The sky is the limit in Houkago no Pleiades. With telescope in hand, Subaru is set to go to the observation room of her school in order to get a view of that night's meteor shower. What she least expects is that behind the observatory door was not the starry skies, but a lavish garden, complete with a resplendent fountain and a mysterious young boy with long red hair.
But the garden soon disappeared, as if Subaru was only imagining things. All that remains of that brilliant sight is an odd, bouncing blob creature that leads her to another magical door, occupied by other girls in magical witch-like costumes. Revelations start hitting Subaru one after the other: one of the girls in the room is her childhood friend Aoi, the little blob is actually an alien of a species called the Pleiadians trying to return home, and Subaru has been selected by him to become the newest member of their group!
Now Subaru's dreams of the stars have come true in the wildest way, as she and her friends attempt to gather pieces of the Pleiadian spacecraft engine to return the being to his home. But they're not the only ones after the engine parts, and they have no idea why!
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McRib
Fuji Heavy Industries is a well known Japanese conglomerate company in which they produce everything from planes down to their most notable product, automobiles. Their Subaru brand has created quirky vehicles for more than 60 years and has seen record breaking success in the last decade. Thanks to catchy advertising that caters to former yuppies with growing families and a portfolio of safe and reliable vehicles such as the Forester, Outback, and Impreza they have broken internal sales records for more than half a decade. With such success, experiments are soon to follow. Houkago no Pleiades is the perfect example of this. It was amagical girl show funded by Subaru and produced by the animation studio Gainax during the Spring 2015 anime season. There was a previous set of ONAs which aired online back in 2011 when this project first came to fruition as nothing more than an advertisement. Regardless, this was an unusual partnership considering the fact that Gainax has been largely irrelevant this decade and that Subaru funding a magical girl anime seems a bit out of place. However, the results are rather interesting considering the subject matter and the story that it portrays. What is the most striking thing about this show is that it was not a shameless advertisement like many would expect, it featured a cohesive story with likable characters and an overall goal and purpose. Something that is relatively rare in terms of directly sponsored anime.
In regards to the story, Houkago no Pleiades follows a rather typical magical girl theme with a rather unique backdrop. The plot revolves around a group of girls in an after school club who are trying to help an alien from the Pleiades star cluster go home. For those of you who are unaware, Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster and is the logo for Subaru automobiles which obviously makes the alien's home a fitting choice. With this, the main cast travels through both space in time on their magical “drive shafts” which feature the typical throb and rumble of a boxer engine, the trademark engine type used by Subaru. The story itself makes you really question what is reality and brings in many hard science ideas such as theoretical physics, time travel, and multiple universes. If this story was not planned out years prior, one could argue that it was heavily influenced by Christopher Nolan's “Interstellar” which featured many of the same ideas. So “Bravo Gainax” for creating such an interesting story to back up your Subaru sponsored advertisement.
The art for Houkago no Pleiades is incredibly well done and thought out. There are incredible backdrops in the space scenes and the main and supporting cast has colorful and well designed outfits. The drive shafts which the characters fly on are also well designed since they feature grills from the previous generation Subaru vehicles that were sold back when the original designs were created back in 2010 – 2011. There are also some interesting cameos of new Subaru vehicles which pop up throughout the show which will entertain a car enthusiast who watches this show. The color palate is also well done and fits great with the theme of the show. For a magical girl show, everything should be vibrant which Gainax certainly delivers upon. The CG when used is also mostly okay, but CG itself has gotten significantly better over the years and it has become not as jarring when you see it mixed with 2D animation which Gainax does an acceptable job with. That being said, there are no glaring issues with the art overall.
As for the sound, it was unique to say the least. In terms of human characters, their voice acting was perfectly adequate. The voice actresses for the main cast are relatively unknown in the industry so it was refreshing in a sense to hear new voices while many of the supporting cast were easily recognizable veterans. Going into the cast itself, they were all well written and played their respective parts just fine. The show did go in a different direction than many fans may have wanted in the last episode, but they can put their goggles on for another show. Regardless, the characters were nothing truly outstanding and will most likely be largely forgotten as time goes on unlike some characters in magical girl anime. What did steal the show though were the sounds of the drive shafts which featured sounds from various Subaru engines. If you had a discerning ear you could pick out the rumble and burble of the unequal length headers of an EJ257 along with the smooth mechanical sounding FA20DIT. Both of which are engines that are used currently in the STI and WRX respectively. Once again, if you are an auto enthusiast you will certainly find it entertaining to hear the burble of a turbocharged flat four engine in your cute magical girl show.
When it comes down to my overall enjoyment, I must say that I am completely pleased with this show. It was one of the shows that I was looking forward to the most in 2015 due to the fact that I am a long time Subaru enthusiast and a flat brimmed hat and Ray Ban sunglasses wearing boy racer who drives a WRX. This show checked off all of the boxes for what entertains me, if you want to bring up pandering to a certain audience I would certainly be their ideal person. However, outside of car enthusiasts I really fail to see many of the aspects in this show really meaning much. If their goal was to paint the Subaru brand in a comfy and cozy light among otaku who watch late night anime, they certainly hit their mark. However, that may not be the best place to market things which leads us to the elephant in the room, the studio. This is most likely Gainax's swan song, it has been reported that they have not been working on any other new projects. For a studio that brought us such iconic anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gurren Lagann it is depressing to see them go out like this. I hope that the relative success of Houkago no Pleiades may bring some life into their studio after they lost the majority of their talent to both studio Khara and TRIGGER. That being said , it is difficult to truly recommend this show to many people, mainly newer anime viewers. It goes between several different genres and brings up many ideas that are difficult to combine together. The story itself is cohesive, but it still feels quite odd considering the magical girl backdrop. It feels more like a hard sci-fi show that should be a bit more serious and feature characters other than a group of girls in an after-school club. In the end, it comes off as being an enjoyable, but still flawed show with some questionable choices with the story. If you are a fan magical girl shows, science fiction, and cars – this is the show for you, it will certainly not disappoint in that regard.
