Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「緋ノ月」 (Hii no Tsuki) by ALI PROJECT
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「ノスフェラトゥ計画」 (Nosferatu Keikaku)
“The Nosferatu Project”
Well, it’s now officially fall so you know what that means. Spooky times. Scary times. Vampires flying in space times. Vampires in space? Yupp, vampires in space. To be honest I was looking forward to Tsuki to Laika if only for the sheer whiplash of having Russian vampires recreate the early years of the Space Race, but damn if initial hopes aren’t being fulfilled. There’s a lot of potential fun at work here, we just have to see how well it provides.
In line with the RC Preview, Tsuki to Laika is effectively what happens when you take Yuri Gagarin’s triumphant milestone, flip it into a fantasy setting, and then replace the guy with a pointy toothed vampire cutie pie. Anyone familiar with mankind’s early space efforts (specifically Russian) will be right at home here, as everything from Sputnik to Laika and even initial fears of what space could do to a person’s body have been featured in all their glory with promises of more when it comes to actual manned spaceflight. You’d almost think this was just history told through the lens of fiction, but in that regard you’d be wrong. After all, there’s that vampire cutie pie yet to deal with.
Where Tsuki to Laika goes off the historical rails is in regard to its main female lead Irina Luminesk (Hayashibara Megumi). Much as gleaned above, she’s not only Zirnitra’s – i.e. this universe’s USSR – designated test subject for manned flight, but also a vampire. Well, mostly vampiric; tingling skin and pointy ears run closer to Twilight than Dracula, though the biological origins bear nice similarities to S.M. Stirling’s Shadowspawn trilogy. The important bit here, however, is that Irina is a bona fide vampire; the girl is not seen as human by Zirnitra’s leadership, so in their mind she’s the perfect tool to verify if human beings can survive the rigors of space. Expect to see quite a bit of the ethics on this over time, as already the show has hinted towards the difficulty some in Zirnitra’s program are having with keeping emotions fully out of their work. Irina may not be technically human, but rest assured the difference is going to become increasingly hard to maintain.
Case in point of such ethical landmines scattered on the path ahead is Irina’s handler in cosmonaut aspirant Lev Leps (Uchiyama Kouki). It’s not difficult seeing where this is likely going considering how all other tales of inexperienced guy paired up with ostracized cutie pie who’s likely destined for the bad end typically go. Romance, in my spaceflight fantasy story? It’s more likely than you think. The interesting bit though will be seeing how such romance develops between the two. Lev after all has an apparent black mark on his record, but could likely correct that should he succeed with his new mission – i.e. use Irina as springboard into space himself. Likewise Irina clearly has a reason for going along with her role because she’s far too accepting for what it entails. Both will grow closer to each other, but will they prioritize such feelings over their other wants and dreams? That we’ll just have to wait and see.
It’ll be an episode or two yet before Tsuki to Laika gets into the groove of things, but without a doubt this one will be a fun series to pay some attention to. It may not be the most glamorous or action-packed, but I’m definitely down to seeing just where it goes.
Random Tidbits
In case the ethics mention seems weird, it’s good to note several of scientists who originally sent Laika into space had major regrets over their decision. Irina’s prayer is a good reference to this, as the statue she’s beside is a stylized version of the one for Laika located in Star City; expect Irina’s fate to share similar consternations.
ED Sequence
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ED: 「ありふれたいつか」 (Arifureta Itsuka) by Chima
Preview
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Fangs of Honneamise?
Well, this was full of cultural dissonance, the biggest of which for me was referring to the US as the UK. Not so much world-building as world-bending. That aside, it seemed to get off to a fairly solid start. The short foray into Monogatari territory with the salmon eggs seemed out of place (and not just because they should be sturgeon eggs), unless perhaps it was meant as a metaphor for the way that Zirnitra crushes life without a thought. And that bit at the end, are vampires really resistant to cold or was she just brushing him off?
I like the way they took the trouble to give the vampire a Romanian-sounding name, so it shouldn’t be Romanised as if it were Japanese and end up as “Luminesk”, but instead be “Ruminescu”. But whatever. Feels like this will be a watch.
Alright, that got a chuckle out of me!
I think Irina was brushing Lev off at the end. It’s been made clear she does not trust any human and already suspects Lev will kill her if so commanded. The first tiny grains of doubt may have been implanted courtesy of Lev’s thoughtfulness, but I think she’ll stay cold towards him for a good while yet.
I know it’s a standard boy / girl romance, but so far I like its delivery.
So, we get that test subjects are objects, so I wonder if the overarching
story line will be to have her accepted as a person and not a disposable
“thing.”
I think it’ll enjoy this series.
Also, FINALLY some decent Anime music (loved the outro song)!
Not sure if the story will entirely go that route, but it definitely will come up in some capacity given the inevitability of the idea. One of the two is bound to start liking the other one something fierce, and such feelings will inevitably lead to wrongthink on the part of Zirnitra’s leadership.
Just a solid episode to setup the world and storyline. I’m expecting nothing really special but just a fun show with some tidbits of space exploration history.
A bit worried about the CGI elements in the characters though. There were some scenes that looked pretty weird. That’s not a good sign in the first episode.
This is interesting, from brutal inner working of Soviet Union (by any other name) to interspecies superstitions on mutual end… to a bit of fascination with beinbg so different yet so alike.
Fangs of Honneamise made me laugh but hell if I did not see some parallels…