History Anime / RocketGirls

Naturally, she's a little freaked out when she finds out that they intend for her to fly a spaceship. But she still wants closure on the issue of her dad, and she's not going to get that without the SSA's help. As such, she reluctantly begins astronaut training. Joined in her endeavours by the energetic Solomon Islands native Matsuri [[spoiler:(who turns out to be her half-sister)]] and later by the intellectually gifted but physically weak Akane Miura, Yukari is soon going Where No High School Girl has Gone Before... into space!

!!This show contains examples of:

* OnlySaneMan: Yukari, especially from her perspective. Surrounded by an overly ambitious executive, a surprisingly cold-blooded doctor, a mad scientist, a jungle girl who can't shut up about "fireworks"? Yeah. And then there's [[spoiler:her father]].

* {{Gainaxing}}: Matsuri encourages Akane to do so in her LatexSpacesuit right before her first press conference appearance.

Based on a series of light novels by Housuke Nojiri and produced with technical assistance from {{UsefulNotes/JAXA}} (the Japanese counterpart to NASA), ''Rocket Girls'' is a series which ranks very highly on MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness. It aired on Japanese TV in 2007 and was released for the American market as a sub-only DVD in 2008.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Despite the premise, this is some of the hardest sci-fi out there. Even the skintight spacesuits are projected to become reality in about a decade's time.

-> ''[[GratuitousEnglish This is Tanpopo commander Yukari Morita. I'll enter the transfer orbit, now.]]''

* AintNoRule: ...that says a high schooler can't go into space.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Matsuri]]
* BlownAcrossTheRoom: Colt .45 + 38 kg girl = wacky result. See SmallGirlBigGun under characterization tropes.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Most of the SSA staff.
* {{Determinator}}: Akane.

* JumpedAtTheCall: Matsuri.

* NubileSavage: Matsuri.

* ScaryShinyGlasses: Mihara the chemist.
* SmallGirlBigGun: The .45 ACP is on the upper end of the range of handgun calibers. Considering that there is no room in the setting for a BFG, Yukari's Colt semiautomatic is pretty big. See BlownAcrossTheRoom under setting/premise/plot tropes.

* ShoutOut: Mihara may be one to Mihara "Icchan" Ichiro from ''Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer''.

* ConspicuousCG: Most prominently with ground vehicles and rockets. The actual space capsules are often animated, though they don't avoid this treatment entirely.

* CloudCuckooLander: Most of the SSA staff.

* ConspicuousCGI: Most prominently with ground vehicles and rockets. The actual space capsules are often animated, though they don't avoid this treatment entirely.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Matsuri]]

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: Yukari's search for her father seems like a long term plot thread when first introduced, but it's mostly an excuse to get her to the Solomons and introduce Matsuri. Yukari actually finds him in the second episode, and it's only some fast talking on his part that keeps her from quitting her job with the SSA and forcibly dragging him back to Japan with her.)]]

* TheChiefsDaughter: Matsuri is technically one, although she doesn't fall into the traditional role of being the main character's love interest [[spoiler: (instead she turns out to be the heroine's younger half-sister, since the Chief in question is actually Yukari's runaway dad).]]

* LongLostSibling: Turns out [[spoiler: Matsuri's father is Yukari's runaway dad. Matsuri takes this revelation a lot better then Yukari does.]]

!!This show contains examples of:

* ShoutOut: Mihara may be one to Mihara "Icchan" Ichiro from ''AngelicLayer''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rocketgirls.jpg

----> ''[[GratuitousEnglish This is Tanpopo commander Yukari Morita. I'll enter the transfer orbit, now.]]''

Based on a series of light novels by Housuke Nojiri and produced with technical assistance from JAXA (the Japanese counterpart to NASA), ''Rocket Girls'' is a series which ranks very highly on MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness. It aired on Japanese TV in 2007 and was released for the American market as a sub-only DVD in 2008.

* LesYay: Akane to Yukari, big time. At one point, Akane even says "if you're asking me to do that...I'll strip!" (Yukari asked Akane to go swimming, Akane didn't have her swimsuit handy, and she wasn't going to let that stop her.)

