List of Planetes episodes

Cover art for the volume 1 compilation DVD of Planetes released by Bandai Entertainment

This is a list of episodes of the Japanese animated TV series Planetes (プラネテス, Puranetesu, Ancient Greek: πλάνητες "Wanderers") It began airing its 26 episode run on NHK BS-2 on October 4, 2003 and ended on February 23, 2004. Produced and animated by Sunrise, it was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and scripted by Ichirō Ōkouchi (both of whom would later reunite in 2006 to work on the Sunrise original production Code Geass). The anime began development and production before the end of the manga serialization. In the beginning and middle of the series, the writing and production staff only had the first three volumes of the manga as source. In order to fill the entire 26 episode run of the anime, new characters, new settings and new relationships between characters were made in order to increase dramatic tension, reinforce themes introduced in the manga, and introduce new themes that were compatible with the manga. While the manga deals more with existential themes, and humanity's relationship with space, the anime further expands the political elements of the story.

The music of Planetes is a mixture of traditional orchestral music, supplemented by chorals, several uses of a theremin, and traditional Japanese woodwinds (e.g. Shakuhachi). The music score was composed by Kōtarō Nakagawa and produced by Victor Entertainment. The opening theme is "Dive in the Sky" by Mikio Sakai, and the ending themes are "Wonderful Life" by Mikio Sakai for episodes 1-25 and "Planetes" by Hitomi Kuroishi for episode 26, a theme very influenced by the sound of Enya. There are two insert songs, "A Secret of the Moon" by Hitomi Kuroishi, used in various episodes, and "Thanks My Friend" by Mikio Sakai used in episode 13.

