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.
