Planetarian
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is a Japanese
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...
developed by Key, a brand of
Visual Arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
whose previous works include ''
Kanon Kanon may refer to: Media and literature * ''Kanon'' (video game), a Japanese visual novel by Key, later adapted into anime series * ''Kanon'' (manga), a manga by Chiho Saito * ''Daimajin Kanon'', a Japanese tokusatsu television drama * '' Der K ...
'' and ''
Air An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...
''. It was released over the Internet on November 29, 2004, for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, and is rated for all ages. The game was later ported to the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
(PS2),
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
and
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
, as well as mobile devices. The story centers on a man who comes across a malfunctioning robot in a dead city. The man, known simply as "the junker", stays with this robot for a time and attempts to fix the projector of the
planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...
where the story takes place. Key defines ''Planetarian'' as a "kinetic novel", since its
gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...
offers no choices or alternate endings. Instead, the player proceeds through the story solely by reading. The story is written by
Yūichi Suzumoto is a male Japanese novelist originally from Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, though he now lives in Osaka, Japan. As of 2006, he works for Aquaplus, known for being the publishing company of Leaf. Before going to Leaf, Suzumoto worked at the publish ...
and character design is produced by Eeji Komatsu. The game's soundtrack was composed and arranged by Key's signature composers
Magome Togoshi is a Japanese video game composer for visual novel studios. He began work as a music arranger in 1999, where he started working for the visual novel studio Key under VisualArt's to produce music for '' Kanon''. Between then and 2006, Togoshi comp ...
and
Shinji Orito is a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games. After leaving Le ...
. A
light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...
of short stories set in the world of ''Planetarian'' was released in April 2006, and three
audio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s have also been produced.
David Production is a Japanese animation studio founded in September 2007 by former Gonzo producers Kōji Kajita and Taito Okiura, and is based in Nishitōkyō, Tokyo. Notable works from the studio include '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', '' Cells at Work!'', t ...
produced a five-episode
original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animat ...
series and an
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
film in 2016. ''Planetarian'' story, artwork and music have been praised, and the PS2 version ranked first for console games in terms of satisfaction in 2007.


Gameplay

''Planetarian'' is a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...
in which the player assumes the role of the junker. Unlike traditional visual novels, no choices are given to the player in ''Planetarian'' to advance the story, and there is only one possible ending; this is what Key referred to as a
kinetic novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustration ...
. The player can choose when to advance to the next
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
screen or put the game on auto play. In this respect, the player does not play the game as if it were a
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
, but plays it rather more like one would play a music track on a CD or play a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
film. During gameplay, the player can choose to hide the text from view and go back to any previous lines. The game can be saved at any point in any of the five save slots available, and a load option is available where the player can load any of the automatically saved chapter markers, or choose to load any of the manually saved games. By length of story, ''Planetarian'' is the shortest of Key's games. Excluding the opening and ending sequences, there are 16 parts to the story; the first half is set within the planetarium while the latter half is set outside in the ruined city where the planetarium resides. The novel takes four hours and forty minutes to complete on auto play.The stated time assumes that the default auto play speed is used, which allots 0.07 seconds per character with a minimum time of 0.3 seconds. This reflects about the average time it takes the text to be read aloud at a normal pace. Quick readers can easily go through the entire novel in less than half of this stated time. After the game has been completed at least once, two new options appear on the title screen. The first is a feature that allows the player to view twenty images of
CG artwork Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...
observed in the game. The second option allows the player to listen to eight of the nine music tracks featured in the game.