Episode list

#	Title	Original air date
01	"Outside the Atmosphere" "Taiki no Soto de" (大気の外で)	2003-10-04
Ai Tanabe arrives for her new job aboard the ISPV 7 Space Station, and comes to find that she is assigned to the Debris Section, derogatorily deemed the "Half Section". She is introduced to the members, who seem unorganized and awkward given their first impressions. She begins training in extra-vehicular activity with Hachirota "Hachimaki" Hoshino as her instructor. Tanabe and Hachimaki later go on a mission to deorbit a memorial plate satellite from colliding into a military satellite.
02	"Like a Dream" "Yume no Yō na" (夢のような)	2003-10-11
Hachimaki is joked around by everyone else in the Debris Section because he dreams of getting his own spaceship by winning the lottery. Tanabe continues her zero gravity training with Hachimaki. Kho Cheng-Shin, Hachimaki's friend, celebrates his promotion to being a co-pilot of an orbital shuttle. Tanabe and Hachimaki are later sent on a debris retrieval mission to recover a derelict satellite. However, the satellite's orbit sends it on a collision course with Cheng-Shin's orbital shuttle.
03	"Return Trajectory" "Kikan Kidō" (帰還軌道)	2003-10-18
Insurance salespeople swarm the ISPV 7 Space Station while members of the Debris Section write their annual wills. However, Tanabe seems annoyed that Hachimaki is not taking the will seriously enough. During a routine debris collection, Tanabe and Hachimaki, along with Yuri Mihairokov, recover a space coffin containing a famous astronaut. After speaking with the astronaut's daughter, who wants him to be buried on the Moon, Tanabe is against this course of action. She takes hold of the coffin, expressing how the astronaut should be buried on Earth instead.
04	"Part of the Job" "Shigoto Toshite" (仕事として)	2003-10-25
Colin Clifford, the spoiled son of the INTO chairman, visits the ISPV 7 Space Station and observes an debris hauling mission with the Debris Section. Later, Claire Rondo, a member of the Control Section that is supervising Colin, tells the crew to retrieve Colin's camera carelessly left attached to a derelict satellite, much to Hachimaki's frustration. Fee Carmichael volunteers herself to do the job. After Colin mocks Hachimaki about the low status of debris collecting, the other members of the Debris Section defend Hachimaki and humiliate Colin.
05	"Fly Me to the Moon" "Furai Mī Tu Za Mūn" (フライ·ミー·トゥ·ザ·ムーン)	2003-11-01
Hachimaki, Tanabe, and Fee decide to go to the Moon for their holiday. On a lunar ferry, Tanabe seems to have lost her wallet. Also, after confusing an actor for a thug, Hachimaki fills in for the scene, not long before the film equipment is confiscated for illegal use. A mother and father are planning to commit suicide on the ferry and to take their daughter with them. A pickpocket is reported to have stolen Tanabe's wallet and the poison intended for the daughter. The pickpocket takes the daughter hostage, but with Kho Cheng-Shin's help, Hachimaki rescues her. The girl's parents find a renewed will to live from the experience.
06	"The Lunar Flying Squirrels" "Tsuki no Musasabi" (月のムササビ)	2003-11-08
Hachimaki takes Tanabe to a rundown hotel on the Moon. However, the surrounding neighbors are a group of wannabe ninjas who chases after Hachimaki. Due to a misunderstanding, the neighbors apologize to Hachimaki and welcome Tanabe to the hotel, where they all reveal that they are currently looking for job. At a fancy hotel, a father sets up a marriage arrangement for his daughter with Hachimaki, but a fire starts and Hachimaki helps her evacuate from her room. The wannabe ninjas go inside and find Hachimaki and the daughter, and with a combined effort, they all manage to parachute down from the hotel.
07	"Extraterrestrial Girl" "Chikyūgai Shōjo" (地球外少女)	2003-11-15
After injuring his leg due to the hotel fire incident, Hachimaki must stay in a hospital on the Moon for a week to recover. He meets Harry Roland, a veteran astronaut who is in an adjacent hospital bed, but he later goes missing from the hospital. Hachimaki also meets a young girl named Nono, telling her what it is like to live on Earth. After his release, Fee drives Hachimaki to the airport. On their way there, they find Harry on the side of the road, revealing he has leukemia before he passes away. Returning back to the hospital, Hachimaki is surprised to see that Nono is a twelve-year-old Lunarian, which is a person born on the Moon.
08	"A Place to Cling to" "Yorubeki Basho" (拠るべき場所)	2003-11-22
Arvind "Robbie" Lavie suspects that Fee is having an affair with Dolph Azalia, the Technora Second Division director, informing the other members of the Debris Section about it. However, Fee is actually is being promoted to assistant chief of Control Section. Although a debris that is unseen by radar at day will be difficult to haul in at night, the rest of the members of the Debris Section take the opportunity to do this on their own without Fee. When Fee hears word that they are struggling, she manages to guide them to complete the mission, and she later decides to turn down the promotion.
