Astra: Lost in Space Volume 1 manga review

By 2063, humanity has developed faster-than-light space travel, allowing people to visit other worlds with ease. There’s even a ‘Planet Camp’, where groups of kids can stay on remote planets without adult supervision.

One group of nine high school students, including cheerful Aries Spring and wannabe explorer Kanata Hoshijima, are sent to Planet McPa some nine light years away. Unfortunately, when the students are left alone, a mysterious orb appears and sucks them into space, close to an abandoned spaceship. They make their way to it – only to discover that the orb has transported them over 5,000 light years away from Earth. Instead of a four-hour journey home, it’ll take the teens three months to return to Earth in the Astra, as they name their new craft.

Astra: Lost in Space has now finished its run in Japan. Having only begun in 2017, longevity isn’t this shonen manga’s strong suit. And while the relationships between the different characters add a certain lustre – especially when we discover that one of the team is responsible for some shady goings-on – what this bunch of misfits trapped in a spaceship actually makes us think of is Red Dwarf, which is much smegging better.

INFO
Credits: Kenta Shinohara
Publisher: Viz Media
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £6.99
Rating: 13+

© 2016 Kenta Shinohara