The next Viewer's Choice video has been locked in: looks like I'm going to watching A Place Further than the Universe sometime soon, so look forward to that.
The author of the manga actually did no research whatsoever prior to not limit his imagination, and it shows, the Earth Lunar ship looks like a giant flip phone. It's not hard sci fi, it's just sci fi where the author uses common sense.
It is clearly shown in Planetes that not all women need to be supportive housewives. Edel is a workaholic who managed to turn her life around from being a lowlife. Fee is a leader through and through, the woman who does the dangerous job while her husband is back on Earth with the kids. And Ai decides that her love for the world can be expressed in many ways, be it serving with the debris haulers or serving her husband. Ai has always been a selfless servant from the moment she joined the crew, and her servitude does not come from a place of submission but from personal choice. In fact, the only person who is shown to espouse 'traditional values' and ends up in a very stereotypical male-female dynamic is one of the most shallow characters in the entire show, Ai's blond friend (whose name evades me right now), as her goal is just to get married to a rich guy, which she does manage to achieve. Yet, even then, the show does not criticise her for essentially being a gold digger to that annoying brat, and it even portrays her in a positive light as she grabs on a gun bravely and does her best to survive, while her future husband is cowering behind her. So, from a feminist lens, Planetes shows us that women are (and should be) free to take roles of all kinds in society, be it leading roles or servile roles, just as men can do the same. However, you are clearly expressing the misguided view that there is something inherently problematic with a woman choosing to be a housewife, when the only problem is women being _forced_ into that role whether they choose it or not, which is something that _never_ happens once in Planetes.
Good shit. It's always funny that like, Ai is a 1000 times more interesting character than anything Hachi does and he's just this boring loser who yells and shit and is the least interesting character out of all the Debris Section - And she falls for him cos the love and interaction scenes between the two of them and are really marvelously made but have to abide with this dumbass of a character. For me Ai's always been the protagonist. I agree that Ai staying at Earth all of a sudden is such a weird cop-out. You could be charitable and say she decided to stay on Earth because she got bored from space, it's a good spot to raise their kid, and Hachi's salary was good enough to raise the both of them, but there is a way for the writers to have their cake and eat it too. Yuri tho..
I just watched this show a fourth time, and I very much disagree with your view that it fails the feminist lens. Your point of view is very surface level arguing that Ai Tanabe starts as a "strong-willed, fierce, and independent" woman only to be "domesticated" by a man. But while that may be true for one character on the surface, plenty of other strong-willed and independent female characters in the show go down a different path. Does the show really argue anything about gender expectations in society and how that shapes our characters views? Outside of very few scenes, if every character had their genders reversed, then the show would be no different and you wouldn't be having this conversation. I just don't see evidence from the show that Tanabe's gender and societal pressures on gender mean that she must maintain the status quo of being "domesticated". For an example of applying the feminist lens and properly criticizing a work for its uncomfortable message, look no further than the live action Mulan (2020) and the animated Mulan (1998). Mulan (1998) simply doesn't make sense if the characters' genders were reversed because the societal pressures of feudal China demand that girls be married off to bear children and men be drafted into war. The themes of the work wouldn't even make sense for Mulan to be a man rather than a woman. Mulan (1998) points out that constricting gender roles limits our characters where Mulan (2020) maintains the status quo. Does Planetes really say anything about gender roles? Does it point out that we must maintain these gender roles? If Tanabe's story is not about gender roles, then what is it about? I have a clear answer for you: It's about love. Her name, Ai, literally means love, and as early as episode three she argues that what she wants to leave in her last will is "all my love!" and refuses to allow the coffin debris to return to space because "there's no love in it!". Throughout the show, she clashes with others, in particular, Claire who routinely bemoans how naive such a view is. In response to Claire pointedly asking Ai "What has your love saved?" in episode 23, Ai points out that the people most in need are the people that need love the most. This supports the anti-capitalist views the show has, arguing for a more socialistic society that lends a helping hand for its people and is a callback to earlier episodes with the ninjas and how Ai believes they could be saved with love. However, she also arrives at the unpleasant conclusion that Hachimaki loves space more than he loves her, which nearly breaks her. Ironically, it's Ai’s love that literally saves Claire, who can't bring herself to give up on Ai Tanabe either. And it's Ai's love that helps Hachimaki realize that the cruel, lonely space that he will soon journey through and the culmination of his life's work is not so empty and meaningless after all. At the end of the story, she hopes that she will one day work as a debris hauler again. She accepts that Hachimaki will leave for a seven year journey having gone through the stages of grief on her unpleasant realization and Hachimaki’s (implied) promise to return safely, which is Hachimaki’s form of love to her. So what is the show trying to say about love? Everyone is connected by love and love is what saves people. (This is made quite obvious in episodes 25 and 26). And the show cleverly connects that with the anti-capitalist themes given what Ai says in episode 23. (EDIT: clarifying a few things and grammar.)
