In the later half of the 21st century, humans have colonized the moon and Mars, and are on the cusp of colonizing Jupiter. The mission is met with controversy, from shady government officials, terrorist groups, to our main characters who just want to do their job.

Planetes is a beautiful slice-of-life that uses outer space as a backdrop in order to examine humanity. The series covers a wide range of life questions, from love, to what it means to “grow up.” It asks if humans have a right to explore outer space, or if the colonization of other planets is trespassing.

Planetes is episodic, often jumping across several months or years each chapter. In the first half of the series, most of the chapters are short, self-contained stories. It feels like Yakimura is still trying to figure out what he wants to do with the series, and is overall weaker. When the story finds focus in the Jupiter mission, the series starts to get really good, to the point where the reader doesn’t want it to end. Although the series ends at a good point, I wish it didn’t end so soon.

We follow the cast over several years, and it shows. Each character comes to term with their insecurities and lack of maturity, and gain a strong sense of who they are. Our species is just a spec in the universe, and separation from the trivial problems on Earth allows for some real introspection on what really matters.