Manga Review – Planetes Omnibus Volume 1 by Makoto Yukimura (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Science Fiction/Manga
Length: 528 pages
Publisher: Dark Horse Manga
Release Date: December 22, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1616559212
Stand Alone or Series: 1st volume in the Planetes Omnibus series
Source: Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars
“It’s the 2070s, and mankind has conquered space, making interplanetary travel possible and igniting the imaginations of the world. It’s also vastly increased the amount of dangerous space debris, and someone has to clean it up. Hachimaki, Yuri, and Fee are a crew on that beat, each with their own goals, tendencies, and personal problems: Hachimaki dreams of deep-space exploration in his own ship, Yuri is still recovering from the death of his wife in an accident caused by orbiting debris, and Fee is secretive, but there’s a lot going on under the surface!
Just trying to do their jobs in an age of space-age environmental concerns and new vistas of exploration, the crew deals with Hachi’s fear of isolation hampering his hopes of joining an upcoming Jupiter mission, keep an eye on the wreckage for signs of Yuri’s lost wife, and become unwitting heroes when the only place Fee can still smoke is threatened by terrorists!”
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the two volume Planetes Omnibus manga series. I got this volume as a gift. I am a huge fan of Yukimura’s Vinland Saga and was excited about this series because of that.
Story (4/5): The story starts out a bit confusing because the focus jumps between different characters. However, as the chapters progress the story gets more and more intriguing and engaging. The story mainly follows the crew of a spaceship that deals with hazardous space debris. After the first couple chapters the story mostly focuses on the characters of Hachi, who is desperate to get assigned to a high profile mission to Jupiter.
Characters (4/5): As mentioned above we get jerked around some between characters initially. First the story seems to be about Yuri, and then Fee, but eventually it settles on Hachi as the main character. The characters were all decently done but I never really engaged with any of them.
Setting (5/5): I loved the futuristic setting and how things are imagined to be. It was all very well put together and well done.
Writing/Drawing Style (4/5): You can tell this is one of Yukimura’s earlier works. Things just aren’t as polished early on in the Omnibus. However, about halfway through, Yukimura really starts to shine. Drawings get more detailed and you start to get sucked into Hachi’s quest to join the Jupiter mission.
My Summary (4/5): Overall, although this isn’t as awesome and polished as Vinland Saga, it is still a well done story and I enjoyed reading it. Things are a bit confusing at first because of how we are bounced between characters and stories, but about halfway through things really pick up and start to make more sense. Drawing quality also improves throughout the omnibus. I would recommend it if you are a big fan of Yukimuri’s work and are interested in seeing some earlier work. I would also recommend it if you like futuristic space exploration type of manga.
