English Dub Review: Astra Lost in Space “Revelation”

(Possible Spoilers Below)

Quitterie discovers something both strange and unusual. Apparently her and Funicia’s blood types are an exact match, which is a highly unlikely coincidence for adopted siblings. But when Zack performs a DNA test (which is something this space ship apparently has the technology for.) and is shocked to discover Quitterie and Funicia are genetically identical. But later, Zack and Kanata come clean about it to the whole crew that Funicia and Qutterie could possibly be cloned. Most would assume “Twins” at first, but by genetics, twins are usually the same age and Funi is pretty damn young. As for the clone theory, you’d think that would be absurdly stupid, but then again this is supposed to be the future so of course, it wouldn’t be impossible not to rule that out given the technological advancements of science fiction has shown we could potentially progress towards.

In fact, a good portion of the episode is spent on the Astra Crew coming up with a plausible theory that together that with the exception of the newly recruited Paulina that they’re all clones, younger replacements for their parents, who will transfer their memories with the previously mentioned “brain technology” developed by Zack’s father. Meanwhile, the Astra Crew’s parents (including Luca’s biological father who actually requested to give Luca his “birth defect” in the first place) are seen meeting and lamenting how the recently introduced law called the “Genome Control Act” would’ve cracked down on their asses and exposed their children as clones, which is why their elaborate plan to leave them stranded in space even happened. While it doesn’t confirm if Aries is one or not since her supposed mother doesn’t seem like a cruel person as shown in past episodes, seeing this lack of remorse between the other adults who don’t even view these kids as human beings and openly admitted to finding elaborate ways to not develop any kind of emotional attachments to them left a bad taste in my mouth. Even Kanata’s Dad is just as guilty which is greatly foreshadowed in a very subtle flashback.

When we cut back to the Astra Ship, everyone is understandably distraught after putting the pieces together along with recently discovering this law, but Kanata reassures them by claiming that even if their whole life is a lie this trip has turned them into a family, and now they have more hardened resolve to return, as living and surviving together is their greatest revenge so they can bring their parents to justice. Kanata even goes as far as to later check on the crew members individually to see how they are doing, and while most of them have found closure regarding their family situations. Zack and Quitterie decide to take charge of their lives and make a life-changing choice and announce said “choice” to the whole crew. As Zack later restores the space telescope using parts from Paulina’s Ark VI ship, he’s able to bring up an image of their home planet. While the crew is celebrating, Paulina enters the bridge and what’s easly one of the biggest plot twists occurs and somehow it manages to overshadow the big twist of this episode as Paulina discovers from the Astra crew a series of even bigger reveals and it’s a precision mind-fuck of a twist ending.

Our Take

Damn, it’s impressive how much the story changed within the span of a single episode without feeling rushed. The truth is more messed up than expected and it shines new light on all the character flashbacks with their “parents”. After finding out the truth, I don’t blame them or seeking justice against these unrepentant motherfuckers. However, I love that the kids were able to overcome their shock and continue on with their positive mood. Very uplifting. 🙂 As for the twist ending revealed by Paulina, it somehow topped the main episode’s twist which I assumed would be a massive spoiler. Yet somehow the twist she revealed not only tops the “clone” stuff, but it’s on the same level of mind-fuckery as the iconic “Planet of the Apes” twist-ending and I give the creator of this series massive points for even throwing many of us off guard with that one.