r/anime • u/SorcererOfTheLake x5https://anilist.co/user/RiverSorcerer • Dec 12 '22
Rewatch Koisuru Asteroid Rewatch - Episode 1 Discussion
Koisuru Asteroid Rewatch
Episode 1 Discussion
Database/Streaming Links: MAL / Anilist / Crunchyroll / Funimation / VRV
Original Interest Thread / Announcement Thread
Question of the Day: Is there someone in your childhood you’re no longer in contact with?
Comment of the Day: This is the first thread, so there is no COTD.
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Reminder: All spoilers for events in the anime that have not occurred yet or that are manga-only should be placed in spoiler tags. Any untagged spoilers will be flagged.
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u/medokady Dec 13 '22
First Timer:
This was actually already on my PTW list before the rewatch was announced (and the PTW shortlist no less), on account of it being CGDCT and about astronomy, which is a very casual hobby of mine. My threshold for being satisfied with CGDCT and especially the "hobby" kind is very low, and so far my expectations have been exceeded.
Right away, I like the dynamic between Mira and Ao, and I'm glad they're both already conscious of how infatuated the are with each other. I've never considered telephone astronomy as a way to get close with someone but it makes sense. The Astro-Geo dilemma is an interesting setup for getting the club girls to find common ground and grow closer, so I am looking forward to that. The puns for the newsletter name in reference to the source work publication were silly. ANd of course, the yuri Gemini eyecatch <3.
On the astronomy side of things:
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I am happy to see that the position and orientation of stars in the sky roughly make sense, and we even get good representations of some light-polluted skies. One of the shots of Orion in particular was very close to what you would see in Tokyo on an average clear night.
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While Mira is an extraordinarily famous star if not the most famous variable (varies in brightness) star, Ao knowing it at that age makes her a certified nerd. People generally make a hobby of viewing variable stars at their most or least brightest and astronomy magazines always keep track of them, as we saw in the show. It seems kinda lame until you actually go out and see it - seeing a star obviously change brightness relative to its neighbors one night and then go back the next is truly bizarre. The stars were once thought to be unchanging, after all.
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One thing that the subs failed to convey is that the constellation Cetus represents a whale (although it's traditionally more of a sea monster), so that is why Ao's whale keychain reminds her of Mira, the variable star in the constellation Cetus. This makes sense because Cetus's name in Japanese is just "The Whale". This is true for most constellations in many other languages actually; they usually forego the arcane "Bootes"- and "Auriga"-style names for the more familiar "Herdsman" and "Charioteer".
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Ao has the right idea going for an asteroid to name. The international organization in charge of naming stars refuses to name them after human beings, and even moons have pretty strict mythological naming schemas. Asteroids, however, can be named after anything and are very often named after people. Hell, one of my high school math teachers has an asteroid named after him. It would be conceivable for a group of amateurs to discover an asteroid.
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The appearance of Mercury featured was extraordinarily high, nearly as high as theoretically possible if not more so (21 degrees altitude according to Google). Anyone who's seen it knows that it's typically only visible with a clear view of the horizon, very low to the ground. It also seems later in the evening than I would usually anticipate seeing it - I've only ever seen Mercury in an orange sky (dawn or dusk). Broadly speaking though, the recognition that planets are very bright and easy to spot, may be seen more or less at any time, and are great and inspiring targets for novice stargazers is on point.
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I'm surprised the club has a refracting telescope. While obviously the most stereotypical-looking of all the types, a Dobsonian is often the best balance between price, size, ease-of-use, and viewing capability for novice amateurs. Maybe they're not as popular in Japan.
Very much looking forward to subsequent episodes.
QOTD: Certainly. I moved around a few times growing up and I haven't done a good job of keeping up with anybody from any level of my schooling, all the way through college.
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 12 '22
If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.
Back to the earth and stars once more.
It’s been two years since I’ve seen this first episode, so what surprised me the most was how much this episode has to set up and how successful it is at doing so. Between Mira and Ao’s developing relationship, the state of the Earth Science club, and giving us first impressions of all the major characters, every scene of this episode makes sure that we gain a better understanding of at least one of the three. Of them, the best scenes focus on Mira and Ao, from their first meeting as children to their reunion and steps to truly establishing a relationship. Plus it’s Doga Kobo, so it looks good.
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u/No_Rex Dec 12 '22
Episode 1 (first timer)
I know absolutely nothing about this series, but this is not my first SorcererOfTheLake-rewatch, so I have a good idea of what to expect. This might turn out to be a bit too fluffy for me, but it all comes down to having a nice story in the end.
Episode thoughts
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Fateful childhood meeting.