Plot


Setting

The game is set in a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
world. It is said that due to the depletion of natural resources,
overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migr ...
, and the failure of the Space Exploration Project, humanity has virtually eradicated itself through
biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...
and
nuclear warfare Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a War, military conflict or prepared Policy, political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are Weapon of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conven ...
, turning a once prosperous civilization into complete ruin, cast in darkness and poisoned by constant rain from
nuclear fallout Nuclear fallout is residual radioactive material that is created by the reactions producing a nuclear explosion. It is initially present in the mushroom cloud, radioactive cloud created by the explosion, and "falls out" of the cloud as it is ...
. One military invasion in the past was at
Mare Nectaris Mare Nectaris (Latin ''nectaris'', the "Sea of Nectar") is a small lunar mare or sea (a volcanic lava plain noticeably darker than the rest of the Moon's surface) located south of Mare Tranquillitatis southwest of Mare Fecunditatis, on the near ...
. The bloodshed continues 30 years after the war in a
dystopic A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
world via automated war machines, which kill anyone trespassing into their territory. Of the remaining humans, there are those known as "junkers" who go around scavenging for anything in order to survive; the protagonist in the story is one. The main location where most of the story takes place is the fictional Flowercrest
Department Store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
in a derelict city. It is based on the real Matsubishi Department Store of
Hamamatsu, Shizuoka is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In September 2023, the city had an estimated population of 780,128 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, with a population density of over the total urban area o ...
in Japan, although the
planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...
on the rooftop is fictitious. The onset of the story takes place within the planetarium which is where the protagonist first meets Yumemi. The most prominent feature in the room when a show is not taking place is the large black planetarium projector called "Miss
Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...
",Jena is a manufacturing city in Germany, specializing in precision machinery, pharmaceuticals, optics and photographic equipment, and is home to the Zeiss optics plant. In 1926, the world's first modern planetarium was built by the Zeiss company in the Damenviertel district of the town. The projector in ''Planetarian'' is based on the Zeiss Universal Mark II optical planetarium projector. which is placed on a stage in front of the seats. The planetarium has electricity when the protagonist arrives, but only for a short time. Once a year, for 168 hours, electricity in the planetarium is operational, but the projector is broken. The rest of the floors in the department store are in ruins; mold and rats run rampant.


Characters

; : :The protagonist is a nameless soldier living the life of a "junker"—scavenging useful items among ruined cities to survive. He enters a derelict city searching for undamaged goods and finds an abandoned planetarium on the roof of a building he first thinks is a military facility. There, he meets Yumemi Hoshino, a gynoid designed to look like a young girl who annoys him greatly due to her constant talking. The protagonist has a tough personality that comes from trying to survive in a
dystopic A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
world. He carries a
grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...
with him and covers himself with a waterproof coat to protect his skin from the toxic rain. For drinking water, his canteen has a water purifier that can purify the rain. He is constantly searching for rarer substances such as cigarettes and alcohol which can be sold at high prices. ; : :Yumemi is a kindhearted but extremely talkative
gynoid A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction films and arts. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like an ...
attendant of an abandoned planetarium; she is designed to look like a young girl. Yumemi is slightly damaged and completely unaware of the changes that have occurred in the past 30 years, as none of the facilities and databases that she connects to exist anymore. Therefore, she treats the protagonist like a regular guest by calling him , speaks of the world as it was before the war, and fails to understand any information he tells her, other than things related to her job at the planetarium. The name "Hoshino Yumemi" itself is a pun, and can be interpreted as . Yumemi is the only character shown to the audience of the game. :Yumemi is very adamant about protecting humans and is happiest when she is helping those she serves. When she is unable to help someone, she gets terribly worried that she is incapable of offering assistance and must instead indirectly help a customer by directing him or her to someone who can. Protecting humans is her top priority and will even ignore previous orders to make sure no human is harmed when in her care.


Story

While dodging detection from war machines in a ruined city, the protagonist enters a building with a dome on the roof to search for usable supplies. Once inside the dome, he meets Yumemi, who offers to show him a special commemorative projection especially reserved for the 2,500,000th customer, although he is in fact the 2,497,290th customer. Despite his aggravation with her, he agrees to attend her show. However, the projector device, "Miss Jena", has broken down and is in need of repair. After he repairs it, Yumemi starts the show, presenting a projection of the starry sky, something that cannot be seen from the surface because of the polluted skies. The power goes out in the midst of the show, but Yumemi proceeds through the rest of the event with no visuals at the request of the protagonist. Afterward, both of them leave the planetarium, as Yumemi insists on escorting him back to his vehicle outside the city walls. The protagonist plans to transport Yumemi out of the city after her battery runs out and find a way to reactivate her. A machine the protagonist calls a
fiddler crab The fiddler crab or calling crab can be one of the hundred species of semiterrestrial marine crabs in the family Ocypodidae. These crabs are well known for their extreme sexual dimorphism, where the male crabs have a major claw significantly l ...
, due to its design, is guarding the entrance to the city in which he came from, and he devises a plan to destroy it armed with only a
grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially designed, large caliber projectile, often with an explosive, Smoke screen, smoke, or tear gas, gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary gre ...
. After his initial plan fails and he is forced to face the machine front on, Yumemi tries to protect the protagonist, but is blown in half by the war machine's machine guns. Yumemi spends her emergency battery life replaying her pre-war memories to the protagonist using a tiny holographic projector on her ear. When the video fades, she reveals that she had known that the planetarium would never have more customers during the 30 years she was alone, despite her apparent infinite optimism up to this point. In her final moment as she "dies" in front of him, Yumemi ejects the memory card from her artificial brain for his safekeeping. Touched and completely shaken by the loss of the beautiful world she left in his mind, he throws away his gun and puts the memory card in his coat, before wandering off with a broken leg as the fallen war machine's automated backup units are closing in on the scene.


