BrikHaus wrote:That ending would have been the only logical one for the character growth he seemed to be having near the end.
Actually, I think the ending that happened was the only logical one. Character growth doesn't mean they discover the path they've chosen is the wrong one. Hachi wasn't making a "wrong" choice, he was just struggling with the reason and consequences and how to deal with it.
BrikHaus wrote: Yet it was just tossed away at the last second.
I don't think he tossed anything away. I think he merely was able to put his choice in perspective, and understand why he was doing what he was doing.
Hachi was mostly struggling with the idea of not needing anyone. Living alone, and isolating himself from others. He thinks this is the only way he can go on the mission while not being hurt. But he realizes that cutting himself off from others, and Tanabe, isn't the answer. But neither is the answer giving up his dream of going to Jupiter. Therefor, he has to pay the price for chasing his dream - it can't be "easy", because achieving your dreams shouldn't come without paying a price.
BrikHaus wrote: By the way, having a happy ending does not make something "happy BS."
I didn't say anything about a happy ending, I merely meant optimistic, ideal, and empty "messages" that don't amount to a hill of beans. Now and Then, Here and There suffered from that as well. They tackled some heavy subjects, and then took the easy, trite way out every time. Someone nailed my feelings when they said "either go the whole way and discuss the topic or don't bring it up at all". Planetes is how to do it without falling into childish, mawkish territory.
BrikHaus wrote: God forbid we should watch TV or a movie or an anime and have to see a nice resolution.
"Nice resolution" is in the eye of the beholder.
BrikHaus wrote: It's escapism.
It's also art, and a main artistic purpose it to reflect life.
BrikHaus wrote: It shouldn't have to be depressing or infuriating at the end in order for it to be considered "good."
Who said it had to be? I found Planetes ending both well resolved, and neither depressing or infuriating.
BrikHaus wrote: We've got enough depressing shit to watch and read about every day in the news. If people who liked "realistic" endings better ever got out of their perfect lives in suburbia, and starting spending time with real people, for example, a homeless child living in the ghetto with a terminal disease (like one of my real-life hospital patients), then maybe a conclusion that lifts you up a little at the end wouldn't seem so bad.
It has nothing to do with "realism" VS. "escapism" or "happy ending" VS "sad ending" or "uplifting" VS "depressing", it has everything to do with how something is presented and resolved. I don't know where I gave the impression that I think something can only be good if it's realistic and ends depressingly. Hell, I dislike most Italian Neo-realism and films like Bicycle Thieves and love a series like Escaflowne that ends about as happy as could be expected.
What I'm saying is, if you're going to bring up topics, then it's the work's responsibility to cover it intelligently rather than muddling it up with trite "messages". If a work is going to be escapist fantasy then that's fine. I enjoy a great deal of "art" that falls under that category. But there's a right way and a wrong way to do anything, and I don't think it's fair to fault Planetes just because a character doesn't do what YOU want him to do.
Why do you think the answer is for Hachi to stay behind with Tanabe? Why is giving up your dreams for someone else any better of a message than working your ass off to succeed and achieve what you really want in life? To me, a depressing ending would've been Hachi failing to make the crew and not getting Tanabe.
