Manga Review - Planetes #3

I gave the first couple of these a good review a while back; and from other sources had expected this to be the final volume, culminating in the Jupiter expedition that has formed the running motivation. But it isn't.

What attracted me about the first two volumes was the not-quite business as usual future, with its attention to plausible technical, social and psychological issues, reminiscent, as I wrote, of the young Arthur Clarke. This volume is a continuation of the previous two, adding some more back story, without even reaching the launch of the Jupiter expedition. But the thing about continuations is that they by definition don't stay in the same place. And this one drifts from psychological to nigh-mystical in a way that feels like it's copping out.

And there's a teaser for the next volume at the very end, which is a spoiler of the worst sort, one that retroactively casts a shadow over the whole series to date.

Effective, well written and drawn, but drifting away from what I liked about the first parts. Bummer!

[Now playing - Lullaby - Yuki Kajiura]