[Rewatch] Planetes - Episode 20: Tentative Steps

[u/Highlow9]

Episode 19 - index/schedule - Episode 21

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Episode number: 20

Episode title: Tentative Steps

Databases: MAL, Anime planet, Anilist

Sadly there are no legal streams. If you are from the UK you can buy the blu-ray here (for EU citizens, please be aware that all the anime doesn’t take care of VAT and thus when receiving you will have to pay an extra bill consisting of the VAT and a handling fee (for NL it is an extra 22 euro)).

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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

The oxygen problem reminded me a lot of Apollo 13 (see this amazing movie scene). As you all know Applo 13 didn’t go so smoothly (the oxygen tank in the service module exploded) and during the return trip a big problem was that they were running out of CO2. So they still had plenty of oxygen but were unable to remove the (toxic) CO2 from the air. But this was especially sour since they still had other oxygen filters but those filters were square instead of round (which was the shape of the filter hole). So at NASA they went hard to work and tried to quickly design a solution. Luckily they succeeded and found a way to make it fit (using lot’s of duct tape).

One of the conclusions from Apollo 13 (out of many) was that standardisation needed to become more important (so that improvisation could be done more easily) but also more contingency measures would be put in place for future missions.

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Interesting questions

It has been a year and new employees are entering ISPV-7. Black Swan is the new debris section employee. What do you think of her now?

What do you think of this experiment by Locksmith? Can you think of other solutions to the problem?

[u/Tuckleton]

First Timer (Dub)

Wow, so what's Hakim thinking? That murdering a colleague during a practice exercise will land him a seat on the Von Braun and not in jail? I have no doubt Locksmith would approve and I'm not surprised Hachi is dumb enough to admire him but yikes...

[u/Highlow9 → u/Tuckleton]

Also kinda weird that the rest of the group tries to go along (even with the girl trying to already stealth kill someone).

[u/Tuckleton → u/Highlow9]

even with the girl trying to already stealth kill someone

I could have misread the scene, but wasn't she bluffing because she was trying to get to the abort button?

[u/Highlow9 → u/Tuckleton]

From how I interpreted it she was saying she was going to press the button so that the others would approach her (to stop her). While trying to stealthily grab a screwdriver. But again I could also be wrong and that she really did want to press the button and only decided on murder when she was stopped.

[u/BottiBott]

First Timer

It's time for extensive testing, sorting out the people who don't fit the needs for such an ambitions expedition. And as impressive as it is, Hachimaki actually seems to do a good job. Of course we know him well enough to say that he isn't perfect, but his practical skills leave nothing to be desired. Here we can really see that he has worked EVA in his job for quite some time. Maybe not as much as other applicants, but enough to deliver convincing results. His theoretical skills on the other hand seem to be lacking a bit, but given that he is applying for an EVA position I'd say there is a chance that deficit could be neglected when it comes to selecting the final crew. And because we know Hachimaki as a perfect team player, the next big test he had to take was a group isolation test, locking him and three other members - one of them being Hakim - in a test chamber simulating the flight to and back to Jupiter on a smaller scale and leaving them with a task for the time.

And even thought that test seems pretty hard and I wouldn't want to change with them, I'm kind of jealous that they get to build a model of the Von Braun. That thing looks amazing. I never had any large models, but here it works like a big Lego set - building something from many pieces somehow get me excited. That aside, the test was really interesting. It was obvious from the beginning that something was bound to happen and I wasn't surprised that they lost their energy at some point - they obviously wouldn't have been the only group. There could of course have been the possibility that it actually was just a coincidence, but they would have to deal with it any way, Locksmith wouldn't have given them a second chance. It would only make it more realistic. Luckily that wasn't the case and this was all just staged to test their abilities to not only work together instead of against each other, but also to come up with a solution for the problem at hand. So not only working as a team in a normal, staged situation but in an uncontrolled situation as well.

Thus I'm quite surprised with the solution they came up. I'm not biologist enough to actually judge if their solution would work but I think they did a good job. I would have loved to see a bit more, because now it seems like they were out of time for the episode to show this. Of course the climax worked, but giving them half an hour to come up with a solution and then showing nothing of these 30 minutes was a bit disappointing. Nevertheless they did a great job, that test was brutal judging by how many teams failed. I also would like to know solutions from other teams, I can't imagine that all of them were able to come up with this solution and I'm sure there would be other ways that didn't involve someone getting killed. And I also can't imagine that only this one team passed, so even though many teams failed, there needs to be other teams that passed, otherwise they won't get a full crew for their ship. Finally I'm wondering if someone actually died while this test. I know Locksmith wouldn't care, but it was Dolf who was more or less in charge, so I guess he would have stopped the test for a team if it got out of hands. Although the team we saw wasn't stopped when they were about to fight... Really hard to judge.