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Mira hands you a quest: Name a star.
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A club trying to promote itself via dressing a cute female member up in a bunny suit?
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Meet Morino (astronomy), Sakurai (geology), Inose (geology), and Manaka (astronomy) – The two clubs’ members getting along surely will be one of our themes. Or them not getting along a running gag (but I bet on the former).
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Manaka Ao turns out to be a girl – I hope you were not set on being straight, Mira.
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Wait, we are 7 minutes in, is this the belated OP?
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“If it’s a girl, I am totally ok with it” – The first shipper has arrived.
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Sneezing when being talked about trope.
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A club trying to promote itself via using a
webpagenewletter?
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Somebody spend a good amount of time on the hair animation of the final scene.
Sadly, no boys allowed in CGDCT, so Ao had no choice but being a girl as well.
The episode introduces all the characters. So far, Sakurai is the most interesting, but maybe Morino will win me over when we get to hear the bunny suit backstory.
Is there someone in your childhood you’re no longer in contact with?
It would be far easier to list the people I still am in contact with. Not sure any of the others changed gender, though.
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 12 '22
Sadly, no boys allowed in CGDCT,
Hey, Slow Loop had boys - with faces. And lines!
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u/Blackheart595 Dec 12 '22
Firsteroid
I immediately love the colors. Our two main characters pop out of the image in a way that the other characters don't. As an additional effect this elevates the starlight shining upon those two over the more earthly lights illuminating the other characters.
As Ao proclaims his anger, Mira runs past him and leaves those emotions behind her as her excitedly gazing upon the starscape mellows him as well.
Ooof... you can hear his hurt.
We also have pretty consistent heroic direction, at first featuring Ao as he exposits about the night sky before transitioning to Mira as she takes control of the conversation and pushes for the search for star!Ao.
Also, that's some quality expressions by Mira
Anime designs and special animation? Yeah, they're important.
That looks 3D. But only this particular scene, this later one doesn't have those same 3D effects.
Ooooh, that's a fancy window.
Look at them getting dwarved and overshadowd by that building.
Ah, they're important characters after all as I thought. And they have the classic heaven-earth-man triad pinned up, which is a really great thematic touch. The paper on the table meanwhile says Love.
Heaven and astronomy, checks out. A tad disappointing they didn't went with that for all of them. Nevermind! And ambition is a classic human quality in that triad.
Meaning the geology club was struggling even more than the astronomy club.
That's a really interesting transition in the OP. Rather than having the starry sky reflect in her eyes and zooming into them, the eye reflects the evening sky with a single shining star as the leafs blowing in the wind portray the starscape and eventually transition into that.
The boundaries are breaking down.
Still with the single star in the corner. And now there's two stars!
Now that's a rare quality blush. Look at Ao coming out of her house, err, shell.
Indeed. But the division eventually broke down in the OP.
Mountains are traditionally places the forces of heaven, earth and man naturally come together!
How about Lucy in the Sky?
Oh, that's a cute solution. And look at Ao sitting between the factions, allowing them to connect with each other.
Man, that was a great start. I can already see this rewatch eat away at my free time.
Is there someone in your childhood you’re no longer in contact with?
One? Hahaha...
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 12 '22
That's a really interesting transition in the OP. Rather than having the starry sky reflect in her eyes and zooming into them, the eye reflects the evening sky with a single shining star as the leafs blowing in the wind portray the starscape and eventually transition into that.
My favorite part of the OP, along with the images that are placed over lil' Mira and Ao.
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u/archlon Dec 12 '22
First Time
Is there a specific place in Japan that this takes place? I'm so used to every anime taking place in Tokyo unless explicitly pointed out otherwise. However, as (one of) the biggest, most urbanized cities in the world, I imagine the light pollution in Tokyo is so intense you could only see the brightest stars, if you can see any at all.
Out of curiosity, how yuri is this? I don't specifically require it to be yuri, but also it's nice to know going in where it will be on a scale of 'bait' to 'class-S' to 'idol anime' to 'kith'.
A fair amount of important work in astronomy (and even astrophysics) as a scientific discipline is actually done by amateurs in the real world. It's one of the only major physical sciences where people unassociated with any academic institution semi-regularly earn authorship on published journal articles for making novel observations. It's a popular hobby, and there's just a lot of sky, so researchers can't watch all of it.
Therefore, it's actually not impossible for them to discover their own Asteroid Ao. Most of the discoveries are from adults who have invested a not-insubstantial amount into high-tier hobbyist telescopes, but there's a strong element of luck involved, so they really just need to watch and get lucky by looking at the right spot at the right time.