09	"Regrets" "Kokoro Nokori" (心のこり)	2003-11-29
Gigalt Gangaragash, Hachimaki's extra-vehicular activity former instructor, visits the Debris Section as part of a safety inspection. Hachimaki asks Tanabe if she is seeing anyone, and she replies that she is not. Hachimaki formally dated Claire, much to Tanabe's surprise. Gigalt explains to Tanabe that Hachimaki wears his headband when he is focused. On a debris hauling run supervised by Gigalt, the crew encounters a group performing illegal debris dumping activity. Hachimaki and Gigalt try to stop them, but Hachimaki becomes glued to the vessel, while Gigalt is rescued by Tanabe after damaging his thrusters. Hakim Ashmead, also one of Gigalt's former pupils, arrives to arrest the illegal haulers and save Hachimaki. Tanabe, while fixing his thrusters, finds out that Gigalt has cancer.
10	"A Sky of Stardust" "Kuzuboshi no Sora" (屑星の空)	2003-12-06
Hachimaki notices that both Tanabe and Yuri have been acting strange lately. Tanabe is preoccupied with her discovery of Gigalt having cancer, worried that Hachimaki may suffer the same fate. Philippe Myers later reveals that Yuri was aboard a high-altitude shuttle with his wife, but it was involved in an accident due to floating debris, resulting in her death. On a routine debris retrieval mission, Yuri finds the only keepsake of his deceased wife, a compass she bought as a good luck charm. However, he enters an intersecting orbit and gradually drops into the Earth's atmosphere unconscious. He then wakes up and sees Tanabe and Hachimaki bringing him up back to the space station.
11	"Boundary Line" "Baundarī Rain" (バウンダリー·ライン)	2003-12-13
An engineer from an impoverished country called El Tanika comes to the ISPV 7 Space Station to have his new spacesuit tested. No one will have anything to do with his unusual suit because of the lowly status of his home country until the Debris Section volunteers to help him with the basic testing procedures, monitored by Claire, revealed as a native of that country. During the final procedure, testing the suit in outer space at nighttime, Hakim orders an arrest on the engineer for return to El Tanika under protective custody. When it approaches sunrise, the suit depressurizes, but after closing the valve, the suit passes the testing procedures. Although Claire tries to talk Hakim out of arresting the engineer, instead the engineer accepts being taken into custody.
12	"A Modest Request" "Sasayaka naru Negai o" (ささやかなる願いを)	2003-12-20
On her way to the cigarette machine, Fee is told that there have been terrorist bombings set off by the Space Defense Front in various smoking rooms to stop human development in space, much to Fee's frustration. Meanwhile, Tanabe goes on for her date with Cheng-Shin, after she overhears her friend, Lucy Askam, talking with Hachimaki about marriage. During a debris mission, the terrorist prepares to send a large bomb towards the ISPV 7 Space Station, in order to initiate the Kessler syndrome. Fee retaliates by driving the Toy Box straight into the large bomb, burning it into the Earth's atmosphere. After destroying the Toy Box in the process of saving the ISPV 7 Space Station from destruction, Fee safely lands on Earth, happily enjoying a cigarette smoke.
13	"Scenery With a Rocket" "Roketto no aru Fūkei" (ロケットのある風景)	2004-01-10
Since the Toy Box was destroyed, the Debris Section go on a holiday on Earth. Tanabe and Yuri accompany Hachimaki to visit his mother, Haruko Hoshino. At the household, they are met by Hachimaki's brother, Kyutaro Hoshino, who is an astronaut enthusiast. Yuri helps Kyutaro modify his self-made rocket and then try it for a test run at the beach. Hachimaki and Tanabe, after passing by the grocery store, begin to develop feelings for each other at the beach, but their moment is ruined, thanks to the malfunctioned rocket. Fee informs Hachimaki that the Debris Section has received a new debris hauling ship. Hachimaki makes Kyutaro apologize to Yuri for having broken his compass during the test run, yet Yuri thanks Kyutaro for doing so, making him realize to move on with his life and not dwell on the past.
14	"Turning Point" "Tāningu Pointo" (ターニング·ポイント)	2004-01-17
Tanabe and Hachimaki hesitate to realize their feelings for each other. Robbie informs the Debris Section that office romance is prohibited in risk of demotion or reassignment. On a debris retrieval run, the Debris Section become embroiled in company intrigue, as they choose to help a scientist move an orbital research facility away from a meteoroid against the will of the Technora Third Division manager, whose daughter was involved in office romance with the scientist. After saving the facility, the scientist thanks the Debris Section for their help. Hachimaki asks Tanabe to be his girlfriend, and she responds by kissing him.
