Tsuki to Laika to Nosferatu

This a show that is taking a bit too much to lay all its cards on the table
but people are losing their patience and hype because of that

but yes WEINE CLONE WAIFU IS NICE

Now look the entirety of this anime season is pretty wack, a vampire going t space is surely a concept that will pique your interest one way or another , BUT as with all anime this anime can also be easily distinguished with the tropes it plays :-

Demi-Human waifu who you wish to proteccc
a little bit of racism (cant blame em the already hat black people , they would probably ... do the same for Pale vampires with weird ears)
And a generic protag kun


So far the show has thrown around hints and tidbits that may be interesting, like the whole political situation between the two countries (strikingly similar to the cold war so much so that UZSR is basically USSR and UK is the USA)
Or the whole ordeal of why Irina etc but much of this has only been teased and we have been playing mostly waifu simulator since episode 1.

Now from here on I can take either take an it-gets-better-later route or the fuck- everything-else-waifu-FTW route we can only wait and see


As for the review
The story so far has been blue balling at times its just Slice of life with occasional vampire Q and A I genuinely do not know where they will decide to go from here since SOL in the first couple of episodes is not a bad idea it helps us get used to and like the characters

VAs are great but its mostly been three characters so far who have had any real dialogue, THe OP is pretty unique and quite a surprise the ED , not so much

ART is standard and what you would expect of a 2021 anime , there is a bit of very noticeable CGI at many places but it shouldn't be bothersome and only be used in nonkey animation.

its a very jarring start but from what i have seen so far it does have potential but I will probably only recommend with greater confidence once mor episodes come out

It's very rare to see an anime about vampires that has sci-fi elements nowadays. Both genres are like oil and water, genres that aren't supposed to be mixed together.
So after saying all that, is this anime that unique with a rare genres combination? Not really. It's pretty much has the same beats as other 69420 romance anime.

What's the point of watching this then? Well, I can at least say that watching this anime won't waste your time.
The story is decent but it's unique, like I said before, having sci-fi elements and vampires. But it's mostly a sci-fi anime about the first vampire who goes to ... space (step aside Yuri Gagarin, we now know who the actual first person to go to space lol).
It's romance element is predictable but it's pretty well-done in my opinion. There was build-up and satisfaction for their relationship, so it's not bad.
There's also some well-done themes about discrimination, although it was handled well at the beginning, it was kinda thrown away to the sidelines during the latter half of the season. Which really hampers down the potential of this anime because it really cheapens the overall tone of this anime. A shame really.

Moving on, the characters are also decent. Some of the characters got the short end of the stick and got shoved to the sideline and had their development done either rushed or off-screen. The main cast though, while not the most well-written nor well-developed, are good characters. Especially Irina who developed so much in this season.

The animation is decent. It had some good animation sprinkled out there, but the majority of the scenes have some really iffy off-model characters here and there. The art is good though.
The music is good. Especially the ost. The opening and ending are decent.

Overall, it's a decent romance anime. My only real gripe (aside from the characters) is that it should've another episode and not just ending it in 12 episodes. It was pretty rush and it's a shame. Still an anime that I recommend though.
(6.2/10)

Going into the Fall 2021 Season, I would have never thought an alternate history fiction about a Soviet Vampire going to space will be my Comfy Anime of the Season, but here I am. In spite of its oppressive setting, or maybe even because of it, Tsuki to Laika has been a light and enjoyable viewing experience.

One thing the show makes it abundantly clear even in the first episode, is that the Vampire/Dhampir are a catch-all for assorted prosecuted races and ethnicities in the Soviet Union/USA. The show being hard historical fiction with relatively accurate depictions of the Soviet Space program came to me as ... a surprise. The show doesn't shy away in its depiction of racism, but I would still say it does a reasonable job at portraying its setting without being overly heavy handed.

The plot is nothing special, it really just is the early days of the Soviet Space Program with some liberties taken here and there to account for the romantic drama between Lev and Irina. But what truly sells the show are its characters. Placing an otherwise typical Boy-Meets-Girls type romdram inside the Soviet Union does set up a lot of interesting situations you don't normally see in other similar shows, and seeing how the main characters work around or work within the constraints of an oppressive setting such as this makes you root for them even more. And it really is surprisingly comfy despite all this. Not everyone is a monster and the characters all have multiple facets to them, and it is heartwarming to see the team warm up to Irina's successes despite her ethnicity. The moments of respite that Lev and Irina have together are all the more valuable because of the setting, when they have to put up a front almost all the time, it makes the few genuine moments where they can be themselves all the more important.

While the show is really lacking on the visual department, and it can look rough a lot of the time, it more than makes up for it with its stellar soundtrack. Special note goes to that jazz piece that plays during all the romantic moments, and that one vocal piece they play occasionally in the plot important moments.

Tsuki to Laika is a cute romance, but being set in such an underused setting allows it to distinguish itself from most romantic dramas out there. Do give it a shot if you want something different in your romances, or if you're itching for some early Cold War historical fiction.

6/10

"The Vampire Cosmonaut" has a very high purpose from the moral point of view: a reflection on the importance of equality and the absurdity of the concept of race, creating a parallelism between people considered "inferior" and the vampire species, despised and segregated due to the negative propaganda they suffer from humanity. The purpose has been objectively achieved: during the show we see that our protagonist is abundantly denigrated, so much so that she is considered a simple object on which to experiment, and, subsequently, some merits are recognized, as in any story about episodes of racism. . From a human point of view, however, ... the story completely lacks those characteristics that are necessary for the transmission of ideals, such as empathy with the characters. In the next paragraphs, the reasons for my criticisms will be adequately explained.

