It almost doesn’t feel real, but it really is happening. Mizukami in anime form – it’s like a dream (which makes the opening of the series rather ironic). I actually got quite emotional a few times watching this episode, because this is a legitimately historical moment. When a long-overdue adaptation of a manga masterpiece happens, that’s emotional in itself. But when it’s one of the greatest living mangaka whose work has never, ever seen anime form – not even a sniff – that’s on another level. Better late than never but damn, anime – you’re fucking late.
My take on the premiere of Planet With is pretty straightforward – glorious. Mizukami glorious. So much Mizukami in every frame. There may be no more recognizable mangaka in the world than Mizukami Satoshi – not just in terms of visuals (though his characters are utterly unmistakable) but his narrative style. And not only that, but that style is so perfect for anime that it practically epitomizes the essence of what classic anime is. The perspective, the vibe, the look – I don’t want to obsess over this, but how in the world can this have taken so long?
Sadly, I probably know the answer. Planet With is likely going to tank commercially, and that will probably in turn tank any hopes for future Mizukami adaptations. Not to doom and gloom here, but that’s just reality – I’ve been around anime long enough to know that. Mizukami is a man out of time as a writer, really – he’s way too shameless and feckless in his writing style and character design (physical and literary). And of equal importance, he demands way too much of the audience to succeed in modern anime. In essence, Trigger is what would happen if you took classic Gainax, stripped everything “Mizukami-like” out of it, and let the marketing department write all the scripts.
Surely there are two audiences for Planet With – those who know Mizukami’s work and thus what to expect, and those who don’t. That’s always the case with an adaptation of course (I see this as more of a general Mizukami adaptation that anything, though there is a manga too), but Mizukami is so singular that I think the divide is far more important here than usual. In brief, he’s not going to explain things to you. He’s going to make you (let you) figure them out for yourself, if you’re so inclined. He’s going to make you groan with cheesy humor. He’s going to make you think you know what’s coming, and then totally subvert those expectations. And then he’s going to rip your heart out and stomp on it, over and over.
That’s assuming you stick around long enough, of course – and I suspect a lot of folks won’t. That’s too bad, but they’re the ones who’ll be losing out. This premiere was about as innately Mizukami as it gets, apart from the fact that as the story progresses he’ll artfully steer the audience towards understanding what’s actually happening. For now we have a middle schooler named Kuroi Souya (Abe Atsushi), who lives with a maid named Ginko (Izawa Shiori) and – for some reason – a giant cat he calls “Sensei” who’s played by Koyama Rikiya (instantly recognizable despite only saying “Nya”, and something of an expert on playing big cats lately).
Why does Souya have amnesia, and why does he live with a giant cat? Why does Ginko only feed him vegetarian food? Why does he dream of dragons – and then read about his dreams? The answers will come, but patience will be required. With Mizukami you embrace the madcap strangeness – reading (and now, happily, watching) his work is about living in the present. There’s also a class rep who has a crush on Souya despite the fact that he can’t get her name right (he seems to consider “Megane-sama” her formal title), and a bunch of superheroes – superheroes who’re called into action when giant teddy bears with “Peas” written on their chests pop up all over the world simultaneously. Most important among these seems to be Torai Hideo (Umehara Yuichirou), who became a firefighter after his mother died in a blaze, but gave it up to “protect the Earth”.
Who are the good guys here, and who the bad guys? I don’t know yet, but with Mizukami-sensei it’s likely to be more complicated than that. Sensei and Ginko seem to be on the same side as the giant kigurumi, which may be part of a group called “Nebula”. Hideo and his six cohorts are clearly its enemies. Nebula appears to be closely connected to memory, based on the evidence of what the teddy showed the SDF pilot who tried to blow it up and Hideo (in a very powerful sequence) when he went inside it to destroy it. When Souya is called into action to fight Hideo, he’s highly skeptical and convinced Sensei and Ginko have kidnapped him to make him their hired soldier – but once he sees the item around Hideo’s neck that’s the “source of his power”, he appears to regain his memories. And possibly, to connect that power source to the death of his family.
