#Mira Gotokuji

[animenekos]

Astro Note - Episode 11

[ydotome]

Mira-san doesn't have a boyfriend. If she hires you as a cook, I'm sure she'll fall for you. She'll fall for you. She'll fall for you, no doubt. She'll fall for you. She'll fall for you. - Astro Note - Episode 1

[inbestigator]

Astro Note

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 8 Review - The Key Factor To This Mystery

When I said I was rooting for Aoi, that doesn’t mean doing her even more dirty than before! Why was she the butt of the shenanigans for this episode? All I want is for Aoi to get a good resolution.

The hunt for the key continues as Mira and Naosuke keep searching for it. Shoin does not join, surprisingly. Instead, Takumi helps out as he knows about their secret. Takumi does a lot in this episode from creating plans on how to lure out Hubbies to helping Naosuke’s identity remain a secret in front of Ren who wants to expose him. Most of all, he actually gets nice moments with Mira. They both go out to get all-you-can-pack veggies and then talk about Mira’s life on Planet Wid. He learns that Mira’s life was way too stuffy and perfect for her to know what was going on outside of her castle. The reason why Mira enjoys life on Earth far more than her home planet is because she feels free.

Another subplot revolves around Naosuke. While Naosuke looks like a dog, it turns out that he’s from a Widian species that lives for a very long time. His duty is to protect Mira until she dies. It’s a bittersweet role in a way. It also turns out that Shokichi takes Naosuke on walks because he wants attention from dog-loving girls. It’s funny how when girls ask for Naosuke’s name and age, Shokichi tells them his instead. Ren’s friend Haruto seems to like Naosuke a lot too. Ren spends the entire episode trying to expose Naosuke but fails.

The best part of the episode is the Hubbie squid chase scene. There’s a new fact about them in that they can possess people if consumed. Aoi is a victim of said possession as her personality does a complete 180 and starts getting super moody and angry. The Jojo punches were hilarious. The squid then gets taken out of Aoi via a kiss from Takumi. This is why I said they’re doing her dirty because she gets a kiss from her crush and she won’t even remember it. It’s also bound to create awkwardness between him and Mira now.

There’s a glimpse of the Hubble’s boss, but only their hand. Why do I get this inkling of a feeling that it’s Shoin? Since it’s now established Hubbies have the power to possess, what if Shoin had been possessed by them the entire time? That is a possibility, right? What are your thoughts?

[animemakeblog]

“Astro Note” The Original Anime Announced for Spring 2024

The Crunchyroll Industry panel revealed a new original anime series called Astro Note during the CCXP event. A trailer was unveiled at the event. The April 2024 release date of the anime is set.

[anime-captured]

[ydotome]

Thanks for the food. Thank you. - Astro Note - Episode 1

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 1 Review - Romcom With Aliens

Everyone’s going “This is like Maison Ikkoku”, but I don’t know what that is. I looked it up and it’s one of Rumiko Takahashi’s works with a similar premise. Is it fun? Please let me know. Anyways, I’m always someone who has to watch something weird every season and this seems to be that ‘weird’ anime.

Why is it weird? The story starts off with a space chase as someone in a spaceship escapes from a bigger spaceship and lands in Japan. Then the story transitions to the “alien” already settling on Earth and is landlady of Astro Lodge where the main character Takumi Miyasaka is looking to work at. Unfortunately, the landlady, Mira Gotokuji, actually put in wrong information about the place. Astro Lodge was stated to be a restaurant in the job description, but it’s actually a share house that serves breakfast, but the landlady is looking for a chef because her cooking is catastrophic and her tenants want food because they were promised so. After Takumi shows off his cooking skills, Mira apologizes for the mess up, but he decides to move into Astro Lodge because he wants to cook and because he developed an instant crush on Mira the moment he laid eyes on her. What Takumi doesn’t know is that she’s actually an alien looking for a key and her protective poodle Naosuke is also an alien. All he knows is that she might be a widow and his chances to be with her might be harder than he’d expect.

