Manga Reviews: Astra Lost in Space, Vols. 1 and 2

Astra Lost in Space, Vol. 1
(Astra Lost in Space #1)
Kenata Shinohara
Release: December 5, 2017
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What starts as a pleasant class trip to a planet five light-years away becomes a nightmare survival trip to get back home.

In the year 2063, interstellar space travel has become the norm. What sort of adventure awaits on the new frontier?

It's the first day of Planet Camp, and Aries Spring couldn't be more excited! She, along with eight other strangers, leave for Planet McPa for a week long excursion. Soon after they arrive, however, a mysterious orb appears and transports them into the depths of space, where they find an empty floating spaceship…

Review:
I picked up this series because I was looking for a good sci-fi manga and this one was getting quite a bit of hype a few months ago when the English translation came out. I'm so glad I picked it up! It's a solid start to a new manga series. The first part of this volume was slow and a bit weird. It was mainly setup to introduce the characters.

The second half was a total shift in the narrative and I am all here for it! It's basically a YA Lost in Space meets Swiss Family Robinson with a bit of Titan AE and Up thrown in for some flavor. I love a good misfit crew story and it was fun watching the characters start to learn to work together and to depend on each other. Although, some of the characters are still a mystery. Plus, there's a bigger conspiracy behind our poor "shipwrecked" cast and how they exactly ended up on their abandoned ship far from where they started. I can't wait to see where this story goes.

    

  4 / 5 Stars

Astra Lost in Space, Vol. 2

(Astra Lost in Space #2)

Kenata Shinohara

Release: January 23, 2018

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What starts as a pleasant class trip to a planet five light-years away from Earth becomes a nightmare survival trip back home from 5,000 light-years away.

In the year 2063, interstellar space travel has become the norm. What sort of adventure awaits on the new frontier?

The situation aboard the Astra intensifies as Zack reveals to Kanata that the ship’s communication system has recently been sabotaged and that it’s likely one of their new friends who tried to murder them! The mystery deepens as the crew members are overtaken by confusion and anger and start to question each other’s motives. Just as the argument comes to a head, the side of the ship explodes, shutting down the controls and gravity system and setting the Astra on a collision course with the second planet on their trip, Shummoor.

Review:

I'm really enjoying this series so far! It's very much a YA space opera and I'm digging it. The interactions between the characters are amazing and their explorations are intriguing. Volume 2 picks up a few weeks after Volume 1 left off and things are getting interesting as they arrive at the second planet for resupplying their trip home. The main mystery is still unsolved and there looks to be a saboteur on board but that's all put aside so everyone can concentrate on surviving.

One of my favorite things about this manga so far are the planet visits. The animals and flora are interesting and the adventures the crew have when they go planet-side are fun and thrilling. I'm also loving seeing everyone uses their unique knowledge and talents to solve problems. We got to learn more about Yun-hua's backstory and I will say that I did not see that coming. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on volume 3 and seeing what trouble these teens get into next. I hope we learn more about Ulgar next too! I also hope that we get to see some answers as to why this group has ended up together and where they are in the next volume too.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

   

  4 / 5 Stars