BanjoTheBear
(This has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!) As a kid in elementary school, I remember a special event that only happened about once a year. Our class would line up, head down the halls, and into the gymnasium where the “star globe” would be set up in all its glory. The star globe was a big, inflatable, silver dome that, once filled with air, could be crawled into (it was rather big). My fellow classmates and I, upon going inside, could see only darkness. That is, until the rotating fixture in the middle was turned on. Then, we were able to see, muchto our wonderment, lights and constellations filling the ceiling, rotating slowly about us. At the time, I took for granted the knowledge and beauty that such a contraption provided – I saw this merely as an opportunity to escape our everyday work. Today, I have come to appreciate “the final frontier” and the phenomenon it holds, believing that our existence among the infinite mass of stars is incredibly special. Houkago no Pleiades will definitely make you wish upon the stars for something: for it to end as quickly as possible.
STORY
Houkago no Pleiades stars (pun intended) Subaru, a young girl who is fascinated by the field of astronomy. One night, she witnesses a brightly shining star, causing her, Aoi, Nanako, Itsuki, and Hikaru to gain magical powers. The purpose: to aid a little alien in collecting his engine fragments, so he and his people can travel once more.
The title of an anime is more important than people might realize. Many shows simply describe exactly what will be found beyond the words, while others manage to be a clever twist that symbolizes a specific aspect. Regardless of its design, the title for a show becomes the “face” of the anime, used to distinguish it from its brethren and to allow people to understand what it will offer. So, in this instance, what does “Wish Upon the Pleiades” describe about the show and its overall goals? The key part is knowing what a “Pleiades” is or, more correctly, what the Pleiades is.
The Pleiades is a set of stars that is distinct for two reasons: its brightness and its namesake. The former has allowed it to be viewed by people all over the world, creating various interpretations and connotations depending on the environment in which it is viewed from. In this sense, it is an entity that connects people together despite the cultural differences that exist. Houkago no Pleiades attempts to explore this idea, but it does so in as minimal a way as possible. The anime introduces the concept of interconnected destinies, the “threads of fate” that cross, weave, and bend in separate and in unison patterns, but at the end only, not throughout the experience. It comes in the form of a single scene and exchange of dialogue, as a literal last-minute attempt to unify the events held prior to it. It is lazy because the show is trying to give its narrative meaning where there had been none previously. Now, the anime did have some setup in the form of the group of magical girls. They were from different walks of life, raised in different families, and had different wisdom placed on them, but the anime never expounds on the connections between the group, instead focusing on the individual. This is evident by the show’s tendency to have entire episodes dedicated to a single character.
Even if the final, weak push for a coherent theme is accepted, it is astonishingly and immediately undone. The show concludes by essentially resetting everything to the beginning, as if what transpired actually never had. That means that the theme of connections is lost because they ultimately never existed in the first place. The show tries to say that the ways in which the girls’ journey has affected them will remain after their lives are put back to normal, but it is clear that this is not the case. They are completely different people who know nothing of each other or the time they spent together, destroying any semblance of theme it might have maintained.
Besides the brightness, the Pleiades cluster is also known for its mythological origins. Deriving from Greek legend, Pleione gave birth to seven daughters, known as the seven divine sisters. Considering the cosmic relation of the show and the use of magical (divine) girls as the protagonists, this seems quite relevant to the show’s intentions. Yet, once again, there is a problem: there are not seven sisters (“sister” in this context means “strong bonding”) but five. To be fair, the anime might have extended the logic to include Pleiadaian (the alien) and Minato (the antagonist) into the total. However this does not work, not because one is from another universe and the other is genetically male, but because the anime spends so much effort on reenacting the same set of events. Instead of giving ample time to understand Pleiadaian and Minato, the show constantly has the girls: undergo trouble, chase after a piece of the fragment, and then fight a pointless battle against the villain. Such repetition causes Pleiadian and Minato to feel not like “one of the gang” but instead as outliers – which, coincidentally, continues to go against the theme of connecting with others since these two are effectively ignored. In truth, Minato eventually receives attention, but repetition gives way to convolution when his position is finally given an explanation. The show injects a new idea about latent potentials in people, but like the threads of fate such a motif comes out of nowhere and is not used to benefit or drive the narrative forward. It is simply a glaring flaw that hurts the anime altogether.
In stunning fashion, one does not even have to go beyond Houkago no Pleiades’ title to realize just how broken the show truly is.
ANIMATION
By far the show’s strongest facet is the art and animation that it boasts. Since the show regularly takes place in the near and the far reaches of space, it is able to provide an array of backgrounds and anomalies that captivate. Beautiful explosions of color and dazzling arrangements of lights allow the audience to view the solar system, galaxy, and universe as if it were right in front of us. The same cannot be said for the character designs. Outside of each girl having a signature color – Subaru is pink, Aoi is blue, etc. – Nanako has the only notable design, with her lavender hair that covers half of her face to match the mysterious and cool demeanor she normally gives off.
Actual animation is somewhere slightly above average. The show actually demonstrates a lot of movement due to the girls’ magical capabilities. Flying through the sky, the solar system, and the outer reaches of the galaxy, they dip, dive, and drive on their “brooms” to accomplish their goal for that day. Even when they are not defying the laws of physics, they manage to have facial, hair, and body reactions that keep the animation feeling fluid.
CHARACTERS
As was briefly mentioned, Houkago no Pleiades has about seven notable characters that it works with. However, it makes a fatal error regularly when it does not do much with any them when they do receive some exploration.
This tactic of inspection without impact is most often employed with the main cast, specifically Aoi, Nanako, Itsuki, and Hikaru. The season has each of these girls receiving an episode dedicated to expanding her person. Her background is revealed, her troubles she faced are shown, and her current contrast with her past self – in the present with the other girls – is highlighted to demonstrate the development she has undergone. For example, Itsuki fell from a tree as a child, which caused her brother to get hurt emotionally. Therefore, she began being as selfless as possible, even if that meant going with the flow and foregoing what she wanted to do, because she wished to prevent others from receiving harm from her actions ever again. As a result, the audience witnesses as she gets “bold” (the anime’s words), she takes charge of the situation, and she ultimately discovers that it is okay to be a little selfish from time to time since friends and family will always be there regardless of what happens. Another example is Nanako, who had always been modeled as the odd-one-out, but it becomes more apparent when her past is revealed. As a child, her family split apart, resigning her to loneliness and a feeling of longing. Her loneliness is why she decided to take the three-month trip over everyone; she was already accustomed to being alone, thereby coming to the conclusion that she was best for the job. But that time, with nothing around her but the infinite blackness of space, allowed her to realize the friendships she had made, and that loneliness had left her light years ago. Aoi and Hikaru have the same process applied to them as well, giving what would appear to be a nice set of characters.