The premise is pretty simple. It’s like a romcom and slice of life mixed with sci-fi in a way. Since it’s anime original, how the story will go is to be determined. Right now, I think I’m liking what I’m seeing so far. Other than Takumi, everyone in the share house seems to have their own secrets. Mira and Naosuke are aliens and Matsubara is an underground idol. Yamashita is stated to be a novelist, but nothing shows up when searching him. There must be a catch; Takumi predicts that he might be using a pen name, and I think so too, but I think that he might be writing erotic novels. Heck, I think Mr. Wakabayashi is the most suspicious of the bunch. He may not be an alien, but it’s weird how he’s unemployed but still wears a suit, pays his rent and affords an education to let his son Ren go to school. I guess the characters’ real identities will be revealed as the show keeps going.

To be honest, the animation is pretty average. It’s not great, but it’s not bad either. The funny faces are hilarious and the food porn looks great, but other than that, it’s pretty simplistic. The soundtracks not that memorable either. The opening and ending songs were great and the insert song of Maaya Uchida and Soma Saito singing during Mira and Takumi’s outing was nice; Terurun’s song was nice too. The songs without vocals aren’t that memorable, honestly.

The voice acting cast is actually the strongest in this anime. It’s an all-star cast with Soma Saito and Maaya Uchida as the leads. They fit the characters well and I love how Soma Saito screams so loudly during the scene where Naosuke bites his head. The supporting cast consists of Shinichiro Miki as Yamashita, Tomokazu Sugita as Mr. Wakabayashi, Rie Kugimiya as Ren Wakabayashi and Junichi Suwabe as Naosuke. Such a solid cast and they’re all amazing at comedy, so I’m not too worried about their performance because they will always do a solid job. I am not familiar with Ai Furihata, who voices Matsubara, but given that she voices a Love Live character, her singing skills are good. I quite like her singing voice a lot. The way her voice lowers during funny scenes was nice to hear too!

I’m liking what I’m seeing so far. I just hope that the story stays consistent. I’ll be tuning in next week to see what will happen to Takumi. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 12 Review + Final Thoughts - Happy Endings For All

The ending, while happy, was something I did not expect and that’s a good thing. I mean, I didn’t predict that this show would turn into a mech one and that the mecha robot would be participating in a final battle Astro Lodge and fish aliens. I like the unpredictability this show gives!

I didn’t expect that the reason the Hubby king was after Mira was so he could marry and have babies with her. He failed with Adara, so he was settling for Mira. The reason why he wanted to marry a Wido was because he wanted to have beautiful and talented children. That’s a very dumb reason, but I didn’t see that coming. I’m guessing Widos are objectified and glamorized like how Asians are objectified and glorified by Western countries. I also didn’t expect that Shoin’s house was a spaceship and that it cannot transform into a mech like Mira’s. He was promised marriage with Mira if he abided to the Hubby king’s order, but it was all a lie. Geez, all these people are trying to court Mira, but Takumi comes out the victor because she professes her love for him to the aliens.

I also didn’t predict that the Astro Lodge tenants would be chilling and eating food. They’re so free-spirited! Though, if I was in my house that turned into a spaceship and I wasn’t the one piloting it, I too would be chilling and waiting until the pilot finishes their task. Freaking out over alien attacks would only last a moment.

Mira decides to renounce her right to the throne and decide to stay on Earth and on Astro Lodge as its landlady. I honestly did not predict this. Usually, these types of stories have it to where someone from another planet would go back and leave Earth. Astro Note breaks all of those cliche tropes. She says that she doesn’t want to be tied down by duties she doesn’t want and rule a place she had no attachment towards. Honestly, go Mira for chasing after what she wants! I’m glad that she actually decides to stay!

Mira’s decision of not wanting to be tied down actually inspires the tenants. They all get happy endings, surprisingly! Ren decides to wear skirts to school and it seems that his friend Haruto and the girl with the frilly dress are okay with it! Tomihiro feels proud that Ren is becoming confident and it seems that he got a job of his own too! Aoi finally gets a job as a legal assistant to Tasuke’s lawyer, the lady who helped her out with Tasuke when she was homeless. She even grew to like dogs as she is seen petting her boss’s Cavalier Spaniel at the same bench Shokichi sat on. While the Naosuke and Aoi romance didn’t happen, I’m glad that it stayed a platonic relationship. He’s the reason why she became more assertive now. She even gave Naosuke a radio so he can remember her with it; she even submitted an entry so that Naosuke can listen to the song she requested on the radio. Aw, it’s like what he did for her in the previous episode. Teruko is finally seeing some success as an idol as she’s on the front cover of a magazine! I seriously thought Shokichi died, but it was a fake out. It turns out that he wants to go to space with Naosuke and visit Planet Wid so that he can write a book about it; he’s trying to finish writing a sci-fi novel that revolves around a man meeting a space alien girl—sort of like Adara and Mira’s situations. Takumi gets a job in a restaurant where he works lunch shift. I didn’t expect Shoin to end up being a tenant for good and returns to being Takumi’s apprentice. He is last seen working at a bakery where he’s a hit with the female customers. The only one who didn’t get a happy end was the Hubby king and he deserves a bad end for all the trouble he caused.  I actually like that everyone got happy endings and that there’s no need for a Season 2! Everything concluded satisfactorily. 

