(Warning: Spoilers for Kanata no Astra Episode 9)

(Note: I’m really “out of it” and can’t get focused, and I’m not sure yet sure what’s causing this. Apologies in advance if this has major errors or doesn’t flow well or doesn’t make a lot of sense. I just really wanted to get this episode review out today.)

I’m quite childish, when it comes to guessing, predicting, or analyzing things. That is, I hate it when I’m wrong, and I’m so goddamn happy when I’m right. If you read my Kanata no Astra episode 8 review, you’ll remember I predicted that the kids were clones (some of them anyway), and that the goal of creating clones was immortality, or transferring one’s memories to a young clone body. Maybe it was really obvious to everyone else, but it didn’t all come together for me until last episode. So I made some predictions, and they were right!

The reason the kids were sent away was to avoid corpses because of the new DNA monitoring law. The law can quickly and easily see if there are any clones. Anyway, it was interesting seeing all the characters’ reactions to all this new information. They’re all doing surprisingly well. Maybe a little too well. I feel like everyoneis being a little too optimistic about things going their way when they return to the home planet. That being said, as long as Luca’s happy, I’m happy.

I noticed nobody said anything about how there might still be an enemy among them. I’m now getting very suspicious of Cherce, because he once again didn’t say anything about how the Seira he knew is identical to Aries. Is Aries a clone of Seira, or are they the same person? Does Cherce know? What does he think? And why isn’t he sharing the information, especially when it could provide clues about Aries and her mother? Also, out of all the kids, Cherce has the backstory that’s most suspicious. Would his parent/original really let him go so easily? The whole “I rebelled and moved away on my own and nobody stopped me” doesn’t sound believable.

The ending of the episode was surprising and slightly puzzling for me but not for the reason that may be expected. I never once assumed the kids’ home planet was Earth. In my posts, I’ve been calling it “the home planet,” while wanting to know what it’s really called. Now we know it’s Astra. Since the kids didn’t react to the word Earth when Polina mentioned it previously, I assumed they just knew it was another habitable planet. But this episode made it clear that just as Polina doesn’t know what the hell Astra is, Kanata’s crew has no idea what Earth is.

So what’s the meaning of this? What’s up with Polina being from Earth? We could be looking at a separate dimensions/ universes thing. We still don’t know what those silver spheres are. Do they really send people out in space thousands of lightyears away, or to another dimension entirely? For that matter, we also still don’t know why the Astra (the ship) was there for the kids.

To be honest, the idea of there being separate dimensions, each with a slightly different habitable planet (Earth, Astra, etc.), all sounds a little far-fetched. Let’s assume this is all one universe. In that case, perhaps something like this happened. Earth was the planet outside of which the kids all appeared in episode 1, transported there by the silvery sphere. Earth as Polina knew it was destroyed by some great catastrophe. The only people that survived were those like Polina who went out in Ark-model spaceships looking for another habitable planet. Being more than 5,000 light years apart, Earth and Astra had never yet discovered each other.

That’s one theory. Another theory is that some confusion with time is happening. Maybe Earth’s inhabitants discovered Astra and everybody moved there a long, long time ago. Polina actually slept in the hibernation chamber for centuries or more. Maybe she slept 2,012 years. We don’t know because after all, when she woke up, the year was given to her in Astra’s time, not Earth’s time. The answer is probably something like that. Either way, though, we still don’t know what those slivery spheres are. There are still many mysteries to unravel in Kanata no Astra.

Other Posts About This Series
Kanata no Astra Episode 1 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 2 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 3 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 4 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 5 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 6 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 7 Review
Kanata no Astra Episode 8 Review

PATREON

(Images from: Kanata no Astra. Dir. M Andou. Lerche. 2019.)