Planetarian

This show is not for everyone. However, ask yourself the following questions: Do you like stories about Human-Robot interactions? Do you like Astronomy? Do you like other stories that were produced by Key (company behind Clannad, Angel Beats, Charlotte and a few others)? If you answered yes to these questions, then I genuinely can’t recommend Planetarian enough.

It doesn’t have the same grand scale of world building as the likes of One Piece, or an expansive roster of interconnected characters like Assassination Classroom. However, what it does have is a tightly written, impactful story between the jaded Junker who is just trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world and Yumemi, a bright eyed robot who is just trying to spread her love of Astronomy.

For 90% of the show (ONA), the aforementioned characters are literally the only characters on screen. There are no side quests, or any other side characters that detract from the main story. This small scale gives the show room to breath and allows it to have full focus on the relationship between Yumemi and the Junker. There was no wasted dialogue, and every interaction between them felt meaningful and helped in cultivating their tragic, but mesmerizing story.

Another thing that really stood out to me was the sense of atmosphere that this show creates. David Productions did an amazing job with sound design and the soundtrack in general, which really helps immerse you in this post apocalyptic world and elevates the emotional moments in the story. While the animation wasn’t always the best, it had great direction and shined when it mattered most, again aiding in the immersion of the story and helping it pack an extra punch.

There is a prequel OVA, which gives the viewer a look into how life was before the apocalypse. It also gives even more development for Yumemi, which should further explain her quirky, but endearing behaviour. There is also a sequel Movie, which helps to tie up the ending of the story in a neat, but bittersweet package and give weight to the effort that the main characters put in during the show.

If you plan on watching this show, watch it in the following order: Prequel OVA (Snow Globe) -> Show ONA (The Reverie of a Little Planet) -> Movie (Storyteller of the Stars). The movie summarizes parts of the show, so I suggest skipping those.

As for myself, it has been a while since I was this invested and emotionally impacted by a show. I was glued to the screen during the whole thing and it was over in a flash, considering there is only like 3-4 hours of content in total when combining the OVA, ONA and Movie. I’ve seen many other shows that are many times longer but can’t even come close to captivating me the way this show did.

If you are still on the fence, why not give it a try? It’s short and bound to leave an impression if you are interested in the themes that I mentioned above.