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Planet With Episode 8 Review: Illusionary Breasts and the Peril from the Dark Side of the Moon

Quick Summary of Planet With Episode 8

In Planet With episode 8, “Power is What Dwells Within Your Own Self,” Nozomi Takamagahara skips a club meeting to go on a date-ish event with Souya Kuroi. Unfortunately for them, Kogane Shiraishi isn’t keen on letting them enjoy themselves and tries to hypnotize Souya. You’ll never guess how he broke her power over him! Benika Takatori takes a bath with the Generalissimo and Yousuke Hitsujitani with a Sealing Device as the stakes. Will the Generalissimo trust Benika with such a device? Finally, the People of Paradise finally make their request of Souya. It is absolutely not something he wanted to hear.

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

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"Sensei"actionFigure [Planet With] /

“Sensei”actionFigure [Planet With]

3 Favorite Moments from Planet With Episode 8

Nozomi’s plan all along was to say thank you to Souya by showing him the highlights of the town he helped save. He didn’t know how to react! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Moment 1

Nozomi was so cute in this episode! She was embarrassed she had to remind Souya that he promised to go somewhere after school with her (3:30). Plus, she was so disheartened when the aquarium, one of the few interesting destinations in the city, was closed because of the recent conflict (3:49). That was all built up for my first favorite moment.

Souya didn’t want to believe that he had protected the town, and he certainly doesn’t feel like he deserves Nozomi’s praise. So when she tells him that her goal had been to show him around the town he had saved (4:28), he really didn’t know how to react. You could hear the uncertainty in his voice. You could see her reaching out to him, not knowing how to comfort him and not even knowing what he was going through, yet still wanting to help. I love genuine moments like this!

There’s huge difference between Nozomi’s motivations and Kogane’s. I’m glad Souya made the right choice! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Moment 2

Kogane just couldn’t let Nozomi and Souya enjoy themselves, could she? What is it with agents of the Sealing Faction?  Manipulating little… Ahem. Anyway, Kogane decided she had to interrupt Souya’s date with Nozomi to try hypnotizing them again, having apparently forgotten that Nozomi was immune to that little trick (in more ways than one). Seeing Nozomi trying to convince Souya to leave with her, Kogane played her trump card: she pushed her breasts against Souya’s arm. That triggered the most amusing moment in the series so far.

Remember the narrator’s voice overs like the one from Rosario + Vampire? The one that announced Moka Akashiya turning into a vampire? We get a similar moment here, only it was focused on the impact Kogane’s breasts had on the young Souya’s imagination. Souya’s more or less hypnotized, but Kogane’s breasts pressing so tightly against him enflamed his imagination . The combination of breasts plus girl plus breasts (the gag of mentioning breasts many times just didn’t get old!) unleashed a level of awareness he had never known before. In that instant, his senses told him that he didn’t feel breasts against his upper arm. He felt them against his shoulder! That means what he was seeing was an illusion!

After internally debating the merits of illusion over reality, he finally chose reality, and he pushed Kogane away (11:27). Even better? He clasped Nozomi’s hand more tightly. As funny as that scene was, I am really happy to see Souya choose Nozomi’s almost instinctively. Smart young man!

As she watched Souya crumble under the weight of his grief, Nozomi had no idea what to do. But she stayed by his side. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Moment 3

Choosing only three moments in this episode was tough for me. There were at least two other moments in contention (Nozomi stepping between Kogane and Souya to protect him at 14:57 and Hideo Torai telling Souya it was okay for him not to fight at 16:34), but I force myself to pick only three each episode. Creativity needs constraints and all that! So, my third moment this episode is Souya’s reaction to Kogane pushing him — hard — to continue fighting. Souya said in a doggedly exhausted voice that he was done fighting, and Kogane said that personal problems had nothing to do with the decision. He snapped. Seeing what he’s achieved, it’s easy to forget that he’s just a kid.

