This year is full of really fun, new anime; especially Astra Lost in Space ! I didn’t hear much about the show but kept pausing on the show’s image in the Funimation Now app. Finally gave it a try and now I’m really glad I did. The entire story is encapsulated in one season, so you can watch it in an easy, long afternoon watch session. Here is a description of the manga series by Kenta Shinohara:

In 2063, space travel has become possible and commercially viable; a group of students from Caird High School departs to the nearby planet of McPa for their Planetary Camp. Soon after the group arrives on the planet, the nine children encounter a mysterious and unforeseen intelligent sphere of light; it attacks them, transporting them into the distant depths of space. Floating in orbit around an unknown planet, they discover an old abandoned spacecraft nearby. Finding it in working order, they resolve to use the ship to return home. To do so, they must cross the 5,012-light-year gulf of space separating them from home by visiting alien planets harboring life to replenish and manage their limited resources.

The long and dangerous journey home aboard their vessel, which they name Astra, brings with it new character revelations, strengthening the bonds they share, and the eventual realization that the stakes of their journey are far higher than any of them could ever have realized.

Astra Lost in Space – My Take

I watched Astra Lost in Space in the Funimation app on my PlayStation as it aired. I almost didn’t watch it because of the show description in the app but this show is so much more interesting than the description lets on. The characters are not cardboard cut outs as you might expect from a “lost in <x location>” adventure series. Almost no one on the team is what or who you expect them to be. The main two characters of the show are what you would expect from their shenanigans in the first episode. But even the main heroes have really nice progression; the character development is well done as the team continues on their adventure. You, the outside observer, learn more and more with each episode as the team moves along their path home.

Turns out, I’m kind of a sucker for the Shonen Jump anime series, even though I don’t read many manga/comics. There are three big surprises in the show that I can’t talk about or it ruins the plot. I will warn you though, the last episode is an hour long so hunker down when you get to it, it’s worth it.

Still interested? Here is the trailer:

Have you watched? What did you think?