Communication is hard, especially for young introverts like Umika. She’s so fearful and shy that she can barely speak in school. This daydreamer and lover of sci-fi novels feels chronically misunderstood until, one day, she meets a strange girl. Yu Akeuchi is lively and extraverted, but also kind and considerate – oh yeah, and she claims to be an alien who uses telepathy. So begins the story of Umika and the Stardust Telepath.
I’m excited for this new Fall 2023 anime, and I don’t want to waste any time rambling. So I’m going to jump into reviewing the first three episodes almost right away. But first, I just want to say that there’s a good chance I will drop this anime. If it’s not what I’m looking for, I will stop watching and writing about it after these episodes.
The issue I’m worried about is sexualization of the teenage cast and/or direct pandering to pedophilic audiences (“lolicons”). What I’m hoping for is a wholesome story with a bit of coming-of-age romance but nothing sexual. At the end of this article, I’ll give my decision about whether I will continue watching this anime or not.
Episode 1: Cometary Encounter
As Umika worries about her highschool introduction tomorrow, she sees what appears to be a shooting star out her window. She wishes to the star for a chance to meet an alien. After all, her greatest dream is to find and befriend extraterrestrials, who will hopefully understand her better than humans. Umika has been reading sci-fi books for as long as she can remember, comforting herself with her imagination.
At school the next day, a lively girl named Yu Akeuchi introduces herself, adding that she is an alien. The other students assume it’s a joke, but Umika desperately wants to believe. Though she tries speaking normally with Akeuchi, she is too anxious to speak. Akeuchi leans forward so their foreheads touch. And suddenly, she is able to clearly tell what Umika is thinking. She explains that “forehead telepathy” is her special power.
Umika was startled and confused by the experience. It takes her until the next day to finally be able to speak clearly to her new friend. While they are on the school roof, Umika pours her heart out about her dreams and her desire to get to know Akeuchi. The other girl happily accepts Umika. Later on, the two girls go to “Akeuchi’s base,” where she apparently lives alone. It’s an abandoned lighthouse.
Inside said lighthouse, Akeuchi explains that she has no memories of life before coming to earth. She woke up in this lighthouse with nothing but a highschool ID card and a “space voyage log” written in what looks like an alien language. Umika touches her head to Akeuchi’s and apologizes for not realizing how hard things have been for the alien. Akeuchi hugs Umika to seal their friendship. Meanwhile, another girl stands outside the lighthouse, curious.
The episode ends there. Despite my best efforts at being brief, I’ve already spent four paragraphs just recapping the events. I still have a lot of other thoughts to share, but I’ll blow through them as quick as I can. Firstly, the art-style of this anime is absolutely adorable and I love it to death. The songs and voice-acting seem pretty standard, but certainly not bad.
As for the gay romantic elements, I will reserve judgement for now. It’s too early to tell if this show is going to ruin it for me. But for now, it seems like just a cute girl’s love anime that I can enjoy. As for whether the lead characters are examples of good LGBT+ representation, I’m not sure about that yet. At this point, they are just friends. That being said, Umika reacts in a very “swoony” way to Akeuchi, so a romantic element may already be present. Let’s move on to the next episode.
Episode 2: Sunset Rocket
Umika and Yu promised to build a rocket and go to space one day. Knowing almost nothing about rockets, Umika begins to do online research. She concludes that she and Yu should start with something small, like a bottle rocket that can go 100 meters. Though Umika tries to relay her plan to Yu the next day, things keep getting in the way – including Haruno, a beautiful short-haired girl who seems interested in becoming friends with Umika and Yu.
When Haruno asks if the other two snuck into the lighthouse, Umika panicks. She thinks Yu’s base will be discovered and she’ll get in trouble. So, Umika tries to protect the oblivious Yu. But it turns out not to be an issue. Haruno wasn’t trying to get anyone in trouble or pry into Yu’s living situation. She just loves lighthouses, and wanted to see if the others felt the same.