However, Naosuke is going to go back because he wants to. Mira revokes his duty of protecting her for life, so he decides that he’s going to protect the key. I guess that’s his version of a happy ending? At least Shokichi will come along with him, so he has a remnant of Earth with him.

This is probably one of the happiest endings I’ve seen in anime. While some things did get rushed, it was a nice blend of comedy, romcom and sci-fi.

Final Thoughts

I just decided to watch Astro Note because it looked like a weird anime and I figured out I was a weird anime enjoyer. Yes, it was weird, but it was surprisingly entertaining! I do like that the writing makes it in a way that some predictable things aren’t as predictable as I would assume like with the whole ordeal with Ren liking skirts or the whole finale.

It’s not a perfect anime, but I did enjoy the characters and gags a lot. However, if I were to be a critic, I’d say that not all characters got fleshed out in this 12-episode run. There’s a lot I don’t know about Shokichi. Heck, even Takumi doesn’t get fleshed out a lot. All we know about him was that he lost his job at a hotel due to bankruptcy and is working at Astro Lodge now. I’d like to learn a little bit more about him like where he’s from or his background before getting into cooking. Heck, I would’ve liked to learn a bit more about Shoin too! I feel like characterization got shoved to move the plot forward. It’s also a crime that we didn’t see what Planet Wid looks like. Despite that, the anime does do a great job showing that Astro Lodge is a share house full of kooky tenants; the supporting cast are all kooky and it’s presented well.

The voice cast was stacked, surprisingly. A lot of A-list actors and actresses are casted here! We have Soma Saito and Maaya Uchida as the leads and the supporting cast consists of names such as Shinichiro Miki, Junichi Suwabe, Tomokazu Sugita, Rie Kugimiya and more. This anime is perfect for anyone who’s a fan of any of these actors. The only voice actress I’m not familiar with is Ai Furihata, who voices Teruko, but that’s because I’m not into Love Live. She does do a good performance, though!

The soundtrack fits the whimsical atmosphere, but I did like the opening and ending songs a lot. The opening sound is sung by Ai Furihata and the ending song is sung by Soma Saito and Maaya Uchida. I really like it when anime voice actors participate in the opening or ending songs. It makes them feel rather involved, you know?

I think that this is a good anime to just kick back, relax and laugh at the craziness transpiring. It’s nothing too serious to think about. If you like animes like that, I suggest you try watching this!

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 11 Review - The Key Was There All Along

That was quite a genre change at the end there. This is a romcom mixed with sci-fi but I didn’t expect the sci-fi to go all out at the end. Other than the ending, it was quite an episode with the twists and what not. However, it did feel like it was going a bit too fast.

It turns out that the key they’ve been looking for all this time…had been the mailbox stand all along. It was abrupt, but hey, at least they found it now. And because of that, Mira, Naosuke and Shoin plan on returning to Planet Wid in a week. That was really abrupt and the other tenants feel the same way too. They decide to hold a farewell party for Mira and Shoin because of that. The other tenants are upset that they’re leaving so soon. Ren doesn’t want Mira to go while Aoi is upset that Shoin, who she thinks is Octo for now, is leaving. Takumi and Mira also spend some quality time together as he teaches her how to cook a proper meal and succeeds. They also make umeshu and plan on going on that delayed aquarium date. Their good-bye seems fairly normal, surprisingly. I’m surprised that there wasn’t any comedy implemented in this rather normal good-bye other than Shokichi panicking over breakfast that Mira made.

