These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Planetes
Anvilicious : despite the very strong realism in sciences and overarching story that the series display, there is a definite lack of subtlety in how many plots are treated.
Action Girl / Faux Action Girl : Tanabe. She has brave moments, but often just goes screaming for her "sempai".
The Bad Guys Won; The Obviously Evil genocidal terrorist nations succeed in forcing the industrial nations which invested heavily in space and sacrificed lives to that effort to give up their investments, most likely causing a depression. It's unlikely that the "underdogs" will see a cent of that money, as it will likely go into the pockets of dictators - who just might be inspired by the SDF's success to further acts of terrorism. Ironically summed up by Hakim's rationale for joining the SDF: since fossil fuels are now obsolete, the oil trade that his home country had depended on could no longer provide significant revenue, making them take a back seat to nations that had already invested in alternative energy sources. Acquiescence to the SDF's demands means that the holders of the old hydrocarbon energy monopolies will still be pulling in significant amounts of money, and quite a few of them are not the nicest people ever. So, not only will dictators with ties to terrorism be rewarded, it will probably be the exact same dictators with ties to terrorism that are currently in power. 24IN SPACE! anyone?
The Extremists Were Right; The united underdogs of earth succeed in forcing a bunch of fat cats to accept a deal that will prevent the rich nations able to afford space travel from getting dibs on all the solar systems resources while the rest of humanity is left to wither in war and poverty. Sure, they are willing to sacrifice a city of 100,000 in the process, but millions died and will continue dying from the wars and famine that INTO policies caused.
The most interesting part? In the manga, the SDF is just a means for industrial saboteurs to use Third World refugees as suicide bombers against rival companies. They're just the B plot of a single chapter - Ai and Hachi's relationship is the A plot. They dissolve in the ending text.
Hachimaki's EVA tests deserve special mention. This troper cried when he saw it the first time.
Werner Locksmith, satisfied with the test results from the moon incident. Even the characters were floored.
Crowning Moment of Funny: Both the plots of episode 12 get quite funny, but Fee's quest for a smoke is one of the funniest things in the series. Even more notable since they managed to make a episode about a series of eco-terrorist bombings a CMOF.
Nono's introduction, especially in the manga. "This is my ocean."
And Nono, again, in the anime's conclusion, when she asks Hakim what's a "country," because she can't see Earth's borders from her Lunar home, which makes him realize how pointless his war is and changes his mind about killing her.
"Please save Yuri." And Yuri sending out a flower into space in the memory of his late wife.
The Scrappy: The fandom is divided on whether the Lunar Flying Squirrels are a pointless waste of space, or a worthwhile moment of levity. The vocal majority leans towards the former.
The former should be happy that all but one of them die when Locksmith tests the von Braun's engine prototype to destruction. The rest of us found the survivor's reappearance to be a Tear Jerker.
