What else is new? Seems like at least half the schedule is effectively on the bubble this season, and Astro Note is certainly no exception. The first ep didn’t click for me, the second was much better, and the third somewhere in-between. There’s much to like here, as this series is doing a credible job channeling Rumiko and her signature style of 90’s romcom. But at this point it still can’t shake the air of imitation (and to be honest, I’m only modestly keen on the sort of series it’s imitating).
Shoin Ginger shakes up the routine here more than anything else this week. That said, he’s Mira’s childhood friend and not actual fiancée – or so they say, anyway. They do have a bit of a lovey-dovey vibe. He’s come to Earth to warn her about the spies from Planet Hubby, but of course Mira is already aware of that. Naosuke is none too fond of Shoin, but the trend here is obvious – he’s salty about any guy friendly with his mistress.
Speaking of Naosuke, Ren-kun seems to have figured out something is off with him. While Ren is right about the “pretending to be a dog” hypothesis I suspect he hasn’t got the specifics quite right. Ren is busy this week as it’s his plot that drives the B-part. He’s off to Enoshima on a field trip and bumming because – obviously – his parent isn’t going to prepare him a fancy bento like the other tykes’. Of course Takumi volunteers to step in, but his first effort is stolen by whoever the Astro Lodge food felon is (obviously a Hub, though the speculation is it’s a ghost).
What really struck me funny about the whole Enoshima thing is that Takumi apparently had no reservations about what obviously not a 2024 Earth car (Shoin’s) until it retracted its wheels and took off after the thieving robot bird. It’s also amusing that Japan is best by fiercely aggressive kites (a small raptor) who steal the food right out of people’s hands. And Enoshima is especially notorious for that sort of thing.
In a logical world, the jig would obviously be up with the whole alien thing as far as Takumi goes. But here? I won’t be shocked if he brushes the whole thing off (his behavior afterwards suggested he already had), and focuses more on the perceived threat Shoin represents to his seemingly hopeless pursuit of Mira. At some point she’s going to have to fess up and enlist the whole A.N. gang in her search for the key and battle against the Hubs, but I sense we haven’t reached that stage of the narrative yet.
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