Discussion topic for the third episode of the planetarian ~Chiisana Hoshi no Yume~ which aired on July 21, 2016. All references to outside works and future episodes must be marked with a [spoiler] tag.
You can catch the series on Funimation’s website in North America.
What would you rate this episode?
0 voters
this episode is just amazing, I enjoyed every second of it.
The animation, I got goosebumps;-;
I’d say this is one of the best episodes I’ve ever seen in my life. Good job!
I can watch this all day and not get bored.
Also…
Yumemiiiiiii <33
I’ve gotta say, this was perfectly animated and it was everything I ever dreamed it would be and more. The way that the junker’s imagination starts running wild during the special presentation is just a joy to see, and you don’t even notice the fact that Yumemi (in his imagination) floats to the top of Jena to transport them to a different time period. Definitely excited to see the next episode, and I can definitely already feel the pressure rising the minute yumemi offered to “accompany” him back to his car.
Some observations, I love how the anime has a tendency to zoom into yumemi’s eyes which zoom in and out very much like a camera lens. It’s this little nudge that reminds you that she is a robot every now and then, and I can see them using it even more so to make an impactful ending scene.
Well, that definitely brought out the emotions I wanted it to. For now though, I just want to point out the, for now, biggest pay off from the visual medium. We’ve been occasionally switching viewpoints to see Yumemi’s HUD; during those times, it mostly says that she’s attempting to connect to the greater network. When they’re talking about going to the Junker’s car, there’s a distinct sound, and the text display shows “Could not connect to database…” That text actually showed up in episode 2 as well but without the ellipsis, and it was flashing. Therefore, something must be different this time, and that is that she deliberately canceled the search. Yumemi can definitely show emotions and “perform” like a normal character, but where a human might clench their fist with an ‘All right’ or something similar, Yumemi’s decision is displayed in a computerized way. That’s just making the most out of the material in a very sleek way.
Wow, I really liked this episode. I don’t know how to explain it, but, I just like it
I cried.
Partly because of the episode, also because Junker’s still hot.
This episode was everything I wanted it to be. 5/5
Aaaah. I was wondering how they’d handle the projection scene, the scene that made me fall in love with planetarian.
They handled it damn near perfectly. I got quite a range of emotions out of that ;~;
Great job so far, davidproduction.
brb crying
I didn’t like the projection scene as much as I would’ve liked to. I don’t know, the VN scene just gave a different atmosphere and I liked it more there. Don’t get me wrong, the visuals were great, indeed. But to me I don’t think it captured the same feelings as the VN scene did.
I didn’t think the projection scene would turn out even half as good as it did, but I’ll be damned that was absolutely breathtaking.
Now that I’ve collected my thoughts, I’d like to just illustrate some of the ways this particular episode masterfully uses the visual medium to the fullest extent to deliver the narrative in an expressive way.
A few observations I wanted to gush over;
In the kinetic novel, we as readers experienced Yumemi’s projection through the eyes of the Junker, in a somewhat “self-insert” fashion. In that we read a bunch of expository dialogue and as readers were encouraged heavily to use our own imagination to build up our own interpretation of “Mankind Spreading It’s Wings” as Yumemi spoke to us as readers
However anime is all about narratives delivered through visual story telling. The projection in and of itself is much shorter in this episode in favour of expressive imagery. Not only this, but we’re not strictly interpreting the projection from having putting ourselves in the Junker’s shoes, instead we’re seeing the projection as he see’s it, a character, through the character’s imagination, not ours. (strictly speaking at least)
For example;
Yumemi speaks of cavemen and their discovery of the night sky, but since we’re watching as if this were all in the Junker’s interpretation, he sees himself waking up in a cave and escaping to discover the night sky. This is a brilliant parallel of his own character having infiltrated the town and discovering the planetarium itself to discover the “stars”. We know this it’s been years since he has seen the night sky because of the Rain and how the image of stars appears alien to him. This was wonderfully foreshadowed in episode 1
He wipes the surface of the dust covered snow globe to uncover the image of the night sky, to which he looks briefly bemused before stepping on a cup by his foot.
The importance of all this delivers stellar characterisation, as well as the strong narrative purpose. This hopeful notion of how humanity seemingly has this innate desire to reach towards the stars. The night sky appears to be a symbol of both humanity’s legacy and a silver lining of hope, despite the reality of the setting being one which represents loss, in more ways than one.
“When you are lost in the dark and can no longer see the stars in the sky. Please remember what you have seen here today. This… is my little reverie.”
Simply. Amazing.
I don’t have much to add about this episode. Like most people, my opinion is that it’s just simply amazing. I almost cried around the end of the projection… There should be two episodes left now… And the sad part is coming close…
I think this is the best Key anime work (original and adaptation) we’ve seen since Clannad! I am SO enjoying this every week, and very excited (and sad) for it to be ending so soon!
As expected, this episode had me crying. I loved finally getting to hear Gentle Jena. 5/5
Gentle Jena is not good for the kokoro. IT’S TOO BEAUTIFUL.
Can I like give a 6/5 score here? This episode is amazing. I might as well go so far so as to say that this is the best anime this season. ;___;
This was the most beautiful episode and it got me shedding tears during the projection as well. 
My thoughts were that this episode had delivered what I was hoping to expect and that it captured every essence of how the VN had portrayed the self-imagery through Yumemi’s eyes to the Junker. It was different that they showed from the Junker’s POV of when mankind started to discover how they might advance throughout centuries of wanting to know about flying into space and experience the awe-inspiring stars of the heavens. The scene where she mentioned that if we ever feel lost in the world that we should remember what we viewed would remain in our hearts and mind was breathtaking. Even the beautiful piece of “Gentle Jena” was remarkably well-done and was perfect beyond all recognition. I gave this a 5 out of 5. I am definitely looking forward to the next episode! 
This episode reminds me why I love Planetarian so much.
The way Yumemi speaks for the stars, humanity and hope has my absolute attention every time I see this projection scene in the visual novel and now the anime stayed true to the power and impact of it with the beauty of animation. All the depictions of Earth’s beauty in the projection (And Junkers imagination) gave this scene such a powerful glimpse at our world along with Yumemi’s voice that I feel myself commanded into a state of pacifism every time. And for maximum effect, it seems like every time i have seen this scene in the visual novel and now the anime, it is late afternoon and in my distraction, the room is very dark while I watch it and it is not until I have finished watching it that I go to turn a light on, it is like of stepping out of an actual planetarium.
As someone who has never experienced a Key visual novel, and have only seen two of the anime renditions (Angel Beats and Little Busters), I loved this episode not only for its beautiful animation and art, but for helping me understand what emotional impacts the company is able to unleash upon its viewers and readers. The themes it evokes really come into play alongside expertly written dialogue, all while maintaining the personalities of the characters. It brings me anticipation to see how far the writers, animators, and artists have gone to make this series unforgettable. I am very thankful to have stumbled upon this visual novel rendition! 
This was a really good episode. It almost brought be to tears and so far this adaptations has been very faithful to the VN and to the setting. I like the addition of the pendant, it kinda grounds the Junker a bit.
This, I think, is where Planetarian really, truly soared. Everything was probably as close to flawless as I could have imagined, to say nothing of how I got into a very rare good mood through the whole experience. …enough to crack some jokes in a very good natured way, I think I caught myself remarking “Ignore that giant dark spot where my butt is.”
I…have probably never dreaded what’s to come next more.
