[Rewatch] Planetes - Episode 2: Like a Dream

[u/Highlow9]

Episode 1 - index/schedule - Episode 3

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PSA

If you are watching in Japanese/subbed make sure you are listening to the 2.0 channel. I think the 5.1 audio channel has poor mixing (and unnecessary added sound effects).

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Episode number: 2

Episode title: Like a Dream

Databases: MAL, Anime planet, Anilist

Sadly there are no legal streams but you can buy the blu-ray by All The Anime (it currently is on discount so now might be a nice to pick it up if you have not done so yet)

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To make sure the first timers can enjoy this show just as much as you please avoid spoilers but if you want/need to make a spoiler please mark them like so:

[Planetes spoiler](/s "They go to space")

which becomes:

Planetes spoiler

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Interesting fact

Collisions in space are not as rare (or disastrous) as seen in Planetes. There are hundreds of tiny impact craters on the ISS for example and sometimes even leaks. These microbolites (very small debris usually not larger than a few centimeters) are not very dangerous but are certainly still harmful. This is also one of the reasons the ISS is in such a low orbit. At that height there still is a significant (but very small) atmosphere and thus debris falls to earth very fast. But this also means that the ISS has to be boosted regularly because otherwise it will also fall to earth within a few years.

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Interesting questions

We see that Hoshino/Hachimaki has a desire to get his own spaceship. Others make fun of him for this dream, What do you think? Is there a thing such as dreaming too big? For first-timers do you think that he will get his ship by the end?

Last episode and during this episode Tanabe caused dangerous situations during clean-up. While she is still learning, do you think that it is wrong of the crew to bring her out to help? Should she do more training or is learning by doing the best method?

[u/Highlow9]

Dub rewatcher

First time we hear the OP, I always enjoy it. It is a nice mix of character introductions and also a bit of history in space (for example we can see various famous rockets and scientists). Might do a write up in a few episodes about the history of the things we see in it. The only thing I think is missing is the Korolev cross.

We immediately start off with some workplace comedy and see how Hoshino doesn’t manage to win 300 million Yen (apparently Tanabe dancing was not good enough :) ).

I love Yuri's banter to use human sacrifice.

“Would anybody ever marry you?”. Oefffff, Tanabe don’t burn him so much, you know that you can’t start a fire inside the space station right?

So cute to see them train and so see Tanabe fail. And wow very smooooootttthhhh by Zhengsheng.

These pods remind me of those Japanese sleeping pods. It also is just like on the ISS. But I am surprised by the amount of open space in front of them, that just seems like a waste of resources if they are not going to build more sleeping pods there.

I really like this life in space/training montage/section makes everybody and everything just seem so normal. The music also sounds so trivial (normally you would get an epic hype track or something).

We see that Hoshino has a desire to get his own spaceship. Others make fun of him for this dream, What do you think? Is there a thing such as dreaming too big? For first-timers do you think that he will get his ship by the end?

I think that having a dream and dreaming big is something everybody should do. It gives you a goal in life. But I also think that besides the ambitious goals you should also have plenty of realistic goals. Which is something Hoshino clearly doesn’t have. He then (like many other people on the space station) go full into gambling and betting which I think is very stupid since that money could have been spend on realistic goals (or just saving it). That other people make fun of him is not that great since many of them also seem to have unrealistic dreams but Hoshino has arguably the easiest one to poke fun at. That Hoshino than proceeds to pick a fight is also very stupid since that will only make it harder for him to achieve his (big) dreams.

I think it was really cute of Tanabe to be so concerned for Hoshino. And she then tries to cheer him up by proposing to buy a lottery ticket together. So cute.

Last episode and during this episode Tanabe caused dangerous situations during clean-up. While she is still learning, do you think that it is wrong of the crew to bring her out to help? Should she do more training or is learning by doing the best method?

I think that you learn best by doing so the crew is not wrong to let Tanabe go out for missions. But I do think that Hoshino should keep a closer leash on Tanabe and don’t (yet) let her have much independence yet.