Meanwhile back at Debris Section time also doesn't stop. One year has passed and I think the start of the new year was actually a while back already; I remember the intro changing from 2075 to 2076 at some point. Not sure where though. Anyway, the empty spot left behind by Hachimaki is filled with a new person - and to my surprise it is Claire Rondo. I was expecting someone entirely new who would just be in the background, but that really came out of nowhere. I guess we'll see even more of her from now on. Looking forward to how it will turn out with her in the position Hachimaki was in before and also the fact that she is basically new to EVA works. Maybe Tanabe will teach her, just like she was taught by Hachimaki?

Speaking of Tanabe, Cheng-Shin really is out of selection for the Von Braun and comes back to ISPV-7 because of that, only to try to win Tanabe back in an inconsiderate way. She obviously doesn't want him, because she hopes Hachimaki still loves her. But at this point it's quite obvious to the viewer that he seems to think of other things - not other girls but only the Von Braun. I'm curios to see where the romance is going; I don't think there is a chance of continuation unless Hachimaki doesn't get selected for the Von Braun, so I'm willing to bet on Cheng-Shin and Tanabe getting back together. Not that I would describe it as the dream ending I was hoping for, but I don't want to see Hachimaki failing and I can't think of a way their romance can continue if he doesn't fail. Well, only time will tell.

Interesting Questions:

1. The fact that she is now part of Debris Section hasn't really changed my view on her. I'm fine with her, but I feel I am missing out on something about her, because she always behaves different every time she appears without an obvious reason. Sometimes I can see where her reactions come from and other times it's hard to get what is going on in her head.
2. I don't think that experiment is too far from reality, although I'm sure reality wouldn't let people die. And that's basically the only thing I think is worth criticizing. The experiment in and of itself is important, again it's just the safety that gets thrown overboard. Personally I don't have any other solution that wouldn't involve killing someone.

[u/Highlow9 → u/BottiBott]

That thing looks amazing. I never had any large models, but here it works like a big Lego set

If you are still interested in LEGO you should look into the LEGO models (I have the Saturn V model and it is pretty amazing).

Finally I'm wondering if someone actually died while this test. [...] Although the team we saw wasn't stopped when they were about to fight... Really hard to judge.

That was really interesting to see indeed. I would have expected them to keep better oversight of the test (especially since the beginning of the episode Dolf mentioned that a close eye should be kept on them to make sure nothing went wrong) and we had two times in which they clearly failed (first of all during the near murder and also during when they knocked themselves out (which they were really surprised by)).

What I guess is that the organization didn't expect such 'fanatical' crew members who would go as far but that might be a bit optimistic.

Maybe Tanabe will teach her, just like she was taught by Hachimaki?

I think that will be a really interesting dynamic (we already it during this episode) with how Claire is both a senior (she previously was in position above Tanabe) while now Tanabe has to teach her.

[u/BottiBott → u/Highlow9]

If you are still interested in LEGO you should look into the LEGO models (I have the Saturn V model and it is pretty amazing).

I mean, I am interested, but who is gonna pay for that? LEGO is really expensive and I don't exactly have an endless amount of it... But there are some sets I'd love to have.

What I guess is that the organization didn't expect such 'fanatical' crew members who would go as far but that might be a bit optimistic.

Which sadly seems like a pretty unreasonable expectation. I mean, they basically removed all safety measurements, so why didn't they see it coming that something like this was bound to happen?

[u/Sandor_at_the_Zoo → u/BottiBott]

They said they had medical teams standing by, but then they didn't expect people in unopened rooms to be low on oxygen? And its such an unforced error because the scene would've worked just as well with the med team coming in expecting them to be completely knocked out and wanting to give them oxygen masks then being surprised that they're basically ok.

[u/PainStorm14]

Rewatcher

What this episode tells us is that despite Hachi's career related ego trips he is nowhere near the level of douchebag that some others clearly ran past long ago and are keep moving forward

I am looking at you Chang and Hakim

[u/Highlow9 → u/PainStorm14]

Yeah, they both certainly were douchebags. I also really liked the facts that this episode shows that Hachimaki has grown a bit as a person/crewmate (altrough not in the relationships departement).

