A Falling Ship Raises The Stakes
Astra Lost in Space Episode 3
Three episodes in and Astra Lost in Space has cemented itself as the new anime of the season that has fully grabbed my attention. The set up this episode is pretty simple but executed incredibly effectively. As the kids start putting together the information they have they start to realise maybe their getting stranded in space wasn’t an accident and with the broken communicator they are now forced to suspect the others of being involved.
However, finding out who the traitor might be is put on hold as potential death looms. A collision with rocks in space damages the ship and they are now in danger of an uncontrolled re-entry causing them to crash onto their next destination planet rather than landing on it. The team need to work together and scramble if they aren’t all going to just go splat onto the surface.
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I liked that this episode shows that Kanata is definitely not some unshakable rock. While routinely the one who has taken action and found solutions, this week faced with insufficient information to narrow down who might be someone to suspect he really started to come unstuck. And when the ship was in danger and physical strength and effort weren’t going to be enough to save it, Kanata very quickly lost his cool to be brought back into check by those around him. It is a nice bit of character work.
The story is also quietly working away at giving each character some area of strength to demonstrate so that they can contribute to the team even if in a quieter way than Zack and Kanata. The exception so far is Yunhua who remains the enigma of the team revealing nothing of herself and constantly apologising. I kind of hope they crack her shell soon because it would be very sad if her character just remained sidelined and used to bungle the work of the others for the remainder of the series.
Basically though this one looks quite nice, the story is simple and well established after three episodes, the cast have been pretty fun to get to know, and they have managed to inject real tension into the scenes that need it. Honestly there’s very little to complain about and a lot to like about this anime so far.
The full series review can be found here.
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Karandi James
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Images from: Kanata no Astra. Dir. M Andou. Lerche. 2019.
Yes, this episode was so good! So much mystery and tension!
“I liked that this episode shows that Kanata is definitely not some unshakable rock.”
Good point! I’d missed that.
In my defense, there was a lot of fun stuff happening in this episode. Their free-ranging conjecture about their situation was surprisingly rational. I think they’re making some assumptions, and if pressed, I think they’d admit that. Still, it was a relief not to have the conversation make obvious efforts to protect the plot. It really sounded like folks trying to figure out what’s what!
“The exception so far is Yunhua who remains the enigma of the team revealing nothing of herself and constantly apologising. ”
I was really happy to get even the little flashback to her mom. And did you see Yunhua’s expression just before the almost drowned? She was determined — quite a different expression than we’ve seen on her before.
I agree with you — this show grabs and keeps your attention!
I really hope we get more of Yunhua in the next episode or two. She’s still feeling a little bit left out. Though Zack as well doesn’t really reveal much of himself other than being smart. Most of what we know about him others have said rather than him actually talking about himself.
Honestly though it gives us something to look forward to as these characters slowly reveal more of themselves. Though, as you pointed out, there are lots of small details that reveal bits and pieces, such as he facial expression. It has just been really fun so far learning about these characters.
“Three episodes in and Astra Lost in Space has cemented itself as the new anime of the season that has fully grabbed my attention”
Okay…seriously. Remember how in the beginning of this week I said I would not be watching seasonal anime this season because I wanted to catch up on some things I missed out on? Scratch that plan! Lol. Guess I am adding another anime to my seasonal anime that I am not supposed to be watching this season😂😂
Seriously though: it’s great to be back. I will get up to speed with this one as well, so I can join the discussion so to speak! 😊
Well…too bad, both this and Cop Craft aren’t on Crunchyroll, which means I can’t watch them 😢
Yeah, I am watching those two on Anime Lab but that only does Australia/New Zealand. Though they have to be streaming on something else in America (maybe Funimation?). But yeah, not Crunchyroll for those two.
Oh well, I actually hate that saying, but it is what it is lol 😊 It’s not like I didn’t have anything to watch anyway 😊😊
Yeah, no seasonal anime, except all of the shows. Being totally serious, this is the one I will completely recommend three episodes in. Now we know how that worked out with KADO, because anime can sometimes go weird during the mid-section. However this one has so far been a really nice lost in space style adventure and I am very much enjoying it.
Yeah….I totally believe you, but unfortunately I can’t see this on as I only have access to Crunchyroll and Netflix in my country to watch anime😢 Oh well, I just started on is it wrong to Pick up girls…etc😊 I will try to finish that this week, so I can watch a long with you and Irina 😊