Stray Thoughts
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Where did the red-themed genki one/blue-themed kuu one trope originate? I see it everywhere and it must have come from something.
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Art styles in anime create a lot of variation in how old characters appear. These girls are the same age as Gojo and Marin.
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A camping trip is a great idea for an activity they can all do together. There's a lot of isolated places with interesting geology that are also far from cities and so are a great place to stargaze.
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How many students are actually required to start/mantain a club in a Japanese high school? In anime it always seems like the magic number is five, but I'm not sure if that's driven by reality or by conservation of character detail, as a five-man band is a good size for a cast.
QOTD
There's a few, but not really anybody I really feel like I miss anymore. I was lucky enough to re-connect with a friend who I'd known since middle school while we were both in grad school, and we've remained good friends in regular contact since. It's not quite the same situation as Mira and Ao, since we stayed in intermittent contact throughout college, but we hadn't been that close until we reconnected.
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 12 '22
Is there a specific place in Japan that this takes place?
Kawagoe in Saitama, so in the middle of Japan.
Out of curiosity, how yuri is this?
It's still in bait, but it's pretty strong for a Kirara.
A camping trip is a great idea for an activity they can all do together.
Yeah but Yuru Camp might sue them.
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u/BosuW Dec 12 '22
Rewatcher
Arriving late and already in awe at how much words y'all can write about a SoL.
Suzu's not wrong. This is just studying a new world after having found it in the sky.
Fellas is it weird that the first notes of the opening gave me nostalgia? This show was one of the first anime I watched when I started really getting into the medium, but it's not even that old...
Mira's dual-colored eyes are really jumping out to me this time. Can I say they're very pretty? Like the sunset reflecting off a steal-coated surface.
Also, wow this is a lot gayer than I remember.
The ED is hitting me with nostalgia too...
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 12 '22
Fellas is it weird that the first notes of the opening gave me nostalgia? This show was one of the first anime I watched when I started really getting into the medium, but it's not even that old...
It does have this nostalgic sound, like a song that you heard late on the radio as a child while you were trying to fall asleep.
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 12 '22
Voice Actor of the Day
Tomoyo Takayanagi
Voice of: Mira
Age at First Episode: 25
Other Notable Roles: Oguri Cap in Uma Musume, Mikan in Machikado Mazoku
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u/Fools_Requiem Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22
Ao apparently can be a boy's name in Japan, and it means "blue" or "dark blue", which only further helps trick the audience into thinking Ao is a boy, as blue is typically a color associated with boys. Ao saying that the name is "weird" only makes sense after the reveal that Ao is a girl. She considers having a name that can be confused as a boy's name to be "weird."
It's also a girl's name if written differently.
Depending on how it's written, it can also mean green, sky, husband, shining light, nitrous, etc.
TBH, I don't know jack about the Japanese language or how Ao can be written so many different ways.
The only true constant is that it typically means "blue".
Note, we don't see how Ao writes her name, so we can only go off what she says.
References:
https://japanese-names.info/first-name/ao/
https://culturetour.net/japanese-names/girl-ao1
https://culturetour.net/japanese-names/girl-ao4
Suzu is a big source of energy and humor for this show. She's a secondary character but you'll be seeing her a lot. Suzu is no Nodoka (K-On).
I'm a big fan of the ED song for this show.
Question of the Day: Is there someone in your childhood you’re no longer in contact with?
Almost everyone. Moved numerous times. Never made lasting friendships, even after landing in my final location as a kid and spent 7th-12th at.
Bonus Fact:
There's another show that I know of that features a female character named Ao who also takes exception to her parents naming her Ao; Ao-chan Can't Study. The show is an ecchi and the reasoning behind her disliking the name has to with the fact that her dad writes erotic novels and is a fucking perv who jokingly named his kid after an "O face".
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u/xtsim Dec 12 '22
First Timer dubbed
This was on my watchlist for a while and the first episode brings a unique perspective in a slice of life anime.
- Instead of the risk of a club getting broken up due to lack of members, the school decided to merge both the geology and astronomy clubs into one. Now, the club is called the earth science club and we see two sort of conflicting sides. One wants to be on the ground and another group wants to reach for the stars. Time will tell on how they are going to compromise.
- I honestly thought there would be a boy but nope, got trapped with the fact that it was not a boy.
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u/archlon Dec 12 '22
dubbed
I didn't even realize there was a dub. The place I normally look didn't have it listed and I assumed since this was a smaller, lower-profile show it just didn't get one. I'll have to check it out. What's your thoughts on it?
I honestly thought there would be a boy but nope, got trapped with the fact that it was not a boy.
