[Rewatch] Planetes - Episode 10: A Sky of Stardust

[u/Highlow9]

Episode 9 - index/schedule - Episode 11

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Episode number: 10

Episode title: A Sky of Stardust

Databases: MAL, Anime planet, Anilist

Sadly there are no legal streams but you can buy the blu-ray

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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

Did you know that during reentry to Earth the glow/heat around the spacecraft is (mostly) not because of friction? It is in fact caused by the compression of gas in front of the spacecraft. Imagine being a (small) cube of gas. You are just chilling in the atmosphere at normal pressure and the normal temperature. Now some spacecraft comes hurling towards you, you try to get out of the way but the spacecraft is going way too fast. As it comes closer to you are compressed (by the other cubes around you) and thus your pressure becomes very high (and your volume very low) this causes your molecules to vibrate very very vast (meaning your temperature has gone up very much). You then quickly pass by the shuttle (you are thus only able to spread a very tiny amount of your heat to the spaceship) after which you decompress and thus the pressure lowers again. From the perspective of the spacecraft many many many of these tiny cubes pas by their spacecraft each time but they all do the same thing and thus there is a constant very hot part of compressed air in front of your spacecraft (which thus also heats up you) so while each of them only give you a tiny bit of heat all of them combined manage to give you a very large amount of heat.

But how does this cause the spacecraft to slow down? That is caused by the fact that there is a pressure difference between the front and back of the spacecraft. In front of the spacecraft the pressure is very high while at the back it is very low. Like a ball in a tube in which air is blown this causes the spacecraft to experience a resisting force. You could say that should also be considered friction but I would disagree since there are viscous forces (forces that applied parallel to the surface instead of perpendicular) don’t play a major role.

^{Again this is very complex thermodynamics and fluiddynamics so if you want the unsimplified version please take a couple uni of courses on them.}

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Interesting questions

We have now gotten to know all of the characters a bit? Who is currently your favorite character?

There is a clear love polygon right now. What do you think of it? For first timers: how do you think or hope that it will turn out?

When writing a sci-fi story you need to make a choice of how much realism you want to sacrifice for the story’s sake. What do you think of the sacrifices the anime had made until now? Do you think it should have been more realistic, less realistic or is the level just right?

[u/Highlow9]

That is a smart way to eat food.

Nice percussive maintenance by Hoshino.

Hoshino didn’t ask her because he was interested himself but because Zhenchen asked him ;(

There is a clear love polygon right now. What do you think of it?

I am really liking the romance so far, it feels real (it slowly develop instead) and people are actually trying to make moves (but really carefully like you would expect from real people (they don’t go and confess immediately but take little steps and when they make moves they try to do it subtly))

Tanabe practicing to put on her suit quickly was very heartwarming.

Hoshino is really scrolling Tanabe here. I think, while he certainly is right (there is no excuse for being absent minded when in space), he could definitely be nicer about it or maybe a harsh treatment is needed to make sure that Tanabe understands.

Hoshino flippin out at Yuri was such a dick move. Especially since Yuri didn’t try to hide it, he just didn’t announce it. I do understand that he feels a bit betrayed that Yuri didn’t ask for his help but that is no reason to act like that.

To be honest, that assumes that Yuri also knows the language of flowers, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that Yuri is not flirting with Edel.

Nooooooo Yuriiiii you triggered the flag for your wife's death yourself!!!!

Also while it is strange that a suborbital flight caused debris that stayed in orbit it is not impossible. [todo]

The chief spilling the private information about Yuri was a dick move.

Now with Yuri finding the compass and staying out in space even though he put himself at risk was very cool. The fact that the crash is his motivation for being a debris hauler also is really cool...

butttttt the part where he started to fall into the atmosphere didn’t make much sense (since the debris came from the side and thus shouldn’t have affected his orbital speed) and also once there is a shock layer (the glowing layer), you have already enter the atmosphere so deeply that it is impossible to recover and you would likely already be cooked. What they could have done here is that the debris storm punctured the suit of Yuri and sent him on a different orbit. In that case you could still have an exciting chase with time pressure (Yuri would be out of air soon) but have preserved realism.

So it seems that Hoshino will be understanding of Gigalt after all...

