planetarian～星の人～

PLANETARIAN: HOSHI NO HITO

MOVIE

MOVIE
Dubbed
SOURCE
VISUAL NOVEL
RELEASE
September 3, 2016
LENGTH
117 min

DESCRIPTION

An adaptation of the visual-novel by Key, 'Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito' combines the story of the original work with an expansion that extends the narrative with content from the 'Hoshi no Hito' light-novel sequel.

In the future after much of the world has been devastated by nuclear and biological warfare, a young scavenger or 'Junker' exploring a quarantined and abandoned city comes across a service robot still faithfully awaiting customers in the rooftop planetarium of a department store. Against his pragmatic instincts he helps the robot repair the planetarium's projector: a decision which will change both their fates.

(Source: Anime News Network)

CAST

Yumemi Hoshino
Keiko Suzuki
Kuzuya
Daisuke Ono
Eremiya
Yuuki Kuwahara
Ezra
Akiko Takeguchi
Izaya
Shizuka Ishigami
Yobu
Youko Hikasa
Ruth
Minami Tsuda
Levi
Sanae Fuku

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NOVEL DramaPlanetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume

REVIEWS

Scientiiaa
80/100
A very unique sci-fi with a grain of realism.
Planetarian is a Japanese post-apocalyptic visual novel developed by Key, whose previous works also include Kanon and Air. It was released over the Internet on November 29, 2004 for Windows PCs, and is rated for all ages. The game was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, as well as to mobile devices. Key defines Planetarian as a ‘kinetic novel’, since its gameplay offers no choices or alternate endings: the player proceeds through the story solely by reading. In 2016 the visual novel receives an anime (which adapts the main game’s story) and a movie adaption. The author describes Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume as ‘A certain woman's story’ and Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito as ‘A certain man's story’.

Hoshino Yumemi is the robot working at a shopping mall. She was created by a group of scientists to advertise the planetarium she was working in, as well as to help customers. One day, however, the humanity shows its true color and the world we know no longer exists. Humans still exist, though, but it will take you awhile to find even one. Anyways, the poor robot still fulfills her duties, but does it rarely, since electricity is quite a big rarity. However, this dead city still has many valuables and because of that, The Junker chooses this city. Running away from the robots that still protect the city, he finds himself in the planetarium, where Hoshino Yumemi works. At first, he regards her as a threat, but after some time he reconsiders his attitude towards her and even stays to help her repair the projector. Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito focuses on all the important parts of the anime and extends it so we learn what happens after the anime.

I am not going describe anything about the movie, because it will just spoil you the whole thing. All I can say is that this movie puts a period to the story of Planetarian and it does its work pretty well. If you are looking for an extremely dark and dramatic story, Planetarian is definitively what you are looking for.
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AngeVNs
72/100
A Protagonist We Can See and a More Cathartic Conclusion—An Improvement Over the Original Visual Novel
The original Planetarian visual novel by Key was one of the first I ever read in my 15+ years of being into visual novels. I've gone on record saying that while I like Key in general, their stories can get pretty predictable with their endings and often feel bloated in terms of length. Planetarian, in a way, is the complete opposite—it's a very short story, not even written by Jun Maeda, yet it still feels distinctly like a Key work.

I thought the original visual novel was just okay. There was a bit too much text, and the visuals didn’t really convey the planetarium aspect it was going for. It also didn’t help that there were only two main characters, and we never really got to see the protagonist, Junker. Thankfully, the anime fixes this issue, with great animation that makes up for the visual novel’s dated look.

Planetarian is a short story, and for me, it’s always been difficult to get fully invested in something with very few characters. In this case, there are literally only two speaking characters for most of the series. However, seeing the dystopian world in motion in the anime helps with immersion before Junker eventually hides out in the planetarium.

In both the visual novel and especially the anime, the true star of the show is easily the robot girl, Yumemi Hoshino. I’ve seen my fair share of emotional short stories about tragic robot girls, so they tend to feel predictable—meaning they have to stand out in some way for me to care. Planetarian manages to do that, and even after all these years, I still think Yumemi is one of the most genuinely likable robot heroines, not just in visual novels but even in anime.

She has this innocent yet sincere way of wanting to show as many "customers" as possible the beauty of the stars. The way the anime presents the constellations alongside her bright commentary really enhances the experience, creating a great contrast to the dystopian world outside—one she doesn’t seem fully aware of. These moments, combined with Yumemi’s warm personality contrasting with Junker’s hardened pessimism, make their character development more impactful throughout the story.

I think a roughly two-hour movie was the perfect length to pace out this story. In addition to adapting the already emotional (if a bit predictable) story of the original visual novel, the anime also includes side story sequel content. In my opinion, this addition was absolutely necessary for the kind of emotional catharsis Key is known for.

Unlike many other Key stories, which rely on silly deus ex machina happy endings that tend to sour my opinion of the rest of the work, Planetarian—in any medium—never takes that approach. In fact, the sequel content in the Hoshi no Hito ending improves on the original visual novel’s conclusion, which felt a little too predictable and anti-climactic. The added material in the movie gives proper emotional weight to what happens after the main events, making this, at least for me, the absolute best way to experience the story.

If you want a short, emotional drama set in a dystopian world—one that finds beauty in an otherwise bleak setting—this is a great movie to check out.
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