Planet With is a 12 episode anime. This is another one of those anime with a unique premise. Soya seems like your typical high school boy (despite looking like he’s from middle school), except for the fact that he lives with a mysterious maid, and a “sensei” that is a giant cat. Well, that and the fact that he’s lost his memory. He goes about his day at school, slowly forming a bond with the only girl that’s bothered to befriend him when the world goes out of whack and unidentified flying objects appear all over the world.
These UFOs are not your typical alien spaceships. It’s hard to describe them but they take objects that you would think of as cute, and then add random human appendages on top, liked a stuffed teddy bear that has human arms, ears and noses randomly on its body. It’s creepy and you don’t know what to make of it. That’s the interesting part because seven people appear, who are able to transform into giant mecha (that also has really weird designs, with an animal motif). They’re like superheroes and defeat the strange objects with ease, something that normal military equipment could not make a dent in.
The part that completely hooks you is at the end of the first episode, when Soya and Sensei team up. Soya regains some memories and we also learn of the organisation behind these strange objects, being Nebula. There are a bunch of other stuff that will be spoilers if mentioned but needless to say, it’s definitely not what you expected at first glance. The good part is that the anime is quirky and strange, yet it doesn’t cross the line of being too quirky and strange. It strikes a good balance, doing just enough to be unique and having it stand out.
The other thing is that Soya is not the hero of the story, rather he takes on the form of an anti-hero. He’s out to fight against the seven, who seems to have purer objectives, being that they are protecting Earth. Yes, there is probably something more behind this, but to outsiders and the population of this world, Soya is the bad guy, crushing the dreams and ambitions of the heroes.
The pacing is brisk purely due to the fact that it crams a lot of info in the first half. We learn new things in every episode so that there is a big climax in the middle of the season. It resolves the big conflict up until that point, but that’s only to clear it out so that it can focus on the real conflict that’s much bigger in scope. Everything comes out by that point so that we can get a true picture of the situation, and the motivations of everyone. It’s an interesting structure, and it works here because it manages to fill in the gaps without convoluting things too much or withholding too much.
The fight scenes look really good and fluid, although there isn’t as much focus put on them as other anime, since the choreography is rough in places. Nevertheless, it manages to capture that moment of adrenaline and having just the right amount of being over-the-top so that it’s fun, but doesn’t become silly or too exaggerated. The source of the power and the two factions that ends up being revealed isn’t the best explanation, but is enough to keep the plot going.
It does the same thing towards the end of the season though when it leads to another climax, although this time it wasn’t as hyped up as the first one. With this, the anime is split into three almost distinct sections, with each part escalating the stakes, and it feels like a really familiar formula to other over-the-top anime. By the time the third section starts, you can predict where the anime is going and what to expect so it can lose steam that way.
The ending and final resolution of the story is satisfying. While it’s quite predictable, that doesn’t make it any less impactful. It leverages the usual tropes of having everyone join up together to fight against a common enemy, but it still manages to evoke a good sense of camaraderie. By the end of it, you feel that the anime managed to cover a lot in a short amount of time, which is quite impressive. However, also because it had such a tight focus, it wasn’t able to explore the potential from all its worldbuilding.
Overall, Planet With is an anime where if you liked others like Gurren Lagann, then you’ll feel right at home. It strikes a good balance with not being too over-the-top, but still having enough to make it exciting and fun to watch. The three distinct arcs, each being bigger in scope than the last, is somewhat weird but it works here.
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