However, the good-bye comes with a twist. Those plans aren’t exactly kept as it turns out Shoin is actually a Hubby spy. Ha, I knew it! There was something fishy about him with the way he looks down on humans and how he keeps rushing her to find the key. It turns out that all those Hubby spies were working for him and that his gallant efforts of beating them turns out to be an act as he is actually a spineless coward underneath his cool mask. Now it makes me wonder if he had been a spy all along or has joined up with them recently, because Mira knew him for a long time. I didn’t expect that the Hubby ruler is actually a fish. Yes, Sho Hayami voices a FISH alien. His repertoire is expanding in the craziest way possible.

There’s also the Aoi and Naosuke subplot where Aoi is upset that “Octo” is leaving. She initially believes it to be Shoin but when Naosuke rescues her, she instantly recognizes his voice. Now that Naosuke’s identity as an alien is revealed to the other tenants, I do wonder where this Aoi and Naosuke subplot will go because Aoi really seems to care a lot about Octo and Naosuke seems to care about her a lot too as he even posted an entry on her favorite radio show where the DJ plays her favorite song. I just hope it ends well.

The fact that the massive key’s secret is that it’s the key to unlocking Astro Lodge’s biggest secret—it’s Adara’s spaceship and it can change into a giant mecha. Talk about a crazy twist! And the only way get the key to activate is for Mira to finally reciprocate Takumi’s feelings! Talk about the power of love! Now the story transitions from sci-fi rom-com to a full out mecha anime next week. I can’t wait to see how that’ll turn out.

In other news, Ren’s friend Haruto finds out about his skirt-wearing secret. Uh-oh. How is this going to turn out? This anime is so weird in all the good ways. I can’t wait to see how the finale will turn out.

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 7 Review - A Very Buggy Episode

I’m sad. I was rooting for Aoi but it all crashed down towards the end of the episode. It sucks that she accidentally played matchmaker for Takumi and Mira while having a huge crush on him. It also sucks that Takumi doesn’t remember her. Then again, nobody would remember a brief encounter afterwards and she looks different than she did in the past. I feel like that, despite this being an episode centered around Aoi, she becomes an afterthought in the latter half of the episode in favor of Takumi and Mira having a moment together. It feels unfair to those rooting for Aoi, like me.

Aoi’s past is revealed. She’s an orphan and moved to Tokyo when she was 18. She worked at the hotel Takumi used to work at before it closed for bankruptcy. She couldn’t fit in at her job, but Takumi, who liked the same radio show and gave her snacks, made her work life a bit better. She was able to become a better waitress thanks to him. However, when the hotel became bankrupt, she lived homeless for a while until Tasuke came and helped her. That’s how she stayed in the Astro Lodge until she saw Takumi coming in one day and accidentally made him fall for her. Tough luck, Aoi. I just feel like this entire show just wants to shit on Aoi so bad. Like, I bet the writers are thinking of ways to make her even more miserable.

While Mira and Takumi are confirmed to have mutual feelings for each other, it just sucks that Mira didn’t show off her feelings until this episode. Sure, she was a bit concerned with Takumi holding Aoi’s hand in a previous episode, but hasn’t she considered that maybe hanging out with Shoin is also affecting Takumi? For someone who’s not your fiancé, you sure hang out with him a lot. Shoin seems to have feelings for her too. My only issue is that it’s been seven episodes and only now is when Mira starts growing an interest in Takumi outside of the food he makes. When’s the confession gonna happen? The finale? Why is it so…slow-paced?

The bug festival in itself was a pretty kooky festival at that. As someone who likes eating, eating bugs is a bit too much for me. Chocolate mealworms? No thanks. Cricket curry? Gonna ruin curry for me. I have nothing against those who eat bugs, but it’s just not for me. I heard that pupae is good for you, but eating 101 bowls of them is a bit too much.

The fake out with the key confuses me a bit. I thought Mira and Shoin already knew that wasn’t the real key, yet Mira insisted on participating, only to find out that the key is made of cardboard. Regarding the key, I have this feeling that it might be Aoi’s room key as Tasuke said that he helped her because she reminded him of the woman she loved. That’s gotta to have some leads, right? Also, aren’t their rooms locked when they go out? How is Naosuke able to barge in? I guess Mira being the landlady makes it possible as she has the master key?