I don’t know much about Planet With – about the plot, about how long it will run (I’m assuming 12 episodes), or why it was chosen to be Mizukami’s entre into anime rather than Spirit Circle or Hoshi no Samidare (yes, that was an Asahina figure whose pantsu Sensei was sneaking a peek at). But I know it’s Mizukami – would have known in less than 10 seconds, even if I’d never known of its existence before I watched it. I have total faith in this series because I have total faith in the power of brilliant writing, which I think is ultimately the single more important factor in whether an anime can be great or not. That power was amply on display in this first episode, and the seeds it planted will surely bear gorgeous fruit as the story progresses. Those who embrace the experience will be amply rewarded.
Flower
July 7, 2018 at 8:29 pmFinally … finally a series that had a really strong first ep. This looks really good, and may be a port in the storm in a season that has been really sparse so far. Whew. This was my main dark horse before the season began and am glad it came through!
Guardian Enzo
July 7, 2018 at 8:37 pmThe horse could not possibly have been less dark for me (it was my #1 pick even in a Hi Score Girl season) but it totally lived up to that.
Come back!
July 8, 2018 at 8:31 pmCome back to Animesuki, Flower!
Guardian Enzo
July 8, 2018 at 9:17 pmMod approved!
leongsh
July 7, 2018 at 9:02 pmI did not rate it as a dark horse. Slighltly better than my expectations. Expected average. Got above average. The pilot episode is a good foundation to build on.
MangaReader
July 7, 2018 at 9:27 pm“the power of brilliant writing, which I think is ultimately the single more important factor in whether an anime can be great or not. ”
I too share the same sentiment, it’s a shame the anime and manga industry has different priorities altogether though, considering the consumer base.
Guardian Enzo
July 7, 2018 at 9:30 pmIt is a shame, but it’s unavoidably true. At least manga is the beneficiary of it.
DauntingOverlord
July 7, 2018 at 9:33 pmI’m happy that the one anime I was looking forward to turned out a great first episode. Looks like this anime season won’t be as *bear* as I thought it would be.
Guardian Enzo
July 7, 2018 at 9:34 pmYou’ve been reading too much Mizukami…
Deluxe
July 7, 2018 at 9:43 pmThe funny part is that Mizukami is himself a big anime fan, his works have lots of anime references, including Gainax shows.
He created Planet With with the intent to make it to the screen, he literally spent four years drawing thousands of pages of storyboards so that the anime would be almost done once greenlighted
When I see this sort of dedication I’m actually glad that Samidare never got adapted, something unexpected and fresh came out of it.
Guardian Enzo
July 7, 2018 at 10:09 pmWhy can’t we have both?
Though I’d take Spirit Circle over any of them.
Jindujun93
July 7, 2018 at 10:33 pmYup, now that was a historic moment alright. I always thought Mizukami’s style would translate well into anime – his paneling is great and the artstyle in general just seems very fluid (never mind iconic). Going into the premiere of Planet With, I more or less knew what to expect since I’ve read the first four chapters of the manga that are translated (this episode covered the first two, so it’s probably going to be new material for me starting with episode 3), and I’d argue that they already did a great job of capturing it in anime format. I know it’s going to be a wild ride anyways, because that’s how it always is with Mizukami, now I’m just looking forward to which places he’ll be taking us exactly.
By the way, it’s not just a figurine of Sami – even Anima can be seen. She’s obscured in one of your screens, and can be seen a bit more clearly a few frames later. The “inspect a figurine for its panties” seems to become a running gag for Mizukami in general, as the same happened in Samidare and Spirit Circle.
zeroyuki92
July 8, 2018 at 12:04 amThat is exactly what I am expecting. Now it’s my own turn to tell everyone and their grandma to watch this since the popularity and people reactions of this first episode is also exactly what I am expecting, sadly.