15	"In Her Case" "Kanojo no Baai" (彼女の場合)	2004-01-24
The Debris Section worries about Edelgard Rivera and her serious attitude being a contracted employee there. During a conference meeting, Gigalt's heart gives out and is sent to the hospital upon Hakim's request. Hachimaki seems to be struggling on his first date with Tanabe. After being contacted by an old flame named Sasha, Edelgard sets off to meet him, first being misled by the wrong hotel room number. Hachimaki and Tanabe finds Sasha in their hotel room, only to learn that Edelgard used to be his wife. Because of how she was treated by him in the past, Edelgard threatens to shoot Sasha, but Tanabe and Hachimaki intervene. When Sasha tries to run outside the hotel room, Hakim comes and arrests Sasha since he actually has a criminal record.
16	"Ignition" "Igunisshon" (イグニッション)	2004-01-31
Hachimaki is left adrift in space in the middle of a solar flare, yet miraculously survives. However, due to this trauma, he might be grounded from space for the rest of his life. He undergoes rehabilitation tests for two weeks on the Moon in order to overcome his fear of going into outer space, with Tanabe monitoring his progress. During his last of his tests, Hachimaki sees a hallucination of himself in space, who tells him to give up being an astronaut and return to Earth. Later on, Hachimaki leaves the hospital right from under Tanabe's nose. Tanabe, Yuri, Fee find him outside the hospital, readying himself to die alone. However, his friends bring him to a warehouse and show him a newly developed engine for space travel to Jupiter, proving to him that there are values of being an astronaut.
17	"His Reasons" "Sore Yue no Kare" (それゆえの彼)	2004-02-07
Claire has been reassigned to monitor the flight crew and assist Cheng-Shin. The chief engineer of the Jupiter Exploration Mission, Werner Locksmith goes to visit the Debris Section to speak with Hachimaki. He is in search of Goro Hoshino, Hachimaki's father, who is revealed to be a veteran of several missions to Mars. Locksmith hopes to recruit Goro to participate in finishing a project for a newly developed engine. After he leaves, Goro comes out of hiding, telling Hachimaki that all he wants is to settle down back on Earth. Later, all flight departures to the Moon because Locksmith is behind an explosion of the research laboratory containing the engine.
18	"Debris Section, Last Day" "Deburi ka, Saigo no Hi" (デブリ課, 最期の日)	2004-02-14
Dolph is replaced as director of the Technora Second Division, and the new director wants to shut down the Debris Section. Robbie is offered a high position in the second division, which satisfies him that he will finally be able to support his family. The crew of the Toy Box go on one last mission and they find a secret INTO orbital mine. Although Robbie does not want to risk his new position, the crew sends Hachimaki to retrieve the orbital mine. Meanwhile, the new second division director prepares to cut off the Toy Box completely, but Philippe and Edelgard fight back and prevent that from happening. Going against the new director's orders, Robbie operates the manual controls, shuts down the orbital mine, and saves the rest of the crew. Shortly after, Hachimaki decides to resign from the Debris Section.
19	"Endings Are Always..." "Owari wa Itsumo..." (終わりは いつも...)	2004-02-21
The Debris Section has won a reprieve after their discovery of the classified INTO military satellite. On Earth, Hachimaki and Cheng-Shin will be candidates for joining the Von Braun hosted by Locksmith, in which Hachimaki has entered preliminary round of tests, while Cheng-Shin is somehow exempt from them. Forced to live homeless and unemployed, Hachimaki finds out that Hakim will also be a candidate. The task of the final test of the preliminary round is to restore their life support system while in orbit within ten minutes, using a pool as a simulation. As Hachimaki and Cheng-Shin take the test with two other candidates, one of the candidates accidentally cuts off one of her oxygen tubes and starts to fall to the bottom of the pool. Hachimaki, ignoring the situation, proceeds and passes the test, while Cheng-Shin and the other candidate rescue her. Before Cheng-Shin wishes Hachimaki well for passing the test on his own, the latter expresses his anger at the fact that the former took the test for no reason at all, rather just to see how he would do.
20	"Tentative Steps" "Tamerai Gachi no" (ためらいがちの)	2004-02-28