With the Hubbies lurking about at the Astro Lodge, next week feels like it’ll be lore behind these aliens? They keep showing up, but we don’t know why. They’re looking for the key too, but why? I just hope that the person behind the squid and the pelican will show up. Maybe it’s someone at the Astro Lodge? What are your thoughts?

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 6 Review - The Truth About Tasuke

I feel like this episode does feel like it’s a halfway point for the story now that big revelations happen. It turns out that Mira is half human! Who’s her father? It turns out to be Tasuke! Yes, the mystery behind the previous lodge owner coincidentally is Mira’s biological father that she never knew she had until now. Also, Takumi knows that she’s an alien now! He’s very mind-boggled about this revelation.

Adara’s tragic love story between her and Tasuke was hilarious in the sense that Adara was being all dramatic while Mira was not moved by it at all. She just comments on the silliness of it like how she ran away from home and got knocked up by a man. The voice acting was hilarious though. Kikuko Inoue voices Adara and she just starts hamming it up with the story and when the video letter gets taken away by the squid, she starts hamming it up even more. There was even a Terminator reference with the way she sunk into the curry with a thumbs up.

Though, it makes sense why Tasuke knows about Planet Wid and how the lodge was given to Mira when she went to the real estate agency. It wasn’t that he was waiting for Mira, but he was waiting for Adara to return and he knew about that special crest. The way everything ties together makes sense now. However, Tasuke was a bit of a silly guy, according to the tenants. He liked well-endowed women, liked seeing people and animals eat well, and also liked Filipino food. While he might have been a bit sleazy, he still waited for Adara to return one day until he collapsed and died. I feel kind of bad for him…

To be honest, I know that Takumi and Mira are supposed to be parallels of Tasuke and Adara in a way, but I just can’t see it. It’s been six episodes, yet there hasn’t been any solid romantic progression between the two. It’s mainly been unrequited on Takumi’s part while Mira does get a bit concerned with him when he’s feeling down and when she saw him and Aoi holding hands. Other than that, there hasn’t been anything of importance as she mainly spends time with Shoin. At this point, I’d rather see Takumi and Aoi get together.

Anyways, I do wonder what all the reveals will do for Takumi and Mira’s relationship. Will it be fruitless? Will it be not? I know that they’re the endgame couple, but I just can’t see it because of the slow progression even at halfway point. If I were to theorize the ending, I’d say that Mira and Takumi go to Wid and Takumi makes food there for everyone. That’s all I’m predicting for now. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 5 Review - Time To Squidaddle

As someone who loves wordplay and terrible puns, all the squid puns got to me. The subtitles did a sublime job with making their own squid puns that it made me wonder if they’re an enthusiast like me. I especially love the “Time to squidaddle” part. That got me.

This episode is mainly Takumi who’s troubled because of Mira’s mysteriousness. He has feelings for her, but he’s concerned that she might actually be a widow and engaged to Shoin to the point that they go into love hotels together. It’s bothering to the point that it’s affecting his cooking. It would be frustrating if there’s barely anything you know about someone you like, so I understand Takumi’s sentiments? Fortunately, when he realizes that Mira and Shoin weren’t going to a love hotel and the fancy place is actually his house, he musters up courage to ask her questions towards the end. It seems that her being an alien will finally be revealed in the next episode. Good. I was wondering when the cat was going to be out of the bag.

There’s another plot line with Ren. There were hints that Ren might have a crush on the girl with the frilly outfit in his class, but it turns out that he’s admiring her skirt. It seems that he’s curious about skirts and such. To the people that said that they stopped watching the anime because of Ren and his skirt fascination, y’all are WEAK. Some of the detractors were saying stuff like “anime is too woke these days”. To that, I say: anime was always woke; you just chose to point it out only when it involves something you don’t like. So, is Ren trans? I don’t know. For now, all I know is that he’s just a curious boy. Maybe it could be a phase? At least, it gives a good message to not tie boys or girls down by societal bias and prejudices. Boys can wear skirts if they want! Girls can cut their hair as short as they want!

