As an anime collector, I tend to look for something to cover in my blog review series.
Whenever it’s a popular or niche title that I own, every time I look at a show/movie I would often envision myself going back in time to the point where I purchased that show and why I made that purchase to begin with. Was it the cover that applied to me, was it the premise that intrigued me, was it a popular show that people loved, or was it a cult classic or even a niche hidden gem. These are possible answers that I usually answer to myself whenever I look at a show in my collection.
Aside from your typical anime home video mystery boxes that you get during the holiday period, you have times when you brought a show for no reason other than you had nothing to do because you only had a pocket left and you wanted to buy something for the sake of buying.
Enter The Girl who Leapt through Space, is one of the many series that I brought due to my having available with little to no research on the show. What I didn’t know was that the show that I bought from a bargain bin online would end up being the craziest, funniest, and most bizarre sci-fi show I have ever seen which I ended up loving.
Yes, it is that good.
At first glance, The Girl Who Leapt Through Space seemed to be your standard 00s sci-fi mecha show that was popular at the time with all the tropes and cliches that surrounded it. Sounds basic enough as it should, but let me tell you all of that is intentional as the Girl Who Leapt Space retrospective is a parody sci-fi mecha show and a cleverly realized one.
The whole you don’t watch it for the story couldn’t be stronger as the story while decent, isn’t the primary goal of the show is providing you with chaotic entertainment. Stuff in The Girl who Leapt through Space just happened with every drama, comedy, or action pilot and it’s not a bad thing. Being a huge sci-fi/mecha fan of Studio Sunrise and Xebec works I was amazed by the number of references and elements that this show took from. Code Geass, Gundam Seed + Destiny, My-Hime, My Otome, Stellvia, and many more.
We have tropes such as girls with superpowers, friends who later become foes, foes who later become friends, angsty teenagers, fan-service teasing, technology sexual metaphors (Aquarion reference) mythological lore and I could go on.
What made the story work is the strong self-awareness. It doesn’t try to take itself too seriously. It goes with the chaotic flow and never seems to lose sight of it. It’s hilariously packed with excellent and well-timed humor, mainly thanks to the fantastic character chemistry of key characters.
It does unfortunately have some plot issues as expected. Plot holes at times run rampant in the story where things don’t make much sense. It can be too hard to follow for its own good. Most of all if you’re not familiar with sci-fi/mecha animes especially the ones from Sunrise around the 00s then your not going to have the best of time watching this. Nevertheless, the story faults weren’t bad enough to turn off many diehard sci-fi mecha fans and me although newer fans should approach with caution.
The characters themselves while typical were entertaining and nicely-handled.
It goes without saying that the main attraction of the main cast goes to Leopard, the catchy roasting AI who’s voiced by no other than Jun Fukuyama, the voice of Lelouch from Code Geass. It was a massive treat for me being a die heard Code Geass fan as not only stole every single scene that he’s in, but his chaotic chimeric personality, as well as his brilliant referencing to various sci-fi/mecha anime from that period on top of his phenomenal roasting, was pure gold.
Leopard is the soul of The Girl Who Leapt Through Space and the show wouldn’t be as great without him.
This is not to say other characters weren’t as good as him, I really like the eventual main trio of characters.
Our main lead Akiha may be the most originality stock cheeky dense sci-fi female lead around, but I liked how her personality flowed so nicely with the story, and seeing her personality clash with other characters was a treat. She gets some nice character development in the show later, even if it’s a predictable one.
In contrast to cheeky Akiha, we have Itsuki who’s more serious and focused on her objectives and hates making mistakes, A good character that I enjoyed throughout the show. She keeps cheeky-driven Akiha in check in case she goes too idiotic. She also receives character development throughout the show, mainly because she eventually is able to face her issues as well as open up to Akiha and Honoka.
If Leopard is the heart of the show, then Konoha is my favorite character in the show. Originally a mysterious simi-starter villain for the show, she manages to change her ways and eventually up becomes a good girl where she develops a good friendship with Akiha and Itsuki. I admire her development in the show as well as packing plenty of mysterious elements in the show.
The rest of the characters were solid for what they are, but many of them could have been more memorable.
Favorite supporting characters include Imoko who’s basically this show version of Horo from the Gundam franchise, Tsutsuji and the chaotic evil younger sister of Akiha Nami.
Production wise Studio Sunrise delivered another visual banger. It may not be Code Geass or Gundam 00 level, but it’s still one of the better and more visually impressive shows by Sunrise. It had aged like a fine whine.
The character designs are distinctive and nicely drawn. Mechanic designs being the AI’s, mechs and spaceships are colorful and detailed.
The animation barring the hilariously intentional stock footage for certain scenes (parody Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny) is smooth, well-choreographed, and consistent with hardly a drop in quality.
The soundtrack is outstanding, especially for Sci-Fi anime.
Composed by Tomoki Kikuya, who would, later on, compose the soundtrack for the 2022 surprise hit Bocchi the Rock, he totally brought his A game at delivering an impactful and execting sci-fi score. well composed Sci-fi Orcetical, electronic sci-fi, and upbeat tracks dominate the soundtrack of the show. It even has some kickass insert songs to the mix which only amplify the show.
Now I’m not a fan of Ail Project as I am personally not fond of their tune style and the first opening theme didn’t help much in changing my opinion. While not necessarily awful the tune and the vocal didn’t mesh well.
Thankfully the second opening theme is a phenomenal strict improvement and I would dare to say that the second opening theme should have been the only opening theme of the show. It perfectly suited the tone of the show.
The first ending while better than the opening theme is still an average upbeat song.
The second ending just the second opening theme is an amazing improvement over the first ending theme.
It nicely complements the tones of the show.
There’s unfortunately, no English dub for the show, however the fantastic seiyuu performances of aforementioned Jun Fukuyama as Leopherd as well other Seiyuus such as Aya_Endou as Itsuki, Yuuka Nanri as Nami, and the standout performances outside of Jun Fukuyama, Miyuki Sawashiro as Tsutsuji Baba.
All and all The Girl who Leapt in Space is an excellently executed sci-fi mecha parody anime. The story may be typical and even flawed, but the character dynamics, well-crafted humor/references, strong production values, music, and voice talent more than make it for it.
It’s a hidden gem of an anime that has so much heart and soul in it.
I would usually recommend shows like this to anyone but really given its obscurity as well the reliance on other sci-fi/mecha shows this is more dedicated to more moderate to experienced sci-fi fans than your causal anime watcher.
TakaCode Reviews 
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