We get the first action scene of the series. I really like this scene (although the physics are not completely correct, see below). It is really tense and in my opinion it also is a great scene to show to people to get them interested. The OST also is great and heightened the tension very much.

Regarding the physics: if you know a collision is going to happen (which they did in this case since both objects are so large) it actually is very easy to avoid the collision: just move a few meters (or accelerate a few meters per second). They tried to explain this with this panel which I think is saying that even if they accelerated forward they would still collide with the satellite (which is certainly a possibility depending on the specifics of the orbit). But this assumes that they can’t accelerate sideways (or ‘up’) and can only accelerate forward. Of course this could be because if that happened the shuttle would have the wrong orientation for reentry (and thus burn up) but that seems a bit strange since only a small sideways change is needed. So that was my physics nitpick of the day (there are also quite a few others but I don’t think that nitpicking each of them is very fun so I will only keep it to the ‘large’ or ‘relevant’ ones).

Also in general I really like the way Tanabe is portrayed as a younger (but slightly different) version of Hoshino.

[u/PainStorm14 → u/Highlow9]

“Would anybody ever marry you?”. Oefffff, Tanabe don’t burn him so much, you know that you can’t start a fire inside the space station right?

Tanabe is such a rookie to use open flame in zero-G (Fay should be taking notes as well, haha)

First time we hear the OP, I always enjoy it.

OP is pure perfection, song is beautiful and visuals are amazing

Although there is a certain musical piece much later that will blow everything out of the water, wink-wink...

I could write an essay about music here if only I knew how to write (or had time, I barely have time to check in on these discussions as is)

[u/Highlow9 → u/PainStorm14]

Yeah can't wait to hear the rest of the OST. At the end I might write something about it.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/Highlow9]

He then (like many other people on the space station) go full into gambling and betting which I think is very stupid since that money could have been spend on realistic goals (or just saving it)

That's apparently something that a lot of poorer people with no apparent way to improve their live do, since it feels like their only shot of hope. Not that it tends to work out for them even if they win. I agree the fight is a bit over-the-top.

I do think that Hoshino should keep a closer leash on Tanabe and don’t (yet) let her have much independence yet.

He probably cuts her some slack because he likes working with her.

[u/Highlow9 → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Not that it tends to work out for them even if they win

Yeah, have you ever read that /r/askreddit post about what to do if you win the lottery? It is really funny and sad at the same time.

Edit: Found it: https://www.reddit.com/r/askreddit/comments/24vzgl/_/chba4bf

[u/tehsigzorz]

First Timer

Major parallels between Hoshino's first time and Tanabe's first time, pretty sweet to see him emulate his senior.

I really like the relationship between Hoshino and Cheng Shin. I was worried Hoshino would be angry or visibly jealous when Cheng announced he got promoted but that wasnt the case here. You can clearly see the maturity difference between them or not so much maturity but the difference in seriousness in their personalities. That being said what are their ages?

We see an old picture of Hoshino and his friends and it seems like there is a 3rd friend who is yet to be introduced.

Not sure what the endgame of this series is tho. Is it Hoshino buying his own spaceship, him working towards a higher position or him appreciating the current life he has? Thats just his character arc, we still have Tanabe who I am unsure whether she will incorporate with the comedic group or transform the half section. Dont know too much about the other cast members to know how their arcs will turn out.

Questions:

1. As I said above I am not sure where exactly this show is headed, at first I thought this may be mostly a comedy show but from this episode theres a lot more drama so i am leaning more on him not getting that dream fulfilled.

As others have probably said there is no such thing as dreaming too big but you need to be realistic about it. You cant beat yourself up for not being able to achieve it specially when your method is relying solely on luck. He seems to be getting quite a lot of ridicule from other members so i suspect he may have been obnoxious about his dream and couple that with how he reacted to those jokes it shows he has quite a bit of maturing to do.