STORY (6/10):
The story takes place within a communist-style dictatorial system, similar to the former USSR. We can therefore imagine the abuses that are made to keep power stable within this state: in addition to this the state is in strong contrast with the Kingdom of the United States, a state with a strong capitalist imprint, and both are involved in what we now consider the "space race". To advance with the progress, Zirnitra decides that an ordinary soldier, assisted by a young specialist, must train a vampire to secretly prepare for the first launch with an intelligent living being in space. Thus begins the vicissitudes of the show, letting us know the ambitions of the characters and the evil of hatred: however, unlike what we can expect, these are the only aspects within the story, as everything else is completely neglected and/or left to the viewer's imagination. With the continuation of the story, however, the theme of politics and its morality is developed, through intrigues hidden from all to the last and their unlikely consequences. Despite this, history proposes realistically, the difficulties and attempts that have been made by all those who, in reality, have contributed to this eternal enterprise.

CHARACTERS (5/10):
The big lack of this anime is the empathy with the characters. They, in addition to being flat, have an incomprehensible mentality, as if their actions were created for the sole purpose of continuing the plot, which follows a rigid order of cause and effect, and is not performed by their own choice if they had been real. The possible love affair, which could have been an immense mine of possibilities to create a minimum of interest in continuing this show, is practically abandoned to itself, to the point that it is left incomplete and almost completely hidden. However, some secondary characters can skillfully move the ranks of the story, maintaining a certain level of suspense until the last episode, in which different plots are revealed.

ANIMATIONS AND SOUNDS (6/10):
The drawings are well done and manage to convey a certain realism, even if the music is not particularly impactful.

OVERALL AND TO WHOM I RECOMMEND IT:
The anime was developed superficially from the point of view of the plot and the characters, despite the beauty of the historical background that is associated and the important themes discussed: I was quite disappointed with the final results, as can be seen in the length of this. review, which is synonymous with little interest. I don't feel like recommending it to anyone, but it might vaguely interest fans of the subject.

Tsuki to Laika no Nosferatu is an anime that I think could have really grabbed me, it had a unique concept to say the least, but it doesn't capitalize on that aspect and instead feels cliché and generic, amounting to a very 'ok' show.

The first thing I'll mention is what the show got right, which has got to undoubtedly be the little musical jingles they play before and after commercial breaks (just looked it up and they are called "commercial bumpers"). The little bit of music they play just screams the 60's. It meshes perfectly with the setting and I find it pretty neat. Other ... than the bumper and ED though, the music was pretty much average, barring a nice insert song they used once.

I also think there was definitely a good idea behind this project. A space race oriented anime is a pretty unique idea, and one I would have loved to see more realized. Vampires don't necessarily have to be a part of it, but I'm sure you could work them in somehow. Despite my praises of the concept, I think it really suffered in its execution, which I'll elaborate further later on in my review.

The art was honestly a mixed bag, I think the colors were pretty fine (the orange they used for the space suit really popped and was quite nice), and the characters didn't look horrendous, and the animation was fine. Nothing really wowed me all that much, and I feel they really missed an opportunity, because I'm sure you could do some cool aesthetics with a Soviet setting. There were a few details I noticed in the design of some elements being clearly based off of Soviet designs, such as the busses and rockets, but I don't think it went that deep.

The main thing I'd have to say about the characters is that they are just kind of cliché, which is a common theme throughout most of this show. Lev, the main character, is your average nice-guy protagonist, and other than being Russian and an astronaut has little actual backstory or character elements. He also doesn't really get any development, making him even more boring. Irina is slightly better, but only because she gets some development, because otherwise she just fits the "tsundere" archetype to a T. She also is given way more of a backstory, but none of it's really explored, so it doesn't add much to the show as a whole.

The next thing on my list of things is the story. It really wasn't that impressive, it's a storyline that has been told 1000x before, albeit in different circumstances. 2 people love each other but some force doesn't want them to be together. This plotline is pretty average, and only feels even remotely unique because of the backdrop of the Soviet Space Race. The romance itself isn't even that good, with it feeling kind of underdeveloped and rushed. Furthermore, they don't even kiss once in the whole show, so the relationship never really gets farther than the "I love you" stage.

Now on to my final point, which is both critique and speculation on what could have been. I feel one of my most prevalent feelings with Tsuki to Laika to Nosferatu was how cliché everything felt. Their depiction of the Soviet Union is just really generic, and this setting never really ties into the story other than to say, "We are the evil government and we kill people we don't like." It really just feels like the most boring and surface level setting ever, barring a few specific details they include in a small number of scenes. I think this show would have been way better if they focused more on the unique setting and made a more historically-accurate show, that is more about exploring the USSR during this fascinating time. You could keep the vampire if you want to (she was cute after-all), but I think a more informational focus could have really made this show stand out as not just unique, but good too.

This show was disappointing, while I never really hated it, it was certainly far from being good. There were still some good ideas at play, but they we're outnumbered by the number of less good aspects, leading to an overall pretty mediocre experience.

This story follows our 2 main characters as they are working towards achieving their goals and becoming closer to each other,with some minor politics that were fitting with the mood and plot of the story.

As expected our 2 main characters they are the ones that get the most fleshed out stories,with some minor characters getting something here and there.

The art was on the good side,animation was okay and the musci was fitting.

Overall it delivers on whats its promised but how much you are gonna enjoy depens on how much you like the bonds between the 2 main characters and how much you are invested in ... their goals.