What Did Yukimura Write Before Vinland Saga?

Planetes (プラネテス) is the work that made Makoto Yukimura’s name: a hard science-fiction manga about the crew of the DS-12 “Toy Box,” orbital debris collectors in 2075, serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Morning from January 1999 to January 2004 and collected in four tankōbon volumes. Yukimura found the subject in a library book on space debris and built a workplace drama on top of real orbital mechanics, citing Arthur C. Clarke among his reading.

Sunrise’s anime, directed by Gorō Taniguchi, ran 26 episodes on NHK from October 2003 to April 2004, with JAXA among its technical consultants. Both versions were decorated: the manga won the Seiun Award in 2002 and the anime in 2005.

As a bridge page it earns its place: Planetes is where the Vinland method was rehearsed, deep research worn lightly, an ensemble of working people, and a hero whose great subject is what to do with a dream. In English it appeared first from Tokyopop (five volumes, splitting the last) and then in Dark Horse’s two omnibus volumes of 2015 and 2016.