So as I promised I’m writing another part to my analysis of Christian themes in planetarian. If you want to see the first one, it’s here. Of course, since this is religious stuff, I’m talking about my own beliefs as a Christian. So with out further ado, let’s get on with part two.
I’ve been thinking about Yumemi’s invitation a lot recently and how this is reflective of the Bible. JDC explored these concepts generally before but I want to be a little deeper with this and focus on some keywords. I originally was going to focus on one, but I eventually figured that these two relate deeply with the story of planetarian together. The two words are grace and faith.
The other day in my Japanese class we got to learn a bit about how to do calligraphy and because it was one of the available options, I chose to write this.
So this is grace (megumi) but I didn’t get to write faith. But anyways, in the Christian context, grace refers to something that is not deserved yet freely given. So this mostly, but not exclusively used to describe the salvation that we believe in because God gives it to us even though we didn’t deserve it because of our sin. The second part is faith which of course is basically just trusting, where in the Christian context it means to trust that God exists and has power to do the things he promised. One easy connector between the two ideas is from Ephesians 2:8-9, which says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Basically, it means that salvation is only attained by faith in Jesus, not by our own actions. Another way to put it is that God extended an invitation to us that if we take it and trust in it, we will be saved from sin.
So Yumemi throughout the story continues to invite people to the planetarium. As much as I would like to type it all out it probably isn’t necessary; you get the point. (Sidenote: Yumemi recites a full invitation seven times, which is God’s number. Don’t know if this is actually intentional but I also found that the number of tracks in each drama CD is also seven so hey…) Interestingly, the invitation is never directed at the Junker in particular but rather to anyone who is willing to listen. This is similar to how the salvation is extended to all in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
However, that’s only one aspect of grace present within the story. A much more fascinating part to me is how the Junker is counted as a special 2,500,000th customer when he really isn’t. While grace often refers to salvation, it also can refer to other gifts given from God because nothing good is really deserved by sinners except death, as shown in Romans 6:23, which says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So getting back to the Junker’s special treatment, it really reminds me of a story Jesus tells in Luke 15:4-7. In this story, Jesus talks about a man who has 100 sheep who upon realizing one is lost, leaves the 99 to search for the lost one. After he finds the sheep, the man urges his friends to celebrate with him because he found his lost sheep. Jesus ends by saying that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the 99 righteous people who didn’t need it. In this same way, Yumemi doesn’t treat the previous visitors to the planetarium exactly specially. No others did she make a bouquet for or require a commemoration speech from. And heck, he wasn’t even the 2,500,000th customer yet he was still honored and celebrated as though he was.
Just as interesting, is the Junker’s response to all these examples of grace. In the beginning, the Junker is obviously irritated. He doesn’t even care about the difference of being the 2,500,000th customer. But in chapter 3, The Junker’s Reverie 1, his attitude starts to change little by little. As he intends on leaving, he thinks, “Although I said it gently so she would understand, I did not have the tolerance to stand her for much longer.” A little later the thinks, “These robots, without a scrap of malice in them, were treasures that had been destroyed along with the old world.” Finally, the chapter ends with Yumemi saying, “I will be awaiting your return with all my heart…” At which point the next chapter comedically begins with him back in the projection room. So he might not really have a particularly strong faith, he has to believe that there is something worth staying for.
So the way the Junker is transformed in faith is probably one of my favorite things in this story. The projection scene as we all know is pretty dang great. But once the commemorative projection starts, the power goes out. Yumemi doesn’t really know what to do but the Junker says, “Continue the projection. Your voice will be enough… If it is about the stars, then I will be able to see everything. Just from you speaking, I will know all of what it is that you want to show me.” Yumemi responds by saying, “You must really love the stars, Mr. Customer. I am truly honored to have you as a customer of our humble establishment.” This exchange is definitely one of my favorite interactions in the story. The Junker demonstrates his faith and trust in Yumemi. He is by this point completely accepting the gifts of grace he was given before, the first being in the planetarium itself and the second being the commemorative projection. And he is only able to do this by faith. He even thinks, “All of this coming from my mouth was nonsense. Even I didn’t understand why I was saying these things.” He acknowledges that realistically, it doesn’t make sense, but that’s not going to hold him back. While this faith may look blind, he truly does see what needs to be seen. Yumemi’s response reminds me of what Jesus says in John 20:25 where he says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” in reference to his resurrection.
There’s finally one more instances of the Junker being transformed by his beliefs and faith. Right after Yumemi dies, the Junker has these thoughts in his mind. This entire final monologue is another of my favorite quotes from this story too. “I looked up at the sky that was stormy without end. And then, I dropped my grenade launcher into a puddle. I would not need such a thing, not where I was going. The Rain was still falling, even now. Her heart was secure next to mine. I began to walk. Where were the stars now? Where would I have to go in order to see them? I walked forth into this fractured world, yet my thoughts were forever of the sky.” The Junker doesn’t need to see the stars because he knows in his heart they’re there. He no longer needs a weapon because he doesn’t live merely to survive but to seek and tell of the stars. He continues to have faith in everything that Yumemi said and seeks to fulfill what she wanted to do. Again, his actions to an outsider, or maybe even to his past self, make absolutely no sense. But to him, who has seen what is truly out there, this is what needs to be done.
So I’ll end this with yet another passage that I think is really fitting, at least for me. Romans 8:24-25 says, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
. I took 4 hours to read it and it was probably enough but I would have liked to know more about the universe of Planetarian. It wasn’t as sad as Clannad or Little busters but the feels were here and it was really refreshing. I think the message of the story is pretty similar to Rewrite’s
