TakaCode

The summer 18 anime season is a pretty rough season for anime that are not squeals mainly because it was the season that was filled with forgetful seasonal anime such as Harukana Receive, Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs and Angolmois: Genkou Kassenki. This was also the season gave us broken and boring dumpster fires like Back Street Girls, Island and my personal favorite The Master of Rock Bottom (The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar). Thankfully in this rabbit hole of a season, there were a few hidden gems and great shows such as Banana Fish, Cells At Work, High Score, Grand Blueand Planet With which is by far the most underrated show of the season for me. While Planet With did not dominate the Summer 18 season as I enjoyed J.C Staff other show from this season High Score Girl as well the more intriguing Banana Fish. It was still better than everything from this season alone. So what made this show so good may ask? Let's find out, shall we? Story. The story of Planet With follows a young high schooler named Soya Kuroi Soya Kuroi who is living a peaceful life despite having no memories of his past. Along with his peaceful life he is living with a large cat named Sensei and a maid named Ginko. One day, strange floating beasts appear in the sky above Japan, and conventional weapons are useless against them until seven men and women transform into powerful weapons and destroy them. Sōya finds himself pressed into battle, fighting not against the beasts, but against the seven heroes instead, as he becomes an unwitting pawn in an interstellar war that has come to Earth. The story for Planet With is great and interesting. For starters, the story is very easy to follow as not only the knows gets straight to the point narratively but the story completely avoids all the traps that plagued the mecha anime genre such as big info dumps, unneeded fan-service, wish fulfillment, edge, lack of focus and bad filler content. The first 4 episodes of Planet With are pretty episodic but after episode 4 the show completely leaves it episodic roots by going for a different direction and the direction that it took, in the end, was great that is filled with great writing and story elements. The best thing about Planet With was how unpredictable it was. Compare to any other anime in the season Planet With is filled with interesting exciting story moments that were, for the most part, were well executed. The show is for the most part well paced as the show moves at a smooth pace where the viewer can understand what is going on screen. Even though the story of Planet With was pretty great I have two minor nitpicks with it. While the show was indeed easy to follow for the most part, however, there were a couple of times where the show became a bit too complex and a bit hard to follow. Don't get me wrong this is pretty easy to follow, for the most part, however, there were certain story elements in that can be a bit tricky to fully understand especially if you're a new anime fan. This was not an issue for me, however, I can understand why newer anime fans would fell lost and confused while watching this show at times. Also while the show was a great ride that I really enjoyed, however, I honestly thought the show was way too short for its own good. This is more of a personal complaint but I thought that this show could have been 24 episodes long. Yes, the ending was great as it was not rushed and manages to conclude the series very well but there was a small part of me wanted this show to be longer. Oh well, you can't have them all I guess. Overall the story of Planet With was great. 8.5/10 Characters. The characters in Planet With are pretty cool and enjoyable. Soya is a pretty great mecha protagonist. Not only he is a likable character in his own right but he is a well written who develops very well. Not to mention his backstory and motivation for revenge was well told and intriguing. He's is far better than that lifeless potato named Hiro from Darling in the Franxx. Next, we have Ginko who is by far favorite character in this show. Outside of being my favorite Waifu of this season, she is a fun and interesting character that I really enjoyed from start to finish. I really enjoyed her character chemistry with Soya as feels like a great sister for Soya. The other characters in this show are very good that are not only well developed but they all fun and entertaining characters that have charm. Overall the characters in Planet With were pretty awesome. 