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Planet With Episode 10 Review: A Paw to Paw Brawl and Your Kind Feelings Are Enough

Quick Summary of Planet With Episode 10

In Planet With episode 10, “Karellen and Rashaverak,” Souya Kuroi and Sensei challenge Kogane Shiraishi and the Generalissimo to a fight to determine which Nebula faction decides Earth’s fate: Pacifist or Sealing. Is violence the answer? Or is it a means to communicate? The battle’s so intense that even with their photon armor, Hideo Torai, Benika Takatori, and the other previous members of Grand Paladin can only stand by and watch. Is there truly nothing they can do? Was Takezou Ryuuzouji still too broken hearted from his son’s death to even watch the battle? And with the two Nebula factions so closely matched in technology, what will it take to decide the outcome of battle?

Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.  

What’s in This Post

Interested in the Sensei mech? You can buy it from CD Japan:

"Sensei"actionFigure [Planet With] /

“Sensei”actionFigure [Planet With]

3 Favorite Moments from Planet With Episode 10

When he found that Nezuya had awakened from his sealing, Souya finally admitted he had a friend — an important development for the young man’s recovery! Of course, the wise Ginko knew all along. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Moment 1

Jeesh! Asking me to choose three moments out of this episode is like asking me to pick my three favorite drops of water in Lake Erie. But I made the rules, and I need to set a good example to myself… My first favorite moment is a small one, but it’s important. Do you remember back in episode 5 when we learned that Seigi Nezuya had been sealed? Souya tried to deny his friendship with Seigi at the time because they seemed to be on different sides, but deep down, Souya was very upset. Seigi had been one of the first humans to call him a friend!

Now, apparently as a result of Souya’s work with the People of Paradise, Seigi’s recovered from his sealing and he flying in photon armor (1:07). And he’s back to his old self, gleam in his eye and all! Ginko looks at Souya and says “I’m glad. He’s your friend, right?” After a slight pause, Souya answers yes (1:35). Sensei even pats him on the head! Through that friendship, Souya further embraced his desire to defend the Earth from being sealed. He also took another step in his healing process in the aftermath of his planet’s destruction — a theme and progression that this show’s done a fantastic job dramatizing. 

Just how noble is Sensei? The Generalissimo couldn’t allow himself the realization, so Souya spelled it out for him. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Moment 2

The show’s been great at keeping the Generalissimo’s real motives nebulous (if you forgive the pun). Is he really a villain? Does he really enjoy sealing worlds and locking them forever at a point below their potential? One major hint was back in episode 9 when the huge dog couldn’t stop wagging his tail after seeing that Sensei had been un-sealed. In this episode, as the four combatants’ fight took them into Earth orbit, the Generalissimo confessed his respect for Sensei (9:32). But he just couldn’t bring himself to believe that Sensei’s position — that Nebula were the adults and Earth’s inhabitants were the children who needed guidance — was the right one. Souya, who’s quite the perceptive young man, finally had had enough. He spelled it out for the Generalissimo: “Just shut up already, you stupid dog! …Sensei wants to save you, too!” (10:53). 

Takezou put everything into his strike — and succeeded in cutting through “an interstellar strategic weapon.” Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Moment 3

When we first see Takezou flying towards the battle (13:02), I had a bad feeling he was going to confront Souya and Sensei over the death of his son back in episode 6. His expression was grim, and I could tell he planned some violence or confrontation. He arrived at the scene of the battle after both sides had switched their starships to combat mode. The fight was at a critical moment. Generalissimo and Kogane were about to deliver the finishing blow with their Grand Stella Breaker (upholding the tradition of cool-sounding moves and devices!). I was literally on the edge of my seat — would Takezou join the Sealing Faction? Would he try to put a stop to the fight?

Putting forth all of his power — to the point of converting his photon armor into a gigantic gleaming sword, he cried out that this was for his son. He sliced the Grand Stella Breaker in half (15:38). Both sides were shocked. Souya even questioned if he’d hit the right target. But Takezou knew who put his son in the position to be killed, and he knew what would happen if the Sealing Faction won this battle. Thematically, I think was an amazing moment: Until now, both sides fighting over Earth’s future were non-Terran. Takezou’s decisive blow showed that Earth had a say in this fight. And Earth didn’t want to be sealed.

Thoughts about Planet With Episode 10

The Power of Footwear

We’ve seen the bizarre “saddle up” move where Sensei basically swallows Souya to get him in the cockpit. We’ve seen what doping does to their strength, and we’ve seen what the ship’s combat mode looks like. So we were prepared for those moves in the middle of battle, and for me, that made successive each power up all the more satisfying. It wasn’t some arbitrary “oh, the MC gets a power boost because plot.” These are fleshed out combat systems that behaved according to the rules this world established. For me at least, this was much more satisfying than something like Bleach’sBankai. No disrespect to Bleach, but this just felt better.

How amazingly cool was it that the battle came down once again to the steel clog (17:48)?

Ginko once again showed the depth of her wisdom when she thanked Generalissimo for his kind feelings — and asked that he continue to watch over the Earth. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Well, at least the physical aspect of the fight ended with Sensei catching Souya’s shoe before slamming it into the miniaturized sealing device. I think, though, that it was actually Ginko who landed the decisive blow. Remember how Sensei had fallen to the ground, exhausted, after delivering the strike on the miniaturized sealing device? The Generalissimo seemed frozen in indecision. He lamented that he his reason for fighting had been to prevent another disaster like Sirius or Riel. It’s hard to argue with his motivations. But he still couldn’t accept Sensei’s position.

Ginko, the Princess of Riel

But he had taken a less hopeful and heroic path. He had planned to seal Earth and freeze its people to prevent the catastrophe. His perpetual argument with Sensei — in fact, the argument that had apparently raged between the two Nebula factions — hadn’t gotten anywhere. The fight, though, had brought him to an intellectually vulnerable place. 

Ginko, the Princess of Riel, struck the decisive intellectual blow. “Nobody from Riel… wanted this planet to be sealed away. Your kind feelings are enough for us. Thank you, Generalissimo Karellen. Would you please watch over this planet a little more?” (18:23). 

I don’t want to minimize the choice that the Sealing Faction made. Saying that we need to give children the space to grow up is an easy argument to win. Putting that on a planetary scale, though, where a race could become a rampaging horror almost overnight (from an evolutionary perspective) puts a different spin on the argument. It takes three things to embrace and implement that decision: Hope to be able to see that path in the first place; courage to accept the challenge; and strength to see it through. Generalissimo and the Sealing faction lacked the hope to see the possibility. Sensei and the Pacifist faction had all three.

Good thing for Earth that they were around!

What did you think of the massive mech battle in this episode? What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!

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2 thoughts on “Planet With Episode 10 Review: A Paw to Paw Brawl and Your Kind Feelings Are Enough

  1. That “Sensei wants to save you too” was probably my favorite moment from this episode. It reminded me of one of my favorites from another Mizukami manga: old friend rivals, one trying to “save” the other from their life choices, one of the longest fights from their series, everyone watching, etc.

    Now I want to see Sensei and Generalissimo working together to save the Dragon, like Sensei wanted to do back then.

    1. “Now I want to see Sensei and Generalissimo working together to save the Dragon, like Sensei wanted to do back then.”

      If the previous battle is any indication, that might be the only way to defeat the dragon — unless the People of Paradise get involved personally. I’m still wondering why they have to/want to involve Souya…

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