I started watching with no expectactions, good or bad, at all and I ended up loving it.
Characters
This anime has a very small cast, just the bare maho shojo essentials: the magical girl team, the talking creature companion and the antagonist. We see small glimpses of their families and classmates, but they aren't even named.
Subaru is our main girl, we see the story throught her eyes for the most part since she's the latest member of the group. She's your classical clumsy but full of hope protagonist. She loves astronomy and is the sole member of the club at her school. Subaru used to be Aoi
...
childhood best friend, but as the show starts, they're longing for eachother friendship in the distance. Aoi is a sweet girl who is always ready to help a friend, but she questions if her motivations are truly selfless or not. Hikaru is a clever and cheerful girl with perfect hearing. Her father is a musiciand and her mother works in the astrophysics field, so she knows a lot about both things. Itsuki is the femenine and sensible girl of the bunch, or is she? Nanako is the misterious and mature one. She wears a cloak and a witch hat with long bunny ears and she knows a lot of languages.
Nanako is also the interpret for the pressident or the Pleiadeian, the nickname they gave to the little alien they are helping out, as she is the only one that can understand him. He is the source of power, information and guidance for the girls. He needs them to find and collect fragments of the engine of the spaceship he and his people travel in.
Minato, from the very first episode, has a dual role in the story. On one hand, he is the melancholic but gentle boy that Subaru finds inside a conservatory full of blue butterflies. They meet randomly when Subaru opens a doorand the conservatory appears in the other side, instead of the room she wanted to enter. Minato and Subaru become friends even if they don't fully understand the things that the other is talking about. On the other hand, he is a mage shearching for the fragments for his own cause. They don't recognice each other when they transform.
Overall, the characters are simple but well rounded, each one with their own struggles. Their interactions are both funny and heartfelt when needed. The friendships feel beliable and make you rot for them.
Story
Subaru is going back to her school before the sunset because there is a meteor shower that night that she wants to see from the observatory. Once there, she opens a door just to find out her stranged chilhood friend Aoi and three other girls in weird but cute costumes, a blob looking aliend and a window that works as a portal to outer space. They're all surprsed that she can see them at all and the pressident says that that means that she is the fifth member of the team. Subaru is confused but eager to help, so she goes with them to catch the fragment and they succeed for the first time.
From there, we learn little by little the rules that their powers follow, based in real astrophysics but with fantasy/scifi tweaks. The episodes have the basic maho shojo structure: they have a small mission in each one and the narrative is centered in the backstory of one of the girls and in her inner struggles as a growing girl. Every one has space to shine and grow.
With only 12 episodes, is a very simple but warm story. It's funny, sweet and well paced. The tension grows slowly at first, but faster and faster as it reach the end. There are a few clichés, but they manage to make them fresh again.
Transformations, props and everything magical
They all have a main transformation and a swimsuit one, including Minato. The main outfit it's the same for all the girls except for the hat they wear, that matches eachone personality and role in the group. It has a sailor/marine feel to it, but with star motives and big bows in the signature color of each girl. It still manages to not look like the sailor senshis uniforms at all. It consists of a sleeveless white coat with a scallop collar decorated with a big bow and four point star, epauletes on the soulders a long tail on the back for the top part; a pleated white skirt for the bottom, long white socks and gloves and a hat. In the swimsuit transformation, they all have different suits, being bikinis most of them and a one piece for Nanako. This transformation was only seen in one episode. Minato usually wears a red and black suit with a long cape and little horns on his head while transformed. In the swimsuit transformation, he wears what look to me as generic sport/beach clothes in red and black.
All six of them have a "transmission axis" if I recall the name correctly: a long metal rod with a four point star in the back that they use to fly and capture the fragments. It's a odd mixture of a magic wand, a witch broom and a subaru car. Each one is made out of a personal possesion of the character that transforms with them. The doors and windows work as portals, but are protected from outsiders, so they can travel long distances to find the fragments.
Their powers are very limited at first, but become stronger overtime at an engaging pace. They're able to fly, breath in outer space and to capture the fragments that move and look like shooting stars.
Conclusion
This is a light show with some sad moments, but a general hopeful feel. It follows the classic maho shojo tropes and uses clichés in an interesting way. It has a bit of fanservice, specially in the underwater episode, that clashes with the rest of the anime. It doesn't feel like a car ad at all. The desings are cute, the characters are likable and the easy to follow story manages to convey a wide range of emotions very well.
8/10. I would recomend it to maho shojo fans looking for something brief and lightheartet, specially younger teens.
Jan 6, 2023
Houkago no Pleiades (TV)
(Anime)
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I started watching with no expectactions, good or bad, at all and I ended up loving it.
Characters This anime has a very small cast, just the bare maho shojo essentials: the magical girl team, the talking creature companion and the antagonist. We see small glimpses of their families and classmates, but they aren't even named. Subaru is our main girl, we see the story throught her eyes for the most part since she's the latest member of the group. She's your classical clumsy but full of hope protagonist. She loves astronomy and is the sole member of the club at her school. Subaru used to be Aoi ... 
Sep 7, 2022
Stone Ocean part 1 was my first JoJo season because a friend recomendation and after it I watched all the previous ones in a few weeks. It kinda makes sense on it's own, but watching the previous ones makes the story and lore easier to follow as it follows the story of a family generation after generation.
This installment follows Jolyne Cujoh, a japanese-american teen that ends up imprisoned after her now ex-boyfriend blames her of a fatal car accident that wasn't her fault. Everything changes when her absent father, Jotaro Kujo, visits her and reveals the family secret. Characters The character dessing is wonderful. No two characters ... 
Aug 8, 2022
Tokyo Mew Mew New ♡
(Anime)
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This is going to be a very short one, since I'm only 5 episodes in.
When I was a teen, I tried to whatch de 2000s version multiple times, but I never was able to finish it. The pacing was too slow. This time the plot is going faster and smoother. The best part is the team dynamics and how well their personalities are shown. Every girl has a different work ethic and a personaly fighting style, wich is very fun to watch. Their relationships are developing at a beliable speed from extrangers to coworkers/teammates to friends. The show is able to show all that about ... |