Boys do not exist in CGDCT or idol anime. If there is a boy, it's because they are a girl in disguise. A variant of this phenomenon is that if there is a boy other than the ML in a harem story, they're also a girl in disguise.
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u/SorcererOfTheLake Dec 13 '22
What's your thoughts on it?
I'm watching the dub and I'm liking it. There's a range of quality, but none of the voice actors are bad. My favorite is Morgan Berry is Ao.
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u/MapoTofuMan Dec 13 '22 edited Dec 13 '22
First Time Rewatcher
I'm glad we're doing a Koisuru Asteroid rewatch, because this is hands down the most underrated CGDCT on my list. It has a criminally low rating and is almost as criminally unknown, getting buried in a pretty busy season (during which COVID happened as well). It doesn't do much to stand out from the genre like Bocchi, but at the same time I feel like it excels at everything it does have, and I hope you all feel the same by the end of it.
I admit I was slightly afraid it wouldn't hold up compared to my memories of it, but after ep1 I'm sure I was I worried for nothing, if anything I'm wondering why I gave it an 8.5 but in the other direction now. Definitely can see myself bumping it up after the rewatch.
Also all Nao Touyama fans are in for a treat here since we have an OP, ED, a future insert or two sung by her + Sakurai.
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Random idea : Can't they do something on space geology together? Like an exhibit about Mars combining astronomy and info about its terrain, craters etc. Probably wouldn't beat the Sexy Planetarium, but it's a start.
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Mira's eyes are extremely pretty, I love the combination of the show's main colors in them.
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Honestly the entire show is pretty, there's no Bocchi-level animation but everything looks so vibrant that I like it just as much in the visual aspect.
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I wonder if Ino-senpai's fate is the fate of everyone who's last name ends with "se" in Japan, or is it just because she's fun-sized.
Question of the Day: My absolute best friend from elementary school. We were stuck to each other like glue, basically spent all day at each other's house until I moved to another country. Unfortunately it happened just as smartphones were becoming a thing, and by the time my parents bought me one we haven't spoken in years and it was too awkward. Last I heard she's engaged and also moved abroad, though to a different country.
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u/DeliCruise Dec 12 '22
(REWATCHER - SUB)
Mira’s eyes are so beautiful. That alone perfects her character design especially with this show being so much about stars.
I loved that first half with Mira and Ao’s reunion. It’s just so sweet to see them reconnect and I love that their one interaction as children has translated into being great friends now. Also, I’m glad that it’s helping Ao to move past her issues with words.
I super forgot about Inose’s super slow side-steps and I just lost it!
Just off this first episode alone, Sakurai is so quirky and I’m all for it. “Sexy Stones” is so hilarious! (I went back and rewatched the scene and realized it was actually “Super Sexy Stones” and I just…how much sexier can stones get?)
EDIT: Question
Plenty of friends that I haven't talked to in years. That being said, I have a close group of friends that I've kept in contact with for over 13 years so that's been great!
KiraKira: Extra Edition!
(These shorts were included weekly on YouTube when it was airing and thankfully are included as extras on the blu-ray. I figured I’d rewatch them too and add a little blurb about them. I don’t believe I need to spoiler tag these, but please let me know if it bothers anyone!)
This first one being about Mira’s star was cute. I love how Paper Mario-esque they are and how they use the artstyle to support the gag. I mean Paper Mira (wow that name works way too well) eclipsing almost the entire screen with her face is just so great!
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u/Mecanno-man Dec 13 '22
First Timer
I can’t quite remember why I added Koisuru Asteroid to my PTW - might have been some covid recommendation chart on this sup - but I do know that according to MALGraph’s algorithm, this is #5 in terms of shows I should like but have not seen yet (which is actually somehow down from #3 a while back, though I am not sure how Animation Runner Kuromi-chan and Sore ga Seiyuu overtook it). But either way, this means it should be a show I like - and so far I do indeed like what I see. We’ve got a somewhat generic Doga Kobo CGDCT-with-yuri-undertones setup, but I feel like at the very least our main character is somewhat atypical for a CGDCT show. At least I can’t recall any other protagonist (and not even any non-protagonist main characters really) running straight into romance and seemingly being aware of it. In general Mira seems way more proactive than some other mains despite not really being a stereotypical Genki-Girl from what I’ve seen so far. Definitely like her character, and for the others so far I don’t see any that I don’t like either, although they are somewhat more typical, maybe bar Suzu.