But he is just a kid, and he’s a kid who hasn’t had a chance to mourn the death of his world and everything on it. Watching his breakdown (14:05) was heart-wrenching. The mundane quality of everything he said he’d lost, like not having the chance to return a book he borrowed to one of his friends or the pond where his grandpa would go fishing, drove home the agony he was feeling. I liked how both Ginko and Sensei understood his decision and didn’t try to push him. And I loved how Nozomi stood beside him! I hope he finds peace by the end of the series. The kid certainly deserves it!

Thoughts about Planet With Episode 8

So Ginko knows how to use optical camouflage (2:18)? She must have seen Ghost in the Shell! I always suspected she would have good taste in movies!

I think the Major would have been proud! Witness Ginko’s homage to the Ghost in the Shell movie! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Did you think it was an interesting insight into the Sealing Faction’s mind set that the Generalissimo objected to Benika not using his title (6:03). I flat out don’t trust those guys…

I feel bad for Souya. He’s made it crystal clear over the last couple of episodes that he’s done with fighting. Even though he’s finally able to start mourning the loss of his world, he’s still exhausted in mind, body, and spirit. On top of all of that, at the end of this episode, one of the People of Paradise returns with the appearance of his brother and drops a bombshell.

The dragon is still alive and it’s sleeping on the far side of Earth’s moon.

And guess who the People of Paradise want to confront it?

The Sealing Faction has left a mess for everyone to deal with, didn’t they? Sirius paid the price for their lack of control over their own weapon, and now that weapon is threatening Earth. I wonder if that’s why Kogane was so keen on convincing Souya to fight? Is she preparing him to face the dragon? Maybe transfer the blame for whatever happens to him? Or does she and the Sealing Faction not know that dragon’s even there? I can’t tell how much they know…

You can almost hear Souya say, “The dragon’s effing what, now?” How much more does this kid have to take? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Why do the People of Paradise want to involve Souya? Why would they get involved at all? Do they know something about the dragon — something that threatens not only Earth, but Nebula and maybe even the People of Paradise as well? Did the People of Paradise decide to get involved when they saw that all of Nebula’s psychic power together couldn’t destroy the dragon’s threat?

Good drama pushes the main characters to the edge of their endurance and strength. We’ve seen many of the characters in Planet With pushed very hard, but none of them nearly to the extent as Souya. I said earlier that I hope he finds peace by the end of the end of the series. Right now, though, it looks like his future is packed with strife. It makes for good drama, but I’d hate to be in Souya’s shoes. 

He may not realize it, but he has a secret weapon. And her name’s Nozomi. I’ll bet she has more to accomplish before this season’s over!

What did you think of the People of Paradise? What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!

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2 thoughts on “Planet With Episode 8 Review: Illusionary Breasts and the Peril from the Dark Side of the Moon

  1. I’m 100% convinced that the Sealing Faction has no clue about the dragon. They are far too engrossed in their stinky plan to justify sealing the Earth through entrapment and mind control.

    I really like that Nozomi is somehow immune to Kogane’s hypnotism. I don’t think it’s something as simple as her glasses, but it could be. Because Kogane’s kind of an idiot, isn’t she.

    I also really liked the way that Ginko and Sensei kind of got on edge when Souya mentioned the People of Paradise there. It gave it a good feel of “this has gotten a lot deeper than our little piddly faction fight.”

    1. “I’m 100% convinced that the Sealing Faction has no clue about the dragon. They are far too engrossed in their stinky plan to justify sealing the Earth through entrapment and mind control.”

      You may well be right. They don’t seem to be the most aware people in the world. Devious, sure; dishonest maybe (at least with themselves); but not observant.

      “Because Kogane’s kind of an idiot, isn’t she.” Yeah, she is!

      “It gave it a good feel of “this has gotten a lot deeper than our little piddly faction fight.””

      I thought that was a great little detail! It ratcheted up the tension.

      I worry about Souya. Is he willing to step up? Can he? And why’s it have to be him? Terrans can obviously project power…

      I think it’s great the show can generate these kinds of questions!

Please let me know what you think!

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