Kanata no Astra 彼方のアストラ

2019 summer | Episodes: 12 | Score: 8.1 (154597)

Updated every Wednesdays at 21:00 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:AT-X | Docomo Anime Store | Shueisha | Kadokawa Media House | Kadokawa

Streaming: Crunchyroll | Netflix

Synopsis

In the year 2063, space travel is feasible and commercially available. As the cheerful Aries Spring arrives at the spaceport to attend a camp on the distant planet McPa, her purse is suddenly snatched by a reckless thief. Luckily, the athletic Kanata Hoshijima is able to retrieve it for her, and Aries soon discovers that he is among the group of teenagers who will be traveling with her on the excursion as team B-5. Upon arriving at their campsite, the group's trip takes a turn for the worse when a strange sphere of black light sucks them into the vast reaches of outer space. Stranded with seemingly no hope, they find an abandoned ship nearby that provides them with the means to return home. However, they soon discover that they are not as close to their campsite as they initially thought, but are in fact thousands of light-years away from home. With this realization, the nine members must cautiously manage their resources, maintain their strength, and unite as one to conquer the darkness of space together. While the reason behind their trip's sudden obstruction remains unknown, they nevertheless embark on the treacherous voyage back home aboard their new ship, the Astra. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Voice Actors

Matsuda, Risae

Hosoya, Yoshimasa

Shimazaki, Nobunaga

Hayami, Saori

Kino, Hina

Kurosawa, Tomoyo

Minase, Inori

Takeuchi, Shunsuke

Ishigami, Shizuka

Uchiyama, Kouki

News

Reviews

RyanSpring
02/03/2024, 01:43 PM
I'd like to start by saying that this anime gave me an existential crisis. Demonstrating my unparalleled creativity, my username here on MAL, RyanSpring, is literally just my real life first and last name. So, going into this completely blind, in a world where every female character in anime is Mai, Sakura or Mikasa, I really had a moment when it was revealed that the lead in this anime is named Aries Spring. Do I... have a daughter somewhere? Is this a sign from the anime deities above that I SHOULD have a daughter and that I should name her Aries? Is Aries Spring infact my MOTHER or grandmother and I've been lied to all my life? These questions will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life, so thanks Astra Lost in Space, and with that strange tangent out of the way let's get to the actual review. I really wasn't expecting to like Astra Lost in Space anywhere near as much as I did. I thought it'd be just another anime in my very large collection that I'd watch, think is fine and move along from without ever giving it much thought after the fact. I'd never seen anyone talk about or hype up this anime, nor have I seen it appear on "best of" lists that everyone seems to love making, so while I immediately concede I may have simply liked this more than most members of the community do, I really was taken aback by how into this I was. First of all, it's beautiful. This anime is only about five years old, and almost every remotely modern anime looks nice, but in this case the color palette really pops off the screen with how bright and vibrant it is. The characters have all sorts of different hair and eye colors, none look remotely alike unless they're supposed to, and the various planets our main cast visit as they attempt to make their way home are equally gorgeous. The fauna, oceans and landscapes found on these fictional planets in many cases make the characters feel like they're on a paradise vacation rather than lost and in a very dire situation, and it's easy to see why. Many of these locations are places I'd love to visit if they were real, and none of them felt too similar to each other, each beautiful both cosmetically and mechanically in their own way. There is a true sense of adventure and wonder in this anime and that really, really elevated it for me. I haven't seen the evocation of that sense of adventure done this well since watching the first season of Made in Abyss a solid four or five years ago. The pacing here is solid, as it's only 12 episodes and it needs to cram a whole lot of adventure in there, and we're more or less off to the races from the word go. Many episodes, particularly early on, end on cliffhangers which absolutely pushed me even further into losing sleep that night and wanting to watch just one more episode. At first, the plot is straightforward enough, but admittedly in the latter stages of the anime it goes pretty far off the rails. I concede that a certain level of suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy this anime, but this is FAR from the most egregious offender I've encountered in that regard, and while I found many plot points perhaps convenient or implausible, none of them ever crossed the line for me into ridiculous, offensively stupid, this could absolutely never happen territory. I really liked that they opted to make the 12th and final episode significantly longer than the others. If for whatever reason 16 or 24 episodes were not greenlit, but they didn't want to rush the ending or leave loose ends, this is absolutely the correct solution and I wish more anime would do this. I'm glad they took their time, addressed the fate of each character from the main cast, of which there are many, and didn't fall victim to the constraints of the short episode count they were working with. My only other nitpicky criticism would be that the anime felt a little preachy at times. There was perhaps just a bit too much of "the power of friendship", "the power of positivity", "we can do anything if we work together", blah blah for my liking, but I was enjoying the show as a whole so much to where I was able to overcome this annoyance. Existential crisis aside, I really liked Astra Lost in Space and think of it very highly. The plot was fine, even if not revolutionary, but the exceptional sense of adventure, strong pacing and gorgeous visuals really came together for me and delivered an experience I'll absolutely remember and continue to recommend for years to come. If you're even vaguely a fan of adventure or space anime, don't miss this one. OBJECTIVE RATING- 8-9 PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 9
xdzzz
03/22/2021, 05:21 PM
No Spoilers, simple and short review: Story: A refreshing mix of sci-fi and rom-com. The story was well-developed and kept me intrigued the entire way through. The story is very integrated with the characters themselves, so character development plays a big role which was a refreshing experience since newer, big-name anime series kind of forget about it or drop it all together. Art: The art is pretty simple but the creativity with each world was a fun experience. Nothing spectacular. Character design was good, meshing with their stereotypical character arch-types. Honestly, most of the flashbacks probably had the best artistic direction.Sound: The sound track fit the bill but wasn't a masterpiece. Nothing really that memorable stood out. I'd remember if it did. I remember liking the OP/ED a lot since I didn't skip them most of the time. Character: The true stars of this series was the story and characters which is what carried it for me. The backstories of each character made them feel truly believable and gave the view a solid sense of empathy and compassion towards each of their backing plots and personality quirks. Enjoyment: Enjoyed it a lot. I don't write reviews for every anime. Only the ones I care enough to voice opinions about meaning the time spent on it gave me some good value. Overall: More than watchable. Watch it. It's a good series. Not the best you'll ever see... but definitely worth the time.
Shirt
04/26/2020, 07:16 PM
Is it alright to tell a lie for so long that it becomes a fundamental truth all in the name of preserving peace? Kanata no Astra is one of those anime that come along once in a few years. If you need to scratch your space exploration itch after watching Space Battleship Yamato or Interstellar, this will be a great fix. You absolutely should download this as a batch file, clear your afternoon, and binge watch this series without interruptions. There are no spoilers so I'll be extremely brief on each topic. Story___ Science Fiction, Drama, Mystery, Comedy, Romance, History, Psychology, Ethics, and Sociology. I know I amprobably missing a few more but these are just some of the concepts the story touches on throughout the adventure. Sure, some situations don't take rocket science to figure out what the solution might be but it is still an enjoyable ride. It's one of those stories that you will remember when all is said and done. Art___ The artwork has been consistant, imaginative, colorful, and inspiring. I am grateful for the work that went into the landscapes, planets, characters and expressiveness of the worlds they traveled through. Emotions were captured marvellously. Sound___ Kanata's VA was spot on. I could listen to him all day. Nobody for once was annoying to listen to in this show and that's rare. The background music does an amazing job at setting the mood without being too distracting. I actually sat through all the OP and ED themes! Pop on some quality headphones and this will be a great theatrical marathon. Character____ Development galore. If you look back at how the cast started in the first episode vs the last, you'll be very satisfied with this section. By far though, the main protagonist is the one to keep your eyes on. Enjoyment____ If you like anything about Interstellar, Yamato, Eureka 7, Xenosaga... YOU WILL ENJOY THE ADVENTURE! It is long and just as there is a beginning, there is a full closure to look forward to. It is the cake that you get to eat too. Just WATCH! OVERALL YoU nEEd tO WatCH tHiS SHoW!!! For Kanata's sake, it has episodes that are 48 mins long. I WISH EVERY ANIME HAD LAST EPISODES THAT WERE 48 MINUTES LONG SO I CAN GET FULL CLOSURE! TwT
Horn_dawg_2019
09/20/2019, 02:52 PM
Per aspera ad astra, through hardships to the stars, a very good adaptation to the anime, Kanata no Astra or Astra Lost in Space. So: Story Pros: Basically what you have here was a Japanize version of "Lost in Space" where a group of youngsters, whom were supposed to go camping in some planet called McPa, but as the title suggest they found themselves getting suck into a wormhole and found themselves floating in space, but by some luck they found what looks like an abandon ship, from there their adventure to going home starts and their journey of self discovery as they struggleto know each other and help one another becomes the focal point of this anime/ manga story plot. Cons: Though minimal ,you won't find any death flags around here. Verdict 8/10 Art Pros: There was still the usual eyecandy uniform and swimsuit service. Cons: Don't expect to see any panchira and Quinttrie's boob flash. Verdict 4/10 Sound Pros: Good ending theme. Cons: Nothing in paticular. Verdict 7/10 Character Pros: Thought there were suppose to be 9 of them, later on 10 with the addition of Polina , it was basically Kanato who carries everything around here, basically he was like a version of Captain Kirk , who doesn't take things stting down, which basically earns him the respect of his crew. Cons: While Kanata was portrayed as the sensible and mature one among the group , it was kinda unfortunate that the rest were portrayed as immature and with some life issues. Verdict 6/10 Enjoyment Pros: The fact that this was set in the future, basically make me see this as some new to the table, but then gain I could be wrong, then gain for this to have a clean ending was something to me worthwhile. Cons: Nothing in particular. Verdict 8/10 Overall Verdict 9/10 It was worth watching, it has a clean ending, you might say it was the best 12 episode anime you've ever watch.
AndreAffonso
09/20/2019, 06:24 AM
How to start it? You wanting to see the anime now, go, see! Worth every minute, will be very well enjoyed, will be an anime that will enter your list of most amazing anime you have ever seen in your life. Let's get to the summary of the thing (pretty fast): Anime is a survival in space, with a lot of humor and a tense drama and a slow but very funny romance. Review: Don't read if you haven't seen it. The anime starts off funny, With the meeting of all the characters for the beginning of the trip, there you may not like some,or many. The journey goes smoothly to the planet they should be, but when the plot really begins, everyone gets sucked into a wormhole and ends up in space, by divine grace a ship was abandoned in the space near where they were thrown. After the recovery of all the members they analyze the events and start the trip home, a jump from planet to planet to Astra. The characters gain their highlights during the trips and we find out about their life and we understand and liking the characters in the meantime, humor and mystery come together right now, the drama is very well calculated and at the right time of things, author and director worked very well here. In the end we found that everything was connected from the beginning of the whole plot, the points connect very well, make total sense in everything that was pointed out, a hit of the direction and the writer, the twists that happen are amazing and each end of episode you get crazier to know exactly what will happen in the end. The end was at the right point, no more and no less, right. The plots close, all are presented in their future 7 years later and their dreams told while traveling are revealed. The final romance ends beautifully, just missing a kiss and such, but I will not complain about it. In the end, each part was worth, was very good and enters the list of the best, really worth every week of waiting. Como começar isso? Você que está querendo ver o anime agora, vai, veja! Vale cada minuto, vai ser muito bem aproveitado, vai ser um anime que vai entrar na sua lista de animes mais incríveis que você já viu na vida. Vamos para o resumo da coisa (bem rápido): O anime é uma sobrevivência no espaço, com muito humor e um drama tenso e um romance bem lento, mas muito engraçado. Analise: não leia se não tiver visto. O anime começa engraçado, com o encontro de todos os personagens para o inicio da viagem, dali você pode não gostar de alguns, ou muitos. A viagem vai tranquila até o planeta que eles deveriam ficar, mas ai que começa a trama realmente, todos são sugados para um buraco de minhoca e vão parar no espaço, por graça divina uma nave foi abandonada no espaço próximo de onde eles foram jogados. Após a recuperação de todos os membros eles analisam os acontecimentos e começam a viagem para casa, um pulo de planeta para planeta até Astra. Os personagens vão ganhando seus destaques durante as viagens e vamos descobrindo sobre a vida de cada um deles e vamos entendendo e gostando dos personagens nesse meio tempo, humor e mistério vão combinando bem nesse momento, o drama é muito bem calculado e no tempo certo das coisas, autor e diretor trabalharam muito bem aqui. No fim descobrimos que tudo estava ligado desde o começo de toda a trama, os pontos se ligam muito bem, fazem sentido total em tudo que foi apontado, um acerto da direção e do escritor, as reviravoltas que acontecem são incríveis e a cada fim de episódio você fica mais louco para saber exatamente o que vai acontecer no fim. O fim foi no ponto certo, nem mais e nem menos, certo. As tramas se fecham, todos são apresentados em seu futuro 7 anos depois e seus sonhos contados durante a viagem são revelados. O romance final acaba de forma linda, só faltou um beijo e tal, mas não vou reclamar disso. No fim, cada parte valeu, foi muito bom e entra para a lista dos melhores, realmente valeu cada semana de espera.
Neo_Dimension
09/19/2019, 01:29 PM
First time I write a review, but this has to happen. I had a day off today and saw this anime somewhere in MAL. It was Sci-Fi and the Rating was really nice. So I thought "Why not"? Started with an 48 min Episode. And oh boy, that 48 min hooked me really. I don't get this feeeling very often. And as I proceed, episode for episode I get more hyped. I wasn't prepared for that. What i really love, are Plot-Twists. And I don't get them very often in Anime. But this great Anime presented me like 5 of them! And the music! The music is thecherry on top. This Anime is really a piece of Art. It's an Anime like this, that shows me one more time, why I love anime.
Ainosora
09/18/2019, 10:36 PM
Going by my score of 9 you can tell I definitely highly recommend it however at first when I started watching the characters and story made me believe it to be a somewhat cliche adventure story with weak characters. However it takes time to develop characters and eventually dives off into numerous twists that were well set up and foreshadowed. It's a very highly enjoyable show and definitely the most fulfilling ending I've seen in quite a bit. The story of being lost in space could be said to be like any other adventure story like exploring an abyss for instance, however luckily instead of focusingon just the adventure aspects, Kanata no Astra focuses on characters and progression while still maintaining the sense of adventure and wonder. This plus again I can't stress enough how much I appreciate the ending, make for a great tale of adventure and fulfillment. The art style is very good and there were absolutely no issues with it, if I were to be asked if it was memorable artwise I'd have to say no but it definitely is great art without a doubt. The sound is also great and fitting, the soundtrack feels spacey and the voice acting is fitting especially as you get to know the characters. The characters begin seeming like caricatures but evolve into their own selves with well developed backstories and motives. The characterization is very well done. Enjoyment is definitely very high as this is the most fulfilling show I've seen in awhile, overall I highly recommend it!
websky
09/18/2019, 07:23 PM
This show has laughs, mystery and a lot of heart. Astra probably isn't the best show set about people lost in space, but I do give it a giant A+ for effort when it comes to keeping me invested in the overall plot and mystery. The show follows a group of teens (and an elementary schooler) who get lost in space after a wormhole shows up on their field trip to another planet. Storywise I think this is where the anime most strongly stands, it has a bit of an episodic format to start off, but in the second half the episodes race (at agood speed) toward the conclusion, where not a single plot thread is left unanswered (the conclusion for this anime makes it seem like their ending off a 100+ episode series, and has a better conclusion than some of those anime). I think the first few episodes take a bit to get on their feet, (the episodic format of planet to planet and each characters tragic backstory not particularly interesting when you don't know the group) but where this anime really finds its footing is not in the space drama but in the mystery aspect that grows throughout. Where reveal after reveal takes your mind on a magic course, and you're second-guessing parts of earlier episodes, and wondering where each small hint leads as you theorize different elements. Art is typical but never distracting--artistically it's told with a letterbox 16:9 format, they sometimes break away from (like when showing space, which I found quite fascinating). Sound has some good tracks, but nothing stands out; often the opening is left behind to use that extra minute of screentime to parade more information in. Character-wise they all start out very generic tropes; the nice one, the nerd, the jock leader, the princess, the dark edgy one, etc-- except surprisingly they actually grow out of their tropes. An example is most of the characters don't appreciate Kanata (the leader, who proclaims to be captain) in the beginning, however, it involves to everyone having gained a respect for him after he recuses Aries in the first episode, and he's the heart that brings the team together. He evolves from they typical someone who "must save everyone" to having a reason for having this attitude than being a shounen protagonist-- and a reason to realize he's most suited to be the captain in the group, which is why he takes on the role. Most of the main cast grow out of their tropes as the series goes on, and in the last episode, there wasn't a single one of them I didn't like (whereas in the first episode I had much doubt about a few). Each character breaks away from what you presume them to be in at the start, truly giving the series an edge, and making me invested in what will happen. Honestly, this was a really fun series for the 12 episodes they had (the first and last of those episodes are 40 minutes, so really it's like 14 episodes!) I came in expecting a bland space team adventure, but in the end, I got to experience an unravelling (well paid off) mystery, and a conclusion that's written better than most 12 episodes series (and most anime in general) ever get.
