So far, I’m enjoying Stardust Telepath. The characters are endearing and funny. I love the main story, which is about a girl who loves rockets as she learns to form friendships, have confidence, and feel hope in humanity. The relatively mild sexualization of the two lead characters doesn’t bother me enough to make me quit. So, without a lot of rambling, let’s get right into the episode reviews for the next three installments.
Episode 4: Clasing Seaside
The fourth episode begins with Haruno showing a surprise to Umika and Yu in the lighthouse. Below a trapdoor is a secret set of steps leading to an underground chamber: Haruno’s “secret base.” She furnished it and made it into the perfect place for the girls to hang out. The key to the secret base was given to Yuu, so she now has a safer, warmer place to sleep in the lighthouse.
The next day, the three girls bought supplies for their rockets. Afterward, they had some fun shopping and playing around in different stores. Umika and company built the bottle rocket and faced off with Matataki the following day. Their battle took place on the beach near the lighthouse. Ultimately, Matataki won. However, she took pity on Umika, giving her a chance to express what she had wanted to say for so long.
It turns out that Umika absolutely loves Matataki’s “awesome” goggles that she wears on her head. Matataki is floored by the randomness of this confession. She’s also surprised that nobody is trying to talk her into anything else. Umika’s group parts ways with Mataki, only to meet again in school. It’s the first time Matataki has come to school in weeks. She grumpily tells the other girls that she’ll hang out with them and make rockets until she has gathered enough attendance days.
This episode was entirely predictable, but it was so wholesome that I don’t care. I’m not watching Stardust Telepath to have my mind blown by deep character arcs or plot twists. I’m just here for the cheer, cuteness and love. I enjoyed the contest on the beach, Umika’s confession, and Matataki’s return to school. In addition, it was adorable when Yu and Haruno made Umika stand between them for the photo booth picture.
In the interest of being healthily critical, I’ve got one more note to add. The visuals are not looking so good for this anime. At least, that’s the case for the backgrounds and sets. They look cheap, unrealistic, and hastily made. And while we’re on the subject of visuals, I think it’s funny how the girls are all constantly blushing. If anyone was that red al the time, it would probably be a health concern.
Despite the low-budget background pieces and the concerning amount of blush, I actually do like the art-style for the characters. They look adorable. The bright colors are nice, too. And that’s all for episode 4.
Episode 5: Endless Dreamer
After hearing that Umika and company have no funds for projects, Matataki angrily tells them off. She then tries to make a club that will be acknowledged by the school and get them some funds. The kind homeroom teacher, Emihara, agrees to do her best to make sure the club gets approved. After settling that, Matataki tries to relax. Unfortunately, she forgets that the class is going on a two-day educational trip the very next day.
Matataki is miserable at the educational workshop, but Umika actually enjoys herself s bit. That’s impressive, considering that her anxiety made her hate class events like this in the past. Unable to sleep, Umika goes looking for Yu, who left her futon. The introverted girl finds Yu in the woods outside the cabin, staring at the starry sky. They share in a moment of bonding as Umika swears to take Yu to space one day. The episode ends with Matataki bringing out fireworks for the four girls to enjoy in the woods.
In my opinion, this was probably the best episode so far. It’s great to have Matataki in the group. Her grumpiness is the perfect contrast for Yu’s endless enthusiasm. The teacher, Emihara, seems like an awesome person and a good teacher. I liked seeing her help empower the students. While watching this episode, I also noticed a few moments that had beautiful music. Mostly, I noticed the soft and emotional melody playing when Matataki spoke with Umika in the hallway.
My favorite part of the episode was the talk between Umika and Yu under the stars. You cannot sit here and tell me that wasn’t extremely gay. I loved it. Umika and Yu both have their respective bonds with Haruno, but I think the dynamic between the two of them is different. It definitely seems more romantic. And although there may be a slight bit of sexual tension when the two touch foreheads together, I don’t feel like this anime is trying to make them outrageously sexualized. I’m pleased about that.
Episode 6: Salutatory Initiation
Unfortunately, the “Rocket Research Club” wasn’t approved as an official club with funds. It will be a “hobby group” until it has built up a record of accomplishments. This is disappointing, but Umika encourages everyone, so they don’t stay frustrated for long. After showing Matataki the secret base, the girls begin building rockets with small gunpowder engines. Although they want to launch some right away, they must wait due to the heavy rain.
A day or two later, Umika proposes a group trip to see an engine rocket launch hosted by a relatively famous highschool club. Emihara-sensei takes the girls to the event the next day. There, they run into Kei: a girl who helped them gather bottle materials once in the past. Kei is very friendly, albeit a ditz. It turns out she is also the president of the club hosting the event. She is the one who launches the rocket. Afterward, Matataki tells Kei that they plan on beating her in the next official highschool rocket contest.
Now, let me share my thoughts on this episode. There was a moment early on that bothered me. Reportedly, Matataki’s dad threw a wrench at her, scraping and bruising her cheek. He was furious at her for using gunpowder rockets without his permission. While I understand why a worried parent would be angry, it’s never acceptable to throw hard objects at children. I hope this was an accident or a one-time issue that’s been resolved. It would suck to find out that Matataki was being abused.
I also wanted to comment on the scene in the secret base. Matataki asked about the electricity in the lighthouse. Haruno says that for a while, the place was abandoned, so the electricity had been turned off. But strangely, ever since Yu’s arrival, the lights are back on. This is pretty weird considering I don’t believe for a second that Yu is an actual alien or anything like that. So, how did she turn on the electricity? There’s something suspicious going on here.
My final notes are about Kei Akizuki. She seems like a sweet girl, and very intelligent – at least, in terms of understanding rocket engines. But she’s also forgetful and ditzy, a real “space cadet” – pardon the pun. One other thing I noticed about Kei is that she uses the pronoun “boku” to refer to herself. While that’s certainly not unheard of for female characters, it’s rather unusual. In anime, when a girl uses boku, it’s sometimes a statement about gender identity. More often, however, it’s just a “quirky girl” type thing. I think that’s the case for Kei.
This was a fun episode. Thanks for stopping by Anime Rants and checking out my work!
Thank for for reading~
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