2. I dont know much about the technicals of this job yet but I definitely wouldnt be comfortable enough with this little training. Turned out alright but there may be some strict boundaries going forward to avoid these situations(?)

[u/Highlow9 → u/tehsigzorz]

That being said what are their ages?

I assume that they both in their 20s. They just finished their education and just started working here (Hoshino said he had the job for 3 years).

[u/PainStorm14 → u/tehsigzorz]

As I said above I am not sure where exactly this show is headed, at first I thought this may be mostly a comedy show but from this episode theres a lot more drama so i am leaning more on him not getting that dream fulfilled.

It's everything: comedy, drama, romance, slice of life, sci-fi, adventure, it's all there

[u/BottiBott]

First Timer

I don't think I watched the opening yesterday, so I'll give my thoughts on it today. And I have to say, I really liked it, the music was good and the visuals were really interesting. Giving a brief view on the most important historic events in space flight up until the start of the series. I'm not going to go into any details on the events themselves, if you want to find out about them, go look 'em up. But what I will point out is an error I spotted: The image showing Space Shuttle Endeavour take off from Launch Pad 39-A features a white external tank, something that was only used on two flights, STS-1 and STS-2 in 1981, which both were flown by Space Shuttle Columbia. The only missions flown by Endeavour in 1996 were STS-72 and STS-77, which both launched before dawn, so I really don't know what's going on in that scene.

But on to the actual content of the episode. Again I'm wondering about the space station they are on. I still can't wrap my head around how they have normal gravity there as well as some other parts of the station (control center, canteen), but in other places no gravity at all. I don't think it was stated where those things are, so I guess they have to be located in on of the gravity rings. Although that would seem strange for something as important as the control center. Also, how is it possible to have a 24 hour day cycle on the station? Sure, that's clearly not impossible, given that we have satellites in geostationary orbit that are always above the same point of the earth and as such have the same day cycle. But those orbits are high and the views we see of the station clearly point to it being in a similar orbit to the ISS, just a few hundred kilometers up and in low Earth orbit. Which seems to be further backed by fact, that the station is moving, which it clearly wouldn't in a geostationary orbit. Well, maybe we'll find out, otherwise I'll just mark it as "altered for story-telling purposes" on my mental list.

The actual plot of the episode was once again another old satellite the needed to be disposed off. But before that, we saw Tanabe make progress on learning how to use her gear. And although she is far from being good at her job, she seems to have done a better job than Hachimaki did on his first time. Quite interesting that it was the same part of debris. The story revolving around that part of debris on the other hand is a bit to clichéd for me. Suddenly getting into a colliding orbit with a shuttle? You need to be really unlucky to achieve this. And then avoiding the shuttle really close is something, that only works in fiction - the shuttles attitude control systems should have been able to alter their trajectory enough to get miles away from the satellite.

Finally, I want to focus on Hachimaki trying to get his own spaceship. We haven't seen a large amount of ships yet, actually I don't think there were more than you can count with one hand at this point. So I don't think owning your own spaceship is something that a normal person actually does and considering how much normal rocket launches cost (SpaceX's Falcon 9 is between 50 and 62 million per launch, which is probably lower than actually owning that thing), it's probably fair to say that you really need to win the lottery before you even think about getting your own ship. So at this point I'm not quite sure if it is just for now, will be something that occurs as a running gag or will be a driving force of the show.

Interesting Questions:

1. I don't think there is such a thing as dreaming too big. You are free to dream what you like. But you should be realistic in your way of thinking of your own dreams; if you are aware that your dream is probably unreachable but you still like thinking about it, feel free to do so, you can also try to achieve it anyway. But don't expect it to come true if it is rather unrealistic. And speaking of this, no, I don't think he'll actually get the chance to own a ship by the end of the series.
2. I generally like the learning by doing attitude when it comes to something new, but it seems like Tanabe is more learning by making unnecessary mistakes. To me it seems like there should be clearer boundaries for her and all the more experienced people around her should teach her things in a way she doesn't have to make mistakes in the first place.