However, while the characters get extreme focus, the problem is that it happens in one fell swoop. That is, after the girls, like Itsuki and Nanako, are looked at, they are subsequently never used again. Their “time to shine” has passed, and so has the anime’s attention for them. The other implication: they are given no attention before their one-time focus. The result ends up being long stretches of irrelevancy, with a single, highly relevant moment for the girls mixed somewhere throughout. Their characteristics are there and are used when appropriate, but the events before and after their special backgrounds are explained have almost zero impact, leaving much of the cast with a sense of uselessness during the entirety of the season.
As for Subaru and Minato, their development is arguably even worse. Subaru acts as the supporter. She is not serious, strange, funny, or motherly like the other girls; she is the plain main lead. Her purpose, then, is to unite the group into one conglomerate, because even during the direst of moments, she remains her same, bubbly self. Unfortunately, her supportiveness keeps her on the sidelines right up to the end of the season, where she declares her drive to make Minato happy, which is more of the same. In essence, she comes off as wasted as the other characters because she is never seriously investigated.
And the same can be said for Minato, who for the longest time is shrouded in so much mystery it is a feat that he managed to become even marginally important. His entire existence is designed to make little sense – he has an evil side and a jaded side, depending on if he is seeking an engine fragment or being his regular self, respectively. Similar to Subaru, he acts as her guide, which leads to the same problem she experienced: not enough time given to expound on his character. In other words, for a large chunk of the series, who or what Minato is has no bearing. As the season wraps up, the audience learns of his existential properties, and that his true self is someone he wishes he never was – in a coma, unable to move – with his behavior indicating his passion to fight his fate. But the revelation comes too little, too late, and worse still, the resetting of the narrative effectively puts Minato back into his coma, meaning his character practically regresses when the anime concludes. He is certainly an interesting person, but the anime treats him so carelessly that his message of becoming more than one’s self is figuratively “put to sleep.”
SOUND
The opening theme is filled with guitar, but the singer and the beat do not seem to be on the same page. It is as if the song is trying to be more than what the singer is giving. Both parts work well separately, but they encounter disharmony when unified. The ending theme is composed with each of the girls in mind – considering the various vocalists – as a way to bolster its theme of togetherness. The piece itself is fine, but only the trailing “after school” has any power.
Listening to the rest of the soundtrack, many pieces are whimsical in nature, such as “Hajimari no Melody,” to coincide with the floaty feel of the adventure. Other tracks, like “Engine no Kakera,” adopt weird sound effects whose alien tones fit the space atmosphere nicely. Some, like “Natsukashii Basho” and “Taiji,” demonstrate the OST’s ability to delve into soft and foreboding pieces, respectively. It is an alright collection of songs that fits the show well enough.
Voice acting for Houkago no Pleiades is somewhere around average. No special shout-outs are to be had.
ENJOYMENT
When I think about this series, two main appeals come to mind: magical girls and space. The former does not cut it; the brooms are silly, the comedy is subpar, and the cuteness is minimal. The latter is not as lacking, with its talks on celestial bodies and light speed calculations. It is not super-scientific – hence the magical girls – but there is enough for space buffs to find entertainment in.
Yet there are (coincidentally) two aspects that made it hard for me to even appreciate the information on space: Subaru and the ending. Subaru’s hyper happiness and insufferable inabilities were grating throughout the whole season. I thoroughly disliked her character quite early on when these facets of her personality became known. Combined with her never doing much besides being overly cheerful and her nonexistent development, she will be a character who I will not forget for the wrong reasons. Likewise, the ending is way too nonsensical. Not just in terms of the ideas already discussed, but because it invalidates the entirety of what happened. Everything, from the girls to the story, “starts over,” which left me incredulous. It felt like what I watched did not matter, since the anime appeared to think the same.
Houkago no Pleiades is a massive failure of an anime. It has vibrant art and animation, but the broken narrative, botched characters, and boring music collapse upon itself, generating a black hole of nothingness which prevents not only light but almost anything worthwhile from escaping its clutches. No amount of wishing will change this one’s destiny.
SUMMARY
Story: Terrible, unexplored theme on connectedness, unruly repetition, and unnecessary plot points ruin it all
Animation: Good, captivating art due to space focus, bland character designs besides Nanako, with slightly above average actual animation
Characters: Terrible, irrelevant main cast in Aoi, Nanako, Itsuki, and Hikaru, whereas Subaru and Minato lack the development necessary to consider them purposeful
Sound: Fine, bad OP, okay ED, okay soundtrack, average VA work
Enjoyment: Terrible, the magical girl aspect was weak, and while the space information could have been cool, Subaru’s character and the ridiculous ending are impossible to ignore
Final Score: 2/10
lawlmartz
"Physics don't apply to us when we're transformed!" -Hikaru Preface: Deep in the multiverse, a giant spaceship with stars flashes by, absorbing a black hole and growing to an unfathomably large size, larger than ten thousand galaxies are wide. Five figures shine brightly- as though they were a small constellation of pink, green, blue, purple, and yellow stars converging into a single point of light, and suddenly disappear. Beyond infinity, these five are searching for the last piece of potential- an abstract form of energy that allows for interworld, extragalactic, and interdimensional travel. A million, million worlds. Nah, Gainax isn't making a sequel to Gurren Lagann, butthere are definitely some moments you can tell they borrowed from it in this new show, Hokago no Pleiades. In a departure from the wild, zany, dark, or introspective shows Gainax is known for, they've taken a different direction in recent years (mostly since the departure of key members to Trigger).