9/10 Visuals. Visually Planet With is very good. The character and background designs were pretty great and appealing to look at. There was hardly any art failures in this show manages to use its production values budget very well. The mecha designs are solid overall. Yes, the mechs are in CGI but for once it actually works as this show almost perfectly manages to blend in CGI mecha into traditional 2D animation. Sensei mecha form itself is easily the best mecha design of 2018. Yes the mecha itself at first may look like SD Destiny Gundam but what it can do in combat says otherwise not mention the use of blue sci-fi color palette for the mecha was great as the mech was made from a competent mecha designer instead of a talentless hack who designed the cringe-inducing mech designs from Darling in the Franxx. As for the other mechs they were all pretty good for what they were especially Kakka mecha form. The animation in Planet With is pretty good overall as it's very smooth and the fight choreography for the mecha fights was awesome. Awesome job J.C Staff 8.5/10 Sound. The soundtrack in Planet With is awesome. Not only the music by itself was a great listen as all of the tracks have that great sci-fi dubstep but it masterfully blends in well with the show plot and setting. The opening theme One Unit'' by Minami is a fantastic opening theme that is not only epic song in its own right but it perfectly captures the tone of the series. The ending theme Rainbow Planet" by Mai Fuchigami is a pretty good ending overall. The voice acting in this show is great as every single Seiyuu did a great job with the roles that they were given. It's such a shame that Planet With hasn't got a Simulcast English Dub. Then again Funimation would rather simulcast Isekai train-wrecks like The Master of Rock Bottom and How to Not Summon a Demon Lord. Hopefully, this show gets the English Dub that it deserves. 10/10 Final Thoughts. I had a blast watching Planet With. Yes, it may not be my favourite anime from this season as I prefer Banana Fish and High Score Girl over this show but I still think that Planet With is better than most of the throwaway anime from this season. The story was pretty great and enjoyable. The characters were amazing and well developed, the visuals were great and the soundtrack was awesome. Honestly I mecha genre completely redeemed themselves after that shameless train-wreck that was Darling in the Franxx. If you're looking for a good modern mecha anime that is well executed and has intriguing characters then I strongly recommend Planet With. Planet With is one of the best animes I have ever seen and I say thank you to the creators for making this wonderful mecha series. It may not be in the same league as Gurren Lagann, Eureka Seven and Gundam The Origin but it's still one hell of an awesome mecha anime that I love. Final Score 9/10

Stark700

Piloting a mech with ripple patterned eyes. Such peculiar machine with a high school boy at its seat. Living with a cat creature and an adorable maid. If this short bucket list strike as an unusual setup for a story, then you’re damn right. Planet With is an original anime that takes science fiction to a surreal level. It’s an adventure that unites a variety of gimmicks together with plenty of surprises. Anyone familiar with Satoshi Mizukami’s work will probably point out his more well-known series such as “Lucifer and the Biscuit” and “Spirit Circle”. He takes his unusual cast of characters and bring creativity tolife. Through some of his works, I realized that Planet With would bring out a familiar feeling. And oh boy, it succeeded in more ways than one. Nonetheless, I think it’s important to first understand what Planet With is really about. The main story is about a boy named Souya Kuroi. He is a typical high school student with an apparent amnesia. The first episode establishes his role as he gets involved in a battle against strange floating beings known as the Nebula. First impression of the series makes me wonder if it was destiny that caused Souya to get involved in such an event. In other words, perhaps this event wasn’t just coincidental but that he was destined to fulfill his role as something much bigger than he’s ever imagined. Nonetheless, Souya also gets caught into conflict with the Grand Paladin, a group of individuals with their own unique powers. The show depicts them as a mysterious group whose goals lies in unfamiliar territories until much later on in the show. However, the heart of the show deals with Souya’s role as he regains more and more of his memories. We learn more about his past including his home planet and origins. He’s definitely a complex character that’s hard to read between the lines. In fact, Souya is less of the typical protagonist and initially portrayed as antagonist. You heard me right. His actions in the show is portrayed more as going against the heroic role. The first few episodes has him go up against Grand Paladin while also connecting with them when he’s not in his mech. In doing so, the show creates a sensation of mystery as how much we should really try to understand Souya. I think in many ways, Mizukami’s creativity shows for making a character like Souya as he is deceptively complex. There may be the type of audience that will understand Souya easier if you’re familiar with his work. But even if you’re someone lost in the dark, Souya is still a character you’d want learn more. Many questions will pop up throughout the show like why he’s living with an oversized cat or dream about dragons. As I watched more and more of Planet With, the experience became more of going with the flow and enjoying what the