almost 30 years shows up, it leads to a unique interaction between the two. The story that ensues is pretty simple, but that simplicity works really well and the anime is better for it. By episode 4 I was already more invested than I thought I would be. Even if it isn't genre-defining, it will be something I think about every now and then. The art is pretty good, meeting all the standards of quality, and even if it doesn't demonstrate visual mastery or anything, it uses the level of artistic talent it does have to great effect, producing a rather immersive atmosphere. Though, the character designs are pretty basic, and the animation thereof is pretty lacking, save for the planetarium scenes. The sound is great, with an ethereal, mysterious score and detailed sounds of life, which is itself a feat given the sound of the constant rain. The characters are, like their designs, thoroughly unremarkable, but not bad by any means. They serve their purpose well within the story, though I feel that these characters worked better in their VN, as the player is able to fill in the blanks in that context that here are simply laid bare. Overall, Planetarian is a short, simple, pretty anime that doesn't really excel in any regard. I still enjoyed it, and if you liked the visual novel, or enjoy planetariums, it's a definite recommend. Though, for everyone else your mileage may vary.

Well, while effective in being "emotional", I feel as though it didn't truly have a point. When I was done with it, I didn't feel enriched. Instead, it felt pretty empty and realistically, what would the point even be? It was just kind of cheesy, dumb and sad. The only thing you can really get out of it is the realization that People sure get attached to things which look like vulnerable girls very easily, even the attachment is for an unfeeling machine that merely imitates feeling which humans have. While nothing is particularly bad in terms of production, the writing just feels ham fisted, sloppy and preachy. You could even call it manipulative, trying to get you to cry. It plays on basic human psychology without actually giving you anything. Just like a machine, the experience is soulless and hollow.

Antes nunca tinha feito uma avaliação mais esse fiz questão. Uma indicação do próprio MyAnimeList no inicio fiquei meio receoso em assistir pensei que seria chato e tudo mais e então esses dias resolvi da uma chance e foi um dos melhores animes que assisti pra quem e apaixonado por astronomia vai se encantar cena da projeção da sala juntamente com a historia e simplesmente incrível. Num mundo pós guerra numa cidade totalmente devastada conhecida como cidade sarcófago conhecemos primeiramente Kazuya ou como nós é apresentado como lixeiro depois a Yumemi um robô carismático que trabalha num Shop Center. Esse anime te faz refletir de varias formas como foi mostrado Yumemi continuou exercendo suas atividades nesses 30 anos decorridos mesmo sabendo que ninguém cliente viria ela entende que isso poderia ser algum erro em seu sistema. Eu como expectador pensei na Yumemi como uma criança que perdeu seus pais na guerra e mesmo assim aguarda o retorno sem entender o ocorrido isso fez a historia ganha uma carga emocional muito grande. Kazuya a meu ver e aquele jovem que cresceu em meio à guerra e tem aquele ar mais fechado mais com decorrer da historia e a interação com a Yumemi ele acaba mostrando um lado mais brando "Legal" gosto de como ele se desenvolve ate o final e falando em final esse foi o mais dolorido pra mim essas duas frases doeu muito "Enviei solicitação de reparo! mais não obtive resposta. Sinto-me solitária!" e "Não havia nada errado comigo! O mundo que estava errado!" Puts impossível não se emocionar com essa cena, pra mim esse anime me fez repensar bastante sobre tudo talvez uns ache exagero mais digo dê uma chance a essa obra se você tiver a mesma linha de visão e pensamento que a minha não vão se arrepender não ligue muito para as outras criticas, não vou dizer que e uma obra fantástica e tal mais conseguiu entregar a devida mensagem. No geral uma nota 8,5/10

This anime is basically a short story. This is an 'end of the world' type of story, read the description. As for if you should watch this. Well, if you don't have anything else to do and you have watched almost every other anime, then maybe give this one a try. It had a story, but not really much of a plot. The ending is sad. You don't watch this kind of anime to feel good. Just skip this one and feel good that you saved a few hours of your life to watch something much better. That is my suggestion and review.