Hokago no Pleiades is a magical girl show, and is actually aimed at an age appropriate audience. This is a kid's show. With all of these parody and satire based inversions, subversions, and straight PERversions of magical girl these days, it's rather refreshing to see a show return to the roots of the genre and be kid friendly, clean, and fun.
Artwork and Animation: 8
It can't be said that Gainax's visuals don't look good. Take one look at the commercial slides and tell me they aren't amazing works of art. The meat of the show is very colorful, flashy, and generally vibrant. Great fluidity, and while generally fairly simple, there are some pretty intense scenes where 3D would have been used by a lesser studio, but Gainax took the high road and animated it traditionally. It's a very pretty and aesthetically pleasing show, certainly- particularly the space backgrounds.
Sound and Voice Acting: 7
This cast is a pretty varied group of VA, some veterans, some noobs. One of note is Saki Fujita, Nanako here. She also is the voice sample of Hatsune Miku. As far as the soundtrack goes, it's mostly cutesy little tunes that go right along with the tone of the show. Nothing to report.
Story and Characters: 6
Because the plot summary MAL has is... extremely vague, I'll help out.
Subaru, our MC, is a young girl who's just entered middle school. Upon entrance she meets an old friend, Aoi, who invites her to join a cosplay club. Within this cosplay club, there are 3 other members, and together they help an extraterrestrial called "the President" (who is a member of a species known only as a Pleiadan) find fragments of his spaceship's engine so that he'll be able to leave the Earth before his ship appears, which will destroy the entire planet.
The President bestows the 5 young girls with magical powers, because they have a great amount of "potential", and with their help, sets off to recover the fragments. Along the way, they run into a villain, along with some interpersonal issues- faith in one's self and others, the meaning of friendship, and how people can be physically separated, but their memories will live on forever.
Each character has an arc where the focus is on them, and how they work through their problems with the friend group. The overall conflict is an episodic format where they go to gather fragments, are foiled by the villain, regroup, and eventually come out on top.
It's a very heartwarming and cute show that's not backed by any false sense of perversion. Houkago no Pleiades is a pure show, through and through. Pure in that it's true to the origins of the magical girl genre, pure in content and taste, and pure in that it doesn't lie to the audience and try to be something it's not.
Enjoyment: 7
This new production is a wholly original anime, but in a traditional format that takes Gainax in a new direction. Gainax has been all over the map in types of adaptations they've covered, and even further ranging in originals. It can't be said that Gainax won't try anything once, and I think this was a nice foray into something completely different.
The thing was funded by the Subaru car company, even! (sound effects included!) {it's kind of a giant ad}
Overall: 7
Recommend?
If you came expecting Madoka Magica, you'll be sorely disappointed, but if you have an open mind, enjoy the ever-gorgeous Gainax visuals, and a taste for something a little different, this just might hit the spot.
Ottermelon
*Some spoilers may follow* I went into this show with unrealistically high expectations, since I based them completely off of the mysterious key visual and the fact that I have yet to watch another magical girl anime that is true to its genre. (Kill La Kill doesn't count.) It was only natural that I was disappointed by the first episode... and the next one... and the one after that. From a mostly flat protagonist whose dialogue mostly consists of "Huh?" and repeating things that other characters have just said to characters who get a single episode of development which is subsequently ignored, the show was almost achore to watch and I was ready to give up on it and dismiss it as a disappointment.
That is, for the first eight episodes. That's when I was forcefully reminded that this show was made by Gainax, and that they may or may not have a little surprise or two up their sleeve.
In this case, they did, and I believe this show was saved by its lone male character, Minato.
Unlike the other main characters, Minato spends most of his screentime shrouded in mystery, and has conversations with Subaru (the aforementioned ditzy protagonist) that seemingly serve only to give her some kind of motivation. This is in stark contrast to his apparent role as the antagonist of the show, because when he is in his Mahou Shounen outfit, he is only focused on stopping the girls from collecting the fragments. It is in this manner that the first two-thirds of the show follows this pattern every episode:
* Character has some backstory
* Subaru has a conversation with Minato
* Fragment appears
* Girls chase the fragment, Minato tries and fails to stop them
* Girls collect the fragment, everyone is happy for the most part
(not necessarily in that order)
It came off as formulaic, even to me who has never watched a magical girl anime. But perhaps this was buildup to the last few episodes, where Minato's past (and possible affiliation with other characters) is revealed. And it is here that the show begins to deviate (for the better) from its cyclical first half, and the plot twists that followed showed a surprising amount of promise. An anime that can keep me guessing, especially after being predictable for the majority of its runtime, is one that proves that it has my attention.
Aesthetically, the the space scenes are among the standouts of this show. Not only are they scientifically accurate, but as a sucker for stargazing myself, they were striking, colorful, and very pleasing to look at. The opening is also a high point, and along with being incredibly catchy, it is my favorite opening this season. The ending is cute, but nothing special.
Other than Minato, there isn't much to say in the character department, design-wise and complexity-wise. It's pretty apparent that they were designed with moe in mind, but that's all there is to it. If there's anything to take away from them, it's that 12 episodes probably isn't enough to give each girl enough development to actually make them interesting and feasible. More often than not, I felt that they were just there to collect the fragments. That's not too far from the truth, but it left me wishing that they were a little less flat. This just goes to show how forgettable most of the character development was.
Despite all of my grievances, the show has enough interesting plot twists and high points to leave me feeling satisfied. It's far from the best show I've ever seen, or even seen this season, and it may prove to be forgettable, but it pleasantly surprised me. Maybe my complaints won't reflect in my overall score, or maybe I'm just giving it too much credit, but I liked it in the end, and that's all I can ask for. Who knew that a Mahou Shoujo anime would be saved by a Mahou Shounen?
snadu
Houkago no Pleiades is a great show if you're looking for a mahou shoujo with a slow start to a heart-clenching ending. It has some twists in character relevance that I didn't expect. It also has some interesting ties with modern physics, astronomy, and aerospace engineering that populate a large majority of the show. Think Interstellar but magical girls. Coming from a collaboration with the car company Subaru, it really shocked me how good it was. I went in not expecting much and came out loving it. There's not too much fanservice (barely any), the art pieces mid-episode are BEAUTIFUL, every character is lovable in theirown way, the story is surprisingly deep, and also, its FUN. It is awesome seeing the gang level up in power every episode and see where they will go next. I haven't marathoned a show in a while, and this hooked me.