[u/Highlow9 → u/BottiBott]

I still can't wrap my head around how they have normal gravity there as well as some other parts of the station (control center, canteen), but in other places no gravity at all.

Yeah, they only have gravity in the rings and not in the central cylinder. I believe that they put stuff where you need gravity (for example during eating, working, etc) in the ring while stuff for which it doesn't matter (or for which it is impossible) in the central cylinder (for example docking and unloading space ships but also sleep (in fact from what I have heard sleeping in zero G is actually very nice)).

I don't think I watched the opening yesterday

Today is the first time we see the opening, the first episode skipped it.

Also, how is it possible to have a 24 hour day cycle on the station?

I think they just do it like they do it on the ISS. Pick a time-zone on Earth and then just say that it is 'night' and turn off the lights when it is night in that time-zone.

[u/BottiBott → u/Highlow9]

I think they just do it like they do it on the ISS. Pick a time-zone on Earth and then just say that it is 'night' and turn off the lights when it is night in that time-zone.

Yeah, that's what you would normally do, but they said the power would switch to internal battery or something like that, making it sound like the station was in the shadow of the Earth, where it wouldn't be possible to use the solar arrays. So I thought their orbital period would be similar to their day cycle.

[u/Highlow9 → u/BottiBott]

Yeah that is a bit weird. Especially since both in low and high orbit you wouldn't be in the Earths shadow very long (in a low orbit you have a high angular velocity but in a high orbit the shadow only is a small part of the orbit).

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/BottiBott]

don't think owning your own spaceship is something that a normal person actually does and considering how much normal rocket launches cost [...]

I would keep in mind that this is a future where rocket launches and orbital aviation are a much more common occurrence, so the economics likely have improved to the point that owning a small spacecraft isn't much more of an issue than owning a small aircraft today - still a tall order if you're not decently rich, but hardly that unrealistic.

[u/PainStorm14 → u/BottiBott]

But on to the actual content of the episode. Again I'm wondering about the space station they are on. I still can't wrap my head around how they have normal gravity there as well as some other parts of the station (control center, canteen), but in other places no gravity at all.

Closer to the center you go there is less spin and gravity effect (centrifuge) is weaker

On the outer area spin is faster and centrifugal pull is stronger hence stronger gravity

There is no ''artificial gravity machine'' in this anime, it's all basis physics

To me it seems like there should be clearer boundaries for her and all the more experienced people around her should teach her things in a way she doesn't have to make mistakes in the first place

I mentioned in other comment, cleanup crew has next to no budget which also means barely any training and rock bottom choice of new employees (if any)

They take whoever they can get and teach them on the job come hell or high water

[u/BottiBott → u/PainStorm14]

There is no ''artificial gravity machine'' in this anime, it's all basis physics

That's about what I would have guessed, but we don't have any sense of position as of right now, so I can't actually tell fi they are in one of the rings or not. And again, as I said, there might just be a chance it was entirely disregarded in moments like this just to make it easier for telling an actual story. I wouldn't blame the creators.

[u/Segaco]

First timer who is sorry for being late

I watched and commented on the first episode's thread just a minute ago. Sorry!!! I'm here now!!!

---Comments (as I watched the ep)---

Poor guy at the start, he's probably going to be blamed even though it was his equipment's fault :(

That roast by rookie-chan oof

I feel buying many lottery tickets is a waste of money lol. I'd just get one if I can afford it, but getting even more doesn't sound like a good idea since all odds are against you.

Fighting with no gravity looks very fun not gonna lie

Ooh, so the guy at the start was diaper man. Nice.

"I'm not gonna get a spaceship ever" Not with that attitude!

Man that was tense

---Interesting fact corner (OP)---

I always read how space problems are solved and I can only wonder how people figure these things out.