Development

''Planetarian'' is Key's fourth visual novel, and had a small staff of three main people that did the majority of the work for the game's first release. Unlike previous Key titles, ''Planetarian''s art director position was given to Eeji Komatsu instead of
Itaru Hinoue is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist from Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Japan, who is one of the founding members of the visual novel brand Key (company), Key under VisualArt's. Hinoue's choice of her pseudonym stems from the manga ''C'' by Shō Kita ...
who had held the position for the three previous games. Komatsu was chosen not only because of his specialty in depicting mechanics and robots, but also because he could represent short scenes which touch on a robot's existence to reproduce a person's ideals. Furthermore, Key was not short on staff at the time, and was not forced to outsource the artwork of ''Planetarian''.
Jun Maeda is a Japanese writer and composer. He is a co-founder of the visual novel brand Key under Visual Arts. He is considered a pioneer of nakige visual novels, and has mainly contributed as a scenario writer, lyricist, and musical composer for the ...
, Key's main scenario writer and project planner, was left out of the project, and
Yūichi Suzumoto is a male Japanese novelist originally from Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, though he now lives in Osaka, Japan. As of 2006, he works for Aquaplus, known for being the publishing company of Leaf. Before going to Leaf, Suzumoto worked at the publish ...
was given the position of planning and scenario. The music, excluding a single piece composed by
Shinji Orito is a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games. After leaving Le ...
, was arranged or composed entirely by
Magome Togoshi is a Japanese video game composer for visual novel studios. He began work as a music arranger in 1999, where he started working for the visual novel studio Key under VisualArt's to produce music for '' Kanon''. Between then and 2006, Togoshi comp ...
, one of Key's signature
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...
s. ''Planetarian'' was the first game under the brand name KineticNovel to be described by the term "kinetic novel". In the original version, Yumemi is only voiced during the beginning and ending scenes, while other characters are not voiced. When ''Planetarian'' was released for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
PCs on
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
, Yumemi had full voice acting. The
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
(PS2) port offers full voice acting for the entire cast. Other changes to the PS2 version include a higher resolution for the
computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...
and an extended soundtrack. All other later versions contained full voice acting.


Music

The visual novel has one main theme song, the ending theme sung by
Mell Mell (stylized as MELL) is a female Japanese singer from Sapporo, Japan, who is signed to Geneon Universal Entertainment (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise tha ...
of
I've Sound I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different vocalists, known as to their fans ...
, an arrangement of the folk song by
Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist, poet, and children's literature writer from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social ...
. The ''Planetarian Original Soundtrack'' was released on August 11, 2006, at Comiket 70 by
Key Sounds Label Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Arts. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visu ...
; it was later re-released on December 28, 2006. The soundtrack contains one disc with twelve tracks composed and produced by
Magome Togoshi is a Japanese video game composer for visual novel studios. He began work as a music arranger in 1999, where he started working for the visual novel studio Key under VisualArt's to produce music for '' Kanon''. Between then and 2006, Togoshi comp ...
, and
Shinji Orito is a Japanese musical composer originally from Hyōgo, Japan working for the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Before forming Key, Orito worked for another software company named Leaf where he contributed to four games. After leaving Le ...
; themes originally composed by
Charles Crozat Converse Charles Crozat Converse (October 7, 1832 – October 18, 1918) was an American attorney who also worked as a composer of church songs. He is notable for setting to music the words of Joseph Scriven to become the hymn " What a Friend We Have in ...
and Miyazawa were remixed on the soundtrack. All of the tracks were
arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestratio ...
by Togoshi, except "Human Warrior" which was arranged by Orito. and are rearrangements of the
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
"
What a Friend We Have in Jesus "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" is a Christian hymn originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother, who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. Scriven originally published the poem anonymously, a ...
" by Converse, and their titles reflect this as well: "Hoshi no Sekai" refers to the Japanese version of the hymn named "Hoshinoyo", and "Itsukushimi Fukaki" is the Japanese translation of the hymn's original title.