In addition, there is a surprisingly lovable male character among the 5 girls. If you watch a lot of anime, you know this can be rare.. male characters among a group of girls tend to be flat and lacking a unique backstory. But this takes that and throws it in the TRASH, giving him a great origin story and purpose.
StrawberryHeart
When I first watched Houkago no Pleiades, i expected to give it the same score of 7 that i saw the other reviews give it, but instead i found it to be far greater than that, and I think you should give this unconventional magical girl show a chance! Story- 8/10 : This reason that the story is as low as it is and not any higher, is that, at the beginning, the story goes a little fast , and the episode is over before you know it! But, after that, the story slows down a bit and makes way for the more complicated and/or spacethemed aspects of the story , which are no doubt my favorite.
Art- 9/10 : This score is mainly because of the space sections of the show, which are absolutely gorgeous , but as much as I'd like to explain them I won't because it would just spoil the moment. The Character design is also fantastic, with all the characters looking very distinct, and their magical girl outfits are just as great
Sound 10/10 : I.Just.LOVE , the soundtrack of this anime, i can't really explain it in detail but it is very enjoyable. The show also effectively uses a music box version of Clair de Lune , which sounds very pretty and somber. Last but not least , the opening, which is great and enjoyable, and a tiny bit catchy
Character 9/10 : The Characters are also a great part of the anime, but I also do not want to explain a whole lot because spoilers, but I will say that all 5 main characters ( Plus Subaru's mysterious friend) all have their distinct personalities that make them all stand out, and Subaru does well as the main character of the story
Enjoyment 9/10 : I thought that Houkago no Pleiades was a fun , inventive, and slightly unconventional magical girl shows, as Houkago has a space theme, with the characters going further and further into space the longer the story progresses, which i found to be very interesting. In all I found Houkago no Pleiades to be a show well worth watching.
Overall 9/10
Yakamin
My native language is not English, so probably I have a lot of mistakes.... This is my third review This anime is as kawai as entertaining, and beautiful Story 6/10 Subaru and her friends need to find parts of an alien spacecraft for help a little alien to come to help her friends. That includes Travel to the end of the universe. Perhaps story is focused on Subaru and the mysterious guy who is behind the door, neglecting her friendsBasically, it's an anime of mahou shoujo girls without fight for the peace and stuff but Also It is based on the strength of friendship. A bit predictable
Art 8/10
the entire MC are beautiful and original. All MC have some unique features, full of details and very colorful. The scenery is beautiful and detailed, but towards the end of the anime it can be a little repetitive
Sound: 8/10
Ambient sound in all his adventures, except when training, just what I expected and what they had to do. Sometimes the easiest way is the best
Character 7/10
Each MC is well done as I said before. Maybe it needed something else in this section, because only Subaru evolves considerably in history. The other characters also evolve, but not as much as Subaru. But as a point in favor I will say that all the characters are charismatic, and have her little story
Enjoyment 9/10
I not know why, maybe is usually I not see mahou shoujo, but it's really fun see the stories about how they collect the pieces and how they train. Also see the space and the planets its fun. This anime has a great work in the landscapes and small details very good, for example, how to see the space when traveling at a speed close to light.
Overall 8/10
For anyone other than me maybe it can be generic or boring, but I really like this show for the reasons what I just say
NewbieJun
Well..... I got lost in the plot of this series. I'm actually speechless and have no clue on what to write about this anime... The series lost me at the end when it was explaining what was exactly happening... Although it was interesting to watch it took me a few re-watches to figure out exactly what was happening in the series (Don't judge people who got it on their first watch. The amount of information that is explained in this series is a lot in one episode :/ ) I would recommend for people who are interested in sci-fiction genre anime Or people who are huge fans of this series(As there's been a movie and an alternate version of this series; which I saw watch!)
kelpiechan
This anime is the epitome of kawaii! The Story(8):it is very unique and original and I haven't seen it in any other anime!It is also very interesting with all the flights and action although its pace is kind of slow(which isn't a bad thing)! The Art(10):if you like colours, precision without getting to realistic though, and animation like the one in Toradora or Hataraku maou-sama or Sword art online then you are going to love it. The Sound(7): athmospheric and calm like what it should be for the anime! The Characters(8): all the girls have their own stories, their own secretes, and their own fears which are gradually presentedas episodes evolve!Friendship and teamwork are beautifully presented.
Enjoyment(8): Apart from being extremely cute, this anime is funny, and makes you feel warm and fussy at times when music colours and animation combine!
OddOnes
Important: If you are going to watch this anime I would advise not watching the 4 episode ONA before as it contains spoilers. It's not exactly the same, but it's similar. Now I am a fan of magical girl animes, so when I heard a new one that wasn't going to be dark, but more 'traditional', and being done by Gainax was coming out, I was looking forward to it. The more recent magical girl animes (aside from Precure and Jewel Pet, but who watches Jewel Pet!?) are taking on dark twists which I enjoy but it's nice to still see more newer 'classic' magical girltakes.
I will keep this review mainly spoiler free, minor spoilers will be mentioned that happen in the first couple of episodes.
The Story(4): The story is original for a magical girl anime as far as I'm aware, but it's not original otherwise. It is basically ET with magical girls.
There is no strong plot apart from collecting parts of the alien's spaceship so he can go home. The alien has given the girls magical powers in order to collect these parts. Each episode sees them having to capture a new part or train their skills in a different random situation, whether it be in the Earth's atmosphere or space.
The lack of strong plot makes you think "is this anime going anywhere interesting soon?" and unoriginal 'lost alien' story really isn't that special.
There are also no monster of the week episodes because there are no monsters! It's the same random annoying guy attacking and ruining the girls plans every week (he wants the engine parts but won't say why). The ONA spoiled who the guy is for me but it's really obvious anyway.
