The original Planetarian visual novel by Key was one of the first I ever read in my 15+ years of being into visual novels. Ive gone on record saying that while I like Key in general their stories can get pretty predictable with their endings and often feel bloated in terms of length. Planetarian in a way is the complete oppositeits a very short story not even written by Jun Maeda yet it still feels distinctly like a Key work. I thought the original visual novel was just okay. There was a bit too much text and the visuals didnt really convey the planetarium aspect it was going for. It also didnt help that there were only two main characters and we never really got to see the protagonist Junker. Thankfully the anime fixes this issue with great animation that makes up for the visual novels dated look. Planetarian is a short story and for me its always been difficult to get fully invested in something with very few characters. In this case there are literally only two speaking characters for most of the series. However seeing the dystopian world in motion in the anime helps with immersion before Junker eventually hides out in the planetarium. In both the visual novel and especially the anime the true star of the show is easily the robot girl Yumemi Hoshino. Ive seen my fair share of emotional short stories about tragic robot girls so they tend to feel predictablemeaning they have to stand out in some way for me to care. Planetarian manages to do that and even after all these years I still think Yumemi is one of the most genuinely likable robot heroines not just in visual novels but even in anime. She has this innocent yet sincere way of wanting to show as many customers as possible the beauty of the stars. The way the anime presents the constellations alongside her bright commentary really enhances the experience creating a great contrast to the dystopian world outsideone she doesnt seem fully aware of. These moments combined with Yumemis warm personality contrasting with Junkers hardened pessimism make their character development more impactful throughout the story. I think a roughly twohour movie was the perfect length to pace out this story. In addition to adapting the already emotional if a bit predictable story of the original visual novel the anime also includes side story sequel content. In my opinion this addition was absolutely necessary for the kind of emotional catharsis Key is known for. Unlike many other Key stories which rely on silly deus ex machina happy endings that tend to sour my opinion of the rest of the work Planetarianin any mediumnever takes that approach. In fact the sequel content in the Hoshi no Hito ending improves on the original visual novels conclusion which felt a little too predictable and anticlimactic. The added material in the movie gives proper emotional weight to what happens after the main events making this at least for me the absolute best way to experience the story. If you want a short emotional drama set in a dystopian worldone that finds beauty in an otherwise bleak settingthis is a great movie to check out.