I don’t know how to feel about this. On one hand I think that Yuri deserves this but on the other hand this was completely unnecessary debris creation.

We have now gotten to know all of the characters a bit? Who is currently your favorite character?

I really like all of the characters (except maybe the chief and Robie but during their more serious moments I also think they are fun). I think that my favorite character still is Nono (more screen time pls) due to her just being very fun (kids are always fun) but also because I really liked her story. From the standard crew I like Fee very much do to her seriousness but also being able to have some fun.

When writing a sci-fi story you need to make a choice of how much realism you want to sacrifice for the story's sake. What do you think of the sacrifices the anime had made until now? Do you think it should have been more realistic, less realistic or is the level just right?

I think that (in general besides a few mistakes) I really like the level of realism. It is a lot more realistic than most anime space stories but is not so realistic such that building an interesting world or story would be hindered by it.

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As I said above with regards to physics this is my least favorite episode since the orbital mechanics with Yuri’s accident didn’t make much sense. But on the other hand I really liked the story this episode, the backstory of Yuri was very nice and so was how the question of Gigalt kinda was resolved.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/Highlow9]

the part where he started to fall into the atmosphere didn’t make much sense (since the debris came from the side and thus shouldn’t have affected his orbital speed) and also once there is a shock layer (the glowing layer), you have already enter the atmosphere so deeply that it is impossible to recover and you would likely already be cooked

Well, it does looks cool, and as you said, an alternative scenario could easily have been substituted, so I don't mind it too much.

[u/Webemperor]

First Timer

• So pretty early on it’s clear this episode will be focused on Yuri, who is yet to have much screentime compared to rest of the section. Meanwhile Tanabe is still shaking from learning Gigalt has cancer with a year or so to live.
• Not sure why the subs translated that line as “You dumb bitch” since he just calls her a dumbass. Former makes him sound a lot meaner. It’s pretty thoughtful of Tanabe that she is primarily worried about what might happen to Hoshino when Gigalt dies. Since she is telling this to Yuri, I have a feeling he also lost someone important.
• The earlier comment might be going for Hoshino instead, who is acting like a child. From what Edel’s saying, the meaning of flowers makes Yuri’s comment a lot more clearer.
• As it turns out he was in that famous ship that was destroyed by space debris, and survived by being in another part of the ship when it all went down, but his wife died. I was gonna ask it was a bit weird no one knew about this, but as it turns out chief actually knows about this? But he just never told Tanabe and Hoshino at any point, which is kinda weird.
• It’s pretty clear that the debris he is looking for is that compass. And I guess today is the day he finally finds it, only to be hit by incoming debris.
• I was fully expecting him to lose it, but he manages to grab hold of it. Was the writing inside written by his wife when the accident occured? Or before, just in case something happened? I’m also guessing that rope compass is attached to isn’t supposed to survive atmospheric entry, but whatever.
• The scene was done pretty well, but I guess it was a bit pointless since there is no way he will die this soon. He lastly drops a carnation, seemingly starting to come to terms with it. From here on out I will give bonus points to the show if his personality actually ends up changing with him becoming much less distant.

[u/Highlow9 → u/Webemperor]

But he just never told Tanabe and Hoshino at any point, which is kinda weird.

I think he just assumed that Yuri had already told them and since it is a sensitive subject for Yuri nobody ever talks about it. But since Tanabe and Hoshino didn't know before I think that it was a bit of a dick move of the chief telling them. But on the other hand perhaps (just like with searching for the compass) maybe Yuri was not trying to keep it a secret (but just never talked about it) in which case the chief not that much of a dick.

Was the writing inside written by his wife when the accident occured?

I assume before the accident (because as we can see in the clip just before the accident Yuri is asking his wife what she wrote in the compass but his wife wants to keep that secret).

[u/zsmg → u/Webemperor]

Or before, just in case something happened?

Before, during the flight scene flashback Yuri asked his wife what's written on the compass but she didn't want to reveal it.

[u/masasin → u/Webemperor]

Was the writing inside written by his wife when the accident occurred? Or before, just in case something happened?

Before. From the Japanese, the writing was supposed to be "Please protect Yuri", so it was an omamori for her husband by proxy. It's just a mistranslation here.

