the chapters in seven tankōbon volumes from December 1998 to May 2004. Shueisha re-released Planet Ladder in four bunkoban volumes from July 18, to August 8, 2008. Tokyopop licensed Planet Ladder for an English-language release in North America and serialized it in its manga magazine Smile. The first volume was released on April 23, 2002; the final volume was published on March 8, 2005. Planet Ladder belonged to Tokyopop's line-up of manga in its original right-to-left format; previously, the majority of manga licensed in the United States was "flopped" to read left-to-right for a Western audience. As a result, it was displayed in a case with the eight other "unflopped" manga—Chobits, Dragon Knights, Marmalade Boy, GTO, Real Bout High School, The Skull Man, Mars and Cowboy Bebop—and heavily advertised in anime magazines and on fan sites. Planet Ladder went out of print on April 2, 2007 in North America. Only the last two volumes were given titles in the English-language release: The Fate of the Dark Planet for volume six and Ananai of the Puzzled Star for the seventh volume. Volume list Reception Planet Ladder was positively received by English-language readers. The fifth volume placed in the 44th spot on the list of the 50 best-selling graphic novels of February 2003, with an estimated 1,176 copies sold. The sixth volume reached the 71st place on the list of the 100 best-selling graphic novels of February 2004, with an estimated 984 copies sold. Critical reaction to Planet Ladder was generally positive. In Manga: The Complete Guide, Jason Thompson wrote that the manga reminded him of "prose science fiction", citing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1962) and Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (1970) as examples. His criticism of the series centered on Narushima's "inconsistent designs, crude faces, and too much greasy looking screentone". While stating that Planet Ladder is a "difficult title to warm to, since it feels like we're in the middle of the story, rather than the beginning", Mike Dungan of Mania Entertainment considered the effort "worthy", and wrote that it made Kaguya more sympathetic at the cost of the other characters. Dungan enjoyed the "pleasant though not especially unique" art, the "attractively designed and well-drawn" characters, the occasional humor, and the overall adaptation, especially the "natural sounding dialogue". However, he criticized Tokyopop's inconsistent handling of the sound effects. Sequential Tarts Sheena McNeil praised the plot