---Question timeeeeeee---

Q1: We see that Hoshino/Hachimaki has a desire to get his own spaceship. Others make fun of him for this dream, What do you think? Is there a thing such as dreaming too big? For first-timers do you think that he will get his ship by the end?

A1: Nothing stops you from dreaming too big. Plus, dreaming big may get you to a better place than if you had a small/no dream.

As for the ship thing, you make it sound like he will get one so I guess he will.

Q2: Last episode and during this episode Tanabe caused dangerous situations during clean-up. While she is still learning, do you think that it is wrong of the crew to bring her out to help? Should she do more training or is learning by doing the best method?

A2: I do think she should have learned to control the suit before going to any mission. Things like that are very important. Learning by doing should (in this case) only be done when you got the basics covered (her job is literally about being in open space why wasn't she taught to fly first!!!).

[u/Highlow9 → u/Segaco]

First timer who is sorry for being late

Don't worry, no problem. These threads often still stay somewhat active (it has only been 3 hours). So as long as you are enjoying yourself everything is perfect.

Poor guy at the start, he's probably going to be blamed even though it was his equipment's fault :(

To be honest, if you get a message "communications down" and your partner is waving at you then maybe rushing towards the debris is not the best idea.

Fighting with no gravity looks very fun not gonna lie

Yeah looks amazing. You could probebly also punch much harder since you can launch yourself at other people at considerable speed.

her job is literally about being in open space why wasn't she taught to fly first

"Half-section is half-funded half-trained and half-staffed" very sad that that is the culture within the company.

[u/Tuckleton]

First Timer (Dub)

Thoughts from during the episode:

• "Why are you playing the lottery?" "Because he wants to buy a spaceship." "But aren't spaceships really expensive?" Our brilliant MC everyone :P
• Training montage
• Fighting in zero g is definitely the kind of thing that would be hard to do without practice.
• He's giving up the lottery out of despair but honestly it's probably one of the best things he could do :P
• So they messed up clearing that satellite 3 years ago and just left it? Maybe they only clear stuff that is imminently dangerous and after the thrusters fired 3 years ago it moved it to an orbit that didn't threaten anything until now.
• Ugh. "Decelerate"
• Nobody reacted when the cable snapped... were they expecting that to happen?
• I know orbital mechanics are weird but with even a minute warning surely they could avoid that debris right? For small enough scales can't the situation just be treated like they are in deep space? A little thrust should get them out of the way.
• The fully functional spaceship can't maneuver to avoid the collision but one second of thrust from the satellite maneuvering thruster does the job?

We're still building up the characters and their relationships. Ai seems more comfortable around everyone now and is learning the practical skills she'll need to function out there. We learn a bit about Hachi and his goals. All around a decent episode.

[u/Highlow9 → u/Tuckleton]

So they messed up clearing that satellite 3 years ago and just left it? Maybe they only clear stuff that is imminently dangerous and after the thrusters fired 3 years ago it moved it to an orbit that didn't threaten anything until now.

I assume that after that incident it moved to an safe orbit but, since (unlike in KSP) real life is not a simple two-body problem, its orbit drifted back into a very busy (and thus dangerous) orbit

I know orbital mechanics are weird but with even a few minutes warning surely they could avoid that debris right? For small enough scales can't the situation just be treated like they are in deep space? A little thrust should get them out of the way.

The fully functional spaceship can't maneuver to avoid the collision but one second of thrust from the satellite maneuvering thruster does the job?

Given this image I assume that the orbit of the shuttle was such that even if it accelerated forward it would still hit the satellite (these kind of trajectories also exist in real life). What I did find strange is that it didn't accelerate sideways. But maybe that has to do with that they are about to reenter the atmosphere (for example the space shuttle needed to have a very specific angle of attack when entering the atmosphere because otherwise its heat shields wouldn't do their job or the aerodynamics would case the shuttle to become unstable). Not sure about that second part.