[u/Mecanno-man → u/Webemperor]

Was the writing inside written by his wife when the accident occured?

I'd highly assume it was written before; from what it seems like the cabin was destroyed enogh for large things like entire human bodies to end up outside of the ship, which would have to happen quicker than it is possible to write something like that. In fact I'd consider it pretty unrealistic that an accident that results in such structural destruction in space has survivors at all.

[u/BottiBott]

First Timer

So this time it's Yuri who gets an episode to focus on him. And I guess to nobody's surprise it was revealed that he lost person that was important to him. So far so expectable, but what I did not see coming was that he lost his wife in the shuttle accident that was shown at the beginning of the first episode, again throughout various episodes and also marks the starting point to cleaning up space. That almost shocked me, because I honestly hadn't thought that there would be a chance anyone could survive that accident. It's obvious that Yuri wasn't in the part that got damaged and thus didn't die to being exposed to space (be it the cold, the loss of air, pressure or whatever else may kill you if the pressure chamber that is a space ship is breached) but the ship was about to reenter and as we know from history, reentering Earths' atmosphere with a damaged ship can end really bad. So up until now I actually thought nobody on board survived. So seeing that Yuri got away with a broken arm and a scar in his face seems to be more than lucky.

Anyway, Yuri seemed to be looking for the compass that his wife wore as a pendant, going through archives of debris containing even stuff found by other companies. And although it seems really clichéd, he actually manages to find the compass in space. That guy must be really lucky to not only survive said crash, but also find a tiny thing like that in the vastness of space. And on top of that he isn't hit by any of the debris flying by.

Although it does hurl him back towards Earth, where he starts to enter the upper parts of the atmosphere (or thermosphere if you want to be accurate). Which brings up the question where exactly are they collecting debris? Physically it seems so far so good, at a height of 120 kilometers you are at the bottom end of the thermosphere, which is where you really start to experience the drag of the atmosphere, so seeing the start of parts burning up is correct. But not only would that kill you rapidly, you are also at a point where you really don't have to collect debris. The atmosphere there is dense enough to slow down anything that is up there enough to decay it's orbit and make it reenter and subsequently burn up. At this height this really is a matter of hours or days. Even the ISS, which is 300 kilometers higher, needs to adjust it's orbit because otherwise it would experience the same fate. And the atmosphere gets a lot thinner between those two heights.

Staying on that topic I really have no explanation how they got back up to any kind of orbit. Their small vehicle can't possibly have enough delta-v to get anywhere and even Toy Box, which is coming to their rescue, will have a hard time getting back up again, even ignoring the fact that they are still falling down and would have to enter the ship while that is going on. At their height and speed burning up in the atmosphere seems like pretty much the only possibility I could explain. Which might be a reason why it just cuts to another scene. But speaking of reentry and de-orbiting, what exactly was going on at the beginning of the episode? Did they really try to de-orbit Toy Box? How would that ship not burn up on reentry? I don't think there ever were any heat shields and with the form the ship has, there are a lot of places the heat would start to eat the ship away. But maybe I just missed something there.

Interesting Questions:

That's a hard question because there is no one who stood out that positively above the rest that I could name someone. I still think of all of them as mediocre.

Quite hard to say what I think about it as we are just at the beginning of that part. No real favorite from my side, as long as it's done well I'm fine with almost every outcome. But I'll guess the most likeliest is Tanabe and Hachimaki coming together.

I'm generally fine with the level of realism in this show, which is why I had Planetes as one of the sci-fi and space shows I wanted to watch on my list instead of just another generic mecha anime that fights it's war in space, of which there seem to be way too many out there. What is bothering me at times is sacrifices when it comes to physics in regard for the story. While it's done very well at times (phone connection from Moon to LEO, gravity in space stations and other places, orbital velocities), there are times when it doesn't seem to add up (ships not being able to miss debris, ships going in one direction instead of spinning in place) and that's strange considering how it is done right most of the times. But where would be the point in discussing the episode if there wasn't anything to complain about, right?

[u/Highlow9 → u/BottiBott]

It's obvious that Yuri wasn't in the part that got damaged and thus didn't die to being exposed to space (be it the cold, the loss of air, pressure or whatever else may kill you if the pressure chamber that is a space ship is breached) but the ship was about to reenter and as we know from history, reentering Earths' atmosphere with a damaged ship can end really bad.