* RefugeInAudacity: Mostly the premise, although a few bits such as the chase scene in the first episode probably qualify as well.

* TranslationConvention: If you think about it, either the ''Atlantis'' crew speaks sufficiently fluent Japanese or Yukari and Akane speak sufficiently fluent English.

* LatexSpacesuit: Skintight spacesuits are one of the technological advancements the SSA is using as part of its attempt to develop economical manned space travel (since they're a lot lighter than conventional space suits). Amusingly enough, the reactions of the characters themselves to the spacesuits seem a lot more scandalized than the series visuals would seem to warrant.
** There is to add that there is nothing that would prevent such a space-suit to be actually used for short-time missions. Short-time, because of the missing plumbing...
*** The ironic thing is that in the light novels they apparently had said plumbing. To a certain degree.
*** NASA keeps wanting to develop these, but can't seem to get funding. Apparently better spacesuits aren't sexy enough -- they should get more female astronauts, I guess.

Based on a series of light novels by Housuke Nojiri and produced with technical assistance from JAXA (the Japanese counterpart to NASA), ''Rocket Girls'' is a series which ranks very highly on [[{{ptitlekov7423el8ye}} Moh's Scale of Sci-Fi Hardness]]. It aired on Japanese TV in 2007 and was released for the American market as a sub-only DVD in 2008.

* MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness: Despite the premise, this is some of the hardest sci-fi out there. Even the skintight spacesuits are projected to become reality in about a decade's time.

Based on a series of light novels by Housuke Nojiri and produced with technical assistance from JAXA (the Japanese counterpart to NASA), ''Rocket Girls'' is a delightfully funny series which nevertheless ranks very highly on [[{{ptitlekov7423el8ye}} Moh's Scale of Sci-Fi Hardness]]. It aired on Japanese TV in 2007 and was released for the American market as a sub-only DVD in 2008. Recommended for fans of shows such as ''{{Planetes}}''. Think of it as ''TheRightStuff'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''TheIdolmaster''.

* LovableTraitor: Director Nasuda. He may be funny, but he has a bad habit of keeping secrets from the girls.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Despite the technical advice from JAXA and the generally high level of sci-fi hardness, this does crop up a few times. One case may have been deliberate due to a desire to keep a scene from the original novels though.
* GeniusBonus: Jokes about Reverse Polish Notation and Hohmann Transfer Orbits.

* [invoked]MoeMoe: Akane, who is bright-eyed and strong-willed but physically weak and sympathy-inducing.

[[folder:Plot, Premise, and Setting tropes]]

* MoeMoe: Akane, who is bright-eyed and strong-willed but physically weak and sympathy-inducing.

[[/folder]

[[AC:Plot, Premise, and Setting tropes]]

[[AC:Characterization tropes]]

[[AC:Metacontext and Presentation tropes]]

Naturally, she's a little freaked out when she finds out that they intend for her to fly a spaceship. But she still wants closure on the issue of her dad, and she's not going to get that without the SSA's help. As such, she reluctantly begins astronaut training. Joined in her endeavours by the energetic Solomon Islands native Matsuri [[spoiler:(who turns out to be her half-sister)]] and later by the intellectually gifted but physically weak Akane Miura, Yukari is soon going Where No High School Girl has Gone Before... into space!

* BeautyBrainsAndBrawn: Yukari, Akane and Matsuri.