Furthermore, Haruno seems to be a romantic airhead who believes Yu’s story about being an alien. She is very enthusiastic about that and everything else they talk about together. Thus, Yu and Umika extend their friendship to Haruno. Umika thanks Haruno for always saying hello to her even though she can rarely find the voice to respond. Together, the three girls construct, decorate, and launch their first bottle rocket.
The episode leaves off at that point, but I’ve still got a few things to mention. To start with, I love the visuals even more than before. The cute art-style and bright colors entrance me. Secondly, Haruno is an extremely loveable new character, overflowing with poetic words and over-the-top enthusiasm. This is a bit random, but I do wonder how the inclusion of Haruno will affect Umika’s potential relationship with Yu. I’m looking forward to some interesting group dynamics.
On a final note, I enjoyed the contrast between the perspectives of Umika and Haruno concerning the idea of meeting aliens. While Umika wants to escape from the Earth she finds so oppressive, Haruno wants to share the wonders of Earth with other species. When Umika realizes this difference, she starts to deeply appreciate her new friend. She’s slowly becoming open to the idea that life with earthlings can be beautiful.
Episode 3: Explosive Mechanic
I’ll attempt to keep the recap short this time so I’ll have more room to discuss my decision afterward. In a nutshell, this episode was the introduction to Matataki Raimon, a girl who wants to build a robot. She seems intelligent and capable, but she’s very harsh and antisocial. Yu, Umika, and Haruno try their best to convince Matataki to be their mechanic and help them learn more about rockets, but she declines.
Umika feels severely discouraged when she realizes she’s still so bad at speaking to others. Her brief depression is alleviated by Yu, who comes to her home to provide encouragement. After school, Umika confronts Matataki again. This time, she expresses herself better – but only through the garage shutter. Umika challenges Matataki to a “duel.” Whoever builds the best bottle rocket is the winner. If Umika wins, she will be allowed to say what she truly wants Matataki to hear, face-to-face.
With the recap out of the way, I’ll touch on the topic of “shoujo ai anime,” and whether this one could provide representation of young queer characters. Long story short, as of this third episode, Stardust Telepath doesn’t fit the criteria. These girls clearly love each other, but not in an obviously romantic way. Of course, it’s possible that some characters may develop different feelings down the line. For now, however, Umika and company don’t strike me as as examples of LGBT+ characters.
It’s now time to discuss whether there are sexual elements to this show and how offensive they are if so. Based on my observations, there was nothing explicit or outrageous. However, there are a few examples of the characters being sexualized to some degree. The most obnoxious case was the title card at 14:56, which shows Yu lounging on a bed in a skimpy night gown. Part of her butt is visible, and would be even more so if not for the convenient sparkles and light that censors it.
I hated that title card and found it extremely jarring. The other examples I noticed were unnatural shots of the girls’ legs and skirts. Unfortunately, that’s fairly standard in anime. For the most part, it’s not bothering me. The actual contact between the girls – hugging, holding hands, touching foreheads – is not sexual in nature, though it could be potentially romantic. In summary, the sexualization is mild for anime, but it’s still undeniably present. So, I need to decide if I like the positives of this show enough to tolerate the creepiness.
My decision is that I will keep watching Stardust Telepath for now. There’s a lot to appreciate about this anime, so for me, it’s worth it. Should it start to make me uncomfortable more often (with images like that title card), then I’ll drop the show. I was definitely hoping for queer representation, but its absence is not a deal-breaker. The blossoming of cute platonic friendships is still enjoyable. Plus, there’s a chance for romance down the line. (I mean, this still looks pretty gay.)
That concludes my thoughts on the first three episodes of this adorable anime. Thanks for reading it, or even just for clicking on this post. It means a lot to me. I hope you’ll join me again in 2-3 weeks for more episode reviews. Sayonara!
Thanks for reading~
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