KANATA NO ASTRA β The 2019 summer seasonβs new space hype. With an interesting take on science fiction, this anime is one that abandons the typical galactic wars and political scenarios β to one that shapes friendships in the midst of survival.
The setting is absolutely stunning. Not only did they manage to fit this idea of a technologically advanced world in one that resonated with us, it also did not seem the slightest bit weird or unbelievable. The subtly revealed information by our characters that helped us visualise this fashioned world told us that it was naturally part of their daily lives, instead of unconventionally info-dumping constantly and expecting readers to know what the hell was going on.
So where did it go wrong? Simple. Kanata no astra could’ve been a great mystery anime; or a great humour one. They had just one job β but they chose to handle more things than they should. It was honestly a disappointment, considering the fact that it actually handled the thrill and mystery of the plot really well. But no, they just had to mix those two up and create an entirely predictable, annoying mix. Honestly, at this point I was only watching because of the constant cliff-hangers.
See, it had almost everything. Let’s backtrack β a great setting, an exciting plot and moments that could’ve been stellar. Then let’s move it up one step. The anime is full unanswered plot holes β planets without any context despite humanity’s ability to travel? The old language they don’t know but don’t question? Everything chalked up to ‘guys I’m good a biology’? And oh, that’s not the worst of it.
Kanata no astra is an anime that’s clearly made to be a survival, mystery film. Now, what’s wrong with that? Despite being an anime with so much potential to take it to the next level, it decides to stay in the ‘safe zone’ where everything is basically, well, safe. There’s so much mutual conflict and trust issues, for one, and no one doubts each other. I mean, if I knew there was a traitor, I wouldn’t be preaching about our friendship and I’ll suspect everything. It’s a case of realism. “I want to live, and someone wants to kill me. They’re here, I know it.” Issues like these are only brought up for convenience and are basically ignored and brushed off most of the time in this show. That irritates me a lot.
But what I really can’t stand is the insane plot armor. Nothing ever happens here. It’s just a repeated cycle of fresh enjoyment then potential death, but like, nothing ever happens. It’s like how they pull you back before the drop and frankly, the fact that they constantly do is really pointless and plain stupid. All those rushed episodes and information dumps that slowly crawled in at the end tried to abruptly shift its focus, and it didn’t do a good job at it.
Lastly, the characters. To be honest here, they were really bland. Kanata no astra was filled with uneventful dialogue most of the time, focusing only on the parts that mattered when they mattered. The humour wasn’t even good. The entire cast lacked so much substance that I didn’t really care if anyone died. People were used and thrown away, their only defining trait being the aspect that they excel at (plot holes, ahem). Aries was marked as an airhead yet still manage to save the cast in the most dire of situations. Everyone was a classic overused character; we had a blur idiot, a wannabe saviour, a screaming annoyance, a waste of space, an edgy kid and the others I can’t even remember because they weren’t that memorable.
OVERALL, the animations were exceptionally well-executed. I didn’t like the constantly recurring structure, or the characterisation, but the world-building was something I don’t have much to complain about, despite the reminders of various plot holes. It’s a show you can definitely get hooked on β but don’t expect too much from it.
ratings =
world building | 7
characters | 3
plot / pacing | 4
overall | 4
that’s all and thank you for reading through my extremely long review xx
rampant thoughts 