* BlownAcrossTheRoom: Colt .45 + 38 kg girl = wacky result.
* ButtMonkey: Yasukawa, the SSA's original astronaut. He ends up becoming a taxi driver on the island. Also, the poor saps in production who keep having to pull all-nighters in order to get the agency's hardware built on time.
* TheCameo: Real life JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki lends her voice to a scene in episode seven, where she welcomes the fictional Yukari as a fellow astronaut.
* TheChiefsDaughter: Matsuri is technically one, although she doesn't fall into the traditional role of being the main character's love interest [[spoiler: (instead she turns out to be the heroine's younger half-sister, since the Chief in question is actually Yukari's runaway dad).]]
* CloudCuckooLander: Most of the SSA staff.
* ConspicuousCGI: Most prominently with ground vehicles and rockets. The actual space capsules are often animated, though they don't avoid this treatment entirely.
* {{Determinator}}: Akane.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: Despite the technical advice from JAXA and the generally high level of sci-fi hardness, this does crop up a few times. One case may have been deliberate due to a desire to keep a scene from the original novels though.
* FurBikini: Matsuri's "native" clothing is a close cousin, being as it doesn't have much fur in it.
* {{Gainaxing}}: Matsuri encourages Akane to do so in her LatexSpacesuit right before her first press conference appearance.
* GeniusBonus: Jokes about Reverse Polish Notation and Hohmann Transfer Orbits.
* HyperAwareness: Satsuki makes an absurdly accurate "estimate" of Yukari's measurements just by eyeballing her.

* JumpedAtTheCall: Matsuri.
* LatexSpacesuit: Skintight spacesuits are one of the technological advancements the SSA is using as part of its attempt to develop economical manned space travel (since they're a lot lighter than conventional space suits). Amusingly enough, the reactions of the characters themselves to the spacesuits seem a lot more scandalized than the series visuals would seem to warrant.
** There is to add that there is nothing that would prevent such a space-suit to be actually used for short-time missions. Short-time, because of the missing plumbing...
*** The ironic thing is that in the light novels they apparently had said plumbing. To a certain degree.
*** NASA keeps wanting to develop these, but can't seem to get funding. Apparently better spacesuits aren't sexy enough -- they should get more female astronauts, I guess.
* LesYay: Akane to Yukari, big time. At one point, Akane even says "if you're asking me to do that...I'll strip!" (Yukari asked Akane to go swimming, Akane didn't have her swimsuit handy, and she wasn't going to let that stop her.)

* LongLostSibling: Turns out [[spoiler: Matsuri's father is Yukari's runaway dad. Matsuri takes this revelation a lot better then Yukari does.]]
* LovableTraitor: Director Nasuda. He may be funny, but he has a bad habit of keeping secrets from the girls.
* MadScientist: Mihara the chemist. When she needed platinum as a catalyst for the new fuel she was testing, she used her own wedding ring to provide it!
* [[MagicalNativeAmerican Magical Native Islander]]: Matsuri can charm fishes to the shore by singing to them, uses the JediMindTrick on a guard and survives 38 Kg. at 10G on her torso during a re-entry without even a bruised rib.
* MaleGaze: In the obligatory BeachEpisode, some of the technicians are astonished by Yukari's swimsuit look. The crew on Atlantis also seem to have good times ogling the girls in their spacesuits.
* MoeMoe: Akane.
* MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness: Despite the premise, this is some of the hardest sci-fi out there. Even the skintight spacesuits are projected to become reality in about a decade's time.
* NubileSavage: Matsuri.
* OnlySaneMan: Yukari, especially from her perspective. Surrounded by an overly ambitious executive, a surprisingly cold-blooded doctor, a mad scientist, a jungle girl who can't shut up about "fireworks"? Yeah. And then there's [[spoiler:her father]].
* OpenMindedParent: Yukari's mother is totally ok with her daughter risking her life as an astronaut.
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Yukari prior to becoming an astronaut. Following her return to Earth, she tries to insist that she still is one.

* {{Salaryman}}: Kinoshita was one of these before he decided to follow his childhood dreams and become an astronaut. After failing screening due to a medical condition, he ended up becoming the SSA's mission director instead.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Mihara the chemist.
* ShoutOut: Mihara may be one to Mihara "Icchan" Ichiro from ''AngelicLayer''.
* ShownTheirWork: More like "Shown that they had advice from the Japanese Space Agency," but the effect is much the same.
* SmallGirlBigGun: The .45 ACP is on the upper end of the range of handgun calibers. Considering that there is no room in the setting for a BFG, Yukari's Colt semiautomatic is pretty big.

* TranslationConvention: Either the ''Atlantis'' crew speaks fluent Japanese or Yukari and Akane speak fluent English.