Even though this anime is rated G it's actually pretty confusing to know just what is going on at times. It poorly explains things or flat out doesn't explain them. I get one main mystery is probably going to be explained near the end, but many things aren't. They use actual physics jargon to explain some aspects and treat the show realistically at times yet unrealistically. They just fly off into space, can talk there, breath there, don't freeze to death like it's normal to be in space with no problems yet use legit scientific terms at the same time. It doesn't really go.
The setting is a mess. In the first episode all of the girls go to different schools then they all suddenly turn up in the same classroom the next day and everyone along with them pretty much act like they have always gone to the same school. This is just explained by "Your fates are converging!" and that's it.
The Art(8): The art is pretty with bright and cheerful colours. It's your standard modern day anime art, like Sword art online.
3D animation (CGI) is used for some of the flying scenes. It sometimes looks off but is generally done well.
The Sound(9): The anime has good sound that fits it really well. Very atmospheric (they're in the atmosphere a lot of the time too haha). I really like the opening and ending themes too.
The Characters(3): This is what really lets the anime down. I'm not fond of any of the characters.
The main character, Subaru is only there to advertise cars. She has a generic mary sue personality "I can't do anything!!! oh now I can do everything!!!"
Nanako... doesn't have a personality. She is used as a translator and speaks for the alien almost the entire time. This this a shame because when she gets her own episode she is quite interesting.
Hikaru seems more interesting so far but not much has been shown of her.
Itsuki is a cute, kind girl who has been shown to have insecurities about something linked to her past without revealing too much. That's about it.
Aoi is interesting but is really rude to Subaru constantly telling her that she can't do anything and shouldn't do anything for the first 2 episodes which made me instantly dislike her. She has gotten better though. She's a bit of a cow yes, but at least she has a personality compared to other characters.
The friendship between the girls is there but it doesn't seem evidently strong compared to other series. The character development is pretty poor, I felt no attachment to any of them.
Enjoyment(4): The anime is cute and visually enjoyable. However you can't really enjoy something if you don't know what's going on some of the time or if you find the characters pretty bland! These really take the enjoyment out of it.
Overall(4)
I feel like my scores average out as a 4.
Generally one of the most most important things about magical girl animes are the characters. They greatly lack in this along with the story, where you don't know what's going on as so many things are unexplained or done poorly. A show having good animation, artwork and music is nothing without decent characters, story and explanation.
juubabs
I really do not know what to speak of this anime when I watch he did not expect anything because I do not usually assitir anime with cute girls who use magic, but he impressed me. The story has nothing too are the girls helping the captain and an alien to repair his ship even the most surprising was the final stretch when he tells the story of Minato and the last episode that happened a lot that even I did not understand some parts. Overall I liked him and not anything groundbreaking but it was good while it lasted.
Firechick12012
When the four episode ONA of this came out in 2010, I thought it was cute and had potential to be a great TV series. The ONA itself wasn't bad, but it could have been better. My wish for a TV series was granted. Unfortunately...my expectations were too high, and the show is a mess, not just in its storytelling, but in the execution as well. Which is a darn shame, because there is potential for a genuinely good show in there. In a way, the show IS good. But there's just so many problems it has that hold it back from being truly great.I don't want to hate this, and I still don't. As much as there are things that I liked, I can't deny that it has major problems that seriously need to be addressed.
Four girls are recruited by a mysterious, jelly shaped alien to become magical girls and retrieve candy-shaped engine fragments so he can fix his crashed ship and return home. But the girls have to deal with their own problems as well, such as family problems, friendship issues, and their own conflicting desires. It doesn't help that there's a mysterious magical boy with red hair who wants the engine fragments for himself, for reasons he doesn't want the girls to know. But Subaru, the obligatory pink haired main character, becomes friends with a boy who happens to look and sound a lot like him, but she can only see him in some magic garden that only she has access to. Their fates are all intertwined, and the search for engine fragments turns out to be just one of their missions.
I wish I was lying, but I'm not. Usually in magical girl anime, the fairy mascot recruits girls from the same area or even the same school so they can become magical girls. Here? They don't explain it in layman's terms, as the president, the jelly-like alien, speaks entirely in squeaks and star-related technobabble that non-science and non-astronomy buffs absolutely cannot understand. I had to go to TVTropes just to get clarification on how he recruited them: as it turns out, the girls were all yanked from different timelines into the present day, all from different universes. One: how does that even BEGIN to make sense? How does the president have that kind of power? They never explain it! Two: Why not just do it the easy way by recruiting all the girls in the current timeline? Yanking them out from different timelines just makes everything far more complicated than it should, and it makes for utterly pointless drama (evident in episode seven with Aoi and Subaru).
While the anime does make a valiant effort to give the characters personalities and backstories, in the end they're all still rather one-dimensional. They're not bad, but they don't change throughout the series, even though change is a very important theme in the anime. Any backstories they do have are still relatively forced and melodramatic, they still don't develop, and Subaru and Aoi in particular got into some kind of fight before the events of the series and the way the show tries to explain it makes it come off as extremely cryptic. Not only that, neither of them even did anything to even warrant still being at odds at each other despite the show telling us that they have, and what problems they do have aren't even remotely substantial. It just comes off as being a non-problem at worst, and the show really could have been so much better had they either cut this out or improved upon it. Heck, I could try doing it better! The only characters worth caring about are Nanako and the main villain, both of their backstories being good and believable, even if it's a bit contrived in the latter's case. The main villain of the series is great and isn't out to take over the world, nor does he want to steal fragments just to be evil. Just watch the show and you'll see. Also...apparently in Hikaru's focus episode, the girls end up going to the moon, yet for SOME unexplained reason, they suddenly go on and on about nothing but food! Not only did that feel completely forced in and out of place, but it completely detracted from the show's intentions and the fact that it was Hikaru's focus episode, so to have the girls suddenly gush about food while they're in the middle of an important mission just makes me think the creators were trying too hard to make them into ditzy food loving girls for no reason.