Just crossing my fingers that this slowly became a critics darling and eventually picked by people because of that, like Sorayori.
Matti
July 8, 2018 at 4:38 amPersonally don’t quite rate this mangaka as highly as you do but this first episode was quite good.
Goh
July 8, 2018 at 6:55 amThis was a very bad first episode. Honestly the dissonance between what I just saw and Enzo’s effusive praise of it seems completely ridiculous to me right now. Based on the way you were talking about Mizukami’s work I went in expecting something truly different and interesting at least. The episode couldn’t be more conventional and weightless. Visually it’s also very flat and uninspired but the biggest red flags for me were the ”emotional” scenes. More specifically that stuff with the pilot and the firefighter left me not just cold, but made me lose all hope in the production team and the story being told. The best parts were the breakfast scene with the maid and the cat and the weirdness of the pantsu peek. But even that seems far too little to hold my attention next to the miserable blandness that surrounds it. Now there’s a foolish part of me that hopes to be proven wrong. But based on this premiere, I wouldn’t count on it.
Rita
July 10, 2018 at 9:47 amNot actually surprised, since almost all of Mizukami’s work start out with a series of tropes that are fairly prevalent and cliche. The biggest draw is seeing how the final product ends up different from what you expected (I have never once successfully predicted how a Mizukami manga would play out XD). But a large portion of that is whether or not viewers/readers are willing to stick around, and that’s where the rub is. Most of the people praising the series are probably tinted by their bias because they’re read Mizukami’s other works (I fully admit being one of them).
My honest to god recommendation to you is actually probably to go read a few chapters of one of his manga (Spirit Circle is fairly short, at 45 chapters) to get a feel of if it’s something you enjoy enough to get to the subversions or aversions of the tropes he lays out.
Goh
July 10, 2018 at 2:07 pmSubversion of tropes does not equal a good story though. A level of artistry is required to sell the emotions involved, craft believable characters and tell an addictive story. And based on the premiere, it’s a failure on all three fronts. Again, the emotional scenes are the key element in my negative appraisal, because they are clearly meant to be moving and for me the completely failed at that.
Guardian Enzo
July 10, 2018 at 3:39 pmFair enough. But the key part of that is “for me”, and it’s good that you added it. It didn’t fail for me, and clearly for a decent number of others as well.
sqwert
July 8, 2018 at 8:35 amWait, this is from the author of Spirit Circle? Guess I know what show I will be following this season. Thanks for the heads up, Enzo!
Shinrakugin
July 8, 2018 at 12:50 pmThis was about as crazy as it gets. Throw rocks at me, but the impression I have is that Planet With is a better, darker, coffeine-addicted TT Gurren Lagann on drugs. I’m confused as fuck. Definitely watching the whole thing.
Guardian Enzo
July 8, 2018 at 2:24 pmThat may or may not be what Planet With ends up being, but it’s definitely something Mizukami could write.
Yann
July 8, 2018 at 1:54 pmI wonder if you would feel the same way if you’d been into this without knowing anything about the mangaka and his history etc.
I’m usually about 80% in line with your taste (not so much into baseball stuff cause I don’t know the rules), but that one I really don’t get it… I had to double check your season preview to make sure I didn’t get the series title wrong.
I don’t get it… A mysterious amnesia, a maid, an Assassination Classroom version of Evangelion… The whole thing was so cliché that I was wondering if I was watching some sort of parody.
The only things that vaguely picked my interest were the giant cat sensei that doesn’t seem to shock anyone (but that too has been done before…) and the seemingly reversal of roles which let’s us wonder if the main character is with the good guys or the bad guys.
I hope I’m proven wrong but so far I’m perplexed 😛
Guardian Enzo
July 8, 2018 at 2:25 pmThis is very much the response I’ve seen all over, and pretty much what I was expecting. There’s no middle ground – it’s love or hate, and the deciding factor seems to be familiarity with the author’s work.