Release history

''Planetarian'' was released on November 29, 2004, via download over the Internet playable on Windows PCs, and was first made available only to Yahoo! Japan Broadband users. The game was opened up for general sale on December 6, 2004. Key released a CD-ROM version for Windows PCs on April 28, 2006, in limited and regular editions. An updated version of ''Planetarian'' compatible for
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
PCs was released by Key on July 31, 2009, in a box set containing five other Key visual novels called Key 10th Memorial Box. Another updated version compatible for
Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...
PCs called ''Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet Memorial Edition'' was released on April 30, 2010. The ''Memorial Edition'' also came bundled with the three previously released ''Planetarian'' drama CDs. An HD edition for Windows was released on July 29, 2016. ''Planetarian'' was released on
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
by
Sekai Project Sekai Project is an American video game publisher. They are best known for licensing and translating Japanese visual novels into English, but they have also published manga and other non-visual novel video games. History Sekai Project originat ...
in English for Windows on September 12, 2014, with later support planned for
macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
and
Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
devices. The Steam release was updated on September 17, 2014, to allow the user to switch to the original Japanese version of the game. An English version of the HD edition was released on September 19, 2022. A consumer console
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
of the game was released for the PS2 on August 24, 2006, by
Prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
. A version playable on
FOMA Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA) is the brand name of the W-CDMA-based 3G telecommunications services being offered by the Japanese telecommunications service provider NTT DoCoMo. It is an implementation of the Universal Mobile Telecommu ...
and SoftBank 3G
mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
s was released by Prototype through Visual Arts Motto on November 28, 2006. A limited edition version of ''Planetarian'' developed by Prototype playable on the
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
(PSP) was available for purchase between February 28 and March 1, 2009, at Key 10th Memorial Fes, an event held in commemoration of Key's ten-year anniversary. A downloadable version of the PSP release via the PlayStation Store was released by Prototype on August 24, 2009. Prototype again sold the PSP version at their Prototype Fan Appreciation 2010 event on May 30, 2010. The PSP version was re-released on May 12, 2011, as a fundraising release for the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a  9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...
. A
mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
version playable on
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
and
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
devices was released on November 30, 2011. An updated iOS version released in January 2013 includes support for English readers. Prototype released a
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
version on January 31, 2019.


''Snow Globe''

Visual Arts launched a crowdfunding campaign on November 29, 2019, to produce an
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
(OVA) episode titled ''Planetarian: Snow Globe''. By the end of the campaign, the final stretch goal had been achieved for Key to produce a kinetic novel version of ''Planetarian: Snow Globe'' for Windows. The ''Snow Globe'' kinetic novel was released on September 3, 2021 with the ''Planetarian Ultimate Edition'' that also included a re-release of the 2016 HD edition of ''Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet'' for Windows, the three previously released drama CDs, and an
art book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind ob ...
. A downloadable edition of ''Snow Globe'' for Windows was also released at the same time. The staff for ''Snow Globe'' was the same for ''The Reverie of a Little Planet'' with the scenario written by Yūichi Suzumoto and the art by Eeji Komatsu. The music in the game is from the ''Snow Globe'' OVA released as '' Planetarian: Snow Globe Original Sound Tracks & Voice Drama CD'' in January 2021 for backers of the crowdfunding campaign who pledged at least ¥13,640. The ''Snow Globe'' soundtrack is composed by Shinji Orito, Donmaru and Ryō Mizutsuki.


