Planetes

Tanabe, a new recruit to Technora, arrives at the International Space Station. She’s assigned to the Debris Section, where she will be helping to clean up space debris. There, she meets Hachimaki and his buddies. Unfortunately, the Debris Section is looked down upon within the company.

Hachimaki continues to train Tanabe. Meanwhile, one of her peers, Cheng-Shin, receives a promotion to a more glamorous division. The friends celebrate, but Hachimaki is dissatisfied: he isn’t any closer to his dream of having his own ship.The Debris Division must deal with a difficult specimen: a piece that Hachimaki failed to collect three years ago when he’d first joined the company.

Tanabe writes a will in case something were to happen to her in space. She briefly considers using Hachimaki’s will as a reference but is disappointed at its lack of substance. What should she leave behind when she dies?Toy Box collects the coffin of a space pilot who was buried in space 50 years ago. Just as the crew is about to return it to space, Tanabe does the unthinkable.

The son of the INTO chairman arrives to learn about debris collection. Annoyed by his snobby behavior, Hachimaki attempts to turn him away, but he relents when the others convince him to play nice with the chairman’s son. After a while of tolerating his impudent behavior, Hachimaki finally snaps at a particularly arrogant remark.

Hachimaki’s team gets a long-awaited vacation on the Moon. Being her first time there, Tanabe is excited. The ferry trip is four days long. Along the way, Hachimaki encounters a girl named Sia, and they bond over spaceships. On the third day of their ferry trip, Hachimaki is caught up in an incident.

Hachimaki, Tanabe, and Fee arrived at their long-awaited vacation on the Moon. Tanabe can’t contain her excitement. Hachimaki is roped into helping Tanabe find an apartment. When they arrive at her chosen apartment, it turns out to be a sketchy building with horrible neighbors.

Hachimaki is at the lunar hospital to receive treatment for a leg wound. There, he encounters a girl named Nono. Tanabe seems a little upset that the two seem to have hit it off. Hachimaki soon learns the truth about Nono.

The crew returns from the Moon to the Space Station, where they continue their duties. They hear a rumor that Fee had found a better position in another division, shocking the Debris Section. They decide to set out to capture debris without Fee, so that she can rest assured that the Debris Section is in good hands.

Hachimaki’s mentor, Gigalt, visits the Debris Section to give guidance on security. As it turns out, Gigalt had been a member of the Debris Section in the past, and Tanabe is entertained by his stories of the past. But after solving an incident together with Gigalt, Tanabe learns something shocking about him.

Yuri Mihairokov, who had worked for five straight years without ever taking paid leave, is often seen decorating the Toy Box with carnations or staring out into space. One day, Hachimaki learns that Yuri spends time each week in the Records Section looking through debris files. There’s something he’s looking for.

Temara, an engineer from the small nation of El-Tanica, visits Technora to sell spacesuits. Impressed by his work ethic, Hachimaki’s team, along with Claire, decide to help him with his application exams. Unfortunately, during the final section of the exam, an Orbital Security Agency vessel approaches them, and the exam is cut short.

The Space Defense Front, a terrorist organization opposed to space development, attacks the Moon. Meanwhile, Fee and the others, having finished maintenance on the Toy Box, return to collecting debris. There, they discover a Space Defense Front missile. The terrorist organization simultaneously broadcasts a warning message worldwide. The ISPV-7, its next target, is in the middle of maintenan...

With the Toy Box destroyed, Hachimaki returns to his home on Earth, and Yuri and Tanabe pay him a visit. Invited in by Hachimaki’s mother, Haruko, the gang hang out in the living room, where they are attacked by Hachimaki’s younger brother Kyutaro’s rocket. Yuri tries to offer Kyutaro a word of encouragement regarding his rocket building, but...

Hachimaki is beyond excited to learn that he’s being issued a new Toy Box 2. Meanwhile, the Debris Section is informed that office romance has been banned following the pregnancy of a Technora staff member by her subordinate. Hamachi and Tanabe are dissatisfied with this new policy. The said subordinate then happens to contact the Toy Box2 in space.

The Debris Section doesn’t know much about Edel, a temporary worker assigned to the team. She doesn’t talk much about herself. One day, while visiting the ISPV-7, Hachimaki and Tanabe encounter an odd man. The man says he’s waiting for a woman. That woman turns out to be Edel.

Hachimaki is ejected into space following a debris collection accident. He manages to return to safety and receive treatment. He seemed in high spirits throughout, but during his final exam in a sensory deprivation chamber, he panics. He returns to the sensory deprivation chamber again and again to overcome this career-ending disorder, but…

Locksmith, head of the Jupiter Exploration Mission, visits the Debris Section. He seems to be looking for Hachimaki’s father, Hoshino Goro, to hire him for the Von Braun exploration vessel for Jupiter. Hachimaki tries to convince his father that Jupiter is humanity’s dream, but he is uninterested. Just then, the Von Braun’s engine experiences a failure.

A new director is assigned to the Debris Section. He expresses his desire to shut the section down. Most of the crew is shocked, except Hachimaki, who is busy thinking about the Jupiter mission. The Debris Section sets out for its final collection mission on the Toy Box 2. The debris is a drifting spaceship with a surprise.

Exams for the Jupiter mission begin. Hachimaki and Cheng-Shin are at the exam venue. Tanabe, who stayed behind in the Debris Section, is worried about Hachimaki but has a difficult time establishing contact. Following the basic fitness tests and written tests, Hachimaki heads to the underwater test, where an accident occurs.

Hachimaki proceeds to the second round of exams in space. Having completed the EVA test with flying colors, he heads to the closed space tests with Hakim and two others in his team. Meanwhile, someone completely unexpected joins the Debris Section.

At last, Hachimaki arrives aboard the Von Braun. He’ll be there for the next six months for the third phase of crew exams. Tanabe manages to get a hold of him on her way to the Moon, but he brushes her off coldly. Incidentally, the debris she is assigned to collect is the engine of the Tandem Mirror.

The Debris Section is transferred to the Moon. There, meanwhile, Hachimaki is investigated for the incident aboard the Von Braun. Hachimaki is surprised to find that Claire is also being investigated. He also bumps into the team on the outskirts of town and learns that Gigalt is in the hospital, and pays him a visit. Meanwhile, an INTO summit is being held outside of Earth for the first time ...

The world watches as the first-ever lunar INTO summit is held as the Space Defense Front’s activities gradually become more noticeable. Fee and the Toy Box 2 are out in space to collect debris around the lunar station in an effort to thwart would-be terror attacks. Just as Fee discovers an unidentified ship, a gun is pointed at her head.

The Space Defense Front’s terrorist activities endanger the Von Braun. There, Tanabe finds a wounded Claire. The two escape in a rescue pod but end up stranded on the lunar desert. Carrying Claire, Tanabe walks to the nearest establishment. Claire insists that she be left behind.