Yann
July 8, 2018 at 8:51 pmI wouldn’t say I hate it, but I would have just moved along and never looked back if it wasn’t for your blog… I’ll take your word for it and give it a few more eps. 🙂
Guardian Enzo
July 8, 2018 at 9:17 pmSometimes it can take a little bit for Mizukami to close the sale… But he’s also not everybody’s cup of tea.
zeroyuki92
July 8, 2018 at 3:34 pmHis stories are almost never about originality in raw materials, but in how things progress. Sure, you have seen (almost) every single tropes before, but things usually progress fast into directions that often you don’t suspect before without actually losing the heart of the story itself.
So yeah pretty sure huge part of the confidence is caused by trust. Afterall, every single hypothetical Murakami manga to anime adaptation will feature a quirky but not-mind-blowing first episode (A hero chosen by a creature to protect the world? A transfer student that proclaimed to be main character eternal rival?
Guardian Enzo
July 8, 2018 at 3:43 pmTrue for the most part, but that’s just not how anime is constructed these days. Which is part of the problem.
I think Mizukami is kind of an anachronism. In a sense it’s a shame he didn’t come into prominence 15 or 20 years earlier, because in many ways his works are ideal for anime. But not in terms of character or plot construction.
The wild guesser
July 8, 2018 at 5:10 pmWhere would Mizukami rank among other great mangaka such as Togashi, Urakawa, Inoue, or Morí?
Guardian Enzo
July 8, 2018 at 9:19 pm“Right there” would be my answer.
Ashinano Hitoshi absolutely has to be on that list, too. They all have their relative strengths but I would say for me, Mizukami absolutely belongs in that tier.
LGrey
July 9, 2018 at 11:27 pmNobody brought up Sengoku Youko yet? I remember I didn’t really get into Biscuit Hammer, but I really enjoyed SY – satisfactory ending has always been rare case.
Rita
July 10, 2018 at 9:43 amI watched the premiere at AX with my brother and the moment the teddy bear aliens showed up me and my brother both kind of went ‘Mizukami aliens’ and that was pretty much the cementing moment for me during the premiere XD
I am also super hopeful for the series, though I would have loved to see Sengoku Youko, Spirit Circle or Samidare adapted as well. I do also agree that Miazukami’s work are oddly out of step in time with the current anime landscape. His work is very much reminiscent of anime a decade or two ago (at least)
Guardian Enzo
July 10, 2018 at 2:37 pmJust OOC, how was the general reaction at A/X? Good turnout? Which room did they hold the premiere in, and did it fill?
Anchen
July 11, 2018 at 12:32 pmI did not watch it at AX but can tell you it was in Video 1 on Sunday 11:30 AM (Diamond Ballroom in the JW Marriott) which is a fairly large room. No idea if it filled but Sunday isn’t the busiest of days and given that it was not a special premiere or anything I dunno if it got that full.
Guardian Enzo
July 11, 2018 at 2:31 pmYeah, V1 is pretty big, but like you said Sunday morning is not a huge timeslot.
Rita
July 11, 2018 at 5:45 pmUnfortunately it was almost completely empty cause of the AoT premiere. I think there were maybe 20 people? Disappointing, but not surprising given that Attack on Titan maxed out their line hours beforehand. It was in the JW Mariott hotel, Diamond Ballroom.
Me and my brother were probably the biggest fans there haha, the only ones that really cheered or anything
Rita
July 11, 2018 at 5:47 pmOh right, AND there was another premiere right after it. There were a LOT of premieres this AX, My Hero, AoT, K, Liz and the Blue Bird, Kase-san, etc
Guardian Enzo
July 11, 2018 at 6:23 pmDid use the BnHA premiere? I hear it was pretty good.
Rita
July 13, 2018 at 2:54 pmWe tried, but they were using wristbands for the first time for the premiere (because of the sheer number) and they capped out like 2 hours before and we didn’t get one Q_Q