#ai tanabe

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PLANETES (2003-2004) Box Covers

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Planetes Ch. 7

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Things suck outside so I’m doodling characters from shows I watched recently.

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Planetes in the Planetarian: a Church of Men and Angels

From ancient times, the boundless night sky and the numberless stars have captured the human imagination. For Aristotle, the birth of philosophy lay in the contemplation of the stars, while Plato wanted the wise to train themselves in astronomy, and Virgil and Seneca liken virtue to a “path to the stars.” Twenty-five centuries later, the skies above still fascinate us and make us reflect. Two anime that have dealt with this awe in beautiful ways are the similarly named, yet very different, Planetarian and Planetes.

Planetarian is a melancholy post-apocalyptic tale, while Planetes is a bold space comedy. Both deal with the contrast between the feelings the cosmos evokes in us and the realities that tend to crush these feelings, and both vindicate wonder, as they show their protagonists a message written in the skies—a message of wisdom, hope, and connection through wonder.

The Bible also points to the heavens and the wonder they instill to highlight God’s greatness: ”The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). But also, interestingly, scripture uses the stars to represent the multitude of angels. Be it Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 or the “war in the heavens” in Revelation 12:3-4, the stars are linked to God’s non-human messengers.

So, what is this feeling that stars evoke in us? And what is its role in these two shows? How do stars relate to angels? Can we really discuss sci-fi and angels in the same breath, or is the tonal whiplash too much to handle? Well, stay tuned!

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[amnesiac-shin]

Hachimaki / Tanabe

[kemafili]

AI tanabe planetes I love being 90% of this manga fanart base