It’s nice that they’re adding more characterization to the people who live in Astro Lodge and not just focus on Mira and Takumi most of the time. I’d like to learn about Shokichi as he seems to be the one who lived in the lodge the longest and is also a novelist, but his name cannot be found in search engines. I like that everyone in the lodge is accepting of Ren’s wants and that no one is ridiculing him. Well, his father Tomihiro looked as if he was against wearing a skirt, but he was mainly worried about societal judgement and that he didn’t want to see Ren hurt. Despite that, he was accepting when Mira allowed Ren to wear skirts only in Astro Lodge. He may be a bum, but at least he’s a good dad?

In terms of romance, it seems that there’s progression with Takumi. However, it’s not with Mira, but with Aoi. After learning that Takumi likes girls with short hair, Aoi makes the brave decision to cut her Sadako hair and go for a cute short cut! I think that looks fantastic on her! They also hold hands because Takumi spotted the nosy neighbor lady which caused him to ‘squidaddle’. Mira and Shoin saw this. Mira does get a bit concerned with what she saw. Wait, there’s romantic progression between these two after five episodes?

Lastly, I did say that Tasuke is a Wid last episode, but that statement could be retracted. Instead of being a Wid, his knowledge of Mira’s crest could be from the picture he took with Mira’s mother Adara who makes her appearance at the very last cut of the episode. Maybe he’s human and had a bit of a romance with her before parting ways? Maybe he is an alien? The back and forth is annoying, so I hope that everything is explained next episode.

I do wonder what the story will be like now that Takumi is going to learn about Mira’s secret. Will they go to Wid? What are your thoughts on this episode?

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 4 Review - The Breakfast Thief

Was it just me who got minor Scooby-Doo vibes from the ghost hunting part? I mean, there’s Naosuke, a dog afraid of ghosts like Scooby. Anyways, the hunt for the breakfast thief actually gets resolved in this episode as it turns out to be not a ghost, but an actual tenant who happens to be a recluse and has hair reminiscent of Sadako.

Aoi Kamimachi lived in the Astro Lodge for a while now; she lived there during Tasuke’s time as landlord as he took her in when she had nowhere else to go; only Shokichi was aware of her existence as she lived there way before the others came in. She used to work as a waitress and now she’s a bum. The reason why she stole the food was because of a misunderstanding: she thought the food on the table was for her and was happy that someone was thinking of her. She’s so reclusive to the point that getting into her room is like traversing through a dungeon. The ending of the episode shows that she used to work at the hotel Takumi used to work at and even seems to have a crush on him as she pulls a Reiner Braun move and starts sniffing the note he wrote for her. While the episode was mainly focused on her, her motives on why she turned out the way she did before moving in has yet to be revealed.

Other than ghost busting, the mystery behind Tasuke’s identity had been assumptions but now that Mira and Shoin went to see his lawyer, his being a Wido is confirmed as he requested to give a picture of a crest to a girl who has the same crest. Despite confirmation, Tasuke is still a mystery. When did he arrive on Earth? Why couldn’t he return? I assume that he was exiled?

Astro Note’s most annoying aspect is the fact that misunderstanding always build up and there is always a double meaning. For example, Mira being a widow means that she’s from Wido. Despite denying being Shoin’s fiancee, she’s always hanging around him and such. The annoying nagging old lady spots Takumi and says that the two have been going into a love hotel together recently. There’s a shot of them going to a giant castle. I assume that it’s going to be clarified as either Shoin’s house or his company. I just dislike that misunderstandings are always building up and no one ever confronts about it.

Despite my grievances, I honestly can’t wait for next episode. I want to know how Aoi will play into the picture as it seems that she has a crush on him. How will Takumi progress with Mira, if there will be any? What are your thoughts on this episode?

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 3 Review - Alien Shenanigans

What’s with recent media having evil pelicans? First there’s The Boy and The Heron with man-eating pelicans and now Astro Note got itself a robot pelican that can punch people! Yeesh. On top of that, this episode also has more conflict in terms of Shoin being a potential love rival for Takumi and the disappearance of breakfast.

The fiancé part of Mira and Shoin’s relationship is a misunderstanding, but it doesn’t seem to be in Shoin’s part. He hangs out with her a lot and he also was the one to emphasize the childhood marriage promise which Mira didn’t take too seriously. He probably likes her that way, but Mira only sees him as a friend. Shoin also seems open to reveal his identity as an alien, while Mira still wants to keep it a secret as she keeps lying to her tenants like saying Shoin is from the UK and that he runs a natural energy business and what not. While Mira is trying to keep is a secret, the fact that she pulls out a machine gun and Takumi doesn’t question it or the evil robot pelican is rather something… He also doesn’t question why Shoin’s car can fly. Fortunately for Takumi, there could be a chance for him as Mira finds him fun.

