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Japanese title
プラネット ラダー
Manga-ka/Author
なるしまゆり Yuri Narushima
Genre
fantasy, drama, romance
Volumes: 7
Distributor: Tokyopop
Classification: 12
Originally serialised in
クリムソン
Crimson
Rating
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Kaguya is an orphan. She has no memories from before the age of four, save one;
that of an injured boy reaching out to her from a flame. Adopted by the Haruyama
family, Kaguya leads a life full of confusion until the day two strange men
appear, call her a princess and kidnap her. However, the two men, Seeu and Idou,
fight, and as a result Kaguya finds herself alone on a strange planet, with only
Seeu's android Gold for company.
Finally coming across fellow humans on this planet, Kaguya is however forced to
flee from them with Gold, and finds refuge with the beautiful yet unfriendly
Sheena Moru Banvivrie (known as Bambi) who tells Kaguya that she is on the
fourth of nine worlds (the third of which is Eden, our world), Teneree. These
worlds are all upon the brink of destruction, yet Kaguya is the princess of
Ananai; she has the power to save one of these worlds, and must choose the one
to survive.
Thus, Kaguya is under considerable danger from the powers ruling the worlds,
especially from the rulers of the seventh world, Geo, which has a powerful army
and considerable control over the other worlds. Many people search for Kaguya,
and when Teneree's army comes to Bambi's castle, she and Kaguya are forced to
flee, with Gold in tow.
There remains Kaguya's problem - how is she to choose which world to save and
condemn all the others to oblivion? Who is the strange boy from Kaguya's
memories who also occasionally manifests in Gold's body, and knows all about her?
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Based on the ancient Japanese legend Kaguya-hime (from which Mt. Fuji
gained its name), Planet Ladder is a dramatic story spanning worlds where
all life hangs in the balance and the responsibility rests firmly upon the
shoulders of our unwilling and frightened protagonist.
Planet Ladder is a very interesting series which hasn't enjoyed a vast
amount of success; but it is one of the most fascinating underdogs I've ever
seen. Bearing some similarities to
Fushigi Yūgi,
the series is solemn in tone and involves interesting and well-rounded characters,
as well as a smooth and highly-detailed art style.
(Note: Unfortunately I haven't read the first book in this series. However, the
premise of Planet Ladder sounded intriguing enough to begin reading from
the second book. Forgive me if I have made mistakes in the synopsis.)
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Manga
Produced by Tokyopop,
the final volume of Planet Ladder was translated into English in 2005.
However, as I mentioned before this series is an underdog, and may be problematic
to find (I bought my copy from eBay, and wasn't directly looking for
it). Perhaps the best place to find this series is online.
Anime
There is no
Planet Ladder anime as of yet.
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