Kanata no Astra

[MangaDex]

 

[tanteiii-kun]

his previous work was way better, this is really simpleton and it's made me cringe most of the time.. and it's the same dude who did sket dance i'm really disappointed

 

[gamria]

When you read it all at once, Astra will seem simple.
But back when it was serialising, every week/fortnight that a chapter comes out, speculation was crazy in every fandom. It was a ton of fun to see everyone ruminate over new stuff that get revealed, seeing if they piece into anything already available. Even today, Astra is receiving critical acclaim for its mystery element in Japan.

Personally, Shinohara-sensei did very well with Astra, compacting all of his strengths into a short series, between Manzai comedy, gag/serious balance, characters and mystery. He had always shown that he's good at foreshadowing, dropping hints and "circular" storytelling in Sket Dance, and now he got to put them to bigger use with a bigger story than anything before.

And Ch 2 was a stroke of brilliance, setting out the scope of the series as something short, which in itself proves that Shinohara is coming in with a game plan prepared from start to finish.
Astra needs an Anime badly, 2 cour please.

 

[Turin2609]

I'm with gamria on this one, Kanata no Astra is a short, but compeling story that actually achieves all its goals. Good Sci-Fi is really hard to come by, so it astounds all the more that an author who, by his own account, had little to no prior excperience in this genre, manages to create such a gem. The characters seem cliched at first, but none of them are and, given their backstory, have perfectly sound reasons for acting the way they do. What impessed me the most, though, is the fact that each of the planets and its lifeforms really do look ALIEN, highlighting the untold possible ways life could develop under different circumstances - something most, if not all, space-travelling stories fail to acknowledge, limiting themselves to humanoid aliens.

Long story short, this is on par with modern classics like Planetes and Cowboy Bebop and an adaptation is, with the right producers, almost guaranteed to be an eye catcher.

 

[Boof]

And now here we are, in the future with an adaptation set to air this summer. This is a great timeline lol.

 

[duylinh]

I'm camp tanteiii-kun. I thought Hibiki was the worst winner of Taisho, but Astra takes the crown for now. It's not that it isn't good, it's quite thrilling. But I think Sket Dance plays into his strength many times better than Astra did. Astra tone is very inconsistent. On one hand you have a sci-fi adventure, a "murder?" mystery, a conspiracy and a gag slice of life manga. The very foundation is too shaky, the genres don't mesh very well together. It's too light-hearted for a murder mystery and too tense for a slice of life, too much backstory detail for a drama and to simplistic for a sci-fi. The story got weight down by the attempt to keep the elements together and ended up being loaded with too much exposition segment, too much telling than showing. No element is truly very well done. Lack of focus truly hurts when horrible events like losing an arm feel inconsequential at the end. I like Astra but I liked Sket Dance way more. Shinohara really did plan out his story well with both comics have terrific moments of climax but Astra flashback and lengthy story expositions are just a chore, feel extremely out of place. The Sket Dance format of backstory arch of the week should have play out well very here with the "trap inside a room together" kind of murder mystery but it never got developed organically and the backstories are too light hearted for a murder mystery. Astra is a beautiful mess, but it should never have won Taisho. I think it's most apt to compare it to The Promised Neverland. The tension, twist, murder mystery, backstory, tone and sense of adventure in that one is almost superior in every way even as the story is very similar in element. Promised Neverland remains very light hearted for such a sombre story yet have never lost its stake and tension. Brilliant idea, mediocre execution. Also, the sci-fi element is rather inconsequential and sometime quite convenient. For example, the light side dark side planet should have generated a permanent storm on a rocky body with atmosphere as one side is heated and the other cool, the difference in temperature would generate huge difference in pressure, creating a flow from the hot side to the cold side and back. The area in between should still experience that wind all the time and most importantly if you land in the side where the wind from the heated side are blowing into, you'll be roasted and if you land on the other side, the wind would be freezing cold. He's clearly very inspired by science fiction, but it's not that well done, and wasn't good enough to carry the story in my opinion.

 

[GabrielH]

Finished reading this in one go and I must say that this is truly 10/10 in my opinion. This is coming from someone who doesn't read the author previous works. The execution of the story is simple but good. It makes you wonder how they fare in various planets. The mystery part is totally awesome. I was blown away when the truth was revealed. And finally because I'm a sucker for happy ending, this manga completely answered my expectation. Totally recommended.

 

[Caglio]

i just watch the anime 1st episode. this is a nice manga,

Spoiler

if author add more details about how they can manage got breathable air supply itll be more thrilling survival space theme

 

[Retards_Rise_Up]

where are the english translations?

 

[NuMu]

I believe Viz manga has the license. Since it's already translated and purchasable, probably a low priority.

 

[raiden55]

Finished the anime last week, and it was really good. I was hesitant at first, but I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Pandicle]

Just finished this gem, this a perfect sci-fi/comedy/drama/thriller. Seriously go hunt it (mangapark have it) or buy it.
9.9/10

@GabrielH @Turin2609 @gamria made a better critic than mine btw

 

[ryouhira]

the ending, while not as epic as sket dance, served pretty well.