Astro Note

'Making a rom-com anime is simple, but making a simple rom-com anime is the hardest thing there is.' - Otaku Cruyff........

Though that was a playful twist on Johan Cruyff's wisdom, it encapsulates what I loved most about 'Astro Note'. That is its simplicity. This anime's charm lies in its straightforwardness, mirrored in every character it portrays. 'Astro Note' is a must-watch, especially if you're nostalgic for the 90s or simply a rom-com enthusiast.

Plot (7/10):

The core of 'Astro Note's' plot is reminiscent of many classic anime, employing the familiar 'living under the same roof' trope. In this regard, 'Maison Ikkoku' notably comes to mind. The young, ... beautiful female lead who is a 'Mibo-jin,' the presence of a pet dog—these similarities can't be mere coincidences. Yet, despite these parallels, 'Astro Note' carves out its own unique identity, steering clear of being a mere 'Maison Ikkoku' clone.

The characters are compelling, and the situations they navigate are engaging. This rom-com doesn't just spotlight the main couple but delves into the lives of the side characters as well. Such depth is rare these days, given the constraints of a typical 12-episode season, which often struggles to develop multiple relationships fully while giving minor characters their due. 'Astro Note' faces some challenges because of this approach, but it also gains significantly by making its world feel more real and its characters more relatable. On the other hand, the sci-fi elements in this anime don't play a significant role in the storyline for most of the show. In conclusion, 'Astro Note' is primarily a comedy anime with some romance and a touch of slice-of-life.

Characters(7/10):

Like many other anime series featuring a group of people sharing a house, 'Astro Note' has a cast of eccentric characters. There's a jobless adult who always stays in his suit-and-tie attire, a boy who wants to crossdress, a small old man, an unsuccessful and depressed idol, a professional chef who just lost his job, and a couple of actual aliens. Each character receives roughly the same amount of screen time. Perhaps Aoi-chan, whose situation adds complexity to the main couple's relationship dynamics, gets a bit more focus towards the end.

Each character's story feels genuinely believable, and the creators handle some complex topics quite nicely. However, amid all these stories, the development of the main couple feels neglected. Their relationship receives much less focus than it deserves, making the eventual romance feel rushed and underwhelming.

In addition to the main cast, there are other characters, some of whom impact the story significantly, while others do not. The old hag, for instance, is primarily there to add humor. Unfortunately, not every joke delivered through her character lands well, and her antics become tiresome over time.

Animation (7.5/10):

As this is an original anime, there's no reference point for comparison. However, the art style, while unconventional, was neither bad nor strange. It was acceptable. I appreciated the character designs, and the studio consistently maintained the same quality throughout the anime's runtime.

Audio and Soundtracks (7/10):

Though perhaps one of the least popular shows of the season, this anime featured experienced and prominent voice actors, resulting in solid voice acting. The opening and ending songs were decent-not the best or particularly catchy, but they weren't bad either. The effort put into the visuals of the opening sequence was evident and paid off well.


Overall (7.2/10):

While I can't say 'Astro Note' is particularly unique or jaw-dropping in any aspect, it achieves what it intends to: keeping the story relatively simple and laid-back while focusing on the humor of the show. It does a good job in that regard. 'Astro Note,' as a comedy and slice-of-life anime, is a really good watch. However, if you are specifically looking for a sci-fi or romance anime, you might not enjoy it as much. In the end, 'Astro Note' manages to wrap up things quite nicely, making it an anime worth calling 'underrated' (it's rated 6.57 at the time of writing this).

Astro Note - You won't be going to space with this one.

It's been a while since we've had any form of anime when it comes to the sci-fi realm (a.k.a original shows), the recent few of which I would remember as being not good at all (a la last season's Metallic Rouge), and very few and far between that I would actually consider to be enjoyable, with one very notable show being Spring 2019's RobiHachi. Why? Because this is the same director who would go on to direct the newest seasonal sci-fi show of the season: Astro Note, a (literate) down-to-Earth rom-com about aliens on ... a mission on Earth to dig up their treasure and return home, while the humans all live alongside her in an inn, with one particular young man being in love with her, but not knowing her true roots. It's a rom-com that will cross both land and sky for a spatial adventure of the immaculate kind — something that I simply cannot register, for the life of me.

The series takes place at the Astro Lodge inn, where it functions just as you'd expect: a boarding house of various quirky people all with unique personalities, and all they have going for is a bond that has been alien years in the making, a close-knitted connection, that's for sure. And one day, a young man comes in looking for a job as an established chef himself, though the caveat is that if he accepts the job, he must stay there for the rest of his life. Lo and behold, enter the lovely young caretaker of Astro Lodge, and the "love at first sight" trope takes effect on this young man so much that he doesn't hesitate on his acknowledgement...to the surprise that this caretaker is more than meets the eye. With it, Takumi Miyasaka and Mira Gotokuji's rom-com will unfold in insane, unpredictable proportions.

