Astro Note

The new original anime, Astro Note, feels like a blast from the past! Its animation style, character design, humor, and plot will all seem very familiar if you've watched romantic anime from the 80s and 90s. Astro Note comes off as the work of a die-hard Rumiko Takahashi fan. I’ve seen a few episodes of the original Urusei Yatsura, a bit of the recent remake, and some Maison Ikkoku. Although I haven’t seen enough to fully judge those series (unlike Ranma ½, Inuyasha, and Rinne, which I’ve watched in full), I’ve seen enough to say Astro Note parallels those works. Astro Note follows the story of a new tenant falling in love with his landlady (Maison Ikkoku), who also happens to be an alien, leading to various crazy antics (Urusei Yatsura). The only thing missing compared to Takahashi's works is the fan service! A positive note is that this series is self-contained and much shorter than the above mentioned anime. The crucial aspect here is the humor (since it's primarily a comedy), and for me, it was hit or miss. Sometimes I laughed, other times I found it silly, and occasionally even a bit cringy. The same goes for the characters — each had moments where they were endearing and others where I wondered what I was watching. The story was straightforward but had some dull spots and escalated too quickly at the end, making for an uneven pace. Another important factor is the romance. There wasn’t a lot of it, and I missed deeper moments between the main couple. However, there were some interesting romantic rivals, so the series didn’t entirely neglect this theme. If you’ve read this far, you might have guessed that my feelings about Astro Note are mixed. Sometimes I was entertained, other times bored, making for a very up-and-down experience that averaged out to be quite middle-of-the-road. 5.1/10 (21.06.2024)