I have always hated the Moe genre. Of course when I mean I hate the genre, I don't mean I hate it in all its forms. To me moe could only work if it was but a subsidiary genre of the anime, something that was just added to add some spice and bring in some fans here for the cute girls. A good example would be Rifle is Beautiful, a small show that I appreciated due to its Sports show aspect, but that coincidentally was a moe show. In other words, the "cute girls doing cute things" wasn't the main focus, but just something extra added to the show. However, since the appearance of K-ON, many and many shows started popping up trying to put the focus on the Moe part, trying to make Moe the main genre of the show. However, whenever I watched any of these shows, despite the fact that the cuteness did bring some warmth and fun, it disappeared close to instantly. The thing is, this disappearance of the warmth made me feel quite empty watching these shows. It wasn't due to anything the show was doing, it was simply due to the shows actually were empty besides these short spans cuteness. This realization made me quickly realize that the Moe genre should never ever be put in the front, as it had nothing to truly build a story around.... Or at least so I thought, until Koisuru Asteroid appeared.
As the world started burning and panicking due to Corona, Koisuru Asteroid appeared. As usual, when choosig my seasonal shows, I actually don't choose them and watch literally anything, making a quick drop of certain shows 3 to 6 weeks later if they feel boring. Koisuru Asteroid, during the first weeks, was purely boring. The story was simply girls doing earth science stuff looking cute and all. And frankly, I was counting on dropping it. Yet, after the 6 weeks drop period, I somehow found myself keeping it. I don't know if it was because I dropped more shows than usual, but I decided to stick with this show to the very end. And boi do I not regret it. As you reach the middle of the show, the anime starts taking an actual look into what it can do using Slice of Life. Of course, Slice of Life is by no means overtaking the show, it is merely sharing the spotlight with moe, trying to merge with it in interesting ways. And this merging of the two genres is one of the most exquisite things I've seen in recent animes. Starting a bit late, but starting nonetheless, the show begins to finish the carving out of its characters' models, and starts working into making them something more than hollow puppets. Each character has their own sets of worries. Some are born from their personalities, some from their dreams, some from a lack of either. And as if a interesting characters weren't already good enough, the show goes on to make it even better. Each and every setting, story or even dialogue from now on, no matter how small it is, brings its importance and development in at least one characters. A simple museum allows us to explore a characters' dreams and insecurities, while also letting us understand the passion of others. The interactions between the characters, be it by clashing or simply lending a hand, bring forth a new world of possibilities: Ridding one characters of its fears while creating insecurities in the other, answering one character's question by having it solve another's issue. Many and many more of these allow for each of the characters to develop and change throughout the whole show making for an unending feeling of joy. Along with that, it sometimes makes use of the opposite, making sure one character lacks in interactions for a bit in order for him to develop. All of these discoveries, changes and new understandings of characters allow you to latch on quickly onto characters. You quickly become attached to them, and the sight of them leaving the the picture that is the anime brought me close to tears. However, this as a whole is nothing but slice of life territory, and frankly, would it be ONLY slice of life, this show would be average at best. But this is when the Moe genre shows up out of nowhere, and throws you for a loop.
See, during the first episodes, we got used to this cheerful and cute side of each and every single one of our characters. There is not a single spot for sad or dark feelings. But when Slice of Life starts to kick in, these feelings do appear, which is why it would feel logic for moe to be out of the picture. But instead, moe goes and says "Plus Ultra" and suddenly realizes its hidden potential. Because each of the characters are nothing but balls of cuteness and happiness, any sad feeling gets multiplied by the sudden change. These characters were our joy, our light in the show, something that could never be hurt or touched by anything sad. And yet, here we are. That small comparison allows to make the small insecurities that the characters have about their futures that much bigger, big enough for us to compare them to our own issues on the subject, attaching ourselves even more to the characters. And that's when the endless loop begins. As you've latched on to their characters, their cuteness and the warmth they give off will not simply disappear anymore. It'll not only last longer, but come at you with more impact, as it is a smile that exists despite the issues they're facing. Because the warmth you feel is that much greater, you get even closer to the character, and any issue once again repeats the previous process, locking us into a loop where we simply just appreciate the characters more and more the more time we spend with them. It is a simple idea, but frankly, it has given birth to an amazing work and for that, I truly recognize its valor.
Conclusion
This show is definitely nothing special if you're watching simply for the sake of killing some time. The amount of interest you have to put in in order for you to even get put in the loop I mentioned is quite high, and I therefore do not recommend it. After all the story is third rate at best, and the character types quite unoriginal. But on the other hand, if you're ready to put in the effort to try and even slightly care about these girls infatuated with geology and astronomy, you'll find yourself an anime with amazing art, truly carved out characters that are quite the opposite of hollow, as well as characters that I think will stick to you for a while. Even if like me you do not enjoy any form of moe, you should still give this one a try, as it is the utmost best anime the Moe genre has to offer.