Tardivex
09/18/2019, 06:52 PM
There's this episode in an anime from 2012 titled Humanity has Declined where the characters are trapped inside a manga, and they have to act out the panels in order to progress through the pages, rise in the ranks full of other people in the same situation and hopefully finally break free from their predicament. Why am I telling you this? Well a certain character gets the genius idea to keep adding twist after twist at the end of each panel so the readers keep interested in what's happening. It does work for a while, but eventually people get sick of it once they realizethere's nothing of substance beyond those twists and their rank quickly drops as a result Coincidentally, that can also be used as a perfect description for the space faring adventure, Kanata no Astra. It starts out well enough with an interesting premise as the characters have to scramble for survival, living together for months in this little ship with an ever increasing psychological toll while also exploring unknown worlds, but it quickly devolves into twist after twist each episode until it barely makes sense anymore and all we get when it's finished is a half baked ending that just immediately solves all the mess of a plot at that point and everybody lives happily ever after, since they clearly didn't have the time to deal with even one of the fifty can of worms they decided to open, most of which could be central plot lines for a single show themselves were they in more capable hands Some say that a good hook alone doesn't make for an overall well rounded story unless it's competently written and the same principle can be applied to twists too, and their overuse as a crutch for an actual story instead of tying all the lose plot threads is a recipe for disaster. One of the worst offenders of this was probably when a certain episode ended with a big twist about their destination, with one character utterly shocked and dumbfounded, seemingly knowing as much about it as everybody else considering their dialogue, but then they proceeded to give everybody a nice expository history lesson for the crew and the audience at the start of the following episode This could've been a very nice survival show, the habitable planet hoping was a nice idea which also doubled as a means to give some nice variety of environments and scenarios but there's no point in dwelling in what ifs, we have to work with what we got. And what did we get? An average at best anime depending on your tastes, even the planets themselves start to get real boring after the focus shifts to the "twist of the week" style of writing. The characters are a mixed bag with some having simple but consistent and relatively enjoyable personalities and others having many issues and changing at a near moment's notice because there either wasn't any time to develop them or they got hit with the twist + flashbacks treatment which I'm sure is bound to get people at the edge of their seats when it happens for the Nth time
Felix_Bertoni
09/18/2019, 04:55 PM
Hello there. I am rewriting a review since I now have seen all 12 eps. This will be a bit concise since I don't want to spoil people. Conclusion first, if you don't want to read full : Watch it. That's all. I think you can not appreciate this anime as much as me, but at least you will enjoy it. Story : - Physics are all f****d up, which is on some part necessary for a sci-fi story, but some mistakes could have been avoided. Plot has some incoherence if you look into details, but overall it is wonderful : really deep and really welltied up, as well as full of surprises. Art : - 10/10 no problem, animations are good, drawings are good, and art style is extremely diversified (you will understand what I meant while watching). Sound : - OST are fairly good and placed at the right place. Characters : - Really well developed and diversified, importance accorded to each main/second character is balanced through all characters. And that's especially appreciable in 2019, the time of cringy Isekai with a not developed MC surrounded by dozens of empty sidekicks. - Some characters are a bit stereotyped, but that's not really bothering since it is light. Enjoyment : - Really good, from start to end, there is no filler, action and rhythm is varying often, keeping you awake, alternating between tense and relaxing moments. The end is really cool too.
SunlitSonata
09/18/2019, 01:19 PM
Astra Lost in Space is the perfect example of a series with earnest intentions that cannot help but undermine itself at every turn. It claims to take its story seriously but plasters it with candy-coated visuals and drawn out comedy. It wants us to buy into the survival of these kids, but refuses to give them hardship. It wants to be cinematic, but never warrants it. It wants to have cliffhangers, but fails to generate tension. It wants to develop its characters, but instead fabricates their plots out of thin air only to still drop or homogenize their stories despite that. It works passably aslighthearted entertainment, but any ambitions beyond that fall staggeringly low for the most part. To start with, the actual concept of characters being stranded in space, or being on some sort of traitor hunt isn’t original even to anime, with material such as They Were Eleven, Infinite Ryvius and Rokka no Yuusha already present. The execution could’ve made up for the unoriginal concept, being a successful blend of wonder, danger, adventure and sci-fi with character driven proceedings to make each cast member deservedly memorable in their own right. Sadly, Astra’s tendency to have its cake and eat it too undermine every one of these by forcing those aspects to take turns. For a show with “Lost in Space” in its title, it never throughout its entire run (beyond perhaps, Episode 1) communicates ANY genuine sense of danger. The colorful visuals lack any sort of grit to make situations tense, the planetary dangers are never more than minor inconveniences, and it will refer to either a forced, sappy character moment or a forced, sappy comedy moment any time you think it will get serious. The use of blood is nearly non-existent beyond a total empty consequence, and there is no visible death or even could-be threatening pursuers on their tail. Instead, Astra decides to have a beach episode on what should’ve been a hostile alien planet. Complete with forced fanservice. One episode though does seem like it would actually be about survival when the ship crashes with a broken engine. This lasts for all of.......10 minutes, before just so happening to find another ship that just so happened to land on the same planet, be the same model as theirs, AND have a detachable portion to get the ship up and running again. This did everything possible to trivialize a potential dangerous situation. It nonetheless tries to make moments feel intense by tagging nearly every episode with a cliffhanger, but most of the follow ups are either not worth it or straight up fakeouts. One twist, involving an unexpected character, has basically nothing to do with the actual point of the show and feels like it was just there to have another twist, or shatter the show’s gradually poorly conceived main setting. The one attempt to add consequence as the series nears conclusion fails to actually create a major ripple as a series about survival should make. So, yeah, the survival aspects of the plot are a complete bust, but hey, maybe all that time was really focused on enjoyably investing character drama to make this cast one of the most charming and memorable ensembles as of recent. Well, not exactly...... In my review of Persona 4 The Animation, I mentioned how the series managed to effectively juggle lighthearted, distinct character moments with a serious plot, presenting strong personalities to the entire cast with unique personal conflicts that were properly built before their prominence and still touched on after their climaxes. It even managed to effectively lead into scenes that were more serious without feeling out of touch. Sadly, Astra’s character moments, however they may be, can’t even come close to poignant. In this show, character handling is present, particularly in the first 2/3 but done in the laziest way possible. Generally, a character will have basically nothing on them at the beginning, then randomly, some event will happen that forces them to dump their entire backstory out, a “survival” event happens that said character supposedly helped with even if they do nothing for it, and then the character is instantaneously forgotten about otherwise for the entire series. This is the case with Yunhua, Quitterie, Luca and Ulgar. And the worst part about these moments is that it never feels like the characters have personal conflicts and relatable doubts they want to overcome like the Persona 4 characters. Instead, it comes across as them wanting to just not have to deal with shitty parents. Nearly every backstory is working along the exact same motif and the series only becomes more plot driven overtime, so there’s nothing interesting to really learn about them for viewers. And then other characters like Aries or Zack don’t have this attempted depth at all but instead are purely driven by the plot without any real attempts at actual change. It’s incredibly disheartening all around that this is what the show focused on so much, yet it’s so predictable, boring and lacks both interesting issues at play and palpable story effect for far too much of the show. Kanata’s the one exception to this rule since for once he feels consistently driven overtime, and that’s cool, but I still think that there was more the series could’ve done with his character arc in regards to genuine survival stakes we currently don’t have. All of these aspects are made ever more detrimental by a certain plot turn in the last third of the series. At this point, all character proceedings are dropped for a plot driven focus featuring extremely poorly thought out sci-fi and a traitor reveal that questions why the character even needs to exist and makes the character in question look like an absolute idiot for not capitalizing on opportunities way earlier that the show decided to section off for “antics” that needed to exist unnecessarily. When a series like this wants to make a plot twist that completely changes the direction of the series, don’t do it when you only have four episodes left to do it in! Doing so will make the conflict feel unearned and lacking the proper fleshed out focus. A show like Madoka Magica heavily hinting at the plot turn early on and giving it 80% of the run to be fleshed out did far more for its thematic heft than what little attention Astra gives it. It’s genuinely disappointing given the topic it attempts to cover with this is actually pretty interesting if it had any time to make impact or didn’t make those outside the field look like complete morons, but that’s what you’re given as flat as it is. Speaking of flat, there’s also the animation. While certainly having color and showing potential early on, it’s stiff to an almost painful degree. Characters barely feel like they’re moving at all most of the time, as it swaps between manga frame to manga frame at an incredibly frequent rate. Having more animation would certainly liven up affairs because there isn’t anything interesting done with the shot composition once the first episode’s space scene is over. It also would help the space setting look far more distinctive. Shows like Space Dandy are light years ahead of it, and even older series like Outlaw Star and hell, Sonic X Season 3 managed to make their space settings more interesting to look at, as well as more tense. And yet despite having color and a few semi-interesting planets early on, the animation never properly conveys grit over Crayola colors, which for a series like this riding on the survival of its characters should be required. But nope, this lack of effort contributes to the emptiness of the entire Astra experience. As for the music, it’s passable, nothing less and nothing more, which it should be better given the scale thousands of other space based projects do with their scores. Conclusion Astra Lost in Space in general could be seen decently as simple lighthearted entertainment that starts semi-well and ends better than what most of the middle comprises as, but it really shouldn’t have been. It SHOULD have been an investing space survival character drama that could have time to explore its lategame plot twist to a more thorough level, but instead, it barely touches on this with otherwise useless plot twists, empty cliffhangers, flat characters and no real backbone to anything it’s attempting. I can only really feel ashamed by the show for how many balls it tried to juggle with the simultaneous effort to throw them up incredibly slowly and drop all of them to the ground in very soulcrushing fashion.
LaLeLuLiLo
09/18/2019, 11:56 AM
Almost one hour long and a wide screen aspect ratio, those were my first impressions of the first episode of this anime. Astra in Space caught my attention from the info of its source material than anything else. A well received shounen oriented sci-fi adventure, and not only that, but it’s also short being only 5 volumes long. With a story that short it seemed that Astra had something that it wanted to accomplish. However as the episodes ticked by i failed to see what it was trying to do with its story or why it was considered good. Sure it is enjoyable, but that’sreally it. Astra takes place in a futuristic world where kids being sent to another planet as a school trip is seen as a no big deal. With an ensemble cast of highschoolers and one child heading to one of these planets. And just like in the synopsis, they all get mysteriously sent somewhere else and have to survive getting back home. The writing for Astra is kind of a mixed bag, the best way I can describe it is that it all sounds good on paper, but what’s presented falls a bit short. The idea of being stranded in space is a good idea, but in reality it seems like it’s more of a detour. The characters have a road map of how to get home, and just need to planet hop a few times for supplies. The show also knows how to use planting and pay off very well for both within and episode and for later on down the road. However the pay-off are sometimes underwhelming or even nonsensical. I feel like a lot of that can be attributed to the tone of the show. Astra has a rather happy-go-lucky attitude through and through. I mean, I don't want it to be grim-dark, and it does have some undertones and angst thrown about. However when the show has kids facing the daunting expanse of space, hostile alien planets, and even conflicts amongst themselves it never has the feeling that something bad is going to happen to them. No matter how much peril the characters face none of it feels perilous. There are also some plot twists, but just like before it only seems good on paper. They don’t really add or re-contextualize anything. They do kind of drop hints early on but like most of their pay-offs it’s rather underwhelming. The characters are rather decent personality wise. At their introductions in the first episode they all fall into a stereotypical category. While it is done purposefully in order to develop them as characters, it’s pretty predictable how they will develop from their very first interactions with other characters. From the mean older sister coming to love her younger sister, the shy girl trying to be less useless, or the angsty teen being understandably angsty. Of course these are the more basic examples but it more or less holds true for every character. What is a little less satisfying is how compartmentalized many of them are. With a total of 9 people on the ship and the show being 12(13) episodes long only so much focus can be put onto each character. This leads to some characters only being partially fleshed out and then put aside and never having much relevance later on unless it is necessary to the plot. Finally the production or more precisely why it decided to use the aspect ratio that it did. Astra predominantly uses a wide aspect ratio. For a few other instances it goes to a more full screen aspect ratio. Usually something like is used as a motif or hint to the viewer. But what does it mean for Astra? From the first episode it seemed that it would be a contrast between the spaceship and space. With the spaceship being widescreen giving it a feeling of being cramped due to the lack of vertical space. With the full screen being attributed to space itself as the screen expands more the same way the universe expands. However since they rarely leave the ship there’s not much more to it. It could have been used for the more open spaces of planets or breathable planets that allow them to take off their helmets, but it’s not. Instead it is used rather flippantly, for the few rare times it is actually used. it’s rather confusing why they used it in the first place. Everything else about the shows looks and sounds are decent albeit par for the course , it’s just that one thing that came off as weird. I really wanted to like this show but many things about it worked against its favor. Maybe there was some essence from the source material that didn’t properly transition into the adaptation, now that would be a rather shame… Funny enough after finishing the anime I was reminded of another anime called Uninhabited Planet Survive, now that’s an anime about kids lost in space.
animesscythe
09/18/2019, 10:55 AM
One thing I've recently noticed about myself is that I am not a big fan of Sci-Fi (even though my favorite anime is Sci-Fi), but I am a big fan of some sub genres of that genre, and mecha is not one of them. Astra Lost In Space is one of the Sci-Fi shows that I loved and am glad to have caught up on when I missed its weekly episodes. The story is simple as the title says, a bunch of people are lost in space. Their main goal is to get back to their planet. Along the journey, lots of revelations take place. Thecharacters learn the whys, hows, and the whats of all this journey. Why did they get lost? Who are they? Is there a link between them? Each additional plot point will have your mind bobbling at its intelligence and how well it is prepared. Sometimes you'll even think to yourself, "How could I have missed that detail?". It's built up in a way that is very accessible to any audience, yet still hides a lot of secrets behind its obvious plot. The characters are also very lovable. We have a large cast of characters, each with their own stories to tell, personalities to show, lives to experience. Each character adds something to the show. While Kanata may seem like your usual shounen MC, his determination and sacrifices are just mind-blowing. I usually dislike characters with no depth, but he's really an influential figure to have in the show which keeps the crew going. The other casts are all very dynamic and remarkable and add a lot to the anime, making it really fun and quirky. The art design is also very smooth, characters look really good, colors are vibrant and full of life, and it all flows smoothly. Black borders cover the frame of episodes most of the time but it was never really an issue. Sound design is also pretty good, though I don't have anything remarkable about it in mind. Overall, Astra Lost In Space is one of the few shows I have enjoyed so much in a long time. It carries info dump that doesn't overload your brain, so if you feel exhausted, instead of going for a boring ecchi to reload yourself, have a taste of a space anime that is made very accessible, yet at the same time, is a genius craft.
KANLen09
09/18/2019, 06:32 AM