Adaptations


Light novel

A
light novel A is a type of Genre fiction, popular literature novel from Japan usually classified as young adult fiction, generally targeting Adolescence, teens to Young adult, twenties or older. The definition is very vague, and wide-ranging. The abbr ...
featuring a collection of four illustrated short stories, including a
prologue A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier st ...
and an
epilogue An epilogue or epilog (from Greek ἐπίλογος ''epílogos'', "conclusion" from ἐπί ''epi'', "in addition" and λόγος ''logos'', "word") is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature, usually used to bring closure to the ...
, and based on ''Planetarians story were written by
Yūichi Suzumoto is a male Japanese novelist originally from Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Japan, though he now lives in Osaka, Japan. As of 2006, he works for Aquaplus, known for being the publishing company of Leaf. Before going to Leaf, Suzumoto worked at the publish ...
and illustrated by Eeji Komatsu. The 243-page novel was originally bundled with the limited edition of the CD version of ''Planetarian'', and was also included in the limited edition of the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
version. The book was re-published as a commercial release by
Visual Arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
under their VA Bunko light novel
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
on October 31, 2008, and was the second title on the imprint. A downloadable version of the novel titled ''Hoshi no Hito: Planetarian Side Story'' on
Android Android most commonly refers to: *Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), a mobile operating system primarily developed by Google * Android TV, a operating system developed ...
devices was released on November 30, 2011, followed by a version on
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
devices on December 14, 2011. The first two stories presented occur before the events of the kinetic novel, and the latter two occur during its aftermath. The
front matter Book design is the graphic art of determining the visual and physical characteristics of a book. The design process begins after an author and editor finalize the manuscript, at which point it is passed to the production stage. During productio ...
of the book reads, "Starry sky, words, God, robots. A collection of short stories in the key of these four themes." A short preview of the book is available online. ; :This story occurs before the events of the war that brought the world to ruin; at this point, Yumemi has been working at the Flowercrest Department Store's rooftop planetarium for about ten years. One day, Yumemi begins to act strangely, culminating in her simply walking out and wandering around the town. The staff of the planetarium are bewildered, and one of the workers—a woman named Satomi Kurahashi—is ordered to go follow Yumemi and bring her back. Before long, Yumemi begins to run out of battery power. ; :This story occurs as the war reaches its height. The South American Unification Army receives reports of a rogue sniper operating deep in the jungles of
Patagonia Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
, and sends a platoon under the command of Master Sergeant Murdock to neutralize the threat. However, the entire platoon is killed off one by one by the sniper, until only Murdock is left. All alone, Murdock catches a glimpse of this mysterious sniper through his binoculars—and is shocked to find that he gazes upon the figure of a beautiful
nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...
. ; :This story occurs some time after the events of the kinetic novel, as human civilization struggles in a losing battle against the poisonous rain. Three of the last inhabitants of a nearly abandoned underground
fallout shelter A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War. Durin ...
—named Levi, Ruth, and Job—find a quaint old man collapsed in the snow outside the bunker. When they bring him down, they are surprised to hear the adults calling him "Man of the Stars". The children grow quite interested about his strange nickname, as well as the fact that they have never seen a visitor from the outside world. The old man recovers a bit and has the children help him in putting together a portable planetarium projector. This story offers an ultimate conclusion to the story in the kinetic novel. ; :Identical twins Tircis and Aminte study alone in a world of their own. Tircis begins to wonder why he is studying and how long will it go on. This is the story of how the answer reveals itself to Tircis and Aminte.


Drama CDs

Three
drama CD Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s were released by
Key Sounds Label Key Sounds Label is a Japanese independent record label formed in 2001 as a brand of the publishing company Visual Arts. Key Sounds Label was formed to catalog and release music related to visual novels produced by the brand Key, also under Visu ...
based on the short stories in the light novel. The first, ''Snow Globe'', was released on December 29, 2006 at Comiket 71 bearing the catalog number ''KSLA-0027''; it was later re-released on May 25, 2007 with a different cover. The opening track takes place one year before the protagonist arrives at the planetarium and the "Snow Globe" story is told as a flashback. The end of the drama CD is where the kinetic novel begins. The second drama CD, ''Jerusalem'', was released on July 27, 2007 bearing the catalog number ''KSLA-0029''. The insert song "Brave New World" by
fripSide fripSide is a Japanese pop music, pop and trance music, trance duo originally formed by composer Satoshi Yaginuma (Sat) and singer Nao in February 2002. History In a 2008 interview, Satoshi said that he was a fan of TM Network and its member Te ...
is included at the end of the drama CD. The final drama CD, ''Hoshi no Hito'', was released on July 27, 2007 bearing the catalog numbers ''KSLA-0030–0031''. This drama CD covers both the Man of the Stars" and "Tircis and Aminte" stories. A cast of voice actors perform the characters in "Man of the Stars", but "Tircis and Aminte" is a recited story by Keiko Suzuki, the voice of Yumemi Hoshino.


