First Impressions / OVA/Movie / Series Introduction

Episode 01

Episode 02

Episode 03

Episode 04

GAINAX’s unusual joint anime project with Subaru makes its debut on YouTube, and the only real connection to the Japanese car manufacturer is the Pleiades star cluster that its name and logo are based upon. (Subaru is the Pleiades’ name in Japanese.) Much like the later promo videos suggested, this is actually a magical girl anime at heart, in the more traditional sense than SHAFT’s offering this season.

Comprised of four mini episodes that were all released simultaneously, this Original Net Animation (ONA) is more of a one-shot anime than a series. However, despite its relatively short length, I quickly grew fond of the characters and was surprised by the wide range of emotions depicted. Coming in without any real expectations, I was impressed by the way the show immediately grabbed my attention too, starting with the surreal opening scene and mysterious encounter shortly after. There wasn’t much in the way of an introduction as to what’s going on, yet it wasn’t the least bit jarring since it was pretty evident that was the effect the writers were going for. For the most part, I was just as lost as the main heroine Subaru (Takamori Natsumi), but answers came when she stumbled upon a clubroom with four magical girls. Seeing her friend Aoi (Oohashi Ayuru) among them, she soon becomes a magical girl as well to help their Pleiades alien club president find a way home. Joined by Itsuki (Tateno Kanako), Nanako (Fujita Saki), and Hikaru (Makino Yui), they take to the skies to gather star fragments.

While the premise itself was pretty outlandish, everything happened fairly quickly so there really wasn’t any time to start asking questions. Coincidentally, therein lie the beauty of it, as Subaru was dragged into collecting “Engine Fragments” for their president, only to find out that the boy she met earlier, Minato (Kuwashima Houko), is their enemy and doing the same for some unknown reason. They battled, then there was a bit of a rift between Subaru and Aoi, before they made up and faced Minato again. Admittedly, the whole becoming a star bit was odd since it wasn’t explained in any detail, but I found myself too immersed into the presentation of it all to dwell on twenty or so minutes of plot not making perfect sense. All I know is that there were a lot of aspects that I like, ranging from the character interactions to the mysterious cosmos, which left me wanting to see more of this unusual project.

Quite honestly, I still don’t know what the purpose of this joint venture is since it doesn’t really promote Subaru (the car manufacturer) in any way, but if it was a means for GAINAX to dazzle everyone with one of their productions, featuring great character designs and concept art that translated beautifully on screen, they sure achieved that in my books. In fact, watching this ONA made me wish more studios would receive funding to take a bit of a risk and test viewer reception by creating conceptual anime shorts, in hopes that one of their creative ideas will catch on and get the green light on a television series. After all, I went into this show with very little understanding on what it’s about, yet came out with a feeling that it’s a unique take on magical girls that I want to watch more of. I can only imagine how many other seemingly unusual concepts never make it beyond the planning phase, when some of them could have turned out as “positively surprising” as this one. It was cute and had an inexplicable charm to it.

Of course, I gather having Subaru’s financial support helped a lot with getting Houkago no Pleiades out the door. Interestingly enough, it also featured a lot of end card illustrations from various artists in the ending sequence. A lot of them are really nice too. See below.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「放課後のプレアデス」 (Houkago no Pleiades) by 高森奈津美, 大橋歩夕, 立野香菜子, 牧野由依, 藤田咲 (Takamori Natsumi, Oohashi Ayuru, Tateno Kanako, Fujita Saki, Makino Yui)
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

42 Comments

  4. Still can’t believe this is a Gainax work. I’m liking everything about it so far. Episode 3 seemed a little faced paced for me though. The concept art in the ending is gorgeous too.

    The other things I spotted to be “Subaru-ish” are the stars on their clothing and the possible magical staves starting up like cars. It would have been awesome if they used their traditional flat-four engine sound to make it distinctive. And the icing on the cake would be the future rival’s names are Mitsubishi or Lancer.

    fall3nbs
    Reply

    1. Ah, forgot to add I watched up to episode 3. Just finished episode 4 and I have to say, this is definitely a Gainax series, it left me wanting more. I felt that this series had lots of potential behind it with the pretty visuals.

      fall3nbs
      Reply

  7. Posts like this make me glad I’m a RC follower as I wasn’t going to watch this at first because I was too naive to see pass the “Magical Girl + Subaru” label. But now I realize I was wrong and will now watch it this evening! Thanks!

    SirMuffin
    Reply

  11. The art was simply beautiful. Love the sky, love space, galaxy and all the magic. The symbols were pretty and clear. The characters were all unique, my favourite is Nanako – her hair is so pretty and that PIRATE hat! YEAH CAN BE USED FOR ATTACKS EVEN. lol the Pres… kawaii XD
    typo btw for Subaru’s name right before the seiyuu (not Subura). She reminds me of Nodoka haha x]
    I thought Minato was gonna be a girl at the start and was disappointed when it was a guy 🙁 Didn’t understand the whole “becoming a star” either. It more confused me. I was like: wait so Minato is actually a GIRL? No, impossible. The body’s way too male. Then, long hair? No, it looks totally feminine! Before I knew it, the action rekicked in.

    https://randomc.net/image/Houkago%20no%20Pleiades/Houkago%20no%20Pleiades%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2007.jpg BEST IMAGE EVER.

    The main, powerful Mahou Shoujo’s tend to be Pink haired now don’t they xDD

    Rei
    Reply

  12. The whole ONA was beautifully done. Truly eye candy. With all the money from Subaru, and the online streaming, Gainax certainly went all out on the budget on this one. Unfortunately, the uncommon set of seiyus made it kind of disappointing. Not to mention they didn’t voice too many lines. Though I don’t see what Subaru gained from all this, I don’t feel like buying their cars at the moment.

    Pw3age
    Reply

  14. Ha the engine pieces look like giant konpeitou sugar candies.

    Now this one is a straight mahou shoujo wth the standard “minor quarrel and make up” and other stuff you would expect to see. Their mahou shoujo dresses aren’t distinctive enough though but the club house is colorful and looks cute

    Zaku Fan
    Reply

  27. the story felt lacking… I could’ve wished they released this in a series of OVAs rather than ONAs so that they can weave the story better. story aside, everything else is good with this anime: from animation to character designs… even the friggin vroomsticks look badass

    baka~
    Reply

  28. I had absolutely no positive expectations for this ONA, but after reading this review and seeing the screenshots, I have to say I, too, am pleasantly surprised. And now I wanna give this a chance to suck me in. <3

    For some reason I can't explain, the pink-haired boy instantly made me think he'd be a character I'd like.

    Ashen
    Reply

  32. yeah…..but is it any good?…………………*just watched*. SUCKED A.S.S!..GAInaX FAIL?????…i can’t believe it.. hehehehe, i BLAME SUBARU!!! step ur WRX models UP!!! I’m having difficulty’s ditching the popo these dayz LOL!!!!!

    BROOKLYN otaku
    Reply

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