Claire has been demoted from working in the Control Section to replacing Hachimaki in the Debris Section. Hachimaki and Hakim join two other participants in the second round of tests for ten days, a group endurance activity to assemble a model of the Von Braun within the time period. However, the main power unexpected goes out, jeopardizing the emergency power and the air supply. The air supply will only last for three people, so the four of them think of something to survive. After the test is over, the rescue squad come and realize that the four lowered their body temperature to minimize their oxygen consumption.
21	"Tandem Mirror" "Tandemu Mirā" (タンデム·ミラー)	2004-03-06
The Debris Section has been assigned to the Moon for a month to help collect debris from the Tandem Mirror Drive disaster, with Colin and Lucy tagging along. For the third round of tests, Hachimaki and Hakim will be training aboard the Von Braun for six months as finalists. After seeing the Debris Section on the news continuing their mission, Hachimaki later learns that Hakim is planning to sabotage that mission. Hachimaki does all he can to stop Hakim, pointing a gun to his face. However, Hakim, already having implanted a bomb, detonates the core of the engine, which causes an explosion.
22	"Exposure" "Bakuro" (暴露)	2004-03-13
Philippe, Robbie, and Edelgard are welcomed by the Debris Section stationed on the Moon. Meanwhile, Hachimaki is called to the Moon to learn about Hakim's social status and his possible connection with the Space Defense Front. He then finds out that Claire may also be associated with this since she is Hakim's girlfriend. At night, Hachimaki later comes across Philippe, Robbie, and Edelgard, who are all happy to see him. He goes to the hospital and sees Nono in the lobby. He waits in her room, and she hands him a camera before she leaves for her checkup. The camera plays back a recording of Gigalt, revealing that he has died from cancer. When Tanabe catches up to Hachimaki, he is surprised that she already knew about Gigalt's struggle with cancer.
23	"Debris Cluster" "Deburi no Mure" (デブリの群れ)	2004-03-20
As the final preparations are being made for the Von Braun's maiden voyage to Jupiter, the Space Defense Front makes a bold attempt at interrupting the INTO summit by taking control of the ship. They take Dolph hostage and force him to shut down the engine. During a debris mission, Claire and Hakim lock Yuri and Fee in a room and tie them up. The communications with Locksmith are blocked by the Space Defense Front, and Goro is unable to launch the engine the Von Braun. Claire is wounded during a gunfight with some of the crew candidates, and Hakim cleverly sets off a bomb to kill them off. Hachimaki finds Hakim and points a gun to his face.
24	"Love" "Ai" (愛)	2004-04-03
The Space Defense Front comes up with a sinister plan to crash the Von Braun into a city on the Moon. This plan is thwarted at the last minute when INTO caves in to the terrorists' demands. Tanabe finds a badly wounded Claire and takes her to an escape pod, but they become stranded on the surface of the Moon in a life or death situation. Yuri and Fee, having already freed themselves, asks Colin and Lucy, who are in shock from the gunfire, where Tanabe and Claire would be. On the Moon, Tanabe tries to prove to Claire that love can save the lives of many, but after she realizes that she is running low on oxygen, she takes life in her own hands.
25	"The Lost" "Madoibito" (惑い人)	2004-04-10
Following the Von Braun crisis, Hachimaki sinks into deep depression and wanders on the lunar surface. Dolph sends Hachimaki and Goro back to Earth for a holiday, much to Locksmith's surprise. Hachimaki makes one quick stop to the ISPV 7 Space Station to visit the Debris Section, where Philippe and Robbie gives him Tanabe's home address. After spending time with his family, he rides on motorcycle with Tanabe on his mind, leading him to get into a wreck. After he survives, on the roadway he encounters Tanabe, who is now paralyzed. After she tells him that Claire also has recovered from less bodily damage, he shares with her of his belief that all everything in the world is connected to space.
26	"And the Days We Chance Upon..." "Soshite Meguri au Hibi" (そして巡りあう日々)	2004-04-17
Hachimaki and Cheng-Shin visit Claire at a prison, where she says that she saved Tanabe on the Moon when a shuttle bus, somehow bringing herself not to abandon Tanabe. Dolph refuses to return to being Technora Second Division director and remains at his position of president of Galileo Development. After intensive physical therapy to being fully recovered, Tanabe visits the ISPV 7 Space Station, meeting Hachimaki there. The members of the Debris Section, as well as some friends, are happy to see them. Hachimaki and Tanabe goes out in space to spend some quality time together, leading him to propose to her. Later on in time, there is a news broadcast of the members of the Von Braun, making their debut before their seven year voyage to Jupiter.

References

General

Specific

See also

• Planetes
• List of Planetes chapters