A generic shounen clasped into the survival genre, and tagging along with the ride is the space adventure styled with ALL that sci-fi realism put into it, plus hints of momentous comedy, like why so? Mash that all together, and you'll get the (damn near close) masterpiece that is the newest creation of SKET Dance mangaka Kenta Shinohara's latest project, Kanata no Astra (or Astra Lost in Space for pure English weeaboos). For the majority who are fans of Shinohara-sensei, the similarities in the generic space from SKET Dance copies directly over to this series, and I wouldn't be surprised if it divided the peoplewatching this series from the get-go. Spanning 5 volumes and 49 chapters, this is pretty much a respected and complete source adaptation that is more than just a roundabout package, it's one of pure satisfaction and redemption. And I'll keep this spoiler free as much as I can, you just have to watch to find out! Story: Set in the Earth of the future where space travel is commonplace, a group of seemingly randomized characters are signed onto an excursion that is something like travelling overseas, but with a commercial spaceship. The happy-go-lucky Aries Spring is sent off in good spirits with the bunch that is Team B-5, a team of 9 school teenagers on a journey to camp on the distant planet McPa. Upon arrival on said distant planet, a sudden burst of a black hole sphere emerges that caught the team off-guard, sucked them into the sphere and pushes them out into outer space that is light years away from their current time. Desperate to keep the team together, Team B-5 leader Kanata Hoshijima races to save every group member and raise questions and answers about the situation that is their jouney home on an abandoned spaceship (which they christened the Astra), as well as to find out the culprit that triggered the sequence of events in the first place. AND THIS IS ONLY THE SET-UP, the foreshadowing of things to happen. Being a relatively new reader to Shinohara-sensei's work (though I have read and seen a few of SKET Dance before), my heart was nevertheless ready for the endless amount of reveals and plot twists that this rounded story could become, that is handed over to the production staff at Lerche with studio director Ando Masaomi at the helm. And truth be told, it may seem like it's the usual case of badly executed generic troupes and cliches that everyone can smell like miles away, I thought that being one with the comedy actually gave the series a tad bit of fresh air to ease the intentions of Kanata and the others whilst in their detective forms of discovering the uniqueness of each other. And along the way as the crew develop bonds in the conquest to eventually reach back to Earth, when all it seemed that the goal was the endgame, suddenly became a convoluted (but straightforward) mess of a puzzle to figure out the REAL reason behind all this. That's where the plot twists play into effect, and it changed the course of the game willy-nilly that I admit, took me aback by sheer surprise at knowing the manga source material and treading that infallible path to greatness. If you're wanting to risk knowing a lot from the get-go, then I'll apologize firsthand as this series plays THAT game with you, you just have to slowly fill in the blanks as you progress, pretty much like detective framework. Oh, and there's also some cues of world-building, and Shinohara-san knows that all too well that if the world-building took precedence over the events that were happening, it would not make do for a finish to the series overall, albeit make it feel longer and stretched out that it loses the charm. So people who have been wanting these world-building aspects, you're not gonna find out here as it only explains at the basis and no further. Characters: Kanata and Co., the crew of Astra really is the dynamic stronghold behind the series. All the 9 teenagers are (not that really) special and unique to one another, but in the face of death, they constantly put their grudges aside and work together to escape harm's way. It may not seem like they're meshing together, but when it does, you can tell straightaway. The leader of Team B-5, Kanata Hoshijima, let's just say that he is an all-rounder in everything he does...not without some sacrifice. Due in part of his younger days being tormented that his teacher taught him everything about space (which riled his interest in space travelling), his low-brow abusive father taught him to be an athlete instead, following the family tradition. And through his hard times, he is constantly being optimistic about everything around him, in both good and bad times, you can count on him. The odd one out, Aries Spring, I kinda wished we had a moment of canon where I ship both Kanata and her, but it was never meant to be. Having recently just transferred into the new planet and joined the team, her unique trait is photographic memory, where if seen once, she will remember for time to come. She sometimes can be an airhead, but that's part of her charm, alongside trying her best to match Kanata's optimism. The cool and intelligent info-source onboard, Zack Walker, one look at him and you can tell how much of the experience is embedded upon him from young. He is, like Kanata, a natural-born leader, and someone who takes charge of his own duties and obligations to the fullest. Everything about him just screams knowledge, and when Kanata and the others are in need, Zack is the first to be called upon to resolve the issue. And, the surprise kicker is that he chose the girl to marry since childhood, out of just mere "childish" words: The tsundere (is it?) Quitterie Raffaeilli, along with her sister Funicia. At first glance, both of them looked the same and are raised by the same family, but it is then and there that after the passing of her parents, Funicia postmortem was the adopted daughter to Quitterie the only child. While Funicia tries to get along with Quitterie, whom has a harsh childhood with little to no acceptance of the family's love, it's through their madness that they eventually reconcile and see each other as siblings, in no regards to their origin. As for Quitterie, her foul behaviour is one to be accustomed to from the get-go, but slowly opening up to Zack and the others proves that she still can be changed for the better. Luca Esposito is the son of a politician, however his origins are a doozy. And I ask you, how would you want to meet with someone who is genderless? Hell, that Luca is! Luca looks like a boy from the outside, but in the Earth of the future, transgender humans are a source of controversy, and even I admit that the reveal was not expected, but not in the way of how the anime delivered in a silent killing way, which makes it even more suspenseful. Onboard, he is the engineer to Astra, and I can't say how much Kanata and the others truly needed him (or it) at desperate measures. However, the next friend and foe is not so kind to him: Ulgar Zweig, the son of the vice principal of the school that sent Kanata and the others out to space. His antisocial and quiet behaviour is one to be highly cautioned at the beginning, but even that doesn't stray his intentions of an ultimatum: to kill those in relation to his brother, being a freelance journalist and got killed at the hands of injustice when he was young. Even as the series progresses, that hostile behaviour is one that reeks of the presence of him trying to establish the link that eventually even if Luca is killed, there is no way that his killing is redemption. Lu Yunhua, the supposedly shy girl of a mom that was an opera singer (IDK why, but Japan likes to assume that Asians are best being opera singers, and it is true to a degree). It doesn't say much, but the Asian stigma applies to her greatly, as parents demand A HELL LOT from their own children, so much so that it is low-key abusive and berating their own children's path of the future and their passions. All she could do in the anime is to just sing, and that's it. But I'd guess her motivation is to sing from the heart and be truthful about it. Last but not least, rounding up the Astra crew is Charce Lacroix, the "handsome as Kanata" and "intelligent as Zack" guy. He seems like the happy-go-lucky kind like Aries, but deep down, his history is a lot of messiness and it can take quite sometime to understand what is going on within the true means of his life and calling. His history is one I cannot say here (due to heavy spoilers), but being the son of a once-prominent king, pretty much like Quitterie's parents, he didn't receive the same family love and resorted to different means. Plus, Aries's relation with him is a mystery all on its own. The one to answer their questions, Paulina Levinskaya, is one of the descendants of the Astra crew of the same expedition, happening way long before them. Being the survivor to events that happened in the past, she is the only person who can level with Kanata and Co. in terms of historical facts and the such. I must admit that some of the characters take quite some time to get used to them.(e.g. Luca), but others are quite prominent (i.e. Kanata, Aries) that set the tone and mood shift going forward, and their chemistry is one of the finest when concerning characters who AREN'T childhood friends, they just met, and clicked together instantly. Art and Animation: Lerche is totally killing those visual cues in splendid fashion, with the wide cinematic feels and full-screen (only to capture mild events) that feels as if we're watching sci-fi-esque space movies (and to boot, the last time I experienced this was the Grisaia series). Their prowess of handling whatever is dealt on their path is truly anime gold, and that's even for a short and complete series like this one. Not to mention that both the first and last episodes are hour-long specials (that I can say are the perfect prologue and epilogue to the series) to milk the series even more with a great start that ends with a bigger bang. Under the directorial leadership of studio director Ando Masaomi (who did Kuzu no Honkai and White Album 2), Kanata no Astra adds to his experience onto creating an underrated mangaka's work with his fine flare and composition onto it that when added altogether, makes for an experience not to be forgotten. And this is NOT the end of the success of Studio Lerche in the summer season, not just yet…(refer to my Given review by the same studio) Music: Other than the great OST which features the OP and ED, I felt that going for the minimalist approach for knowing when to insert music when it counts in this series, is an A+ magic in my book. Damn, never thought that having lesser music in this series creates the atmosphere of dread and boredom, but it's what encapsulates the entire series to its knees, and understanding it's cues too shines another light into the darkness. And this is one of those instances where the music isn't overplayed at all, only inserted at points relevant to the scenes at play, which is pretty much the comedic aspects and some shallow and deep moments. Nevertheless, it was done very well. Conclusion: Kanata no Astra may be overlooked and criticized a lot due to the various amounts of clichés and tropes that don't seem fitting (plus due in part to the world-building and plot twists), but I swear, don’t let them define this series, and go into this one as blind as you can. You'll see the clicks and the payoff that is truly satisfying at every turn. This may be AOTS material for some (it's a near-yes for me), but I'm sure for every disappointment, many others will relinquish at the thought that this is just a bog-standard show with nothing to offer, but it is compelling enough to warrant a watch and stick onto the very end.
HaXXspetten
09/18/2019, 06:28 AM
I can't recall the last time I saw an anime with as inconsistent writing quality as Kanata no Astra. I swear, this anime flip-flops between being really cool and being downright stupid every five minutes. It makes for a very strange viewer experience but if nothing else it sure keeps you curious. I'll put it this way: the actual premise and setting of Kanata no Astra is really intriguing. Space anime that aren't mecha are rare enough to begin with, but to on top of that make it a sort of survival story with a great deal of exploration of the unknown celestial bodies of spaceis a great combination. You can also definitely tell that the author had a clear idea of how the story would finish before he started writing it, and as a result the overarching main mysteries of it all are quite interesting and a bit surprising as well. You'll be able to guess some of it but certainly not all of it, and those surprises might just be all you need to make it a worthwhile viewer experience. But on the other hand, where Kanata no Astra really suffers is more in the details of it all. Anyone that actually pays attention will notice lots and lots of minor things throughout the story that either just plain don't make sense or feel way too dependent on random coincidences. For starters there are the planets that the characters end up visiting throughout the series which somehow all end up feeling about as one-dimensional as the procedurally generated ones in No Man's Sky. It's all one big biome with an ecosystem that is seemingly very small but still filled with nothing but over-the-top fantastical organisms, not to mention they're still conveniently edible for humans (not to mention the device that measures the level of organism edibility). Then there's the pacing which feels very jumpy considering that there are several weeks in-between every planetary stop for our main characters, yet they seem to always pass by in a breeze as if nothing of note happened meanwhile, even if some massive plot point had just been brought up in the past episode. It's not like the travel time is the same as going through a loading screen in a video game but it often feels like the plot treats it as one. It just doesn't really make much sense. Sometimes the author does try to come up with an explanation to make an otherwise one-in-a-million coincidence plausible, but it still often ends up feeling rather forced. For example there's one episode where he clearly wanted the main characters to randomly come across a certain object on a planet they were visiting, so thus naturally on this particular planet it just so happened that only a very thin strip of land around the equator was actually habitable, and it just so happened that on a certain part of that strip there was a bunch of hazards which could cause you to crash your ship, and it just so happened that the characters not only do so but then also end up disembarking and walking to the exact they needed to find the object in question... etcetera. Like it's not illogical but it's just layered coincidences upon coincidences to force the plot in a specific direction rather than feeling like an organic universe and as a result it just doesn't come across as natural at all. Now the mysteries in Astra that are more closely tied to the main plot are eventually explained further down the line, albeit some in more satisfactory ways than others, but again it's the details along the road that are not really properly addressed. The characters themselves are also a bit of a strange bunch. Some of them are supposed to be geniuses but sometimes they end up doing some really stupid decisions anyway. But either way I still consider them an enjoyable group in the context they're presented, and when all is said and done and you know the truth behind their respective pasts, it definitely gives them a better outlook than it does at first. At the end of the day, the idea of exploring the unknown in space has always excited me and honestly that's still the main reason why I enjoyed this anime despite everything. For the most part, Kanata no Astra doesn't have the best writing and there's no way around that fact, but it still has its moments where it shines. More importantly though, in the end I'm not sure it really matters. Yes, it could potentially have been a really great anime if it had been better researched and polished, but it is still an enjoyable anime in a very unusual setting and that also has a proper conclusion. That's a lot more than can be said for most anime. I think the best thing you can do is to simply try to not take it more seriously than necessary because if you can look past all the triggering little details spread out throughout it then you should have a much better viewing experience.
Ethan_07
09/18/2019, 06:22 AM
Kanata no Astra is something done damn right. It is something that easily goes under the radar because of the dull poster, unattractive plot with generic shounen characters that has personalities that everyone can deduce. However, it exceeds bar of expectations and shoot to the top. It has a simple beginning. Everyone is lost in space, with only a deserted spaceship. Seeds are subtly planted throughout 10 episodes, waiting to be reaped and the studio excels in showing this. Blending shivering tracks and chocking atmosphere, a thriller sub-genre is slipped in that could send chills down your spine. The events unfold, the conflict rises, the twists emerge oneby one to get us and them closer to the truth. The setup of ambience is elevated accordingly with it as the camera rolls back to present the very core of the show – they are all alone. They have no one they can truly trust, no one to rely on, they only have each other. Just when all the hope seems lost, teamwork joined the room. With trust on short demand, it was not pure friendship. They have to aid each other regardless of their true intention to survive. With that, the diverse quirks of the characters are no longer just eccentricities, but the vital skills they need to survive in various unprecedented events, all while complementing each other’s weakness and utilizing combined advantages. It was a captivating portrayal of unity amidst all the uneasiness in store, and it was delivered well. In this sci-fi adventure, Kanata is the athletic leader that can PUNCH realization into others, with a bit of recklessness and playfulness. Charce, is the right-hand-man with exceptional knowledges on biology. Air-headed ArieS is the one who always seems clueless, yet serve as an important link between the members. Zack, the tech and mathematics prodigy. Ulgar, the quiet and mysterious boy with seemingly ulterior motive. The list goes on and on, with insights on the characters being revealed one by one. They are seemingly not connected, but they don’t know it yet, that they are brought together for a reason. A reason that has enclosed themselves in a frame for so long, that they would not have found their purpose and their identity in life if they weren’t together in that spaceship. And it's thrilling to deduce and see how it all tie together. The animation is handled by Lerche. This studio once handled ‘Assasination Classroom’ with its colorful characters and ‘Classroom of Elite’ with its psychological outlook. As such, facial expression and character design spells out the characteristics of each character. The characters are given a subtle clue on their expression of what they are planning to do next and a glimpse of how dead serious they can be with each of their act. It is this element that gives us, the audience a chance to do our guesses on the mystery unraveled, analyzing the extent of their action that gives away their thoughts. Overall, I really enjoy the style of the direction of the show and the story only gets better as it goes on. In the end, it connects everything from the beginning to shape the bonds created and to end the story with a perfect closure that befits their whole journey. With that, they begin their new journey. The only thing left to do now is to experience it all unfolds before your eyes.
Stark700
09/18/2019, 06:17 AM
