Kanata no Astra (Astra Lost in Space)

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]

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Background

The series won the 51st Seiun Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 2020.

Episode Videos

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Kanata no Astra

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Characters & Voice Actors

Hoshijima, Kanata

Main

Hosoya, Yoshimasa
Japanese

Spring, Aries

Main

Minase, Inori
Japanese

Raffaeli, Quitterie

Main

Kurosawa, Tomoyo
Japanese

Esposito, Luca

Main

Matsuda, Risae
Japanese

Lacroix, Charce

Main

Shimazaki, Nobunaga
Japanese

Zweig, Ulgar

Main

Uchiyama, Kouki
Japanese

Lu, Yunhua

Main

Hayami, Saori
Japanese

Walker, Zack

Main

Takeuchi, Shunsuke
Japanese

Raffaeli, Funicia

Main

Kino, Hina
Japanese

Seira

Supporting

Minase, Inori
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer

Tanaka, Shou

Producer

Higa, Yuuji

Producer

Ogata, Mitsuhiro

Producer

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Opening Theme

"Star*frost" by nonoc

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Ending Theme

"Glow at the Velocity of Light" by Riko Azuna

Reviews

Sep 18, 2019

Inferno792

Recommended

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 are ... going 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.

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Sep 18, 2019

LaLeLuLiLo

Mixed Feelings

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’s ... really 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.

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Sep 18, 2019

Pipe

Not Recommended

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 with ... a "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.

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