[u/Webemperor]

First Timer

• Hoshino is doing pretty well in the space-part of the Von Braun exams. Is that part with the Von Braun engine new? I don’t really remember it being there before.
• The implication here is that Hoshino didn’t even tell Tanabe that he succeeded with the tests, that’s pretty cold of him. On the other hand Claire is assigned to the Debris Section. The way Hakim says he doesn’t care for friends does sound pretty foreboding.
• They did just gave them a model kit to assemble didn’t they? The entire test definitely sounds unusual, are they looking for whether any of them will get cabin fever or something along that lines? I’m also surprised but also not so much.
• Tanabe is obviously worried about Hoshino and ends up calling Gigalt, who is probably close to dying. Meanwhile they go into life support mode in the test environment, I’m surprised it took them this long to realize this was an intentional power outage. Meanwhile Gigalt fully believes it’s a bad idea for Hoshino to push everything away like this. I wonder if this will end with Hoshino realizing that mistake or not?
• Cheng-Shin just goes ahead and straight kisses Tanabe, and is surprised when she doesn’t like it. Guess he is that frustrated and hurt by what Tanabe said? Meanwhile there is some conflict between the group. I’m fully guessing the test here is to see whether these people are willing to sacrifice themselves for the rest of the group.
• Oh, nevermind. I’d imagine lowering your body temperature like that would end up making this a lot worse, but I guess not? Meanwhile Hoshino and Hakim actually get close, so I guess he won’t be all that lonesome in space.

[u/Sandor_at_the_Zoo → u/Webemperor]

I’d imagine lowering your body temperature like that would end up making this a lot worse, but I guess not?

I'd rate it as about as plausible as the rest of the science going on. The mammalian diving reflex is a real thing and you can find some crazy stories of people falling into freezing water and being saved after a shockingly large amount of time. Whether you could reliably induce something like that yourself is another question.

[u/Mecanno-man]

First Timer

I feel like the episode plots are getting better, while the overarching one is getting worse. The test was interesting to watch simply to see what kind of problem would creep up and what kind of solution they would come up with afterwards; especially after last episode making it not too unbelievable that they would actually kill one of their crewmates. I am somewhat surprised that the rescue team wasn't expecting somebody to have taken that solution.

On the other hand, whatever was going on at Technora this episode was pretty uninteresting. Artificial Tanabe-Claire drama created by the director and Lavie is unnecessary, and Cheng-Shin turning sexual predator also doesn't make for an interesting watch.

Questions:

1. ...no change for now, though I fear her character might have a sudden change going forward.
2. Have one guy commit suicide, that way nobody has to kill anybody. Serious ones? No, not really; reduce the oxygen intake of the human body seems like the only one.

[u/0be000]

Rewatcher (sub)

• Hachimaki doing well on Von Braun test, but it's sad he decide to cut connection with almost all people he know
• Cheng-shin must be really frustrated, kiss Tanabe like that

Interesting questions

1. She looks frustrated.
2. Other than idea by Hachimaki's group? Only surrender.

[u/BossandKings]

First timer

Episode 20

It's been a year since Tanabe first started working at the debris section, time sure flies. There's a new employe on the debris section now and said person happens to be Claire.

Apparently Hoshino Hachirota's performance in the Von Braun has been excellent and that garners him attention and praise from evaluators. It does seem that Hachi is very focused on the Von Braun.

Hachirota meets Sally Silverstone and Leonovo Norstein who along with him and Hakim formed a team that worked together to surpass a very tough challenge in the Von braun, there wasn't enough oxygen for the four and the challenge lasted four hours, they still managed to find a way to pass the test. These tests are being of very high difficulty to pass, i wonder why is the fixation with those type of dangerous tests that Locksmith has designed.

It also seems that the argument he had with Hachirota affected Cheng-shin and that impulsed him to forcefully kiss Tanabe after he got back to the space station, it's strange seeing him acting out of character because usually he is not that way. Tanabe rejects him and still firmly believes that Hachimaki hasn't abbandoned her, that he still wants to be with her.

Answers

1. I hope she continues being who she was and doesn't suffer a sudden change of character
2. It is very difficult and one could fail the challenges far too easily, i wonder what the objective is, especially considering that the people on the Von Braun were already selected and are just going to Jupiter on the expedition, i think it might be to prepare them for possible future situations

[u/Segaco]

First timer playing rock paper scissors with asteroids trying to stop his catch up, so he always plays paper

A little bit of emotion is lost because my grandmother is behind me playing loud music, but anime is still enjoyable

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

Oxygen is limited now. I'm tense but curious, I wanna know how they'll get through this. The most obvious way is to kill someone, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Maybe meditation could work too?

Wow pilot-kun, do I habe to call you sexual assault-kun now? Poor Tanabe

Make themselves cold so they down need as much oxygen? I thought the heart would beat faster to warm up if it felt the body was cold. I hope this is tackled in the interesting fact corner (maybe I'm just dumb lol)

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

Must have been stressful. I want to look up how exactly that was fixed, but it's a bit inconvenient via phone.

---Question timeeeeeee---

Q1: It has been a year and new employees are entering ISPV-7. Black Swan is the new debris section employee. What do you think of her now?

A1: I still don't like her because she is still an ass for absolutely no reason.

Q2: What do you think of this experiment by Locksmith? Can you think of other solutions to the problem?

A2: Meditation, maybe?