If you played an open world exploration game with survival themes, there’s a solid chance you’ll get a familiar vibe from this anime known as “Kanata no Astra”. (English title, Astra Lost in Space) Taking a page out of the sci-fi genre brings together a story of space travel. It takes place in the 2063, a time period where technology has evolved and is a revolution of growth. It’s not too often these days when we get an anime adaptation based on a manga that have already been completed. Mangaka Kenta Shinohara (best known for his work with Sket Dance) began the series in 2016as part of the Shounen Jump+ lineup. The series itself was not very popular but did eventually win the price of the 12th Manga Tashiou award. Consisting of 5 volumes, it seems a single cour adaptation of 12 episodes would make this run smooth. Or does it? Actually, the first episode premiere is a 1 hour long special and makes a strong impression to showcase the premise of the story. We meet a group of students from Caird High School before they soon get caught by a mysterious entity. The conflict evolves as these students are tossed into an unknown orbit and they resolve to return home. Along the way, you can expect this journey to bring together a lot of survival themes, character bonding, and startling revelations. But from the beginning, it’s also important to establish the principal cast. That’s why we have Kanata Hoshijima, the main male protagonist and captain of the Astra vessel. With a strong head attitude and determination, he stands as a capable leader with a dream of exploring the universe. What draws audience into his character also relies on how he can command his crew and achieve his goal. It seems every episode, the show tests the crew to tackle new challenges like an open world game. In essence, the show itself deals with space exploration while getting the audience to understand its characters. The remaining crew members consists of a balanced range of personalities. Among them is Aries Spring, the airheaded pinkhead who brings in a peculiar curiosity. Now, you’d think a show like this may feel depressing at times because of the premise. However, Aries brings together a sense of cherry energy and hope for the crew. She’s essentially the type that anyone can get along with. This is contrast to cooler and more levelheaded characters such as Ulgar Zweig or Zack Walker. Others such as Charce Lacroix and Yun-Hua Lu sparks a great interest in their characters because of their background stories and origins. The only characters that feels less exciting are the Raffaelli siblings. You can be the judge but to me, both of these girls brings little value to the overall story. If you remove either one, there’s little loss to brood over. That being said, I do think the cast is well balanced. As the space adventure venture deeper into the depths of the universe, there’s evident character bonding with great importance. In fact, character bonds is one of the most important elements in this show. In later episodes, Kanata realizes what the crew has in common about their parents. It’s a sad revelation and in truth, there’s many other secrets hidden from the crew and audience. While the show is not a mystery, it definitely sparks curiosity for the audience to see what will be discovered. Each planet they encounter puts their lives at risk as they venture into the unknown. Thankfully, the show keeps its space adventure refreshing as the crew encounters a colorful amount of planets. There are planets with strange wildlife such as Vilavurs, Shummoor with its otherworldly plants, or even a paradise with beaches such as Arispade. Hell, the show is very open to its exploration content that it sometimes feels like playing a video game. It feels immersive as if you're there with the crew. If you played games like No Man’s Sky before, this may trigger some familiarity. Thankfully, the anime has its own main story that runs much deeper than just the crew returning to their home. A word of warning though. Be prepared for character drama. There’s an unsettling amount of them that builds more and more with each episode. Some characters even begins to show their true colors. An elephant in the room also remains with the fact the true gender of Luca Esposito. It may not a big deal for some people but I can easily bet that the character can be somewhat a source of controversy. And finally, do be aware that the show retains a degree of realism despite all the sci-fi elements. When we meet Paulina Levinskaya later in the story, she reveals how fragile lives can be as the only survivor of her crew. It brings together the question if these students may or may not end up in her situation. I mean, the chances of death in this show is quite real considering all the factors. But unlike a video game, these characters only have one life and there’s no chance to restart over. Lerche as a studio takes on Kanata no Astra as their first project with major sci-fi elements. Combining with the story about space exploration, there’s actually a lot to expect when you see the facts. One of the more noticeable visual context is the letterbox format that makes each episode run like a mini-movie. This is especially true for the first episode that feels more like watching a movie than your standard television. Visually, it works for this particular show as it highlights the videographic imagery of the backgrounds. There’s a lot of open world planets and this format makes them stand out with stunning effects. The alien planets shows a great deal of colorful variety and I applaud the staff for giving each of them a form of uniqueness. Character designs are also molded with care similar to the manga. Finally, I’m surprised at how much human expressions are shown throughout the show. With the harsh and dangerous journey, there’s many signs of character struggles that are shown in the faces of the cast. Kanata no Astra is a show that I believe can be described as a ‘dark horse’ of the year. It didn’t get mainstream attention compared to some other anime but manages to capture what science fiction is about. With its sci-fi elements and odyssey of obstacles, every episode brings something new to the table. Even if you’re not a big fan of character drama, the show still works together as a fictional adventure. Did I mention, it’s one that is complete without worrying about a ‘what if’ ending? See, that’s the beauty of a show based on a complete manga. And as a space adventure, you can believe this anime is the real deal.
Pipe
09/18/2019, 06:00 AM
Kanata no Astra could be an anime that surprised several viewers. In my case, I was bewitched by some episodes until I noticed that the show is mediocre science fiction with several plot flaws and unfinished ideas. The scenario is good at the beginning; A group of students is drifting in the dark space with only one goal in mind, returning home. I was surprised to the point that I ignored the strange CGI moments when the characters looked like dead puppets in the first episode. I ignored the device created in a few hours that could diagnose if the food is good or bad witha "delicious" sound that seems ridiculous. I ignored the luck these students have during their trip with some minor risks for space travel. Everything is conveniently configured and ready for their survival. I even ignored a significant detail in the middle of the story I find hilarious. I asked myself "why people cannot fix their cars that simple, there are many cars nearby," but this group doesn't have a spaceship nearby, so ... you will understand if you watch this anime. However, I cannot ignore a plot that is not consistent, a scenario that ignores the details and uses strange ideas to create a secondary storyline. That new story is far from the survival goal placed at the beginning. The real risk is not space. In this story, space is not as dangerous as it seems, the real threat is humans, and that is very unfortunate. Also, all those "extra" additions created a strange story that I cannot stand because it is silly, stupid, the name "Astra Lost in Space" does not fit anymore. As the plot progresses, observe that the story is full of coincidences plotted by a mastermind who leaves more questions and few answers. Those coincidences created several unfinished stories that affected the behavior of the characters. For example, they are not worried about space and all the surrounding dangers, and they do not care if they cannot find food, they are concerned by a human inside their ship that could turn against them or a conspiracy group, that is ridiculous. The highlight of each episode is a mixture of dramatic events like "my father never loved me," some actions like "hey, the device found good food, this animal tastes delicious." Then, the authors added some conspiracy events "Someone is an enemy, say nothing, we have a great meal tonight" and some real survival events but with a stupid outcome like "the spaceship is failing but don't worry, it will solve somehow. " Unfortunately, the storyline is a mixture of useful elements without proper development and conclusion. Although I liked the first part, the plot, the writing, and the dialogues are very average. All these lead to unusual character behavior. They are afraid about their life and the next minute they are singing kumbaya. The characters are average. Do not come to tell me that they are stunning with a fantastic background because they are not. If you pay attention, all the characters have the same context and have the same problems, except Aries. In other words, all characters are generic like clones. The characters fill a convenient spacecraft crew: it has a hero, an expert in phytology, a genius/pilot, an expert in weapons, an expert in crafts, a medic, a singer, a villain, a survivor and a girl. The most normal character is Aries, but the plot affects her directly, sadly. The animation and art are adequate. There are some bad parts, but not so remarkable. The colors are very vivid and created a pleasant atmosphere from planet to planet. The camera angles and the speed between the scenes are acceptable and, combined with a good score, create an impressive visual wasted by a mediocre plot. The sound is good; it fills the scenes and is used intelligently. The songs are acceptable. Finally, I liked the first part, but I did not like the conclusion. I think the ending is ridiculous and affects all the characters directly in the wrong way. Here we have a good animation with a good idea but developed poorly with many coincidences that can bore the audience because it makes the anime silly and empty.
Inferno792
09/18/2019, 05:51 AM
Around a Hundred years down the line from now, we might have human colonies on habitable far away planets and space travel might be common place. It may seem farfetched right now, but then again, who could’ve imagined the progress in technology humankind has made in the last half a century? While learning about the different planets and galaxies, almost every kid might have had a fleeting dream about going into space and experience what it may be. Kanata no Astra (Kanata: Lost in Space) is set in a time when the aforementioned things have become possible. Science has advanced so much that teenagers aregoing to other planets simply as a mundane school trip. A group of high-schoolers from such a futuristic world are visiting a nearby planet called McPa as a camp. Of course though, after arriving on planet McPa, things don’t go as planned for them as they’re sucked into a mysterious black orb that transports them into space but luckily for them, they somehow manage to find an abandoned spaceship in the middle of outer space. The spaceship would then become their means of travel as they jump from one planet to another in hopes of surviving and getting back to their home planet together. What Kanata no Astra excels at is showing us the raw emotions of teenagers as they battle their way through the harsh conditions of the various planets that they stop by on their way. The feelings of hopelessness, betrayal, anger, joy and relief are portrayed extremely realistically amongst the characters. Add in a bit of drama around the circumstances surrounding their situation and you’ve got a highly entertaining anime that’s so underrated that it hurts. The endless depths of space can be daunting and that’s exactly what Kanata no Astra tries to present to its viewers. As the characters begin to overcome this fear, new predicaments emerge. The mystery about the black orb that got them there, the lack of trust between them as well as the different problems that they face through their journey binds the characters and develops them into a team capable of surviving in space on their own. One of the best things that Kanata no Astra has done is developed each and every one of the crew. They’ve all gotten mini-arcs of sorts where they’re faced with problems of their own and begin to realize what they truly are and their reason for existing. The execution of this is impressive because these arcs don't just start and end in an episode or two; they have their time to take shape. The face of the show is most certainly Kanata Hoshijima, the titular character however. He’s first introduced as a cheerful character who’ll do almost anything to help others even if they might not want it. This is a reason of annoyance for a few, but as they get to know him and his past better, they begin to support him for what he’s done for them. Then we have Aries Spring, the secondary protagonist and a girl whose stolen purse is retrieved by Kanata in the first episode. They instantly strike up as they’re both caring and cheerful as well as selfless. Next we have Quitterie Raffaeli, the irritable blonde whose outspoken nature doesn’t allow her to make too many friends, and Zack Walker, one of Quitterie’s only friends at the beginning who’s a genius at almost everything he does. His calm demeanor in the face of hopelessness manages to save the crew more times than one. The rest of the cast includes Charce Lacroix, the charismatic and dependable guy, Ulgar Zweig, the quiet one who’s at odds with everyone else because of his ill-tempered nature, Yunhua Lu, an extremely shy girl who thinks she’s the source of everyone’s problems, Luca Esposito and Quitterie’s adopted younger sister, Funicia Raffaeli. The way all these youngsters deal with their personal problems and change in order to work together is the central narrative of the show. Now, having spoken so positively about the show, there are a couple elements that do cause an issue. Firstly, the pacing in the second half of the show feels rushed. I wasn't aware that the source was completed so I didn't actually think that this series would reach its conclusion in just 12 episodes. Granted, it's more akin to 14 episodes since the first and the last episode both are an hour long. Still though, the part towards the end did feel slightly rushed as even until episode 9, I still felt that there could be a lot of content remaining. The second issue could be a sort of spoiler so I'll only say that this series won't make you "sad". The art and animation of the show are both impressive. The characters have pretty distinctive designs and the scenes with outer space and the different planets are all drawn beautifully. The animation is fairly fluid, and I didn’t find myself complaining about it in any of the 12 episodes. The soundtrack is pretty unremarkable to be honest although the voice acting is on point. As I’ve mentioned a few times in this review, this show depends upon character emotions and their interactions, and the Voice Actors do a pretty good job in both of these aspects. I’d certainly recommend this show and would encourage you to give it a try. It’s got an extended first episode of 48 minutes and that’d probably be enough for you to check if you’d like it or not. For me, I immensely enjoyed Kanata no Astra and certainly would’ve liked for it to have a few more episodes.
CrimsonWanderer
09/18/2019, 05:37 AM
Kanata no Astra was one of the few anime that caught my interest this season, I thought it would be an exciting space survival anime with Mass Effect and Mission to Mars vibes, unfortunately, it ends up turning into something way worse. It had such a strong start, how on Earth did it end up being so terrible? (There are some spoilers ahead that addresses certain issues, but nothing really major that would spoil this masterpiece for you) Lets start by addressing the main issue, there is barely ANY danger in this anime. Sure, there are some situations where our main characters go through several dangerous situations,but after a while, each situation ends easily resolved, killing any tension as there is little to no consequences for the characters to the point of making some situations feel way too convenient. Worst part of it comes when they arrived to a paradise planet which is a single inland on a planet filled with water... Guess what? Its the typical beach episode cliché that serves no purpose whatsoever but to show us how thicc the girls are while they talk casually on which boy they like trying to add romance to makes things interesting. The worst part of this comes at the planet "Icriss" which is an anagram of Crisis (how original) where a really dangerous situation finally happens, only to be ruined by one of the most convenient asspulls to ever happen, the amount of bullshit thrown at your face in this episode was insulting. This was the point where I started to lose all my faith on this anime. Beyond this point, this anime starts to fill itself with many asspulls, plot conveniences and a plot hole, the latter being the one that makes things feel way more convenient than they already are. It makes it look like this story was created by someone who had no idea what he was trying to do and was running out of time so he had to come up with random shit. It's clear when you consider the amount of twists this anime pulls after the second half. Having a lot of twists doesn't make your story good, no matter if they end up being random and unpredictable (Even tho some of the revelations ends up being obvious). This only shows how the autor was running out of ideas and tried to fix his mess by adding random twists that doesn't add anything to the plot. This anime also throws comedy at your screen in an attempt to balance serious moments with comedy and most of the times this doesn't work, specially when most of these gags are derived from crucial revelations. For Example: One of the characters gets an emotional revelation considering his gender and minutes after that, we see EVERYONE making fun of him like if it was nothing, the pacing in this anime is that bad that they have to do cheap fake cliffhangers to maintain tension, only to be killed by the next episode's explanation that ends up getting forgotten easily by adding a random comic relief right after and then proceeds to build up the next twist into another cheap fake cliffhanger. Most of this anime's issues lies on the characters, as half of them doesn't really add anything to the plot which means that some of them will be set aside and be forgotten from time to time until they're required again to try to explain conveniences or to open the door to the next twist. Also, having so many characters in only 12 episodes will make some of them feel underdeveloped making them look like filler characters (Luca, Qutterie and Yunhua for example) ***Spoiler Section*** ***Spoiler Section*** ***Spoiler Section*** This anime tries to add a 'fucked up' failed cloning subplot that crumbles easily when you realize how one dimensional the "masterminds" behind this situation are and how incompetent they were when they tried to kill these kids without leaving any trace, even worse when the brightest idea they could come up with was to send them into space in an attempt to make it look like an "accident" involving wormhole technology without actually leaving someone behind that could confirm that they were gone for good, or, you know, actually try to get them killed by not giving them any chance of surviving. This only makes the "traitor" look like an idiot since he had several chances to kill them all but couldn't because reasons. Let's address the plot hole. Supposedly, a FTL civilization was able to create wormholes, but for some stupid reason, they didn't have enough technology to stop a freaking Asteroid from crashing into Earth. Are you kidding me? Then, there's this space ship that managed to remain undamaged after so many, MANY years without being hit by meteors (from said Asteroid) or getting pulled by Earth's gravity or any other thing that could've rendered this ship useless. ***End of Spoiler Section*** ***End of Spoiler Section*** ***End of Spoiler Section*** Aside from plot conveniences, asspulls, plotholes, generic characterization, terribly timed jokes, terrible pacing, constant plot twists and fake cheap cliffhangers, there is nothing else worth mentioning that could redeem this show. Its just plain bad, you'll end up wasting your time watching this unless you enjoy turning your brain off while being surprised by 'unpredictable' plot twists with over the top characters that will make a fuss whenever they can (This includes awkward cringe inducing love confessions). As a Sci-fi, this anime is an insult to the genre. Overall: 3/10