I'll give credit where credit is due: the characters may act somewhat out of note, but that also provides their charm as they surround the ever-growing love story of Takumi and Mira as a group altogether. You would think that Takumi is a chef who just cooks meals for the eccentric neighbours, which range from a grandfather who's seen Astro Lodge evolve over time to a father-son family that doesn't act like a family, but still cares for each other like one. They're loads of fun when executed decently, though their quirks will unfortunately make them one-note characters in the long run. Of course, Takumi having to come to terms with who Mira really is in that same run, his record of misunderstandings and such, but still having sensibility, is what makes him a good character, and adding the already perfect Mira who pleases him with her sweet smile and laid-back attitude, they're peas in a (space) pod. Sadly, I just couldn't get invested in the characters' eccentricities, that's just me.

Since this is an original show, the level of unpredictability is there, and that adds to the fun factor (though for the same reasons, I just feel that this show is just written on the cheap). Written by Kimiko Ueno, who has done series compositions and scripts for shows like Dungeon Meshi and the closely related Summer 2022 show of Yurei Deco, it shows the level of creativity in bringing out ideas and concepts outside of typical AniManga, and I will admit that it does feel fluent in its setup and premise. And if you need any promise that the show will excel, look no one more than chief director Shinji Takamatsu, who is a legend in directing shows from the likes of classic Gintama, School Rumble, to modern ones like Sakamoto desu ga?, Grand Blue, and said show of RobiHachi. He's a surefire proof that any work he touches will turn to gold, though the stumbles will always not be his fault, trying to work the show to the best of its fruits as much as possible. And this is most certainly the case here with Astro Note, of which Takamatsu adds the flare learned from RobiHachi and applied it here to good effect. I really applaud the ambitious efforts of Shinji Takamatsu and his staff team for trying to make Astro Note as fun as possible by not taking everything seriously, no dispute at all...but also, as mentioned, I just couldn't see and/or feel it.

For a show of this calibre, Telecom Animation Film did decent, and the show weirdly fits in the wheelhouse of the studio's capabilities to still deliver a well-produced, beautiful show for the eyes. You can feel the show hearkening much to Japan's Golden Era of 80s/90s City Pop, and this is better displayed in ex-Love Life! Sunshine!!'s character Ruby Kurosawa's VA Ai Furihata, for which she has gone solo since Fall 2020 to create modern songs with the nostalgic city pop feel, just as her OP song is like here. I really like it so much when lost art like this has modern iterations, and Ai Furihata doesn't disappoint in delivering a peppy and catchy City Pop-esque song that's so fun to listen to that it doesn't get old and repetitive. The ED song of Takumi and Mira's VAs is just fine, but rather forgettable at best.

At the end of the day, I really want to say that you should give Astro Note the second chance that it deserves, because it might suit your palette, as much as it doesn't fit mine after trying long and hard, to end up just not vibing with the show for the past 3 months. It's really a toss-up for an underrated show like this, and I understand why others like and/or love this to a degree. So, I say to you: take a gander and try for yourself, you might like it.

The only watchable rom-com released in the past decade was Love is War. Astro Note is kind of just such a middling and frankly just boring rom-com anime that brings absolutely nothing to the table.

The most fun thing about this show was that fact that Gintoki and Kagura's voice actor are coincidentally caretaker and child in similar roles. That's about it. I'd actually go ahead and say that the characters are the least of this shows problems. The show is host to many typical rom-com tropes, such as a love triangle, dense protagonist(s), and comedic side characters. And actually, the side characters --residents of Astro ... lounge-- are pretty fun. They fit the rom-com setting quite well and I could see them interacting in ways that could be funny. The problem is that the scenarios of this show are extremely insipid and boring. Teruko, the
Wakabayashi family, and Shoukichi are barely even present in the show even though they are core residents of Astro lounge. It really does make these potentially good characters just turn bland and fade into the background, where we can all suffer the same old rom-com love triangle setups involving shoin, Mira, Takumi, Aoi, and the dog.
While I was quite surprised at how solid the foundation of the show was, from decent characters to a very normal rom-com setup story, I could tell that the show was still an anime-original for how corporate and bland some of these episodes end up being. A lot of the episodes don't even make use of any of the characters and the comedy completely falls flat. There's a lot of plot devices and direct confrontation that's handled poorly, and despite the show trying to be comedic every step of the way, there was never any compelling manzai or comedic moments that I found fun. For example, there's an episode about a bug eating contest and it starts out like it could be fun, but there's no interaction with the characters AT ALL. The setting of the bug eating contest is purely there to progress Mira and Takumi's relationship rather than it being actually funny or interesting. Like, can you believe that the only thing that happens in this contest is that Takumi eats a lot of bugs and ends up winning, with literally nothing in between? None of the other Astro Lounge participants compete with each other, sabotage, or otherwise goof around? Is this even a rom-com? It's kind of disgusting actually...