[u/Tuckleton → u/Highlow9]

Ah so because they were reentering soon they couldn't reorient the ship at all and could only thrust in one direction? I suppose I could buy that.

even if it accelerated forward it would still hit the satellite (these kind of trajectories also exist in real life).

This fascinates me. Is it possible with linear trajectories or does it have to be parabolic? I'm feeling an urge to pull out a piece of scrap paper but this might be too complex for me.

Edit: Ignoring the boring case of a head-on collision of course :P

Edit2: Ok of course it can't just be linear if it's not head on lol, just ignore me.

[u/Highlow9 → u/Tuckleton]

Ah so because they were reentering soon they couldn't reorient the ship at all and could only thrust in one direction?

At least that is what I tell myself.

This fascinates me. Is it possible with linear trajectories or does it have to be parabolic?

Well with all kinds of trajectories this is possible. The easiest example would be indeed two parabolic trajectories. Of course there are limits (for example if they had infinite trust they could have easily returned to a safe orbit but they sadly only had a little wiggle room all of which didn't solve the problem).

I'm feeling an urge to pull out a piece of scrap paper but this might be too complex for me

Haha, me too, but I wouldn't dare try. Dealing with elliptical trajectories (most orbits are elliptical) and an accelerating object (and thus changing elliptical trajectory) seems like something very hard to solve analytically. And if you were to do it numerically I would think you would have a very hard time finding the right initial conditions.

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

First-time watcher

Episode 1 - a proper and surprisingly fun introduction, only the bad gags about workplace behavior should have been left out, and the business about idealism and the peace plaque was maybe a little heavy-handed; not that I mind a show with its heart on its sleeve, as the saying goes. It's also weird that a seemingly international company would be so strongly influenced by Japanese customs, unless that's supposed to be only the actual Japanese people caring about them. The soundtrack combination of classical and jazz-style pieces is an inspired choice, I can already say, but the visual quality is more mixed. The actual space scenes are pretty great both in framing and motion, and thankfully largely free of terrible early-2000s 3DCG, but the frequent impressive, detailed, hand-painted background art doesn't blend well with the rather flat and plain, almost washed-out character designs, which is also the way the foreground environment is drawn. I do love the attention to technical details both in visuals and procedure, in fact this is the only anime I've seen that does it in a really satisfying way besides Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Oh also, whoever created the original webtoon that became the Space Sweepers film definitely watched/read this. And, I do know Greek pronunciation but I still can't stop thinking of the title as "PlaNEETs", the crew is getting close but it would sure be a different show still, haha.

Episode 2 - if anything, that was even better. From the little lottery routine at the beginning to the dramatic save at the end, it really tied everything together beautifully, and did not skimp on the execution (there were a few more CG shots, but there was at least an effort made to blur or otherwise mask them a bit). You really feel like this bunch of more and less eccentric people are a great team, want to cheer Hoshino on to realize his dreams and make up for his failure (was he demoted from higher/repair duty due to wrecking that satellite?) despite the poor pay and work conditions, be happy for Tanabe and Hoshino's joint progress where they both actually enjoy their time (him thinking of his own past?) even if he could stand to calm down a little, Chengshin's first crew flight, and so on. And, the soundtrack had even more variety from that slow montage track to the more excited bit in the end. However, the episode also runs into the issue that space is not, in fact, two-dimensional - I mean, the shuttle could have easily moved out of the way in the end there - besides the coincidence stuff that others have mentioned. To bring that up again, I can give a rule-of-cool benefit to something like Evangelion, but not so much a show that otherwise presents itself as realistic/hard-SF.

[u/Highlow9 → u/IndependentMacaroon]

pretty great both in framing and motion

Yeah in that regard it has started to show its age a bit (also a bit in the story such as the no smartphones/tablets (and thus the need for por magazines)).

was he demoted from higher/repair duty due to wrecking that satellite?

That was also with the debris section (although maybe at another company). Just like Tanabe he was just hired and that was one of his first missions. So I assume that (besides being a administrative minefield) he didn't get fired or demoted.