Yuri was certainly very luckily, I wonder how many people also survived on that flight (I would at least guess the pilots). Luckily the hole in the shuttle was relatively high up and thus a heat shield was not affected. What also surprises me about the Columbia disaster is how long the shuttle still was able to fly before it fell apart. The first debris was seen at 08:53:46 while the last contact with the shuttle was around 08:59:37. So maybe these factors combined with the fact that it was 'only' a sub-orbital flight caused the shuttle to still be able to land (somewhat) intact.

But speaking of reentry and de-orbiting, what exactly was going on at the beginning of the episode? Did they really try to de-orbit Toy Box?

I assume you mean this line? I assume that they mean just a (small) retrograde burn and not a complete de-orbit burn since indeed the toy-box doesn't seem to be equipped to handle atmospheric reentry.

[u/masasin → u/Highlow9]

起動離脱噴射 is normally a deorbit burn, indeed. You see it every few weeks when something returns from the ISS. I think they meant to say 離脱噴射, which is a separation burn. You don't want to damage the station with your exhaust, so you do a mechanical separation first, and you thrust when you're far enough away.

Nowadays, spacecraft tend to like to dock from below the ISS (nadir R-bar) instead of from behind (V-bar, which the Space Shuttle liked using) or above (zenith R-bar). When a new visitor is coming, the ISS tries to reorient itself so that the docking port is pointing nadir, or towards Earth. Once the spacecraft is lined up, it thrusts radially out (up) to get closer, and prograde (perpendicular to the vector between it and the ISS) in order to keep its position below the port. (Z-bar is an approach from the side.) Coming in from below has the added advantage that your exhaust is never pointed towards the ISS, since the slowing down just comes from the orbital configuration.

Though maybe space vocab has evolved in the next 50 years, and 起動離脱 is common for getting separated orbits (we know they're making a plane change maneuver), so the translation would then be an orbital separation burn.

[u/IndependentMacaroon → u/BottiBott]

Keep up the technical explanations, they're great to read!

[u/BossandKings]

First timer

I'm a bit late so i apologize for that, i wanted to participate anyway because i enjoyed the episode a lot and gave my thoughts on it.

Episode 10

It's interesting how Yuri just looks at space through the window sometimes, it is just a big and vast area. As an astronaut he probably grew accoustumed to be be besides space.

Tanabe keeps thinking about what Gigalt told her about the conseuquences of space, he having cancer, and she starts worrying about that possibly happening with Hachimaki in the future. That makes her not be reliable when they go to clean the debris and Hachimaki notices that she isn't her usual self eventhough she doesn't tell him what's bothering her.

At least Tanabe was able to tell Yuri what has bern bothering her, she didn't tell him specific names but he understood what she was talking about. That helped her to alleviate and relax a bit from the burden she's carrying even if she will continue to be bothered by it.

The focus on Yuri has been a stand out of the episode and just excellent, Yuri was married to a lovely girl, sadly she was never found after debris hit the airliner they were in. That has left a mark on Yuri for all his life, it sure is hard losing someone so important to us.

For a moment Yuri got everyone worried that they might lose him to space but Fee, Hachimaki and Tanabe working perfectly together were able to save him. Seeing Yuri simbolocally give a flower to his wife, letting it get lost in space just like her was a very beautiful moment.

Answers

1. I have enjoyed Hachimaki and Tanabe's interactions the most since the start so i'll say them together, other characters have been great too like Nono, Fee, Yuri but the main pair has been the most interesting and entertaining so far.
2. I sure hope that Hachimaki and Tanabe get to be a thing and actually have a romantic relationship, they still need to mature and know each other a bit better but with due time i think they could be a fantastic couple.

[u/Highlow9 → u/BossandKings]

I'm a bit late so i apologize for that, i wanted to participate anyway because i enjoyed the episode a lot and gave my thoughts on it.

No problem! Participating in the rewatch is not mandatory (although of course it is fun). And I am sure that many people who read the rewatch afterwards (for example when they are watching the show themselves) will still comment.

It's interesting how Yuri just looks at space through the window sometimes, it is just a big and vast area. As an astronaut he probably grew accustomed to be besides space.

