Astra Lost in Space


Astra Lost in Space is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara. It was serialized online from May 2016 to December 2017 via Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ website/app. It was collected in five volumes. Viz Media published the series in English. An anime television series adaptation produced by Lerche aired from July to September 2019.

Plot

In 2063, space travel has become possible and commercially viable; a group of students from Caird High School departs to the nearby planet of McPa for their Planetary Camp. Soon after the group arrives on the planet, the nine children encounter a mysterious and unforeseen intelligent sphere of light; it attacks them, transporting them into the distant depths of space. Floating in orbit around an unknown planet, they discover an old abandoned spacecraft nearby. Finding it in working order, they resolve to use the ship to return home. To do so, they must cross the 5,012-light-year gulf of space separating them from home by visiting alien planets, the names of which are all anagrams, harboring life to replenish and manage their limited resources.
The long and dangerous journey home aboard their vessel, which they name Astra, brings with it new character revelations, strengthening the bonds they share, and the eventual realization that the stakes of their journey are far higher than any of them could ever have realized.

Characters

;Kanata Hoshijima
;Aries Spring
;Luca Esposito
;Charce Lacroix
;Quitterie Raffaëlli
;Zack Walker
;Funicia Raffaëlli
;Ulgar Zweig
;Yun-Hua Lu
;Paulina Levinskaya

Production

Shinohara originally intended to serialize Astra Lost in Space in Weekly Shōnen Jump, but the proposal was rejected. Unwilling to abandon a story for which he had already conceived a core plot twist, he sought to publish it in another format. The manga was subsequently serialized on Shōnen Jump+. Initial popularity was limited; however, following the reveal of its central twist, the series gained more recognition.
Seeking to create a work tonally distinct from his previous series, Sket Dance, Shinohara integrated elements of fantasy science fiction and closed circle mystery. His initial concept was directly inspired by the 19th-century novel Two Years' Vacation, featuring a group of 15 children. This was scaled down to a core cast of nine characters to better suit a planned shorter serialization of four to five volumes, with some characters' personalities being merged. The narrative retains several elements from the novel, including internal conflicts, banishment, changes in leadership, and character development.

Media

Manga

Astra Lost in Space, written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara, was serialized on Shueisha's digital magazine app and website Shōnen Jump+ from May 9, 2016, to December 30, 2017. Shueisha collected its chapters in five volumes, released from July 4, 2016, to February 2, 2018.
In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Viz Media.

Volumes

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in February 2019. The series was animated by Lerche and directed by Masaomi Andō, with Norimitsu Kaihō handling series composition, and Keiko Kurosawa designing the characters. Masaru Yokoyama and Nobuaki Nobusawa composed the music. It aired from July 3 to September 18, 2019, on AT-X, Tokyo MX, TVA, KBS, SUN, and BS11. The first and last episodes aired as one-hour specials. Nonoc performed the series' opening theme song "star*frost", while the ending theme, "Glow at the Velocity of Light", was performed by Riko Azuna. Funimation licensed the series in North America and the British Isles, and streamed it in both subtitled and dubbed formats.

Episodes

Reception

The manga was ranked fifth at the third Next Manga Awards in 2017 in the web category, it was also ranked third in the 2019 edition of Takarajimasha's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook, and won the twelfth Manga Taishō Awards. It was also nominated for the 23rd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The anime adaptation won "Best Media" at the 51st Seiun Award during the 59th Nihon SF Taikai.
Michele Liu, writing for Anime News Network, said that the series is "unique" because Luca is a main character who is born intersex rather than "altered by sci-fi space diseases or external influence," with Liu also describing Luca as bisexual.