Kanata no Astra (Astra Lost in Space) Episode 5 Review

Welcome all readers to another Anime Rant! It’s time to review Kanata no Astra or Astra Lost in Space episode 5! Ready? Let’s rant!

Sometimes, I wish this show went into a little more detail with the survival elements and sci-fi stuff. How the kids preserve and store the food is never explained. (There was a mention of a central water tank, though.) How does the edibility-tester device work? Does it screen for toxins? How does it judge taste and sense consistency? (Rotten, unripe, etc.?)

Also, um, fuel? I might be missing something major— like maybe in the first episode they did say they have enough fuel— but I seem to remember Zack mentioning they would need to obtain food, water, and fuel at each planet. What fuels the ship? Organic materials would make sense, but the subject is never even touched on. It’s not like I require an anime to go into extensive detail about its sci-fi technology, but sometimes, when bored, I do wish for more information.

It was revealed that, on the home planet, not all of the 9 parents knew about the plan to have the kids killed in space. Ms. Spring is definitely unaware of it, and truly loves Aries. It’s quite possible that, as I’ve said before, there wasn’t actually a plan to have the kids killed. Maybe there was some other reason the adults sent the kids away. Or maybe it was solely the work of those mysterious spheres. On the other hand, Ulgar’s father definitely seems to be part of some kind of plot. He’s way too eager to declare the children legally dead.

Luca’s father is a politician, and through some background on him, we learned there is a societal movement toward monitoring DNA and genomes, which might lead to government schemes of eugenics. Luca’s father fought against the movement, but a law passed which demanded DNA samples from the populace, including Luca’s dad. This could mean nothing. But perhaps it means the kids were sent away to die because of being genetically “inferior.” Alternatively, they were sent away to escape genetic experimentation, or to escape a war breaking out over the issue of DNA monitoring.

Now back to the characters on the Astra. Yunhua looks great with her haircut. Though I also think she’d look just as great with long hair and seriously trimmed bangs. Quitteri provided a lot of humor throughout the episode. Like how she said she wanted to live on that paradise island. Or how she teased Aries about having a crush on Kanata. And of course, the part where she stuck a toothbrush up Kanata’s nose after he didn’t take Aries’ questions seriously. Aries was quite cute with all this. It was great to see Zack and Kanata getting along alright, and I was also thinking that the friendship of Luca and Ulgar was truly heartwarming… but then, shit got serious.

Why did Ulgar put a gun to Luca’s head after discovering his father was a politician? Maybe it’s like Kanata said: Ulgar is the one tasked with killing the other kids. Maybe it’s because Ulgar suspects Luca of being the assassin. Maybe it’s unrelated to that, but has to do with some grudge Ulgar has against Luca’s family. I could speculate all day, but in the end, we’ll have to wait till next week to find out! Thank you ever so much for reading! Here’s wishing you the best of luck, health, and safety. Bye now!