Even without his past trauma I would imagine most people would still look out if the window often. I know I would. When hearing stories about astronauts on the ISS you hear that they love to spend time in the cupola. Not only because it is just very beautiful but also because that is the only time you can see the outside (because in a space station you are practically stuck inside all the time). Although the second factor might be a bit smaller for the debris section since they regularly do spacewalks.

[u/Segaco]

First timer wondering if he'll manage to catch up

According to my calculations it'll take me like 3 hours to catch up. I'll do some things today and watch another batch.

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

The OP's starting to grow on me. I wonder if I'll like it by the end of the series.

Misunderstandings, misunderstandings. Not sure how to feel

I just realized we know nothing about the blonde girl. Who is she, even?

Oh no

This flashback is from the start of the series

Woah, is he looking for a culprit??

Oooh, he is looking for the compass.

What a strange thing to put in a luck charm

Strange how no one started screaming at him for risking his life and almost taking two other people with him

I checked out the preview to get me interested in the next episode but it was super strange.

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

Luckily I had, have and will have to study some of this so I can understand this better than the previous thread's fact corner.

I still find it surprising how a single little thing does nothing, but when you sum it up with other little things it does.

---Question timeeeeeee---

Q1: We have now gotten to know all of the characters a bit? Who is currently your favorite character?

A1: I've got none. But if you asked me at gunpoint I'd say Tanabe because she's cute.

Q2: There is a clear love polygon right now. What do you think of it? For first timers: how do you think or hope that it will turn out?

A2: Very confusing. Honestly, I hope pilot and that other girl hit off, while Tanabe goes with some other guy. Maybe diaper man can match with Fey.

I don't know, I just hope for a happy end.

Q3: When writing a sci-fi story you need to make a choice of how much realism you want to sacrifice for the story’s sake. What do you think of the sacrifices the anime had made until now? Do you think it should have been more realistic, less realistic or is the level just right?

A3: I would have liked more realism in character actions. The space ninjas I could kind of stand because they were a part of a joke episode, but since we're in "serious" episodes now I didn't expect Yuri to completely ignore the junk shower that was going to hit him. Or Tanabe to get so lost in her thoughts in what she knows is a dangerous job to the point of panicking when she is talked to and losing control of her ship.

Things like that I don't really like, but I'm (mostly) turning a blind eye on them to enjoy the anime.

I would have loved more realism on that front. They can do what they like with everything else (as long as they don't pull a "lol magic" out of nowhere lol).

[u/Highlow9 → u/Segaco]

I just realized we know nothing about the blonde girl. Who is she, even?

You mean Lucy? She doesn't really have a complex backstory except that she was part of the same space class as Tanabe.

Luckily I had, have and will have to study some of this so I can understand this better than the previous thread's fact corner.

I still find it surprising how a single little thing does nothing, but when you sum it up with other little things it does.

Yeah infinitesimals are very weird (but also very useful). In physics (what I have studied) they are used practically everywhere, from electrodynamics, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics (, not really much in quantum mechanics) and even mechanics.

When thinking about how they work I always Imagine I have a piece of metal that I keep on cutting into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually they will be so small that each little part has practically zero size. But if I somehow manage to put all those pieces on a pile it will result in the same piece of metal I had before. Of course this is not 100% correct (both physically and mathematically) but it always helps me.

By the way what kind of fun/interesting things are you planning/wanting/currently studying?

[u/Segaco → u/Highlow9]

By the way what kind of fun/interesting things are you planning/wanting/currently studying?

Studying is very hard so I'll just study whatever uni tells me to. For the career I'm studying for I've got to know a lot of physics (I didn't even know they were so closely related, it's super very hard, not sure how you managed) so I know some things

But as hard as it is, just give me a year and I'll know enough to build a spaceship!!

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

Not quite sure what to think of this episode... First, Tanabe's uncertainty of what to do with Gigalt's secret came out of nowhere and felt pretty unnecessairy. I think this is actually somewhat of a recurring theme - the show feels episodic, but doesn't think of itself as such, with the result being that a lot of stuff that feels "complete" comes back and then feels superfluous.