To the show's credit, there are things it does right. The animation is very good, especially in regards to space and the stars, and although there were some CGI renditions of the girls in early episodes, Gainax realized how stupid they looked and chucked them near the end. The soundtrack is very good as well, with a decent combination of piano pieces and orchestral melodies that really fit the atmosphere of the show. The voice acting is relatively decent, even if Subaru, Hikaru, and the president can come off as shrill sometimes. Also...apparently this anime was made in order to promote Subaru cars. But you wouldn't know that by watching the show, because unlike other marketing properties such as Pokemon, Pretty Cure, etc. there aren't any Subaru cars in the show, nor does it let any form of marketing interfere with the story. In fact, the creators focus solely on the story and the characters rather than just making a show to sell cars, which is the best way to go when making a form of media to sell products. That way, the show doesn't come off as a cheap, 30-minute commercial to sell cars. An anime called One Off tried to do the same, but it was just terrible in its execution and everything else, so Pleiades fares better here. It also helps that unlike most magical girl shows, the transforming items are pretty unique, their weapons are great, the girls actually have to work together in order to collect the fragments, the villain isn't a cliche take-over-the-world kinda guy, there's no cheesy catchphrases, no ridiculous hair or anything like that, and it isn't so sugary sweet that it makes you want to vomit. It knows what it wants and even though it slacks off a bit at times, it doesn't lose sight of its goal.
While it's not a perfect show, and it does have flaws that hold it back from being truly good, it's still a nice little magical girl anime that deserves a viewing.
BlurredVision18
All my reviews are spoiler free aimed towards people who haven't seen the show. Wish Upon the Pleiades, A collaboration between Gainax and the car maker Subaru. Some info on the staff: Director/Script :Shouji Saeki (FLCL, parts of Gurren Lagann) Chief Animation Director: Mai Otsuka (Unlimited Bladeworks, Shakugan no Shana, Gundam 00 Movie) Art Director: Hiroshi Kato ( Neaon Genesis Evangelion, Ghost in a Shell SAC) Music: Shiro Hamaguchi (Hanasaku Iroha, One Piece, Tari Tari) I went into this on a whim with no knowledge of the staff involved and very little expectations from the bland synopsis. Upon watching the first episode I was immediately compelled with the opening monologue fromour heroine Subaru. What I experienced throughout the show was some laughs, excitement, sorrow, inspiration, a bittersweet romance, a bit of science & space education, a simple premise yet cleverly crafted story, I loved every bit of it.
Story: "Even shining stars that seem very close are actually far, far apart, separated by many light years. Perhaps we're like the stars we all gaze upon, shining alone in the empty void of space. Having faith that one day, our light might reach someone. Will you gaze upon the stars tonight, shoulder-to-shoulder with someone, and lend your ear to the whispers of their light? Mingling with the stars, as they shine so close together." - Subaru. With a natural potential for magic, Subaru unexpectedly stumbles onto the rest of the girls as they plan to catch a engine fragment. One of the girls, Aoi, just so happens to be an old friend of Subaru's. They decide since she found them on accident, it must be fate, and not an accident at all. The alien then gives her a "Drive-shaft", a dress with big bows, a cute hat, and make her the fifth member of their fragment hunting Magic Girl crew. Thus begins their adventure to capture the 13 scattered engine fragments so they can get the stranded alien whose ship broke down back home. Things take a sudden turn when a mysterious boy cloaked in black interferes with the capture to take the fragments for himself. For the most part the story is pretty straight forward. The Prez/Alien predicts a forecast, they go after the fragment, each fragment becoming harder to capture by being farther out into the universe or at ridiculous speeds, and of course at every step of the way, they must deal with the boy who continues to get in their way. In-between these events, Subaru meets another boy named Minato in a hidden dimension only she can find every so often at random. She spends time confiding her worries and discussing things she finds hard to tell her "old friend" Aoi. The narrative is at a quick pace and somewhat vague, until all of a sudden more than half way through the season, it all comes together like, "Ehhhhh?!?!?".
Characters: For the most part, they are kinda... bland in personality, but moe as f@#$..... Ehm emm. Anyway. Subaru is a timid and clumsy Mary Sue who is always unsure of herself but manages to pull through for the Magic crew after an self inflating pep talk. Aoi is rather impatient, it's obvious she cares about her friends but has a hard time expressing her feeling. Hikaru is confident she can excel at anything and sometimes reckless. Nanako is the emotionless kuu character who only speaks when she has something enlightening to the situation. And Itsuki is just kinda... there to be cute every now and then. They do have some interesting back stories. They all get a single episode about their regrets and the opportunity to overcome that sorrow. They're rather typical and not very fleshed out, but it's more about providing the narrative some material to wrap the show up with the moral of .... you guessed it... friendship. The meat of the show is with Subaru.
Art & Animation: Is pretty good. They do use some CGI but a lot of action is also drawn. The way some of the scenes are drawn make for some intense moments. Gainax didn't go cheap on this show. The backdrops of the sky and out in space were beautiful. Especially the eye-catches.
Sound: Pretty decent. Love the OP and ED. There are a few catchy tunes used here and there for fun. The music indeed added to the action, suspense, and romance. They spent some budget here as well.
Enjoyment: Ever though the characters were a bit bland and the story was basically a moral lesson in friendship, it could also be a bit convoluted with it's lightning fast pace. It was well crafted, you think you see what's going on, then they mislead and confuse you, then EP 9 just breaks the show wide open. I honestly don't know exactly what it is, but something about this show made me anxiously await the next episode. And I was left with a somewhat satisfying yet bittersweet conclusion.
As far as recommending the show, it depends, I'm a sucker for light romance and sweet stories of friendship. Keep in mind this is a G rated show. The story has some twists that aren't 'shock value" but are just a good turn of events. There is a bit of philosophical depth but it's kinda cliche in the same breathe. The action was fun to watch and the dry humor is amusing. Most people will turn away from the show from the image, claiming it as I quote, "an anime for sissy men". I think it's really underrated and not getting enough attention. I love it. It's a 7, but I'm going to give it an 8/10 personally.
ijavi
very different from others magical girl anime, this one had so much meaning behind it, it's not that kind magical girl where they have to save the world, it's a magical girl where the girls actually just a normal person who's trying to find her true self. what i don't like about this show is that they put a little romance in it on second half, i thought they're just going to focus on magic, astronomy & how the girls try to save the alien build her ship back. slow pace but worth to watch, if there's no 'romance' in it i will give this show 9/10,i wish the show keep focusing on magic & astronomy.
sorry for my bad english
DiamondRabbit
Houkago No Pleiades is a magical girl anime that involves the girls gathering fragments to help an alien fix his spaceship. When I take a look at the synopsis of the show, I was interested. I mean seriously, I was like "I should watch this anime!". Well, it turned out not what I've expected for a magical girl anime. The story was a little slow but I'm glad that they gave each of the characters their own episodes. I got to know the characters because of this. The art was good and the first time I saw CG outside an idol anime. The opening and endingsongs were the only masterpieces in the series xDDD. Each of the characters personalities were different but they needed more development. I find the series' enjoyment a little off. I mean, I already enjoyed the series as it is when I entered the 7th episode. Overall, the series is great and I find the star theme very interesting.
