Astra Lost in Space

Astra Lost in Space

Company type	Manga series
Industry	Manga, Anime
Founded	May 2016 (2016-05)
Founder	Kenta Shinohara
Defunct	December 2017 (2017-12)
Headquarters	Japan
Products	Manga, Anime adaptation

Astra Lost in Space is a Japanese manga created by Kenta Shinohara, which was published digitally from May 2016 through December 2017 on Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ platform. The narrative was collected into five volumes, with an English edition released by Viz Media. An anime adaptation produced by Lerche aired between July and September 2019.

Plot

Taking place in the year 2063, when commercial space travel has become commonplace, nine students attending Caird High School set out on a Planetary Camp to the planet McPa. Soon after their arrival, a mysterious intelligent sphere of light transports them across vast distances in space. They find themselves orbiting an unfamiliar planet, where they discover and restore an abandoned spacecraft, which they name Astra. Their objective becomes to navigate the 5,012 light-years back to Earth. Along their journey, they stop at various alien worlds—each bearing names that are anagrams—to collect necessary supplies and ensure survival. Throughout this expedition, the characters’ personalities unfold more deeply, and the stakes intensify beyond their original mission.

Characters

Kanata serves as the optimistic and athletic captain of the Astra. Motivated by the memory of a deceased teacher, he aspires to explore space while commanding his own vessel.

Aries Spring (アリエス・スプリング, Ariesu Supuringu)

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Aries possesses an eidetic memory accompanied by sudden insights. She joined the school shortly before the Planetary Camp began.

Luca Esposito (ルカ・エスポジト, Ruka Esupojito)

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Luca is a curious and proficient engineer responsible for maintaining the Astra. He is the child of the controversial senator Marco Esposito and identifies as intersex with fluid gender identity.

Charce Lacroix (シャルス・ラクロワ, Sharusu Rakurowa)

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Charce, a handsome botanist and Kanata’s first mate, manages the crew’s food supply. Secretly a royal assassin, he changes his mission upon realizing Aries is a clone of his childhood friend.

Quitterie Raffaëlli (キトリー・ラファエリ, Kitorī Rafaeri)

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Quitterie, heir to her family fortune and serving as the ship’s doctor, finds it difficult to trust anyone except her longtime friend Zack.

Zack Walker (ザック・ウォーカー, Zakku Wōkā)

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Zack is an adept pilot holding a space license who hopes to command his own ship alongside Kanata. His father works in biotechnology with Quitterie’s mother.

Funicia Raffaëlli (フニシア・ラファエリ, Funishia Rafaeri)

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Known as "Funi," she is Quitterie’s cheerful adopted sister who carries around a puppet named Beego.

Ulgar Zweig (ウルガー・ツヴァイク, Urugā Tsuvaiku)

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Intelligent yet socially withdrawn, Ulgar is skilled with firearms. The death of his brother motivates his vendetta against Marco Esposito.

Yun-Hua Lu (ユンファ・ルー, Yunfa Rū)

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Yun-Hua is shy and emotionally repressed due to pressure from her famous singer mother. Despite this, she has notable singing talent but avoids drawing attention.

Paulina Levinskaya (ポリーナ・リヴィンスカヤ, Porīna Rivinsukaya)

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Paulina was found in cryosleep aboard an older spacecraft. She survived as part of a planetary exploration crew whose members were all killed.

Manga

Astra Lost in Space, both written and illustrated by Kenta Shinohara, was serialized on Shueisha's digital magazine app and website Shōnen Jump+ from May 9, 2016, until December 30, 2017. Shueisha published the series in five tankōbon volumes between July 4, 2016, and February 2, 2018.

The manga's English-language rights for North America were acquired by Viz Media.

Anime

The anime adaptation was announced on February 5, 2019. Produced by studio Lerche, it was directed by Masaomi Andō with series composition handled by Norimitsu Kaihō, character designs by Keiko Kurosawa, and music composed collaboratively by Masaru Yokoyama and Nobuaki Nobusawa. The series broadcast ran from July 3 to September 18, 2019, on channels including AT-X and Tokyo MX. Both the premiere and finale episodes were aired as one-hour specials. The opening theme "star*frost" was performed by Nonoc, while the ending theme "Glow at the Velocity of Light" featured vocals from Riko Azuna.Funimation secured licensing rights for North America and the British Isles, providing both subtitled and dubbed streaming versions.

Episodes

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Reception

The manga earned fifth place in the web category at the third annual Next Manga Awards in 2017, ranked third in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook published by Takarajimasha in its 2019 edition, and won the twelfth annual Manga Taishō. It also received a nomination for the prestigious twenty-third Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The anime adaptation secured "Best Media" honors at the fifty-first annual Seiun Award, presented during the fifty-ninth Nihon SF Taikai convention.

Michele Liu of Anime News Network praised the series for its distinctiveness in featuring Luca as a main character born intersex rather than altered through science fiction elements and identified Luca’s character as bisexual.