Kanata no Astra 彼方のアストラ

2019 summer | Episodes: 12 | Score: 8.1 (154597)

Updated every Wednesdays at 21:00 | Status: Finished Airing

Type: TV

Producers:AT-X | Docomo Anime Store | Shueisha | Kadokawa Media House | Kadokawa

Streaming: Crunchyroll | Netflix

Synopsis

Voice Actors

Matsuda, Risae

Hosoya, Yoshimasa

Shimazaki, Nobunaga

Hayami, Saori

Kino, Hina

Kurosawa, Tomoyo

Minase, Inori

Takeuchi, Shunsuke

Ishigami, Shizuka

Uchiyama, Kouki

News

Reviews

RyanSpring
02/03/2024, 01:43 PM
I'd like to start by saying that this anime gave me an existential crisis. Demonstrating my unparalleled creativity, my username here on MAL, RyanSpring, is literally just my real life first and last name. So, going into this completely blind, in a world where every female character in anime is Mai, Sakura or Mikasa, I really had a moment when it was revealed that the lead in this anime is named Aries Spring. Do I... have a daughter somewhere? Is this a sign from the anime deities above that I SHOULD have a daughter and that I should name her Aries? Is Aries Spring infact my MOTHER or grandmother and I've been lied to all my life? These questions will haunt my dreams for the rest of my life, so thanks Astra Lost in Space, and with that strange tangent out of the way let's get to the actual review. I really wasn't expecting to like Astra Lost in Space anywhere near as much as I did. I thought it'd be just another anime in my very large collection that I'd watch, think is fine and move along from without ever giving it much thought after the fact. I'd never seen anyone talk about or hype up this anime, nor have I seen it appear on "best of" lists that everyone seems to love making, so while I immediately concede I may have simply liked this more than most members of the community do, I really was taken aback by how into this I was. First of all, it's beautiful. This anime is only about five years old, and almost every remotely modern anime looks nice, but in this case the color palette really pops off the screen with how bright and vibrant it is. The characters have all sorts of different hair and eye colors, none look remotely alike unless they're supposed to, and the various planets our main cast visit as they attempt to make their way home are equally gorgeous. The fauna, oceans and landscapes found on these fictional planets in many cases make the characters feel like they're on a paradise vacation rather than lost and in a very dire situation, and it's easy to see why. Many of these locations are places I'd love to visit if they were real, and none of them felt too similar to each other, each beautiful both cosmetically and mechanically in their own way. There is a true sense of adventure and wonder in this anime and that really, really elevated it for me. I haven't seen the evocation of that sense of adventure done this well since watching the first season of Made in Abyss a solid four or five years ago. The pacing here is solid, as it's only 12 episodes and it needs to cram a whole lot of adventure in there, and we're more or less off to the races from the word go. Many episodes, particularly early on, end on cliffhangers which absolutely pushed me even further into losing sleep that night and wanting to watch just one more episode. At first, the plot is straightforward enough, but admittedly in the latter stages of the anime it goes pretty far off the rails. I concede that a certain level of suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy this anime, but this is FAR from the most egregious offender I've encountered in that regard, and while I found many plot points perhaps convenient or implausible, none of them ever crossed the line for me into ridiculous, offensively stupid, this could absolutely never happen territory. I really liked that they opted to make the 12th and final episode significantly longer than the others. If for whatever reason 16 or 24 episodes were not greenlit, but they didn't want to rush the ending or leave loose ends, this is absolutely the correct solution and I wish more anime would do this. I'm glad they took their time, addressed the fate of each character from the main cast, of which there are many, and didn't fall victim to the constraints of the short episode count they were working with. My only other nitpicky criticism would be that the anime felt a little preachy at times. There was perhaps just a bit too much of "the power of friendship", "the power of positivity", "we can do anything if we work together", blah blah for my liking, but I was enjoying the show as a whole so much to where I was able to overcome this annoyance. Existential crisis aside, I really liked Astra Lost in Space and think of it very highly. The plot was fine, even if not revolutionary, but the exceptional sense of adventure, strong pacing and gorgeous visuals really came together for me and delivered an experience I'll absolutely remember and continue to recommend for years to come. If you're even vaguely a fan of adventure or space anime, don't miss this one. OBJECTIVE RATING- 8-9 PERSONAL ENJOYMENT RATING- 9
xdzzz
03/22/2021, 05:21 PM
No Spoilers, simple and short review: Story: A refreshing mix of sci-fi and rom-com. The story was well-developed and kept me intrigued the entire way through. The story is very integrated with the characters themselves, so character development plays a big role which was a refreshing experience since newer, big-name anime series kind of forget about it or drop it all together. Art: The art is pretty simple but the creativity with each world was a fun experience. Nothing spectacular. Character design was good, meshing with their stereotypical character arch-types. Honestly, most of the flashbacks probably had the best artistic direction.Sound: The sound track fit the bill but wasn't a masterpiece. Nothing really that memorable stood out. I'd remember if it did. I remember liking the OP/ED a lot since I didn't skip them most of the time. Character: The true stars of this series was the story and characters which is what carried it for me. The backstories of each character made them feel truly believable and gave the view a solid sense of empathy and compassion towards each of their backing plots and personality quirks. Enjoyment: Enjoyed it a lot. I don't write reviews for every anime. Only the ones I care enough to voice opinions about meaning the time spent on it gave me some good value. Overall: More than watchable. Watch it. It's a good series. Not the best you'll ever see... but definitely worth the time.
Shirt
04/26/2020, 07:16 PM
Is it alright to tell a lie for so long that it becomes a fundamental truth all in the name of preserving peace? Kanata no Astra is one of those anime that come along once in a few years. If you need to scratch your space exploration itch after watching Space Battleship Yamato or Interstellar, this will be a great fix. You absolutely should download this as a batch file, clear your afternoon, and binge watch this series without interruptions. There are no spoilers so I'll be extremely brief on each topic. Story___ Science Fiction, Drama, Mystery, Comedy, Romance, History, Psychology, Ethics, and Sociology. I know I amprobably missing a few more but these are just some of the concepts the story touches on throughout the adventure. Sure, some situations don't take rocket science to figure out what the solution might be but it is still an enjoyable ride. It's one of those stories that you will remember when all is said and done. Art___ The artwork has been consistant, imaginative, colorful, and inspiring. I am grateful for the work that went into the landscapes, planets, characters and expressiveness of the worlds they traveled through. Emotions were captured marvellously. Sound___ Kanata's VA was spot on. I could listen to him all day. Nobody for once was annoying to listen to in this show and that's rare. The background music does an amazing job at setting the mood without being too distracting. I actually sat through all the OP and ED themes! Pop on some quality headphones and this will be a great theatrical marathon. Character____ Development galore. If you look back at how the cast started in the first episode vs the last, you'll be very satisfied with this section. By far though, the main protagonist is the one to keep your eyes on. Enjoyment____ If you like anything about Interstellar, Yamato, Eureka 7, Xenosaga... YOU WILL ENJOY THE ADVENTURE! It is long and just as there is a beginning, there is a full closure to look forward to. It is the cake that you get to eat too. Just WATCH! OVERALL YoU nEEd tO WatCH tHiS SHoW!!! For Kanata's sake, it has episodes that are 48 mins long. I WISH EVERY ANIME HAD LAST EPISODES THAT WERE 48 MINUTES LONG SO I CAN GET FULL CLOSURE! TwT
Horn_dawg_2019
09/20/2019, 02:52 PM
Per aspera ad astra, through hardships to the stars, a very good adaptation to the anime, Kanata no Astra or Astra Lost in Space. So: Story Pros: Basically what you have here was a Japanize version of "Lost in Space" where a group of youngsters, whom were supposed to go camping in some planet called McPa, but as the title suggest they found themselves getting suck into a wormhole and found themselves floating in space, but by some luck they found what looks like an abandon ship, from there their adventure to going home starts and their journey of self discovery as they struggleto know each other and help one another becomes the focal point of this anime/ manga story plot. Cons: Though minimal ,you won't find any death flags around here. Verdict 8/10 Art Pros: There was still the usual eyecandy uniform and swimsuit service. Cons: Don't expect to see any panchira and Quinttrie's boob flash. Verdict 4/10 Sound Pros: Good ending theme. Cons: Nothing in paticular. Verdict 7/10 Character Pros: Thought there were suppose to be 9 of them, later on 10 with the addition of Polina , it was basically Kanato who carries everything around here, basically he was like a version of Captain Kirk , who doesn't take things stting down, which basically earns him the respect of his crew. Cons: While Kanata was portrayed as the sensible and mature one among the group , it was kinda unfortunate that the rest were portrayed as immature and with some life issues. Verdict 6/10 Enjoyment Pros: The fact that this was set in the future, basically make me see this as some new to the table, but then gain I could be wrong, then gain for this to have a clean ending was something to me worthwhile. Cons: Nothing in particular. Verdict 8/10 Overall Verdict 9/10 It was worth watching, it has a clean ending, you might say it was the best 12 episode anime you've ever watch.
AndreAffonso
09/20/2019, 06:24 AM
How to start it? You wanting to see the anime now, go, see! Worth every minute, will be very well enjoyed, will be an anime that will enter your list of most amazing anime you have ever seen in your life. Let's get to the summary of the thing (pretty fast): Anime is a survival in space, with a lot of humor and a tense drama and a slow but very funny romance. Review: Don't read if you haven't seen it. The anime starts off funny, With the meeting of all the characters for the beginning of the trip, there you may not like some,or many. The journey goes smoothly to the planet they should be, but when the plot really begins, everyone gets sucked into a wormhole and ends up in space, by divine grace a ship was abandoned in the space near where they were thrown. After the recovery of all the members they analyze the events and start the trip home, a jump from planet to planet to Astra. The characters gain their highlights during the trips and we find out about their life and we understand and liking the characters in the meantime, humor and mystery come together right now, the drama is very well calculated and at the right time of things, author and director worked very well here. In the end we found that everything was connected from the beginning of the whole plot, the points connect very well, make total sense in everything that was pointed out, a hit of the direction and the writer, the twists that happen are amazing and each end of episode you get crazier to know exactly what will happen in the end. The end was at the right point, no more and no less, right. The plots close, all are presented in their future 7 years later and their dreams told while traveling are revealed. The final romance ends beautifully, just missing a kiss and such, but I will not complain about it. In the end, each part was worth, was very good and enters the list of the best, really worth every week of waiting. Como começar isso? Você que está querendo ver o anime agora, vai, veja! Vale cada minuto, vai ser muito bem aproveitado, vai ser um anime que vai entrar na sua lista de animes mais incríveis que você já viu na vida. Vamos para o resumo da coisa (bem rápido): O anime é uma sobrevivência no espaço, com muito humor e um drama tenso e um romance bem lento, mas muito engraçado. Analise: não leia se não tiver visto. O anime começa engraçado, com o encontro de todos os personagens para o inicio da viagem, dali você pode não gostar de alguns, ou muitos. A viagem vai tranquila até o planeta que eles deveriam ficar, mas ai que começa a trama realmente, todos são sugados para um buraco de minhoca e vão parar no espaço, por graça divina uma nave foi abandonada no espaço próximo de onde eles foram jogados. Após a recuperação de todos os membros eles analisam os acontecimentos e começam a viagem para casa, um pulo de planeta para planeta até Astra. Os personagens vão ganhando seus destaques durante as viagens e vamos descobrindo sobre a vida de cada um deles e vamos entendendo e gostando dos personagens nesse meio tempo, humor e mistério vão combinando bem nesse momento, o drama é muito bem calculado e no tempo certo das coisas, autor e diretor trabalharam muito bem aqui. No fim descobrimos que tudo estava ligado desde o começo de toda a trama, os pontos se ligam muito bem, fazem sentido total em tudo que foi apontado, um acerto da direção e do escritor, as reviravoltas que acontecem são incríveis e a cada fim de episódio você fica mais louco para saber exatamente o que vai acontecer no fim. O fim foi no ponto certo, nem mais e nem menos, certo. As tramas se fecham, todos são apresentados em seu futuro 7 anos depois e seus sonhos contados durante a viagem são revelados. O romance final acaba de forma linda, só faltou um beijo e tal, mas não vou reclamar disso. No fim, cada parte valeu, foi muito bom e entra para a lista dos melhores, realmente valeu cada semana de espera.
Neo_Dimension
09/19/2019, 01:29 PM
First time I write a review, but this has to happen. I had a day off today and saw this anime somewhere in MAL. It was Sci-Fi and the Rating was really nice. So I thought "Why not"? Started with an 48 min Episode. And oh boy, that 48 min hooked me really. I don't get this feeeling very often. And as I proceed, episode for episode I get more hyped. I wasn't prepared for that. What i really love, are Plot-Twists. And I don't get them very often in Anime. But this great Anime presented me like 5 of them! And the music! The music is thecherry on top. This Anime is really a piece of Art. It's an Anime like this, that shows me one more time, why I love anime.
Ainosora
09/18/2019, 10:36 PM
Going by my score of 9 you can tell I definitely highly recommend it however at first when I started watching the characters and story made me believe it to be a somewhat cliche adventure story with weak characters. However it takes time to develop characters and eventually dives off into numerous twists that were well set up and foreshadowed. It's a very highly enjoyable show and definitely the most fulfilling ending I've seen in quite a bit. The story of being lost in space could be said to be like any other adventure story like exploring an abyss for instance, however luckily instead of focusingon just the adventure aspects, Kanata no Astra focuses on characters and progression while still maintaining the sense of adventure and wonder. This plus again I can't stress enough how much I appreciate the ending, make for a great tale of adventure and fulfillment. The art style is very good and there were absolutely no issues with it, if I were to be asked if it was memorable artwise I'd have to say no but it definitely is great art without a doubt. The sound is also great and fitting, the soundtrack feels spacey and the voice acting is fitting especially as you get to know the characters. The characters begin seeming like caricatures but evolve into their own selves with well developed backstories and motives. The characterization is very well done. Enjoyment is definitely very high as this is the most fulfilling show I've seen in awhile, overall I highly recommend it!
websky
09/18/2019, 07:23 PM
This show has laughs, mystery and a lot of heart. Astra probably isn't the best show set about people lost in space, but I do give it a giant A+ for effort when it comes to keeping me invested in the overall plot and mystery. The show follows a group of teens (and an elementary schooler) who get lost in space after a wormhole shows up on their field trip to another planet. Storywise I think this is where the anime most strongly stands, it has a bit of an episodic format to start off, but in the second half the episodes race (at agood speed) toward the conclusion, where not a single plot thread is left unanswered (the conclusion for this anime makes it seem like their ending off a 100+ episode series, and has a better conclusion than some of those anime). I think the first few episodes take a bit to get on their feet, (the episodic format of planet to planet and each characters tragic backstory not particularly interesting when you don't know the group) but where this anime really finds its footing is not in the space drama but in the mystery aspect that grows throughout. Where reveal after reveal takes your mind on a magic course, and you're second-guessing parts of earlier episodes, and wondering where each small hint leads as you theorize different elements. Art is typical but never distracting--artistically it's told with a letterbox 16:9 format, they sometimes break away from (like when showing space, which I found quite fascinating). Sound has some good tracks, but nothing stands out; often the opening is left behind to use that extra minute of screentime to parade more information in. Character-wise they all start out very generic tropes; the nice one, the nerd, the jock leader, the princess, the dark edgy one, etc-- except surprisingly they actually grow out of their tropes. An example is most of the characters don't appreciate Kanata (the leader, who proclaims to be captain) in the beginning, however, it involves to everyone having gained a respect for him after he recuses Aries in the first episode, and he's the heart that brings the team together. He evolves from they typical someone who "must save everyone" to having a reason for having this attitude than being a shounen protagonist-- and a reason to realize he's most suited to be the captain in the group, which is why he takes on the role. Most of the main cast grow out of their tropes as the series goes on, and in the last episode, there wasn't a single one of them I didn't like (whereas in the first episode I had much doubt about a few). Each character breaks away from what you presume them to be in at the start, truly giving the series an edge, and making me invested in what will happen. Honestly, this was a really fun series for the 12 episodes they had (the first and last of those episodes are 40 minutes, so really it's like 14 episodes!) I came in expecting a bland space team adventure, but in the end, I got to experience an unravelling (well paid off) mystery, and a conclusion that's written better than most 12 episodes series (and most anime in general) ever get.
Tardivex
09/18/2019, 06:52 PM