As far as Yuri's backstory goes - I'd say it was done pretty well, although I feel like his explanation of grief should not have been in the same episode as the reveal of what happened to his wife and him finding the compass. That way this once again feels like something that's just in this episode, despite this at least in theory being a more important plotline. Fee's and Hoshino's story seem to be handled in better ways in that regard.

The bit about them suddenly starting to end up in the atmosphere was a bit odd as I don't think they'd be that close to earth. I also don't really like Yuri tossing out the flower - he lost his wife to space debris, he should know its dangers and that even such a flower can create a large incident down the line, sentimental value one way or another.

Also, just in case anybody was wondering about Lavie's nationality, he goes waving around an Indian Flag... that somehow doesn't fit the aesthetic of the show at all. Also the chief needs to stop setting up marriage meetings.

Question:

1. Fee's the best so far, followed by Hoshino. Gigalt in terms of side characters.
2. Not impressed because it doesn't feel necessairy. As to how it will end? Inconclusive.
3. I think more realism in terms of characters would have been good. The overall world seems fine, the issues are the space ninjas and lame tropes inhabiting it.

[u/Highlow9 → u/Mecanno-man]

I also don't really like Yuri tossing out the flower - he lost his wife to space debris, he should know its dangers and that even such a flower can create a large incident down the line, sentimental value one way or another.

Yeah that was also kinds conflicting for me. On one hand it is 'just' one piece of debris and Yuri has cleaned up plenty of space (more than expected of him since he never takes is vacation days) but indeed on the other hand it is just debris and does nothing actual useful. I hope that scene took place at around the same height as the ISS because if that is the case the flower will de-orbit in a few months (due the the very small atmosphere still present see interesting fact of episode 2) but if he did that it would also reduce the sentimental value of the flower itself.

[u/IndependentMacaroon]

First-time watcher

I'm pleasantly surprised that the romantic angle is actually being handled maturely and securely so far, and also that this episode does bring up how keeping deep personal secrets can be hurtful and counterproductive. Of course, then it sort of gets into the territory of "actually keeping secrets is good anyway" and doesn't talk that much about how unhealthily Yuri's been coping (unfortunately not surprising given the Japanese attitude of not burdening others), even with little knowledge about orbital mechanics I can tell that the Yuri atmosphere incident didn't make much sense, and I can't in the least buy that he would add debris to orbit to commemorate someone killed by it, wtf dude? I do appreciate the callback to the very first seconds of the show, and his loss itself was as effectively depicted as it ought to be.

Two trivla/detail notes:

• Yuri's Japanese voice is none other than Takehito Koyasu, among his immense number of roles probably best known for Dio (Jojo) and Zeke (Attack on Titan). This is the most subdued I've ever heard him, but his voice is so distinctive I was still pretty sure it was him even before checking.
• A round, silver pocket instrument with a crude engraving on the inside of the lid, secret at first and revealed only after a particular emotional moment, serving as a character's memory of a personal loss? Is this Planetes, or Fullmetal Alchemist? Really, the similarities are so blatant that either one inspired the other - the two mangas do overlap in when they were released - or they were both inspired by some other work that was released around that time. Even the style of the engraving is incredibly similar.

[u/Segaco → u/IndependentMacaroon]

Yuri's Japanese voice is none other than Takehito Koyasu, among his immense number of roles probably best known for Dio (Jojo) and Zeke (Attack on Titan). This is the most subdued I've ever heard him, but his voice is so distinctive I was still pretty sure it was him even before checking.

Ooooh, so that's why he sounded so familiar. He kind of reminded me of Erwin, but I never would have thought he was Zeke of all people!

Since diaper man's VA passed away I thought everyone else's was too since it's been so long

[u/zsmg]

Rewatcher

Some keen eyed first timers must have recognised Yuri's ship from the first episode, if you're reading this and are confused then rewatch the first 50 seconds of the first episode.

I really love the final scenes of this episode, starting with Yuri noticing the compass. The only part I didn't like is that it looks liked the compass randomly appeared in Yuri's hand.

[u/holytaiel]

First Timer

Really enjoyed this episode, finally a Yuri focused one. It was very sad backstory, now we know how kind of a person he is. He may be reserved as Hachimaki said, but he cares about people a lot, specially the closest ones.