First Impression: Astro Note

A lone pilot crashes to earth after escaping the clutches of several enemy starships and a destroyer. What’s her story? Well, let’s pause on that for a minute and flash forward to now, where any talk of spaceships or aliens is stowed away, relegated only, perhaps, to the name of a share house in Japan called “Astro Lodge,” which is looking for a new chef. At least that’s what Miyasaka, answering a classified ad, believes. But after accidentally saving Mira, Astro Lodge’s landlord, from a fall and meeting the rental’s eccentric residents, he discovers they’re actually just looking for someone to cook breakfast every day. That’s not the work that Miyasaka is looking for. But you know what could change a young man’s mind? Yep, that’s right—a beautiful young woman and the possibility of love!

So…wow, episode one of Astro Lodge is something totally different. That’ll be especially true if you’re only familiar with recent anime series, because this sci-fi romance is a throwback to shows from yesteryear, stretching from the early-aughts (some of the scenes in episode one, like Mira’s tumbling onto Myasaka, resemble romcoms of the late 90s and early 2000s) to the 1980s, where the story conventions most firmly settle. This is your dad’s romcom (or if you’re an older anime fan like me, yours!). Look at the setting, for instance. There are “share house” situations in modern anime too, but the one that most immediately comes to mind, and which seems heavily referenced in this original series, is Maison Ikkoku, the Rumiko Takahashi classic about a ronin who moves into a similar situation—a house full of hard-partying and quirky tenants and led by a new landlord, for whom he falls. There are direct connections between the residents of Astro Lodge and those of Maison Ikkoku, like Wakabayashi strongly sharing a resemblance with the mooching drunk Yotsuya and Mira matching personalities and life situations (apparently—stay tuned to the last couple of minutes of episode one, which are out of this world) with Kyoko. Both landlords even own a white dog!

There are other comparisons to be made too, including to another Takahashi work, this one closer in genre: Urusei Yatsura (the remake of which is coincidentally receiving a new cours this season). I won’t share more about Astro Note’s unusual narrative, but it works really well with the mile-a-minute gags and the older-style character designs, both helping create a tone that is also very 80s. Episode one was humorous, fun, and creative. I wonder, though, if this anime will turn into something even more than that. Much as how the angsty romance of Maison Ikkoku turned a really funny series into an all-time favorite for me, a strong romance will be central to keeping my interest in Astro Note, and I’m worried that it won’t ever develop, particularly because Miyasaki isn’t an interesting character in the slightest. Someone who is flaky and flirty like Maison Ikkoku‘s Godai might not be a welcome protagonist in today’s scene, but at least give me someone with a little personality! I’ll be tuning in for a while, though, hoping that Miyasaki does grow as a character, and until then, I’m happy to spend at least a few episodes sucking in all the 80s/90s goodness in what is a love note for that time in anime history when shows like Macross and Ranma 1/2 were king. Let’s hope Astro Note can find a story to tell that’s just as good, and live up to those classic series while it seeks to honor them.

…not quite
…but yes, it was a really good first episode.

Astro Note can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

Twwk
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