There's this episode in an anime from 2012 titled Humanity has Declined where the characters are trapped inside a manga, and they have to act out the panels in order to progress through the pages, rise in the ranks full of other people in the same situation and hopefully finally break free from their predicament. Why am I telling you this? Well a certain character gets the genius idea to keep adding twist after twist at the end of each panel so the readers keep interested in what's happening. It does work for a while, but eventually people get sick of it once they realizethere's nothing of substance beyond those twists and their rank quickly drops as a result Coincidentally, that can also be used as a perfect description for the space faring adventure, Kanata no Astra. It starts out well enough with an interesting premise as the characters have to scramble for survival, living together for months in this little ship with an ever increasing psychological toll while also exploring unknown worlds, but it quickly devolves into twist after twist each episode until it barely makes sense anymore and all we get when it's finished is a half baked ending that just immediately solves all the mess of a plot at that point and everybody lives happily ever after, since they clearly didn't have the time to deal with even one of the fifty can of worms they decided to open, most of which could be central plot lines for a single show themselves were they in more capable hands Some say that a good hook alone doesn't make for an overall well rounded story unless it's competently written and the same principle can be applied to twists too, and their overuse as a crutch for an actual story instead of tying all the lose plot threads is a recipe for disaster. One of the worst offenders of this was probably when a certain episode ended with a big twist about their destination, with one character utterly shocked and dumbfounded, seemingly knowing as much about it as everybody else considering their dialogue, but then they proceeded to give everybody a nice expository history lesson for the crew and the audience at the start of the following episode This could've been a very nice survival show, the habitable planet hoping was a nice idea which also doubled as a means to give some nice variety of environments and scenarios but there's no point in dwelling in what ifs, we have to work with what we got. And what did we get? An average at best anime depending on your tastes, even the planets themselves start to get real boring after the focus shifts to the "twist of the week" style of writing. The characters are a mixed bag with some having simple but consistent and relatively enjoyable personalities and others having many issues and changing at a near moment's notice because there either wasn't any time to develop them or they got hit with the twist + flashbacks treatment which I'm sure is bound to get people at the edge of their seats when it happens for the Nth time
Felix_Bertoni
09/18/2019, 04:55 PM
Hello there. I am rewriting a review since I now have seen all 12 eps. This will be a bit concise since I don't want to spoil people. Conclusion first, if you don't want to read full : Watch it. That's all. I think you can not appreciate this anime as much as me, but at least you will enjoy it. Story : - Physics are all f****d up, which is on some part necessary for a sci-fi story, but some mistakes could have been avoided. Plot has some incoherence if you look into details, but overall it is wonderful : really deep and really welltied up, as well as full of surprises. Art : - 10/10 no problem, animations are good, drawings are good, and art style is extremely diversified (you will understand what I meant while watching). Sound : - OST are fairly good and placed at the right place. Characters : - Really well developed and diversified, importance accorded to each main/second character is balanced through all characters. And that's especially appreciable in 2019, the time of cringy Isekai with a not developed MC surrounded by dozens of empty sidekicks. - Some characters are a bit stereotyped, but that's not really bothering since it is light. Enjoyment : - Really good, from start to end, there is no filler, action and rhythm is varying often, keeping you awake, alternating between tense and relaxing moments. The end is really cool too.
SunlitSonata
09/18/2019, 01:19 PM
Astra Lost in Space is the perfect example of a series with earnest intentions that cannot help but undermine itself at every turn. It claims to take its story seriously but plasters it with candy-coated visuals and drawn out comedy. It wants us to buy into the survival of these kids, but refuses to give them hardship. It wants to be cinematic, but never warrants it. It wants to have cliffhangers, but fails to generate tension. It wants to develop its characters, but instead fabricates their plots out of thin air only to still drop or homogenize their stories despite that. It works passably aslighthearted entertainment, but any ambitions beyond that fall staggeringly low for the most part. To start with, the actual concept of characters being stranded in space, or being on some sort of traitor hunt isn’t original even to anime, with material such as They Were Eleven, Infinite Ryvius and Rokka no Yuusha already present. The execution could’ve made up for the unoriginal concept, being a successful blend of wonder, danger, adventure and sci-fi with character driven proceedings to make each cast member deservedly memorable in their own right. Sadly, Astra’s tendency to have its cake and eat it too undermine every one of these by forcing those aspects to take turns. For a show with “Lost in Space” in its title, it never throughout its entire run (beyond perhaps, Episode 1) communicates ANY genuine sense of danger. The colorful visuals lack any sort of grit to make situations tense, the planetary dangers are never more than minor inconveniences, and it will refer to either a forced, sappy character moment or a forced, sappy comedy moment any time you think it will get serious. The use of blood is nearly non-existent beyond a total empty consequence, and there is no visible death or even could-be threatening pursuers on their tail. Instead, Astra decides to have a beach episode on what should’ve been a hostile alien planet. Complete with forced fanservice. One episode though does seem like it would actually be about survival when the ship crashes with a broken engine. This lasts for all of.......10 minutes, before just so happening to find another ship that just so happened to land on the same planet, be the same model as theirs, AND have a detachable portion to get the ship up and running again. This did everything possible to trivialize a potential dangerous situation. It nonetheless tries to make moments feel intense by tagging nearly every episode with a cliffhanger, but most of the follow ups are either not worth it or straight up fakeouts. One twist, involving an unexpected character, has basically nothing to do with the actual point of the show and feels like it was just there to have another twist, or shatter the show’s gradually poorly conceived main setting. The one attempt to add consequence as the series nears conclusion fails to actually create a major ripple as a series about survival should make. So, yeah, the survival aspects of the plot are a complete bust, but hey, maybe all that time was really focused on enjoyably investing character drama to make this cast one of the most charming and memorable ensembles as of recent. Well, not exactly...... In my review of Persona 4 The Animation, I mentioned how the series managed to effectively juggle lighthearted, distinct character moments with a serious plot, presenting strong personalities to the entire cast with unique personal conflicts that were properly built before their prominence and still touched on after their climaxes. It even managed to effectively lead into scenes that were more serious without feeling out of touch. Sadly, Astra’s character moments, however they may be, can’t even come close to poignant. In this show, character handling is present, particularly in the first 2/3 but done in the laziest way possible. Generally, a character will have basically nothing on them at the beginning, then randomly, some event will happen that forces them to dump their entire backstory out, a “survival” event happens that said character supposedly helped with even if they do nothing for it, and then the character is instantaneously forgotten about otherwise for the entire series. This is the case with Yunhua, Quitterie, Luca and Ulgar. And the worst part about these moments is that it never feels like the characters have personal conflicts and relatable doubts they want to overcome like the Persona 4 characters. Instead, it comes across as them wanting to just not have to deal with shitty parents. Nearly every backstory is working along the exact same motif and the series only becomes more plot driven overtime, so there’s nothing interesting to really learn about them for viewers. And then other characters like Aries or Zack don’t have this attempted depth at all but instead are purely driven by the plot without any real attempts at actual change. It’s incredibly disheartening all around that this is what the show focused on so much, yet it’s so predictable, boring and lacks both interesting issues at play and palpable story effect for far too much of the show. Kanata’s the one exception to this rule since for once he feels consistently driven overtime, and that’s cool, but I still think that there was more the series could’ve done with his character arc in regards to genuine survival stakes we currently don’t have. All of these aspects are made ever more detrimental by a certain plot turn in the last third of the series. At this point, all character proceedings are dropped for a plot driven focus featuring extremely poorly thought out sci-fi and a traitor reveal that questions why the character even needs to exist and makes the character in question look like an absolute idiot for not capitalizing on opportunities way earlier that the show decided to section off for “antics” that needed to exist unnecessarily. When a series like this wants to make a plot twist that completely changes the direction of the series, don’t do it when you only have four episodes left to do it in! Doing so will make the conflict feel unearned and lacking the proper fleshed out focus. A show like Madoka Magica heavily hinting at the plot turn early on and giving it 80% of the run to be fleshed out did far more for its thematic heft than what little attention Astra gives it. It’s genuinely disappointing given the topic it attempts to cover with this is actually pretty interesting if it had any time to make impact or didn’t make those outside the field look like complete morons, but that’s what you’re given as flat as it is. Speaking of flat, there’s also the animation. While certainly having color and showing potential early on, it’s stiff to an almost painful degree. Characters barely feel like they’re moving at all most of the time, as it swaps between manga frame to manga frame at an incredibly frequent rate. Having more animation would certainly liven up affairs because there isn’t anything interesting done with the shot composition once the first episode’s space scene is over. It also would help the space setting look far more distinctive. Shows like Space Dandy are light years ahead of it, and even older series like Outlaw Star and hell, Sonic X Season 3 managed to make their space settings more interesting to look at, as well as more tense. And yet despite having color and a few semi-interesting planets early on, the animation never properly conveys grit over Crayola colors, which for a series like this riding on the survival of its characters should be required. But nope, this lack of effort contributes to the emptiness of the entire Astra experience. As for the music, it’s passable, nothing less and nothing more, which it should be better given the scale thousands of other space based projects do with their scores. Conclusion Astra Lost in Space in general could be seen decently as simple lighthearted entertainment that starts semi-well and ends better than what most of the middle comprises as, but it really shouldn’t have been. It SHOULD have been an investing space survival character drama that could have time to explore its lategame plot twist to a more thorough level, but instead, it barely touches on this with otherwise useless plot twists, empty cliffhangers, flat characters and no real backbone to anything it’s attempting. I can only really feel ashamed by the show for how many balls it tried to juggle with the simultaneous effort to throw them up incredibly slowly and drop all of them to the ground in very soulcrushing fashion.
LaLeLuLiLo
09/18/2019, 11:56 AM
Almost one hour long and a wide screen aspect ratio, those were my first impressions of the first episode of this anime. Astra in Space caught my attention from the info of its source material than anything else. A well received shounen oriented sci-fi adventure, and not only that, but it’s also short being only 5 volumes long. With a story that short it seemed that Astra had something that it wanted to accomplish. However as the episodes ticked by i failed to see what it was trying to do with its story or why it was considered good. Sure it is enjoyable, but that’sreally it. Astra takes place in a futuristic world where kids being sent to another planet as a school trip is seen as a no big deal. With an ensemble cast of highschoolers and one child heading to one of these planets. And just like in the synopsis, they all get mysteriously sent somewhere else and have to survive getting back home. The writing for Astra is kind of a mixed bag, the best way I can describe it is that it all sounds good on paper, but what’s presented falls a bit short. The idea of being stranded in space is a good idea, but in reality it seems like it’s more of a detour. The characters have a road map of how to get home, and just need to planet hop a few times for supplies. The show also knows how to use planting and pay off very well for both within and episode and for later on down the road. However the pay-off are sometimes underwhelming or even nonsensical. I feel like a lot of that can be attributed to the tone of the show. Astra has a rather happy-go-lucky attitude through and through. I mean, I don't want it to be grim-dark, and it does have some undertones and angst thrown about. However when the show has kids facing the daunting expanse of space, hostile alien planets, and even conflicts amongst themselves it never has the feeling that something bad is going to happen to them. No matter how much peril the characters face none of it feels perilous. There are also some plot twists, but just like before it only seems good on paper. They don’t really add or re-contextualize anything. They do kind of drop hints early on but like most of their pay-offs it’s rather underwhelming. The characters are rather decent personality wise. At their introductions in the first episode they all fall into a stereotypical category. While it is done purposefully in order to develop them as characters, it’s pretty predictable how they will develop from their very first interactions with other characters. From the mean older sister coming to love her younger sister, the shy girl trying to be less useless, or the angsty teen being understandably angsty. Of course these are the more basic examples but it more or less holds true for every character. What is a little less satisfying is how compartmentalized many of them are. With a total of 9 people on the ship and the show being 12(13) episodes long only so much focus can be put onto each character. This leads to some characters only being partially fleshed out and then put aside and never having much relevance later on unless it is necessary to the plot. Finally the production or more precisely why it decided to use the aspect ratio that it did. Astra predominantly uses a wide aspect ratio. For a few other instances it goes to a more full screen aspect ratio. Usually something like is used as a motif or hint to the viewer. But what does it mean for Astra? From the first episode it seemed that it would be a contrast between the spaceship and space. With the spaceship being widescreen giving it a feeling of being cramped due to the lack of vertical space. With the full screen being attributed to space itself as the screen expands more the same way the universe expands. However since they rarely leave the ship there’s not much more to it. It could have been used for the more open spaces of planets or breathable planets that allow them to take off their helmets, but it’s not. Instead it is used rather flippantly, for the few rare times it is actually used. it’s rather confusing why they used it in the first place. Everything else about the shows looks and sounds are decent albeit par for the course , it’s just that one thing that came off as weird. I really wanted to like this show but many things about it worked against its favor. Maybe there was some essence from the source material that didn’t properly transition into the adaptation, now that would be a rather shame… Funny enough after finishing the anime I was reminded of another anime called Uninhabited Planet Survive, now that’s an anime about kids lost in space.
animesscythe
09/18/2019, 10:55 AM
One thing I've recently noticed about myself is that I am not a big fan of Sci-Fi (even though my favorite anime is Sci-Fi), but I am a big fan of some sub genres of that genre, and mecha is not one of them. Astra Lost In Space is one of the Sci-Fi shows that I loved and am glad to have caught up on when I missed its weekly episodes. The story is simple as the title says, a bunch of people are lost in space. Their main goal is to get back to their planet. Along the journey, lots of revelations take place. Thecharacters learn the whys, hows, and the whats of all this journey. Why did they get lost? Who are they? Is there a link between them? Each additional plot point will have your mind bobbling at its intelligence and how well it is prepared. Sometimes you'll even think to yourself, "How could I have missed that detail?". It's built up in a way that is very accessible to any audience, yet still hides a lot of secrets behind its obvious plot. The characters are also very lovable. We have a large cast of characters, each with their own stories to tell, personalities to show, lives to experience. Each character adds something to the show. While Kanata may seem like your usual shounen MC, his determination and sacrifices are just mind-blowing. I usually dislike characters with no depth, but he's really an influential figure to have in the show which keeps the crew going. The other casts are all very dynamic and remarkable and add a lot to the anime, making it really fun and quirky. The art design is also very smooth, characters look really good, colors are vibrant and full of life, and it all flows smoothly. Black borders cover the frame of episodes most of the time but it was never really an issue. Sound design is also pretty good, though I don't have anything remarkable about it in mind. Overall, Astra Lost In Space is one of the few shows I have enjoyed so much in a long time. It carries info dump that doesn't overload your brain, so if you feel exhausted, instead of going for a boring ecchi to reload yourself, have a taste of a space anime that is made very accessible, yet at the same time, is a genius craft.
KANLen09
09/18/2019, 06:32 AM