I was just about to say something very similar. Tanabe's journey for me was her belief that things can be saved by love, despite others constantly telling her she was idealistic or inexperienced, and that once she had been through real life she would change her tune. Her crunch point was saving Claire, carrying her all that way, and having the chance to take her oxygen in order to save herself ... but she decided to leave Claire to be found while her oxygen ran out. It saved Claire's life which turned things round for her, as we see in her final scene her perspective has changed ... and with what happened to Tanabe it showed her unwavering commitment to love, staying true to her character in the most extreme of circumstances. I think the final scene might be different if they did the show now, but I have no problem with her having a child (women do do this!) while still recovering (as we saw her still limping when visiting the space station for the final time). I think she will bring even more love to that kid and the world in general, and when recovered will get back up into space. I really found her story inspiring ... it shows we can remain true to our beliefs and don't need to sell out or become jaded and cynical as we travel through our life. :)
@@thenamesgould Yes! Precisely what I think as well! In fact, I found many character journeys in this show to be inspiring: from Hachimaki's determined struggle towards a career to Yuri's quiet but emotional reconciliation of the past, these all answer the larger question on the meaning of life. Btw, I edited my last comment a bit for grammar and added a few sentences to add evidence or context to some statements.)
@@ssbbshadowplayer1 I’ve actually just finished watching the show for the first time, and totally agree with all this. There’s just so many aspects and themes which are so thought provoking! It’s all still swirling around in my head to a certain extent, but I also found the terrorism and poor countries being neglected plots so interesting. It actually made me realise how people get driven to such extremes. Plus the characters are just so amazing. But on the point of the show failing from a feminist pov, it’s also worth mentioning that Lucie is very much driven by finding a husband and it’s portrayed as comic relief (eg. her comment to Tanabe at some stage that it’s full blown between them war now, and her blunt acceptance that it’s what she wants), because it’s so stereotypical and old fashioned. Well that’s how I took it, anyway!
That's the problem with a lot of "video essayists." Typically they fall into the realm of [insert show] symbolizes [insert capitalism sucks, gender roles, etc] because "I see it that way." It's super easy to see anything in that light you put those goggles on. Hell, I could probably argue that Dragonball Z was promoted anti-gun laws because the near total absence of firearms in the show and how ineffective they are against a greater force... But we all know Dragonball Z literally isn't about that at all.
Well for me the show is sort of feminist in the way that the most interesting characters are women. Like Commander Fee Carmichael and Claire. Not only are these characters inspiring in their worldview, morals, skillsets, work ethics and interpersonal relationships but they also have flaws that make them human and relatable. Ai's downfall is not because she falls enamoured with a man, but because her friends, family and coworkers encourage her to do so. When watching the show it doesn't feel like Ai falling in love with Hachimaki, seem to be entirely her idea. Ai questions this herself throughout the show, but the continued positive reinforcement from her friends sort of push her into that direction of being woman means finding a man and founding a family. She ultimately pays the price for following society's standards instead of her ideals and goals. (Like literally, she gets brain damage)
Ai being "stuck" on earth doesn't have anything to do with Hachi. It has to do with her being selfless and staying true to her independent beliefs (which are in direct conflict to almost everything in the system within which she resides)-She sacrifices herself to save someone who will forever refuse to connect with her. Staying on earth is the only option for her at that point in the story. That said, I don't disagree with you about the feminist lens, but I also am not wholly dissatisfied with the ending (beyond wishing the story was a bit longer). There are a lot of threads in this story (the manga) which do not get fully explored in the anime and I think it makes it more difficult to reflect satisfying conclusions for each thread. Then again, especially in Sci-Fi, satisfying conclusions are rarely the objective.
Hey- Hey- Hey...Fee is a cool, smoker MOM in space, and the only one in Debris Section with any real authority, unlike her two male superiors. I'd say she's a pretty hard counterpoint to your statement that the show's thesis on feminism is "Women will always be domesticated by Men and it's natural"; additionally Edle and Clare, two other women in Debris Section, are also shown as the most competent, hard working and independent people at the company of Technora. I don't really like the ending either and I don't like the idea of how it encourages and even glorifies absentee parents with the male lead and his father and I don't like how Ai is grounded with a pregnancy while content when she never expressed any interest in starting a family or having children before. I just think it's hyperbolic to say the show says you can't be a women without being dependent on a man- focusing on Hakim's gender and not his background as a fellow victim of racist capitalism seems like ignoring the larger narrative to serve a point. (Spoilers) And speaking on Edle, her small arc in the show is all about her escaping that very cycle of sexual and economic dependence that men push on women with her being an ex-prostitute who confronts her abuser, she worked tirelessly to improve herself and be independent of men and by the ending, she is given full company employment and isn't shown with any male interests. (Spoilers) But all that aside- this is the best thing about Planetes on RU-vid and this show is criminally underrated so I was so happy to see someone tackling something other than the Hard Sci-Fi of the show, this is a great video and I'm happy to find a hidden gem without RU-vid's algorithm.