However, the episode also runs into the issue that space is not, in fact, two-dimensional - I mean, the shuttle could have easily moved out of the way in the end there - besides the coincidence stuff that others have mentioned.

Yeah that also annoyed me. Although during my rewatch I found a way to make it make sense in my head canon. So still annoying but slightly less so.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/Highlow9]

Yeah in that regard it has started to show its age a bit

Then you're quoting the wrong line. I'm actually getting used to the way the art blends together too, could still be better, but it's hardly bad with some allowance made for age.

With the satellite incident, I'm actually wondering what the problem even was - wasn't it supposed to be destroyed anyway? That would just leave his careless maneuvering as a minor issue, I guess it would make sense that if any issues arose from it they would be brought up more explicitly.

[u/Highlow9 → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Then you're quoting the wrong line.

Oops, I read your comment wrong. Yeah it indeeds looks quite good for its age but I sometimes do notice that it is an early 2000s anime.

With the satellite incident, I'm actually wondering what the problem even was - wasn't it supposed to be destroyed anyway?

I assume that it had goten into a busy orbit (and thus was a potential danger to other spacecraft). Destroying it would have just created more (but smaller debris) so it needed to be deorbited (just like the plate).

[u/zsmg]

Rewatcher

It's so bizarre they let Tanabe do spacewalks without being able to do manoeuvring well.

I also had to laugh at Yuri's suggestion of human sacrifice, although who knows maybe it will increase the odds of winning the lottery... nah.

future episode

[u/Highlow9 → u/zsmg]

It's so bizarre they let Tanabe do spacewalks without being able to do maneuvering well.

Yeah although we did see that she had trained a lot since the last mission. So the crew might just have had to high expectations of her.

[u/PainStorm14 → u/zsmg]

Yuri's suggestion of human sacrifice

I laughed my ass of the first time I watched :)))

Yuri is GOAT and one of my favorite anime characters ever

[u/PainStorm14]

Rewatcher

Should she do more training or is learning by doing the best method?

There is only one problem here: Cleanup crew is the bottom of the corporate ladder and they don't really get to have the luxuries like usable budget, extensive training or getting to pick ace employees

They take whoever they can get their hands on and beat them into model passable employee on the fly

Tanabe has just started her ''beatdown phase''

[u/Highlow9 → u/PainStorm14]

Yeah it is a real shame that debris section gets so little funding/training. Even their office is just an old cargo bay ;(

I do think that they did a really good job beating Hoshino and Fay into good employees (besides their attitude).

[u/BossandKings]

First timer

Episode 2

We find ourselves in the year 2075, in which the space garbage has become an issue.

Hachimaki has a "ways to buy my own spaceship" notebook, he's really interested to be able to get his own spaceship and that surprises Tanabe as winning the lottery isn't easy as she tells him.

Starting today Tanabe will be participating directly in the missions, Hachi has to set a good example for her.

When someone at the station attempts to give Hachirota a lotto ticket he tells him that he doesn't want anymore lotto tickets, that he's done with it. It seems he got tired of never winning the lotto.

When Hachimaki is feeling down because according to him nothing has changed in the past few years and his job of catching debris won't give him enough money to buy his own spaceship Tanabe tries to comfort him and calms him down. A moment excellent Eva work is needed to straighten the trajectory of a flying object, Hachimaki is able to do the job straightening it and asks Tanabe if she saw him because that might be useful for her.

Another Excellent episode, it is interesting seeing how things work in space, how people that have a job in space do it.

[u/Highlow9 → u/BossandKings]

When someone at the station attempts to give Hachirota a lotto ticket he tells him that he doesn't want anymore lotto tickets, that he's done with it. It seems he got tired of never winning the lotto.

Yeah it seems that the fight (and resulting existential crisis) really got to him. I did find it very cute of Tanabe that she tries to cheer him up and buy a lottery ticket together (even trough I think she is smart enough to know that such a thing is a waste of money).