A generic shounen clasped into the survival genre, and tagging along with the ride is the space adventure styled with ALL that sci-fi realism put into it, plus hints of momentous comedy, like why so? Mash that all together, and you'll get the (damn near close) masterpiece that is the newest creation of SKET Dance mangaka Kenta Shinohara's latest project, Kanata no Astra (or Astra Lost in Space for pure English weeaboos). For the majority who are fans of Shinohara-sensei, the similarities in the generic space from SKET Dance copies directly over to this series, and I wouldn't be surprised if it divided the peoplewatching this series from the get-go. Spanning 5 volumes and 49 chapters, this is pretty much a respected and complete source adaptation that is more than just a roundabout package, it's one of pure satisfaction and redemption. And I'll keep this spoiler free as much as I can, you just have to watch to find out! Story: Set in the Earth of the future where space travel is commonplace, a group of seemingly randomized characters are signed onto an excursion that is something like travelling overseas, but with a commercial spaceship. The happy-go-lucky Aries Spring is sent off in good spirits with the bunch that is Team B-5, a team of 9 school teenagers on a journey to camp on the distant planet McPa. Upon arrival on said distant planet, a sudden burst of a black hole sphere emerges that caught the team off-guard, sucked them into the sphere and pushes them out into outer space that is light years away from their current time. Desperate to keep the team together, Team B-5 leader Kanata Hoshijima races to save every group member and raise questions and answers about the situation that is their jouney home on an abandoned spaceship (which they christened the Astra), as well as to find out the culprit that triggered the sequence of events in the first place. AND THIS IS ONLY THE SET-UP, the foreshadowing of things to happen. Being a relatively new reader to Shinohara-sensei's work (though I have read and seen a few of SKET Dance before), my heart was nevertheless ready for the endless amount of reveals and plot twists that this rounded story could become, that is handed over to the production staff at Lerche with studio director Ando Masaomi at the helm. And truth be told, it may seem like it's the usual case of badly executed generic troupes and cliches that everyone can smell like miles away, I thought that being one with the comedy actually gave the series a tad bit of fresh air to ease the intentions of Kanata and the others whilst in their detective forms of discovering the uniqueness of each other. And along the way as the crew develop bonds in the conquest to eventually reach back to Earth, when all it seemed that the goal was the endgame, suddenly became a convoluted (but straightforward) mess of a puzzle to figure out the REAL reason behind all this. That's where the plot twists play into effect, and it changed the course of the game willy-nilly that I admit, took me aback by sheer surprise at knowing the manga source material and treading that infallible path to greatness. If you're wanting to risk knowing a lot from the get-go, then I'll apologize firsthand as this series plays THAT game with you, you just have to slowly fill in the blanks as you progress, pretty much like detective framework. Oh, and there's also some cues of world-building, and Shinohara-san knows that all too well that if the world-building took precedence over the events that were happening, it would not make do for a finish to the series overall, albeit make it feel longer and stretched out that it loses the charm. So people who have been wanting these world-building aspects, you're not gonna find out here as it only explains at the basis and no further. Characters: Kanata and Co., the crew of Astra really is the dynamic stronghold behind the series. All the 9 teenagers are (not that really) special and unique to one another, but in the face of death, they constantly put their grudges aside and work together to escape harm's way. It may not seem like they're meshing together, but when it does, you can tell straightaway. The leader of Team B-5, Kanata Hoshijima, let's just say that he is an all-rounder in everything he does...not without some sacrifice. Due in part of his younger days being tormented that his teacher taught him everything about space (which riled his interest in space travelling), his low-brow abusive father taught him to be an athlete instead, following the family tradition. And through his hard times, he is constantly being optimistic about everything around him, in both good and bad times, you can count on him. The odd one out, Aries Spring, I kinda wished we had a moment of canon where I ship both Kanata and her, but it was never meant to be. Having recently just transferred into the new planet and joined the team, her unique trait is photographic memory, where if seen once, she will remember for time to come. She sometimes can be an airhead, but that's part of her charm, alongside trying her best to match Kanata's optimism. The cool and intelligent info-source onboard, Zack Walker, one look at him and you can tell how much of the experience is embedded upon him from young. He is, like Kanata, a natural-born leader, and someone who takes charge of his own duties and obligations to the fullest. Everything about him just screams knowledge, and when Kanata and the others are in need, Zack is the first to be called upon to resolve the issue. And, the surprise kicker is that he chose the girl to marry since childhood, out of just mere "childish" words: The tsundere (is it?) Quitterie Raffaeilli, along with her sister Funicia. At first glance, both of them looked the same and are raised by the same family, but it is then and there that after the passing of her parents, Funicia postmortem was the adopted daughter to Quitterie the only child. While Funicia tries to get along with Quitterie, whom has a harsh childhood with little to no acceptance of the family's love, it's through their madness that they eventually reconcile and see each other as siblings, in no regards to their origin. As for Quitterie, her foul behaviour is one to be accustomed to from the get-go, but slowly opening up to Zack and the others proves that she still can be changed for the better. Luca Esposito is the son of a politician, however his origins are a doozy. And I ask you, how would you want to meet with someone who is genderless? Hell, that Luca is! Luca looks like a boy from the outside, but in the Earth of the future, transgender humans are a source of controversy, and even I admit that the reveal was not expected, but not in the way of how the anime delivered in a silent killing way, which makes it even more suspenseful. Onboard, he is the engineer to Astra, and I can't say how much Kanata and the others truly needed him (or it) at desperate measures. However, the next friend and foe is not so kind to him: Ulgar Zweig, the son of the vice principal of the school that sent Kanata and the others out to space. His antisocial and quiet behaviour is one to be highly cautioned at the beginning, but even that doesn't stray his intentions of an ultimatum: to kill those in relation to his brother, being a freelance journalist and got killed at the hands of injustice when he was young. Even as the series progresses, that hostile behaviour is one that reeks of the presence of him trying to establish the link that eventually even if Luca is killed, there is no way that his killing is redemption. Lu Yunhua, the supposedly shy girl of a mom that was an opera singer (IDK why, but Japan likes to assume that Asians are best being opera singers, and it is true to a degree). It doesn't say much, but the Asian stigma applies to her greatly, as parents demand A HELL LOT from their own children, so much so that it is low-key abusive and berating their own children's path of the future and their passions. All she could do in the anime is to just sing, and that's it. But I'd guess her motivation is to sing from the heart and be truthful about it. Last but not least, rounding up the Astra crew is Charce Lacroix, the "handsome as Kanata" and "intelligent as Zack" guy. He seems like the happy-go-lucky kind like Aries, but deep down, his history is a lot of messiness and it can take quite sometime to understand what is going on within the true means of his life and calling. His history is one I cannot say here (due to heavy spoilers), but being the son of a once-prominent king, pretty much like Quitterie's parents, he didn't receive the same family love and resorted to different means. Plus, Aries's relation with him is a mystery all on its own. The one to answer their questions, Paulina Levinskaya, is one of the descendants of the Astra crew of the same expedition, happening way long before them. Being the survivor to events that happened in the past, she is the only person who can level with Kanata and Co. in terms of historical facts and the such. I must admit that some of the characters take quite some time to get used to them.(e.g. Luca), but others are quite prominent (i.e. Kanata, Aries) that set the tone and mood shift going forward, and their chemistry is one of the finest when concerning characters who AREN'T childhood friends, they just met, and clicked together instantly. Art and Animation: Lerche is totally killing those visual cues in splendid fashion, with the wide cinematic feels and full-screen (only to capture mild events) that feels as if we're watching sci-fi-esque space movies (and to boot, the last time I experienced this was the Grisaia series). Their prowess of handling whatever is dealt on their path is truly anime gold, and that's even for a short and complete series like this one. Not to mention that both the first and last episodes are hour-long specials (that I can say are the perfect prologue and epilogue to the series) to milk the series even more with a great start that ends with a bigger bang. Under the directorial leadership of studio director Ando Masaomi (who did Kuzu no Honkai and White Album 2), Kanata no Astra adds to his experience onto creating an underrated mangaka's work with his fine flare and composition onto it that when added altogether, makes for an experience not to be forgotten. And this is NOT the end of the success of Studio Lerche in the summer season, not just yet…(refer to my Given review by the same studio) Music: Other than the great OST which features the OP and ED, I felt that going for the minimalist approach for knowing when to insert music when it counts in this series, is an A+ magic in my book. Damn, never thought that having lesser music in this series creates the atmosphere of dread and boredom, but it's what encapsulates the entire series to its knees, and understanding it's cues too shines another light into the darkness. And this is one of those instances where the music isn't overplayed at all, only inserted at points relevant to the scenes at play, which is pretty much the comedic aspects and some shallow and deep moments. Nevertheless, it was done very well. Conclusion: Kanata no Astra may be overlooked and criticized a lot due to the various amounts of clichés and tropes that don't seem fitting (plus due in part to the world-building and plot twists), but I swear, don’t let them define this series, and go into this one as blind as you can. You'll see the clicks and the payoff that is truly satisfying at every turn. This may be AOTS material for some (it's a near-yes for me), but I'm sure for every disappointment, many others will relinquish at the thought that this is just a bog-standard show with nothing to offer, but it is compelling enough to warrant a watch and stick onto the very end.
HaXXspetten
09/18/2019, 06:28 AM
I can't recall the last time I saw an anime with as inconsistent writing quality as Kanata no Astra. I swear, this anime flip-flops between being really cool and being downright stupid every five minutes. It makes for a very strange viewer experience but if nothing else it sure keeps you curious. I'll put it this way: the actual premise and setting of Kanata no Astra is really intriguing. Space anime that aren't mecha are rare enough to begin with, but to on top of that make it a sort of survival story with a great deal of exploration of the unknown celestial bodies of spaceis a great combination. You can also definitely tell that the author had a clear idea of how the story would finish before he started writing it, and as a result the overarching main mysteries of it all are quite interesting and a bit surprising as well. You'll be able to guess some of it but certainly not all of it, and those surprises might just be all you need to make it a worthwhile viewer experience. But on the other hand, where Kanata no Astra really suffers is more in the details of it all. Anyone that actually pays attention will notice lots and lots of minor things throughout the story that either just plain don't make sense or feel way too dependent on random coincidences. For starters there are the planets that the characters end up visiting throughout the series which somehow all end up feeling about as one-dimensional as the procedurally generated ones in No Man's Sky. It's all one big biome with an ecosystem that is seemingly very small but still filled with nothing but over-the-top fantastical organisms, not to mention they're still conveniently edible for humans (not to mention the device that measures the level of organism edibility). Then there's the pacing which feels very jumpy considering that there are several weeks in-between every planetary stop for our main characters, yet they seem to always pass by in a breeze as if nothing of note happened meanwhile, even if some massive plot point had just been brought up in the past episode. It's not like the travel time is the same as going through a loading screen in a video game but it often feels like the plot treats it as one. It just doesn't really make much sense. Sometimes the author does try to come up with an explanation to make an otherwise one-in-a-million coincidence plausible, but it still often ends up feeling rather forced. For example there's one episode where he clearly wanted the main characters to randomly come across a certain object on a planet they were visiting, so thus naturally on this particular planet it just so happened that only a very thin strip of land around the equator was actually habitable, and it just so happened that on a certain part of that strip there was a bunch of hazards which could cause you to crash your ship, and it just so happened that the characters not only do so but then also end up disembarking and walking to the exact they needed to find the object in question... etcetera. Like it's not illogical but it's just layered coincidences upon coincidences to force the plot in a specific direction rather than feeling like an organic universe and as a result it just doesn't come across as natural at all. Now the mysteries in Astra that are more closely tied to the main plot are eventually explained further down the line, albeit some in more satisfactory ways than others, but again it's the details along the road that are not really properly addressed. The characters themselves are also a bit of a strange bunch. Some of them are supposed to be geniuses but sometimes they end up doing some really stupid decisions anyway. But either way I still consider them an enjoyable group in the context they're presented, and when all is said and done and you know the truth behind their respective pasts, it definitely gives them a better outlook than it does at first. At the end of the day, the idea of exploring the unknown in space has always excited me and honestly that's still the main reason why I enjoyed this anime despite everything. For the most part, Kanata no Astra doesn't have the best writing and there's no way around that fact, but it still has its moments where it shines. More importantly though, in the end I'm not sure it really matters. Yes, it could potentially have been a really great anime if it had been better researched and polished, but it is still an enjoyable anime in a very unusual setting and that also has a proper conclusion. That's a lot more than can be said for most anime. I think the best thing you can do is to simply try to not take it more seriously than necessary because if you can look past all the triggering little details spread out throughout it then you should have a much better viewing experience.
Ethan_07
09/18/2019, 06:22 AM
Kanata no Astra is something done damn right. It is something that easily goes under the radar because of the dull poster, unattractive plot with generic shounen characters that has personalities that everyone can deduce. However, it exceeds bar of expectations and shoot to the top. It has a simple beginning. Everyone is lost in space, with only a deserted spaceship. Seeds are subtly planted throughout 10 episodes, waiting to be reaped and the studio excels in showing this. Blending shivering tracks and chocking atmosphere, a thriller sub-genre is slipped in that could send chills down your spine. The events unfold, the conflict rises, the twists emerge oneby one to get us and them closer to the truth. The setup of ambience is elevated accordingly with it as the camera rolls back to present the very core of the show – they are all alone. They have no one they can truly trust, no one to rely on, they only have each other. Just when all the hope seems lost, teamwork joined the room. With trust on short demand, it was not pure friendship. They have to aid each other regardless of their true intention to survive. With that, the diverse quirks of the characters are no longer just eccentricities, but the vital skills they need to survive in various unprecedented events, all while complementing each other’s weakness and utilizing combined advantages. It was a captivating portrayal of unity amidst all the uneasiness in store, and it was delivered well. In this sci-fi adventure, Kanata is the athletic leader that can PUNCH realization into others, with a bit of recklessness and playfulness. Charce, is the right-hand-man with exceptional knowledges on biology. Air-headed ArieS is the one who always seems clueless, yet serve as an important link between the members. Zack, the tech and mathematics prodigy. Ulgar, the quiet and mysterious boy with seemingly ulterior motive. The list goes on and on, with insights on the characters being revealed one by one. They are seemingly not connected, but they don’t know it yet, that they are brought together for a reason. A reason that has enclosed themselves in a frame for so long, that they would not have found their purpose and their identity in life if they weren’t together in that spaceship. And it's thrilling to deduce and see how it all tie together. The animation is handled by Lerche. This studio once handled ‘Assasination Classroom’ with its colorful characters and ‘Classroom of Elite’ with its psychological outlook. As such, facial expression and character design spells out the characteristics of each character. The characters are given a subtle clue on their expression of what they are planning to do next and a glimpse of how dead serious they can be with each of their act. It is this element that gives us, the audience a chance to do our guesses on the mystery unraveled, analyzing the extent of their action that gives away their thoughts. Overall, I really enjoy the style of the direction of the show and the story only gets better as it goes on. In the end, it connects everything from the beginning to shape the bonds created and to end the story with a perfect closure that befits their whole journey. With that, they begin their new journey. The only thing left to do now is to experience it all unfolds before your eyes.
Stark700
09/18/2019, 06:17 AM