As of 2024, I have now seen a total of four anime based on Visual Arts/Key's properties: Air, Kanon (The 2006 version, not the Toei version), Clannad, and Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet. I have no plans to watch Little Busters or Rewrite, nor play their visual novels at the moment. Planetarian is based on Key's kinetic novel of the same name. Unlike a regular visual novel, a kinetic novel offers little to no choices or branching paths that affect the plot in any way, and its narrative is completely linear, being more like a digital picture book with music and voice acting than a game, though that's not to say kinetic novels are bad. Planetarian got adapted into an anime in 2016 by David Production and for the most part, it was pretty well received. I actually did watch the first episode years ago, but because I was deep in anime burnout, I didn't watch the rest of it until this year. I do wish I could have watched this a lot earlier, as this is a pretty sweet, heartwrenching anime that's a pretty faithful adaptation of the game. In a dystopian future, mankind has fallen. In their hubris and greed, they brought calamitous destruction down upon their own civilization. Now only embers and wreckage remain, and what few humans survive eke out a meager existence in the ashes of this empire. The Junker is one such survivor, scavenging among dead cities for usable junk. But when he stumbles across a planetarium in an abandoned apartment store, he meets Yumemi Hoshino, a robotic assistant who is somehow still functioning. Yumemi knows nothing of the destruction outside; sworn to her duties, she still advertises for a starry performance that will never come. At first, the Junker is put off by her constant talking and nearly leaves her alone...but he has a change of heart to the point of offering to repair Yumemi's projector. Their unlikely meeting will reveal that no matter how dark our skies become, there is always starlight beyond. Remember when Kyoto Animation used to adapt Key's games into anime? I clearly remember when it was first announced that JC Staff was going to adapt Little Busters and fans went absolutely apeshit over it. Not really sure what prompted KyoAni to stop, but luckily, unlike with Little Busters, Planetarian's animation was handled by David Production, and from what I can tell, the reception to this decision hasn't been anywhere near as bad. I'm only halfway through the game myself, but the anime does a pretty good job of bringing this slice of Planetarian's ruined world to life. The faded backgrounds give the crumbling world a stark dreariness about it, and provide an effective contrast to Yumemi's overly ornate cute moe girl design and cheerful recitations of screening times and special events. The actual planetarium segments and the background imagery that pops up when Yumemi goes into her actual presentation are nothing short of beautiful and manage to do their job well. The animation itself doesn't really rise above functional; not so limited that it becomes a slide show on the level of The Way Of The Househusband, but isn't strong enough to elevate the characters and the source material. The same goes for the soundtrack which, while nice to listen to, isn't very memorable. That being said, Planetarian's strengths come from both the main characters and the narrative. The cast for this is small, focusing only on Yumemi and the Junker, and we get plenty of time to get to know them and what drives them to do what they do, making their relationship convincing and their inevitable fates all the more tragic. The fact that this show is only 5 episodes long, with said episodes ranging between 10-16 minutes long, demands it tell its story as efficiently as possible, and I'm glad to say Planetarian pulled it off with aplomb. Another reason Planetarian's overall story works so well is that it shows quite a bit of restraint when telling it and its themes. It doesn't feel the need to constantly hammer you with the sadness of its setup, such as with overlong monologues or melodramatic scenes showing the characters crying all the time; Yumemi's optimism contrasted against the dilapidated state of the world around her does that already. Everything the show does plays on contrasts and contradictions: At one point, when Yumemi is doing her presentation, her exaltation of humanity's wish to go into space has a brief image of Icarus falling out of the sky, an acknowledgement that what makes humanity great is also what makes us terrible. Not every story needs a grand, epic, sweeping narrative in order to be good. Sometimes even simple stories can be genuinely great if you know what you're doing. On that note, I'm not gonna watch the movie, because most of it is just a recap of the show, and what little new footage it does have, while providing a good epilogue for the show, doesn't justify spending more time with the movie than you should. So yes, Planetarian as an anime isn't the strongest story out there, and its production is middling at best, but its fundamentally strong storytelling and characters are able to overcome its limitations. Granted, I know others won't agree. Some may find it great, others might find it to be cynical and emotionally cloying or manipulative. Honestly, I think Prima Doll fits those descriptions far better than Planetarian ever could, mainly because Planetarian isn't completely banking itself on cute moe girls, and its writing and characterization is far smarter and nuanced. Yeah, I'm still not over just how bad Prima Doll is. Though for all I know, if I were to rewatch stuff like Kanon and Air nowadays, I might feel differently about them compared to when I was younger. I will say that I'm glad I saw Planetarian because it does manage to be good on its own merits, VN adaptation or no. I ought to finish the VN while I'm at it.

This is one I was not prepared for going into completely blind. I know visual novels by key have a tendency toward the overly romantic and tragic, but I didn't have a permission slip to this feels trip. We meet our jerk with a heart of gold protagonist as a scavenger in a post-apocalypse near-future city. While looking for supplies he stumbles on a still-functioning android that was left behind by the last humans to live there, and she keeps trying desperately to get him to come see the planetarium. As a side note, I found it mildly amusing as a Christian that they used a traditional hymn as the main theme, as those songs have different musical connotation in Japan and are used more like how we use any European classical music. The name of the tune is "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," but shout-outs to fellow Mormons that know it as "Israel, Israel God is Calling." Anyway along the way our hero gets slowly sucked in just as we as the audience do and his heart grows 3 sizes when the robot girl sacrifices herself to save him from the evil military attack drone. I'm using flippant language that makes it sound like I didn't care to hide how much I'm crying on the inside. It was really one of those moments where suddenly all those little personality quirks the mildly annoying character had are brought up again in a different context and suddenly it's sad. It's also all done in a nice and tight package with no filler and anything unnecessary trimmed out. I liked it. It was a sweet little story with an optimistic message and it ends on a hopeful note that someday maybe things won't be so bad, and someday he may even be able to see her again. 9/10