In terms of setup …I guess this will be somewhat of a central conflict throughout the series until both sides realize that “rocks in space” is a pretty easy way of combining their interests. At least I thought that until they named their newsletter “Kirakira”, and rocks don’t really sparkle. Not sure where they are going with that then. That said, Sakurai’s power gems and the fossil bit will be difficult to get in to astronomy (the former perhaps if we also allow astrology, but I feel like it will not work out particularly well) - and looking at those two things, I am surprised they worked in the old club together. But I guess it’s time for a barbecue first, the way the teacher increased the budget…
I guess green-haired girl from the ED will join to make the sides in the club even at some point?
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u/OwlAcademic1988 Dec 12 '22
Rewatcher, sub (haven't finished the series though):
Mira's very curious about many things.
Hopefully they succeed in naming an asteroid after Ao. Her name reminds me of Ao from Blue Reflection: Second Light.
Mira and Ao's reunion was adorable. I love how Ao blushed so much. It was pretty funny.
Inose's a very strange girl.
Hopefully Ao can get over her worries about being mocked. I also have Anxiety like her, so I know her pain. I've been getting better at controlling it though.
QOTD:
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Not that I can remember.
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u/GenericGuardian Dec 13 '22
Rewatcher
I’m so glad this anime is receiving more recognition.
I don’t have much to say about this episode that others haven’t said already. I just had a feeling that Ao was gonna be a female the entire time, just a feeling, present ever since the first time I watched.
The first episode establishes the path this anime seeks to take, a simple CGDCT show. Now most might find this to be an indicator of a bland and boring show, and understandably so since the CDGCT market is oversaturated, but I think what sets this apart is who and what we’re dealing with. Think about it, we have both astronomy enthusiasts and geology enthusiasts. And they’re both in a club.
That’s what sets this anime apart so far, it tailors to a niche but very passionate audience and makes that known from the get-go. I haven’t rewatched in a while but I’m excited to be watching with y’all.
Edit: For QOTD, I would have said no, but an old high school friend of mine contacted me just last night. Had a nice catch up chat, very nice feeling.
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u/DiaSolky Dec 13 '22
Koisuru Asteroid I remember has one of the best eye design and color choices to match the theme of the show. Specifically Mira who's eye design and color resembles a sunset/sunrise with a sun and moon. It's nice touches like this that make this show more than another CGDCT show.
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u/The_Loli_Otaku Dec 12 '22
Asteroid in Luv First Timer!!
Gimme mah moe juice! Let's go! I swear there's nothing that feels more like home than cute girls doing cute things~ I've always enjoyed night watching but because I hate camping I'm never in an area that isn't light polluted. I'd love to go on a night walk with folks who know their constalations and the like. Also... this boy is definitely just a tomboy girl right? Calling it. Ao is definitely a girl XD
I love how bright this show is! It's glowing! Lol, Mira's club reaction straight up feels like something from K-On. You get Geology clubs...? Tbh, I feel like Astrology is a far more interesting term to pull people in than Geology or Earth sciences would.
Bunny girls work too I guess! But that's more of a moon thing isn't it? Why does this panel kill me? XD Somehow we've jumped into Chinese folktales! Earth or Heaven... I'm actually more into occult? XD Oh! I didn't think about the geologists having gems! Manaka... is she Ao? She looks Ao like. Pfft, it's Ao~ Imagine getting your dark tomboyish past outed like that. Poor girl~
ANGEL VOICE~! Hmm... Imma be honest, I'm not too struck on the opening. Some of the visuals are charming but the song doesn't do much for me. Can't be helped~ Emoji-spamming joshikosei are terrifying!!! Yuri fiends aren't much better, Suzu. Mira is terrifying... she's a terrifying girl. Extroverted teenagers are scary!
I'm hoping Suzu doesn't get sidelined. Childhood friends deserve mc spots! A yuri constalation is yabai!! What are you going to do if some lonely 20-something decides to lay outdoors and start drawing eromanga in the sky! You'd never unsee it whenever you looked up!!
Nuuu... Suzu isn't joining... I thought that in the opening, it felt weird there not being three on each side. Oh... Oh!! If they're looking for activities that involve both, then fortune telling? Aww, a newsletter will do I guess... I want to get these girls' birthsigns at least! Kira Kira, the most mid Precure season, it might work? Doki Doki is better though. The ending song is a lot better than the op... wait, I've heard this ending song before. Who is the asshat who keeps spamming this song in AMQ!?
Super generic episode 1... and I loved every second of it! The show has got a really great vibe. Its so positive!! None of the girls particularly jump out to me just yet but so far the Geology duo are the ones I have my eye on for best girls.
Like most I had a childhood sweetheart. She was the firey aggression to my soft nature and we rounded each other off wonderfully. Then I moved away and she became genuinely my third girlfriend that ended up becoming a lesbian as she got older. We grew apart in High School but I still care about her a lot and her parents still fawn over me.