Anime

A five-episode
original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animat ...
(ONA) adaptation was produced by
David Production is a Japanese animation studio founded in September 2007 by former Gonzo producers Kōji Kajita and Taito Okiura, and is based in Nishitōkyō, Tokyo. Notable works from the studio include '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', '' Cells at Work!'', t ...
and directed by Naokatsu Tsuda. The series was streamed on
Niconico , known before 2012 as , is a Japanese video sharing service based in Tokyo, Japan. "Niconico" or "nikoniko" is the Japanese sound symbolism, Japanese ideophone for smiling. As of 2021, Niconico is the 34th most-visited website in Japan, accordi ...
and other online services from July 7 to August 4, 2016. The screenplay is written by Tsuda and Shogo Yasukawa. Hitomi Takechi based the character design used in the anime on Eeji Komatsu's original designs. Sound and music direction is headed by Tsuda and Takayuki Yamaguchi. Katsuichi Nakayama and Shunsuke Machitani are the series directors. The anime's music is composed by Magome Togoshi, Shinji Orito, Donmaru and Tomohiro Takeshita. The main ending theme of the ONA series is "Twinkle Starlight" by Sayaka Sasaki. A single titled "Twinkle Starlight / Worlds Pain" performed by Sasaki and
Ceui Ceui (, born January 31) is a Japanese singer–songwriter originally from Chiba, Japan, though she grew up in Fukuoka. Ceui's name is derived from the Portuguese word for sky, céu. She has been singing since 2000, but made her major debut in 2 ...
was released on July 27, 2016. "Hoshi Meguri no Uta" by Mell from the visual novel was used for the ending theme of episode five. The series was released on a single Blu-ray compilation volume on September 28, 2016. The same staff also produced an anime film titled '' Planetarian: Storyteller of the Stars'' that premiered in Japanese theaters on September 3, 2016.
Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...
simulcasted the ONA series on their website, and later released the ONA series and film on physical media on August 14, 2018. Visual Arts launched a crowdfunding campaign on November 29, 2019, to produce an
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...
(OVA) episode titled ''Planetarian: Snow Globe''. The OVA was animated by
Okuruto Noboru is a Japanese animation studio based in Tokyo founded on December 1, 2017 by ex-Gonzo (company), Gonzo/David Production producer Wani Koguchi. Works Television series Original video animation References External links

* * {{Japan ...
and directed by Jin Tamamura, with Yasukawa returning to write the screenplay and Takechi returning to design the characters. People who backed the campaign received a copy of the OVA on Blu-ray in January 2021, and it was released to the general public on August 25, 2021.


Reception

In a review by Marcus Estrada of ''Hardcore Gamer'', he praised ''Planetarian'' for having a "beautiful story," gorgeous CGs and a soundtrack that "sets a melancholic, but hopeful mood fitting with the story." He also noted that "even as an aging property ''Planetarian'' still looks and sounds good." ''Planetarian'' is one of several kinetic novels featured in the ''
Lycèe Trading Card Game The ''Lycèe Trading Card Game'' is a Japanese collectible card game developed by Silver Blitz and published by Broccoli (company), Broccoli that uses characters from a variety of (mostly) visual novel computer games. ''Lycée'' is a French langua ...
''; Yumemi and the planetarium are playable cards in the second Visual Arts card set. In the February 2007 issue of
SoftBank Creative is a Japanese publishing company and a subsidiary of the SoftBank telecommunications company. It was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Publications ;Young Adult * : Original Japanese language publication of the Math Girls ...
's ''
Gemaga was a Japanese video game magazine founded in 1984 as ''Beep'' and published by SB Creative. During its history, it was known variously as ''Beep'', ''Sega Saturn Magazine'', ''Dreamcast Magazine'', and finally ''Gemaga''. When it ended publi ...
'' magazine, the PS2 version ranked first for console games in terms of satisfaction; the game had ranked fourth in the previous issue. In the Japanese video game magazine ''
Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...
'' released on September 8, 2006, it was reported that the PS2 version of ''Planetarian'' sold 8,170 units the week of August 21 to August 27, 2006 (the PS2 version was originally sold on August 24, 2006). When the PSP version was re-released as a fundraising event for the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a  9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...
, 16,663 units were pre-ordered by the day of its release on May 12, 2011. From these sales, Prototype and Visual Arts donated 22,415,069 yen.


See also

*
Three Laws of Robotics The Three Laws of Robotics (often shortened to The Three Laws or Asimov's Laws) are a set of rules devised by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, which were to be followed by robots in several of his stories. The rules were introduced in his 194 ...


Notes


References


External links


Key's ''Planetarian'' website

KineticNovel's ''Planetarian'' website



Anime official website
* * {{good article 2004 video games 2006 Japanese novels 2016 anime ONAs 2016 web series debuts Android (operating system) games Anime based on video games Bishōjo games David Production Dystopian video games Funimation IOS games Key (company) games Light novels Nintendo Switch games Okuruto Noboru PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Post-apocalyptic video games Prototype (company) games Science fiction video games Seinen manga Sekai Project games Single-player video games VA Bunko Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Magome Togoshi Windows games