If you played an open world exploration game with survival themes, there’s a solid chance you’ll get a familiar vibe from this anime known as “Kanata no Astra”. (English title, Astra Lost in Space) Taking a page out of the sci-fi genre brings together a story of space travel. It takes place in the 2063, a time period where technology has evolved and is a revolution of growth. It’s not too often these days when we get an anime adaptation based on a manga that have already been completed. Mangaka Kenta Shinohara (best known for his work with Sket Dance) began the series in 2016as part of the Shounen Jump+ lineup. The series itself was not very popular but did eventually win the price of the 12th Manga Tashiou award. Consisting of 5 volumes, it seems a single cour adaptation of 12 episodes would make this run smooth. Or does it? Actually, the first episode premiere is a 1 hour long special and makes a strong impression to showcase the premise of the story. We meet a group of students from Caird High School before they soon get caught by a mysterious entity. The conflict evolves as these students are tossed into an unknown orbit and they resolve to return home. Along the way, you can expect this journey to bring together a lot of survival themes, character bonding, and startling revelations. But from the beginning, it’s also important to establish the principal cast. That’s why we have Kanata Hoshijima, the main male protagonist and captain of the Astra vessel. With a strong head attitude and determination, he stands as a capable leader with a dream of exploring the universe. What draws audience into his character also relies on how he can command his crew and achieve his goal. It seems every episode, the show tests the crew to tackle new challenges like an open world game. In essence, the show itself deals with space exploration while getting the audience to understand its characters. The remaining crew members consists of a balanced range of personalities. Among them is Aries Spring, the airheaded pinkhead who brings in a peculiar curiosity. Now, you’d think a show like this may feel depressing at times because of the premise. However, Aries brings together a sense of cherry energy and hope for the crew. She’s essentially the type that anyone can get along with. This is contrast to cooler and more levelheaded characters such as Ulgar Zweig or Zack Walker. Others such as Charce Lacroix and Yun-Hua Lu sparks a great interest in their characters because of their background stories and origins. The only characters that feels less exciting are the Raffaelli siblings. You can be the judge but to me, both of these girls brings little value to the overall story. If you remove either one, there’s little loss to brood over. That being said, I do think the cast is well balanced. As the space adventure venture deeper into the depths of the universe, there’s evident character bonding with great importance. In fact, character bonds is one of the most important elements in this show. In later episodes, Kanata realizes what the crew has in common about their parents. It’s a sad revelation and in truth, there’s many other secrets hidden from the crew and audience. While the show is not a mystery, it definitely sparks curiosity for the audience to see what will be discovered. Each planet they encounter puts their lives at risk as they venture into the unknown. Thankfully, the show keeps its space adventure refreshing as the crew encounters a colorful amount of planets. There are planets with strange wildlife such as Vilavurs, Shummoor with its otherworldly plants, or even a paradise with beaches such as Arispade. Hell, the show is very open to its exploration content that it sometimes feels like playing a video game. It feels immersive as if you're there with the crew. If you played games like No Man’s Sky before, this may trigger some familiarity. Thankfully, the anime has its own main story that runs much deeper than just the crew returning to their home. A word of warning though. Be prepared for character drama. There’s an unsettling amount of them that builds more and more with each episode. Some characters even begins to show their true colors. An elephant in the room also remains with the fact the true gender of Luca Esposito. It may not a big deal for some people but I can easily bet that the character can be somewhat a source of controversy. And finally, do be aware that the show retains a degree of realism despite all the sci-fi elements. When we meet Paulina Levinskaya later in the story, she reveals how fragile lives can be as the only survivor of her crew. It brings together the question if these students may or may not end up in her situation. I mean, the chances of death in this show is quite real considering all the factors. But unlike a video game, these characters only have one life and there’s no chance to restart over. Lerche as a studio takes on Kanata no Astra as their first project with major sci-fi elements. Combining with the story about space exploration, there’s actually a lot to expect when you see the facts. One of the more noticeable visual context is the letterbox format that makes each episode run like a mini-movie. This is especially true for the first episode that feels more like watching a movie than your standard television. Visually, it works for this particular show as it highlights the videographic imagery of the backgrounds. There’s a lot of open world planets and this format makes them stand out with stunning effects. The alien planets shows a great deal of colorful variety and I applaud the staff for giving each of them a form of uniqueness. Character designs are also molded with care similar to the manga. Finally, I’m surprised at how much human expressions are shown throughout the show. With the harsh and dangerous journey, there’s many signs of character struggles that are shown in the faces of the cast. Kanata no Astra is a show that I believe can be described as a ‘dark horse’ of the year. It didn’t get mainstream attention compared to some other anime but manages to capture what science fiction is about. With its sci-fi elements and odyssey of obstacles, every episode brings something new to the table. Even if you’re not a big fan of character drama, the show still works together as a fictional adventure. Did I mention, it’s one that is complete without worrying about a ‘what if’ ending? See, that’s the beauty of a show based on a complete manga. And as a space adventure, you can believe this anime is the real deal.
Pipe
09/18/2019, 06:00 AM
Kanata no Astra could be an anime that surprised several viewers. In my case, I was bewitched by some episodes until I noticed that the show is mediocre science fiction with several plot flaws and unfinished ideas. The scenario is good at the beginning; A group of students is drifting in the dark space with only one goal in mind, returning home. I was surprised to the point that I ignored the strange CGI moments when the characters looked like dead puppets in the first episode. I ignored the device created in a few hours that could diagnose if the food is good or bad witha "delicious" sound that seems ridiculous. I ignored the luck these students have during their trip with some minor risks for space travel. Everything is conveniently configured and ready for their survival. I even ignored a significant detail in the middle of the story I find hilarious. I asked myself "why people cannot fix their cars that simple, there are many cars nearby," but this group doesn't have a spaceship nearby, so ... you will understand if you watch this anime. However, I cannot ignore a plot that is not consistent, a scenario that ignores the details and uses strange ideas to create a secondary storyline. That new story is far from the survival goal placed at the beginning. The real risk is not space. In this story, space is not as dangerous as it seems, the real threat is humans, and that is very unfortunate. Also, all those "extra" additions created a strange story that I cannot stand because it is silly, stupid, the name "Astra Lost in Space" does not fit anymore. As the plot progresses, observe that the story is full of coincidences plotted by a mastermind who leaves more questions and few answers. Those coincidences created several unfinished stories that affected the behavior of the characters. For example, they are not worried about space and all the surrounding dangers, and they do not care if they cannot find food, they are concerned by a human inside their ship that could turn against them or a conspiracy group, that is ridiculous. The highlight of each episode is a mixture of dramatic events like "my father never loved me," some actions like "hey, the device found good food, this animal tastes delicious." Then, the authors added some conspiracy events "Someone is an enemy, say nothing, we have a great meal tonight" and some real survival events but with a stupid outcome like "the spaceship is failing but don't worry, it will solve somehow. " Unfortunately, the storyline is a mixture of useful elements without proper development and conclusion. Although I liked the first part, the plot, the writing, and the dialogues are very average. All these lead to unusual character behavior. They are afraid about their life and the next minute they are singing kumbaya. The characters are average. Do not come to tell me that they are stunning with a fantastic background because they are not. If you pay attention, all the characters have the same context and have the same problems, except Aries. In other words, all characters are generic like clones. The characters fill a convenient spacecraft crew: it has a hero, an expert in phytology, a genius/pilot, an expert in weapons, an expert in crafts, a medic, a singer, a villain, a survivor and a girl. The most normal character is Aries, but the plot affects her directly, sadly. The animation and art are adequate. There are some bad parts, but not so remarkable. The colors are very vivid and created a pleasant atmosphere from planet to planet. The camera angles and the speed between the scenes are acceptable and, combined with a good score, create an impressive visual wasted by a mediocre plot. The sound is good; it fills the scenes and is used intelligently. The songs are acceptable. Finally, I liked the first part, but I did not like the conclusion. I think the ending is ridiculous and affects all the characters directly in the wrong way. Here we have a good animation with a good idea but developed poorly with many coincidences that can bore the audience because it makes the anime silly and empty.
Inferno792
09/18/2019, 05:51 AM
Around a Hundred years down the line from now, we might have human colonies on habitable far away planets and space travel might be common place. It may seem farfetched right now, but then again, who could’ve imagined the progress in technology humankind has made in the last half a century? While learning about the different planets and galaxies, almost every kid might have had a fleeting dream about going into space and experience what it may be. Kanata no Astra (Kanata: Lost in Space) is set in a time when the aforementioned things have become possible. Science has advanced so much that teenagers aregoing to other planets simply as a mundane school trip. A group of high-schoolers from such a futuristic world are visiting a nearby planet called McPa as a camp. Of course though, after arriving on planet McPa, things don’t go as planned for them as they’re sucked into a mysterious black orb that transports them into space but luckily for them, they somehow manage to find an abandoned spaceship in the middle of outer space. The spaceship would then become their means of travel as they jump from one planet to another in hopes of surviving and getting back to their home planet together. What Kanata no Astra excels at is showing us the raw emotions of teenagers as they battle their way through the harsh conditions of the various planets that they stop by on their way. The feelings of hopelessness, betrayal, anger, joy and relief are portrayed extremely realistically amongst the characters. Add in a bit of drama around the circumstances surrounding their situation and you’ve got a highly entertaining anime that’s so underrated that it hurts. The endless depths of space can be daunting and that’s exactly what Kanata no Astra tries to present to its viewers. As the characters begin to overcome this fear, new predicaments emerge. The mystery about the black orb that got them there, the lack of trust between them as well as the different problems that they face through their journey binds the characters and develops them into a team capable of surviving in space on their own. One of the best things that Kanata no Astra has done is developed each and every one of the crew. They’ve all gotten mini-arcs of sorts where they’re faced with problems of their own and begin to realize what they truly are and their reason for existing. The execution of this is impressive because these arcs don't just start and end in an episode or two; they have their time to take shape. The face of the show is most certainly Kanata Hoshijima, the titular character however. He’s first introduced as a cheerful character who’ll do almost anything to help others even if they might not want it. This is a reason of annoyance for a few, but as they get to know him and his past better, they begin to support him for what he’s done for them. Then we have Aries Spring, the secondary protagonist and a girl whose stolen purse is retrieved by Kanata in the first episode. They instantly strike up as they’re both caring and cheerful as well as selfless. Next we have Quitterie Raffaeli, the irritable blonde whose outspoken nature doesn’t allow her to make too many friends, and Zack Walker, one of Quitterie’s only friends at the beginning who’s a genius at almost everything he does. His calm demeanor in the face of hopelessness manages to save the crew more times than one. The rest of the cast includes Charce Lacroix, the charismatic and dependable guy, Ulgar Zweig, the quiet one who’s at odds with everyone else because of his ill-tempered nature, Yunhua Lu, an extremely shy girl who thinks she’s the source of everyone’s problems, Luca Esposito and Quitterie’s adopted younger sister, Funicia Raffaeli. The way all these youngsters deal with their personal problems and change in order to work together is the central narrative of the show. Now, having spoken so positively about the show, there are a couple elements that do cause an issue. Firstly, the pacing in the second half of the show feels rushed. I wasn't aware that the source was completed so I didn't actually think that this series would reach its conclusion in just 12 episodes. Granted, it's more akin to 14 episodes since the first and the last episode both are an hour long. Still though, the part towards the end did feel slightly rushed as even until episode 9, I still felt that there could be a lot of content remaining. The second issue could be a sort of spoiler so I'll only say that this series won't make you "sad". The art and animation of the show are both impressive. The characters have pretty distinctive designs and the scenes with outer space and the different planets are all drawn beautifully. The animation is fairly fluid, and I didn’t find myself complaining about it in any of the 12 episodes. The soundtrack is pretty unremarkable to be honest although the voice acting is on point. As I’ve mentioned a few times in this review, this show depends upon character emotions and their interactions, and the Voice Actors do a pretty good job in both of these aspects. I’d certainly recommend this show and would encourage you to give it a try. It’s got an extended first episode of 48 minutes and that’d probably be enough for you to check if you’d like it or not. For me, I immensely enjoyed Kanata no Astra and certainly would’ve liked for it to have a few more episodes.
CrimsonWanderer
09/18/2019, 05:37 AM
Kanata no Astra was one of the few anime that caught my interest this season, I thought it would be an exciting space survival anime with Mass Effect and Mission to Mars vibes, unfortunately, it ends up turning into something way worse. It had such a strong start, how on Earth did it end up being so terrible? (There are some spoilers ahead that addresses certain issues, but nothing really major that would spoil this masterpiece for you) Lets start by addressing the main issue, there is barely ANY danger in this anime. Sure, there are some situations where our main characters go through several dangerous situations,but after a while, each situation ends easily resolved, killing any tension as there is little to no consequences for the characters to the point of making some situations feel way too convenient. Worst part of it comes when they arrived to a paradise planet which is a single inland on a planet filled with water... Guess what? Its the typical beach episode cliché that serves no purpose whatsoever but to show us how thicc the girls are while they talk casually on which boy they like trying to add romance to makes things interesting. The worst part of this comes at the planet "Icriss" which is an anagram of Crisis (how original) where a really dangerous situation finally happens, only to be ruined by one of the most convenient asspulls to ever happen, the amount of bullshit thrown at your face in this episode was insulting. This was the point where I started to lose all my faith on this anime. Beyond this point, this anime starts to fill itself with many asspulls, plot conveniences and a plot hole, the latter being the one that makes things feel way more convenient than they already are. It makes it look like this story was created by someone who had no idea what he was trying to do and was running out of time so he had to come up with random shit. It's clear when you consider the amount of twists this anime pulls after the second half. Having a lot of twists doesn't make your story good, no matter if they end up being random and unpredictable (Even tho some of the revelations ends up being obvious). This only shows how the autor was running out of ideas and tried to fix his mess by adding random twists that doesn't add anything to the plot. This anime also throws comedy at your screen in an attempt to balance serious moments with comedy and most of the times this doesn't work, specially when most of these gags are derived from crucial revelations. For Example: One of the characters gets an emotional revelation considering his gender and minutes after that, we see EVERYONE making fun of him like if it was nothing, the pacing in this anime is that bad that they have to do cheap fake cliffhangers to maintain tension, only to be killed by the next episode's explanation that ends up getting forgotten easily by adding a random comic relief right after and then proceeds to build up the next twist into another cheap fake cliffhanger. Most of this anime's issues lies on the characters, as half of them doesn't really add anything to the plot which means that some of them will be set aside and be forgotten from time to time until they're required again to try to explain conveniences or to open the door to the next twist. Also, having so many characters in only 12 episodes will make some of them feel underdeveloped making them look like filler characters (Luca, Qutterie and Yunhua for example) ***Spoiler Section*** ***Spoiler Section*** ***Spoiler Section*** This anime tries to add a 'fucked up' failed cloning subplot that crumbles easily when you realize how one dimensional the "masterminds" behind this situation are and how incompetent they were when they tried to kill these kids without leaving any trace, even worse when the brightest idea they could come up with was to send them into space in an attempt to make it look like an "accident" involving wormhole technology without actually leaving someone behind that could confirm that they were gone for good, or, you know, actually try to get them killed by not giving them any chance of surviving. This only makes the "traitor" look like an idiot since he had several chances to kill them all but couldn't because reasons. Let's address the plot hole. Supposedly, a FTL civilization was able to create wormholes, but for some stupid reason, they didn't have enough technology to stop a freaking Asteroid from crashing into Earth. Are you kidding me? Then, there's this space ship that managed to remain undamaged after so many, MANY years without being hit by meteors (from said Asteroid) or getting pulled by Earth's gravity or any other thing that could've rendered this ship useless. ***End of Spoiler Section*** ***End of Spoiler Section*** ***End of Spoiler Section*** Aside from plot conveniences, asspulls, plotholes, generic characterization, terribly timed jokes, terrible pacing, constant plot twists and fake cheap cliffhangers, there is nothing else worth mentioning that could redeem this show. Its just plain bad, you'll end up wasting your time watching this unless you enjoy turning your brain off while being surprised by 'unpredictable' plot twists with over the top characters that will make a fuss whenever they can (This includes awkward cringe inducing love confessions). As a Sci-fi, this anime is an insult to the genre. Overall: 3/10

Kanata no Astra 彼方のアストラ

North American Anime & Manga Releases for August

Summer 2019 Simulcast List [Update 7/25]

Summer 2019 Preview

'Kanata no Astra' Announces Additional Cast, Production Staff

TV Anime 'Kanata no Astra' Announces Cast Members

Manga 'Kanata no Astra' Gets TV Anime Adaptation

Kanata no Astra 彼方のアストラ

North American Anime & Manga Releases for August

Summer 2019 Simulcast List [Update 7/25]

Summer 2019 Preview

'Kanata no Astra' Announces Additional Cast, Production Staff

TV Anime 'Kanata no Astra' Announces Cast Members

Manga 'Kanata no Astra' Gets TV Anime Adaptation