Sara Talks Anime

Video version:

September 23^rd, 2023 is a date that I’ll likely never forget. This was the day my parents visited me at college during the fall quarter of my first year. I got the green light to write-ups of simulcasts that I was following, but my mom was not. I had already decided which simulcasts I would follow because the seasonal line-up was released earlier that week. Since I had only picked two, and my mom would cover one I had already picked, I chose to cover the other simulcast.

That simulcast just so happened to be Stardust Telepath.

Stardust Telepath is a cute girls doing cute things base anime that aired from October 9^th, 2023 to December 25^th, 2023, based on the 4-koma manga by Rasuko Ōkuma that follows Umika and how her life evolves after meeting transfer student Yu, who claims to be an alien. At the time of this write-up, Crunchyroll holds the North American rights for the anime of Stardust Telepath.

Now, there are three big reasons why I ended up picking up Stardust Telepath as a simulcast outside of the usual “the synopsis successfully hooked me” that I apply to every single anime I watch. The first reason I picked it up was because space was mentioned through aliens. I had a space vibe at the time, so anything with space was somewhat of a win for me.

The second reason I chose to watch it is that Umika isn’t good at interacting with people she isn’t familiar with. Back then and now, I also struggle with interacting with unfamiliar people, though there are some areas where I feel more comfortable doing so…though I didn’t have those areas then.

The third? It seemed like a chill show that would probably have some moments that would get a bit more serious about adding some stakes, but surely, it’d just stay chill and not venture into other territories, right? …right?

Anyway, let’s get into covering the actual anime! Umika has social anxiety stemming from past incidents where she was bullied for showing an interest in space and wishing to head to space so that she could meet people who understood her. The universe seemed to hear her wish, and instead of spawning a ship that she could head to space, it decided to bring an alien to Umika’s school within her class as a student.

Of course, the student shows up late after crash-landing in a lighthouse. This is where we get a complete introduction to Yu, and after a bit, she showcases her “foreheadpathy,” which is just telepathy, but she can only hear a person’s thoughts when their foreheads are touching. Screw waiting for the main couple to kiss in anything romantic; the part I’m most excited for in every Stardust Telepath episode is the foreheadpathy!

The thing that bonds the two is that they both want to go to space: Umika because she thinks there isn’t a place for her on Earth, and Yu because she wants to return to her home in space.

Throughout getting to know each other, we also get introduced to Haruno, the class representative, and Matataki, the mechanic who is barely in class. The series goes on to have Umika gain the two as friends and even begin making bottle rockets—the perfect first step to creating a real rocket someday! I think that the talks about rockets and what they do are this show’s strong point, even since one of the scenes serves to educate the characters (excluding Matataki as she was the one doing the explaining) about how model rockets work and the fact it was able to do so while still making sense in the context of the show.

The show begins as a silly and happy little show about cute girls doing cute things, but then it hits an iceberg and suddenly becomes an emotion-fueled drama. There was a moment in the show where other CGDCT shows would’ve just brushed it off as “Ah well, we’ll get it next time!” and this show…this show took it as seriously as it would’ve been if this were intended to be a serious show from the beginning.

And to be honest? I didn’t mind the shift in tone all that much. After all, while watching girls do mundane things is fun, I’ve noticed I’m more of a fan with noticeable stakes…if one of the simulcasts I’m watching in the Summer 2024 season taught me anything.

In terms of animation, while there’s nothing extremely flashy about it, I think that works for this show. After all, with the exclusion of Yu herself, the series is a lot more grounded in reality compared to other shows that I’ve seen that throw in magical elements. I also like the color palette used in this show, as it gives it a bit of a softer look, which is excellent for this show.

When it comes to the songs used for the show, the only songs that are memorable to me are the opening theme and the ending theme, which you’ll quickly find out is par for the course for me. However, of the two, I prefer the opening theme over the ending theme. Maybe it’s because the beginning sounds like it’s in Morse code (even though it’s not); perhaps it’s because I tend to skip the opening theme less than the ending theme when they pop up in my Spotify playlist. Regardless, viewers shouldn’t expect standout songs used within the episodes.

The characters in this series all feel nicely developed, with my favorites being Umika and Matataki. The development was easily shown instead of directly told (except for Umika, but I’ll let it slide because she’s the main character), and the scenarios didn’t feel too forced.

As of this writing, this series has yet to be picked up for a second season, and while I would love to watch a season 2 if one DOES get made, I’m still satisfied with how this series ended up wrapping up.

Sara’s Wrap Up:

Would I recommend this series?: Yes!

What audience would I recommend it to?: Anyone who is socially anxious. Fans of CGDCT shows and/or emotional dramas, though more lean towards CGDCT fans due to how the series begins. Yuri fans.

Availability (North America specifically. Do research for your specific territory.): Streaming on Crunchyroll for Premium subscribers only.

Additional posts about Stardust Telepath:

• Stardust Telepath Episode 12 – “Stardust Telepath”