There’s a subplot with Ren. First, he seems to know about Naosuke’s secret of not being a dog, but it gets glossed over as the main focus becomes him wanting to bring his own lunch, but since his father is jobless, he cannot. Fortunately, Takumi, being the chef of the lodge, whips up a very nice bento that Ren can enjoy, but the first one disappears! The second one is when the crazy shenanigans happen with the robot pelican and alien stuff as Mira and Takumi try to deliver his lunch to Enoshima, where his class went on a field trip. I think that it’s bittersweet that all Ren wants is to bring a bento for a field trip. It’s something so trivial, yet it can be so meaningful to someone. I wonder if his crush on the cute girl in the dress or his knowledge of Naosuke’s identity will be brought up again.

What I find interesting is that while the people at the lodge are quirky, they’re rather nice. Mr. Wakabayashi ships Takumi and Mira and even tries to get them to have some time together by delivering the lunchbox. They don’t seem too mean over the competition Takumi has regarding Mira. It’s nice to see that.

Naosuke built a security camera so that he can attest his innocence regarding the missing breakfast cases. It seems that there’s a ghost lurking in the lodge. Who could it be? Find out next week! What are your thoughts on this episode?

[ecargmura]

Astro Note Episode 2 Review - Somewhere In The Astro Lodge

More of Mira’s backstory is revealed. Not only is she from the Planet Wid, but she is also the princess of the planet. The only way to succeed the throne and to become Queen is to find a key that’s been hidden in a faraway planet, which is Earth. Mira hiding her spaceship in a field of Maneki Neko and disguising it as a huge one is actually brilliant in detail. I also love how the Maison Ikkoku similarities are actually mentioned in-story as Mira models her Earth disguise as the main character of the in-universe version “Melon Igyoku”. Naosuke’s disguise is to be an actual dog, but he’s actually a walking, talking alien that just happens to look like a poodle. He even has his own spacesuit!

While Mira’s main goal is to find a key, she seems to enjoy her life on Earth and doesn’t seem too keen on returning and is sending video diaries to her mother just to let her know she’s doing fine. I do feel like coming to Earth to find the key and it happens to be somewhere in Astro Lodge feels a bit too convenient, but hey, the plot has to move somehow. There’s also a possible plot point with the previous proprietor being a Wid, but that’s an assumption for now.

There are enemy aliens targeting Mira and Naosuke called Hubs. They can transform into mechanical objects like roombas and mechanical pelicans. I thought Teruko was scheming something since the roomba bot had pink hair and pigtails, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.

Takumi, on the other hand, feels devastated that Mira could be a widow, but he doesn’t seem to keen on giving up just yet. While he looks for a job, he meets a rather gossipy lady who’s practically the star of the episode. I forgot her name, but she’s voiced by Kujira. She saw Takumi and Mira walking and shopping together before, so she sort of ships them? Takumi’s main goal in this story is to find a job and to be Mira’s boyfriend, so I do wonder how long it’ll take for both to happen. He’s 25 but he sort of behaves a bit immaturely. Despite that, the comedy was pretty hilarious as he has so many vivid expressions.

The scene where they get trapped in the basement with no light was rather abruptly scary, but it was a nice moment for the two. Mira, in a drunken state due to umeshu, tells Takumi she’s been anticipating breakfast ever since he came to the lodge and then she lies on his lap. It’s interesting to see a reverse trope situation as it’s the girl lying on the guy’s lap and not the other way around. It was a nice scene overall.

However, it is only a small step in progression as Takumi’s path to winning Mira’s heart already has a roadblock in the form of Shoin Ginger, Mira’s supposed fiancé. Since Widow means something completely different in Mira’s alien world, I suppose fiancé means something else too. I do wonder if next episode will be the big alien reveal to Takumi or if it’ll keep dragging on. In fact, how long will this take until they start dating? Half-way point? End? Regardless, I do think the ending song sung by Soma Saito and Maaya Uchida is adorable as heck. What are your thoughts on the episode?