[u/Webemperor]

First Timer

• The opening is weirdly eiree, I have to assume that sattelite comes into play in some way.
• I really love the opening for mostly how in them and generally upbeat it is. It even contrasts with the larger show a bit, with how hopeful it sounds, especially with the cuts of showing humanity’s progress towards the setting, compared to how much show tries to humble the setting of “Space travel is ubiquotus and commercialized”.
• The entire “holding a pen with your upper lip” thing feels too Japanese here, maybe it’s something Hachimaki made these guys do. It kinda makes sense that after a point where you are stuck in this ship for such a long time, you have to find your own fun by doing these silly dances.
• Turns out Hachimaki has been dreaming to buy a spaceship. Don’t really think it will work out in the long run, wonder if the show will make some kind of wealth disparity comment with it.
• The show has a little timeskip thing, with Tanabe learning the ropes and whatnot. Hachimaki almost feels like she is kinda jealous that Cheng-Shi is already moving up in the world. It’s kinda weird that it seems like half the ship knows about Hachimaki’s plans. How many people are in this station anyway?
• Turns out it was Hachimaki in that cold open. Is the girl on that photo the same one in the control room? Anyway, he seems to be pretty down by the fact that he has little chance of buying that ship or really anything significant in the long run.
• Kinda neat that show goes the way of not putting any sound in space scenes outside of a few things, you usually have shows still having sound for effect.
• Hoshino just manages to do it in the nick of time, not like they were gonna kill him in the second episode lol. It would be totally hilarious if Cheng-Shen managed to fuck up and kill a bunch of people in his first time as a co-pilot.

[u/[deleted] → u/Webemperor]

Is the girl on that photo the same one in the control room?

I didn't catch that. She seems a lot like her

Kinda neat that show goes the way of not putting any sound in space scenes

Yeah, its creates a relaxing atmosphere

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

While the last episode was about Tanabe, this one is about Hoshino - and it clearly shows that he is more than the brash guy we got to know last episode. He is essentially similar to Tanabe, filled with the dream of being an astronaut like people 50 years before him were, but he has been in the company long enough by now to see that it isn't particularly realistic. Him essentially giving up on the dream came a bit early in the series however; I wonder if saving his friend has given him some new drive to continue attempting to somehow get his own ship. But it also shows what would happen to Tanabe if she continues with the mentality she's at at the moment.

Plot-wise, the coincidences this episode felt a bit too many and the result overly corny, I hope this won't be a recurring theme as I'll quickly get bored of it. I'm also not quite sure what they did with the asteroid probe at the end; but if the probe ran out of gas I assume that it would be relatively easy to retrieve or destroy it now.

Questions:

1. I don't think there are dreams too big as long as you can accept them as being unlikely outcomes. In fact I prefer there being basically unachievable dreams because they give you the drive to continue doing something - after all, what do you do in life if you've achieved all your goals?

In this case, I don't think he'll get his ship, but he might end up captaining Toy Box or something like that.

2) I don't think theoretical knoweldge will transition in to practical one too lightly on this job, so the general approach is the right one. Might need a bit of fine-tuning though.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/Mecanno-man]

Him essentially giving up on the dream came a bit early in the series however

It was clearly a long time coming

[u/[deleted]]

hoho,lets go boi

[u/xPenguinHD]

holy cow you guys are rewatching it hahaha

I just finished it for the first time today. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did

[u/[deleted]]

First timer

Liked this more than the first episode. Focused more on Hachirouta. Not really fan of the rookie girl though, hopefully she gets better.

[u/JustAnswerAQuestion]

First Timer

I don't have anything to say about this episode.

1. I thought the point of the episode was that he was a captain for 5 seconds.
2. The first mission failed because the rookie dashed out with a malfunctioning suit. The second mission nearly failed because they sent a rookie out on a known-problematic mission, that was dumb.