YukiAyase
I for one have watched really questionable anime (specially the first ever one I've reviewed on this site) I wanna point this out first that I have zero clue what the hell happened with the story since it has been confusing since the start up to the end All I know is that this was a collaboration anime with [insert brand here] and I just said "I don't have anything to watch and I'm bored so I'll just finish this" and yes I did finish it, confused, really confused Story | 5/10 Only thing I have to say here is its just confusing Art | 10/10 The art was just thestyle I really like and it looks amazing
Sound | 10/10
Don't have any preferences really, as long as you can hear audible audio its perfect
Character | 8/10
It was confusing since [spoiler warning] they were making Minato and the horned person sound so different but in the end its still him and my hunch was right, overall though I like what they did for every character
Enjoyment | 7/10
I enjoyed the anime, somewhat got bored since again it was really confusing
Overall | 7/10
I'd say for a confusing anime it was a decent one to watch, not much to say since everything is above
SleepingAsteria
I started watching with no expectactions, good or bad, at all and I ended up loving it. Characters This anime has a very small cast, just the bare maho shojo essentials: the magical girl team, the talking creature companion and the antagonist. We see small glimpses of their families and classmates, but they aren't even named. Subaru is our main girl, we see the story throught her eyes for the most part since she's the latest member of the group. She's your classical clumsy but full of hope protagonist. She loves astronomy and is the sole member of the club at her school. Subaru used to be Aoichildhood best friend, but as the show starts, they're longing for eachother friendship in the distance. Aoi is a sweet girl who is always ready to help a friend, but she questions if her motivations are truly selfless or not. Hikaru is a clever and cheerful girl with perfect hearing. Her father is a musiciand and her mother works in the astrophysics field, so she knows a lot about both things. Itsuki is the femenine and sensible girl of the bunch, or is she? Nanako is the misterious and mature one. She wears a cloak and a witch hat with long bunny ears and she knows a lot of languages.
Nanako is also the interpret for the pressident or the Pleiadeian, the nickname they gave to the little alien they are helping out, as she is the only one that can understand him. He is the source of power, information and guidance for the girls. He needs them to find and collect fragments of the engine of the spaceship he and his people travel in.
Minato, from the very first episode, has a dual role in the story. On one hand, he is the melancholic but gentle boy that Subaru finds inside a conservatory full of blue butterflies. They meet randomly when Subaru opens a doorand the conservatory appears in the other side, instead of the room she wanted to enter. Minato and Subaru become friends even if they don't fully understand the things that the other is talking about. On the other hand, he is a mage shearching for the fragments for his own cause. They don't recognice each other when they transform.
Overall, the characters are simple but well rounded, each one with their own struggles. Their interactions are both funny and heartfelt when needed. The friendships feel beliable and make you rot for them.
Story
Subaru is going back to her school before the sunset because there is a meteor shower that night that she wants to see from the observatory. Once there, she opens a door just to find out her stranged chilhood friend Aoi and three other girls in weird but cute costumes, a blob looking aliend and a window that works as a portal to outer space. They're all surprsed that she can see them at all and the pressident says that that means that she is the fifth member of the team. Subaru is confused but eager to help, so she goes with them to catch the fragment and they succeed for the first time.
From there, we learn little by little the rules that their powers follow, based in real astrophysics but with fantasy/scifi tweaks. The episodes have the basic maho shojo structure: they have a small mission in each one and the narrative is centered in the backstory of one of the girls and in her inner struggles as a growing girl. Every one has space to shine and grow.
With only 12 episodes, is a very simple but warm story. It's funny, sweet and well paced. The tension grows slowly at first, but faster and faster as it reach the end. There are a few clichés, but they manage to make them fresh again.
Transformations, props and everything magical
They all have a main transformation and a swimsuit one, including Minato. The main outfit it's the same for all the girls except for the hat they wear, that matches eachone personality and role in the group. It has a sailor/marine feel to it, but with star motives and big bows in the signature color of each girl. It still manages to not look like the sailor senshis uniforms at all. It consists of a sleeveless white coat with a scallop collar decorated with a big bow and four point star, epauletes on the soulders a long tail on the back for the top part; a pleated white skirt for the bottom, long white socks and gloves and a hat. In the swimsuit transformation, they all have different suits, being bikinis most of them and a one piece for Nanako. This transformation was only seen in one episode. Minato usually wears a red and black suit with a long cape and little horns on his head while transformed. In the swimsuit transformation, he wears what look to me as generic sport/beach clothes in red and black.
All six of them have a "transmission axis" if I recall the name correctly: a long metal rod with a four point star in the back that they use to fly and capture the fragments. It's a odd mixture of a magic wand, a witch broom and a subaru car. Each one is made out of a personal possesion of the character that transforms with them. The doors and windows work as portals, but are protected from outsiders, so they can travel long distances to find the fragments.
Their powers are very limited at first, but become stronger overtime at an engaging pace. They're able to fly, breath in outer space and to capture the fragments that move and look like shooting stars.
Conclusion
This is a light show with some sad moments, but a general hopeful feel. It follows the classic maho shojo tropes and uses clichés in an interesting way. It has a bit of fanservice, specially in the underwater episode, that clashes with the rest of the anime. It doesn't feel like a car ad at all. The desings are cute, the characters are likable and the easy to follow story manages to convey a wide range of emotions very well.
8/10. I would recomend it to maho shojo fans looking for something brief and lightheartet, specially younger teens.
