Planetarian
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"What do you think about the planetarium? That beautiful twinkling of eternity that will never fade, no matter when... All the stars in all the sky are waiting for you." |
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Planetarian (full title Planetarian ~chiisana hoshi no yume~, meaning "the reverie of a little planet") is a 2004 "kinetic novel" (a type of Visual Novel with only one path) made by Key Visual Arts. Like Clannad it is completely "clean", with no adult content.
In a dystopian future where most of humanity is dead and acid rain falls constantly, a Junker—someone who goes into ruined cities to scavenge for useful things—takes shelter overnight in an abandoned planetarium.
... Well, a nearly abandoned planetarium, that is. There's still one staff member left: a robot girl named Hoshino Yumemi (Reverie Planetarian in the Fan Translation). She seems not to realize what has happened, instead still living in the era before the war which caused all the destruction, and is still waiting for the return of her human co-workers, who were evacuated long ago. She enlists the Junker's aid in fixing the planetarium's broken projector; over the course of the repair project, he grows fond of her, and begins trying to convince her to leave the planetarium and come with him.
The visual novel spawned a light novel that contained stories set place in the same world, which was eventually turned into three separate drama CDs: Snow Globe, which serves as Reverie's backstory; Jerusalem, which provides some insight on the war that's leading the world to ruin; and Hoshi no Hito, a tale that serves as a Distant Finale to the events of the visual novel.
- After the End
- Apologises a Lot: Yumemi, naturally.
- Bolivian Army Ending: Played heavily in the ending of the visual novel. The question regarding his survival is answered in the light novel segment/Drama CD Hoshi no Hito, which serves as an epilogue to the parent story. The eponymous "Man of the Stars" is revealed to be the same Junker from the visual novel, having lived an elderly age and abandoned his former profession to become a "Stargazer."
- Catch Phrase: Although Reverie's pitch for the planetarium (see page quote) might be too long to count and is not used in any context besides her practicing it for customers that will never come, the very last time she says it, it's a bit symbolic. In any case, she says it enough times for it to be considered her catch phrase.
- Companion Cube: The planetarium projector, especially from Reverie's point of view. She even has a name for it, referring to it as "Miss Jena" due to its manufacturer: Carl Zeiss-Jena.
- The Cutie: Reverie/Yumemi, but of course. But later we find she's a bit more complex than that.
- Cyberpunk with a Chance of Rain
- Distant Finale: Hoshi no Hito takes place long after its parent story, serving as somewhat of a wrap-up to what Planetarian provided.
- Do Androids Dream?
- Downer Ending: Oh boy, is it ever.
- Dystopia
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": the main character, known only as "the Junker."
- Flashback Nightmare: the various "The Junker's Dream" chapters, flashbacks to the main character's past as a child soldier
- Giant Enemy Crab: A mechanical one in name, at least. More likely an example of a Spider Tank with the crab name attached.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: The voice actor for the Junker in the completely-voiced Playstation 2 version is Daisuke Ono, who voiced Yukito Kunisaki for the anime version of AIR, another Key work.
- Not to mention Keiko Suzuki, who voices Yumemi/Reverie. She contributed the voices of the twins Haruka and Kanata in Little Busters.
- Hope Spot: The acid rain stops at the end, and turn into snow. The hope is not for the Junker, but for the world. Possibly negates the following:
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: The whole cause of the nuclear fallout rain.
- I Will Wait for You possibly subverted, in that Reverie knew no one was going to come back after all
- Killed Off for Real
- No Communities Were Harmed: The department store and it surroundings are based on locales in the town of Hamamatsu in Japan's Shizuoka prefecture.
- Let Them Die Happy
- Ridiculously Human Robot
- Robot Girl
- Scavenger World
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Yumemi. No duh!
- Utsuge: Try to read Planetarian once without at least feeling down at the end.
- Video Game Caring Potential: Reverie absolutely demands this without trying at all. It's almost a requirement for Planetarian to successfully pull off being an Utsuge with a Robot Girl.