creator presents to us. Its ideas are otherworldly and the plot is carried by the actions of the characters. In fact, there’s an easy trend of action result in consequences throughout the show. Besides Souya, the Grand Paladin is a prominent example with its faction of members. Even their leaders have hidden agendas that far eclipses than just defeating some aliens. Many of its members are actually unaware of their true intentions as well. Members of the Grand Paladin such as Benika and Yousuke begins to question their own organization after certain events in the show. Then, there are others who follows the organization’s code to the letter. Individually, I think members of Grand Paladin are unique with their own personalities and character chemistry between each other. A noticeable example is Miu and Harumi with their childhood friendship/rivalry. In the earlier episodes, Miu wants to truly prove to herself especially to Harumi in battle. This results in disastrous consequences that nearly costs her life. But to be honest, I think the show does an exceptional job at taking risks like this. It puts the audience in their seat to see how far characters to go to accomplish their goals. In doing so, it also made me get invested into these characters with their unpredictability. That being said, there are definitely some characters that stands out compare to others. Sensei (the purple cat) is an easy example to point out not just for his unusual characteristics but also for his revelation later in the story. Others such as the Grand Paladin leader Takashi Ryuuzoji makes you curious about his true motives. Hell, even that maid Ginko Kuroi should spark more than just interest once you see what she can do. However, characters like Nozomi and Judgement are portrayed more as comic relief. Like I said before, some characters stand out more than others and not everyone can steal the spotlight. Souya’s character growth is also important to note as the more memories he recovers, the more he matures. Despite that, the show is still known for its various running gags such as Souya’s insatiable desire to eat meat. In general, I think the comedy in this show is a bit peculiar. It never relies on shock or fan service. Instead, it presents it in a sort of kooky and sarcastic way. The dialogues comes out naturally but sometimes mixes in silly words to make conversation flow like an oddball. Take it as you’d like but if this is your first time seeing a Mizukami work, then it should be an unique experience. There are many ways to describe the art style of Planet With but I find the word ‘surreal’ to be one of the more accurate representations. My first glance at the mecha designs immediately gave me a weird insight on its context. The ripple pattern eyes and cat-like ears is definitely an unusual design that I’ve not seen in many of the mecha series I’ve seen before. Furthermore, there are the Nebula that takes weirdness to another level such as the abnormal looking dolls or inverted babies. Oh and let’s not forget sensei with his idiosyncratic look. On the other hand, the human-looking characters in the show are about as average as it can get. With the exception of Ginko, no one really looks remarkable. Some of them even fall under character archetypes such as Nozomi as the ‘glasses girl’. However, I’m more than pleased at the battle choreography of the show. Even from its first episodes, I knew it was impressive with the cinematic-like explosiveness. Some of the fights look like watching a movie by the amount of details it shows. I often had to take a breather or two after some of the fighting segments because it was that damn fierce. As part of Mizukami’s involvement in the show, he also worked on the series composition. This would be the first time anyone has heard of his work in animated form. And thankfully, he aces it with flying colors. In essence, the battle OST and music in the show is phenomenal. There’s not one moment in the battle scenes that loses momentum thanks to his talent. In my opinion, Mizukami gave those scenes a larger than life moment by the sheer technical quality of the soundtrack. It’s hardcore with heavy beats that mixes in with a variety of electrical notes to make everything flow together. On the other hand, I can’t really say the casting in the show were exceptional. Other than Sensei, everyone else just sounds too normal despite the show being abnormally strange. Luckily, the theme songs makes up more of that with their creativity. Planet With is not a show that I can easily recommend to just anyone. Watching the first episodes made my head spin at how complex the characters and the storytelling may become. And indeed, this series won’t be easy to watch with just an open mind. You need to understand the characters and their motivations as every action has a consequence. As surreal as the series feels, Planet With can be very enjoyable for once you accept for what it is. As Mizukami’s first anime project, I hope his manga works gets adaptations in the future. Or if not, make another season of Planet With because I want more.