Space Patrol Luluco: The Complete Series

By: EyeSpyeAlexWhile I have a lull in my week, I figured I’d tackle my growing pile of box sets (sorry Mithrandiel!). First on the menu is the galactic comedy Space Patrol Luluco!StorySpace Patrol Luluco follows the story of Luluco, a middle school girl who dreams of a normal life on Ogikubo. Those dreams are dashed when her father Keiji ends up frozen from accidentally ingesting an alien pill. Suddenly, Luluco finds herself filling her dad’s position at Ogikubo’s Space Patrol division. Luluco finds herself less upset over her predicament when her assigned partner is revealed to be her new classmate, Alpha Omega Nova. With the ability to morph into guns, Luluco and Nova soon begin dispensing justice. Their duo becomes a trio when classmate turned super villain Midori repents and joins the side of justice.Luluco’s situation only grows more abnormal when space pirates kidnap Ogikubo and auction it off to the highest bidder. Led by Luluco’s mom, Lalaco is a bastion of lawlessness, the exact opposite of her husband. Furthermore, Lalaco reveals that she is the one who gave Keiji the alien pill. With her home missing and her father frozen and in her mom’s clutches, Luluco must embrace her Space Patrol destiny, or lose her normal life for good.This is where the plot gets a little wonky. As the gang learns, their Ogikubo isn’t the only one in the galaxy. They travel to other Ogikubos looking for there’s, before Luluco is rewarded her Ogikubo on the Space Patrol planet. Things really heat up when the leader of the Space Patrol planet is revealed to be a Blackholeian. Nova, who turns out to be a Nothingling, betrays Luluco by stealing her heart, thereby killing her. In Hell, Luluco realizes she needs to tell Nova about her feelings for him and comes back to life. Back in the land of the living, Luluco’s family and friends help her reach Nova. After the two admit their feelings for each other, Nova and Luluco defeat the Blackholiean, with Nova nobly sacrificing himself for the cause.Space Patrol follows a pretty linear story form. The good news is this makes the show easy to follow and digest in its 8 minute format. The bad news is this also makes the show a little predictable. The sudden, but inevitable betrayal becomes just that when the show is rushing towards its finale.CharactersEach character in Space Patrol Luluco seems to have been created to fulfill a typical anime character. Luluco is our plucky protagonist who must grow to embrace her quirks. Nova is our typical handsome, neutral, and conflicted love interest. Midori is our popular girl. Keiji and Lalaco are the polar opposite and career driven parents. Each one of them satisfies a trope, but with a comedic over-dramatization. If this were a longer running show, I could definitely see it becoming annoying very fast. With the length of the show and episodes though, the comedy level is just right.AnimationTrigger did a lot of cool things with the style of Space Patrol Luluco. Each Ogikubo had a different animation style and theme, ranging from detailed and colorful to simple and monotone. Even our main characters were animated differently. Luluco, Nova, and Midori seem pretty original to the show. However, Lalaco looks very similar to Ryuko from Kill la Kill, and the General Manager Over Justice is drawn just like the characters from another of Trigger’s short series, Inferno Cop. There’s even a cameo of Sucy from Little Witch Academia on one of the Ogikubo worlds. At times the mixing of character styles can feel like it’s clashing. Overall though, it was unique and I can appreciate a studio embracing their originality.Voice ActingAll of the voice actors in Space Patrol Luluco seem to be veterans in their field of work. Brittney Karbowski (Soul Eater) voices Luluco and does a good job of capturing the right amount of adolescent whining in her characterization. Justin Briner (My Hero Academia) brings a perfect amount of charisma and nonchalance to his iteration of Alpha Omega Nova. Jamie Marchi (My Hero Academia) was my favorite and does a phenomenal job portraying a bitchy valley girl as Midori. All in all, a stellar group of actors did a stellar job.Packaging and Bonus MaterialsThe packaging and bonus materials were a little simple, but I think it’s suited for such a short series. The set comes with a color-coded DVD and Blu-Ray disc. It was a little weird though because each disc was labeled “1”. I wasn’t sure if that was meant that I had the one disc for each type, or if they were planning on using them as part of a larger collector’s Edition and didn’t bother printing ones without numbers. In terms of bonus materials, the only things provided are a textless closing trailer and anime trailers.For a short series, I really enjoyed Space Patrol Luluco. I think the length was just right, and it would have felt flat or gotten annoying in a longer format. While the set is lacking in terms of added features, it’s nice to have all of the episodes in one place. With a solid cast of voice actors, Space Patrol Luluco ends up being a pretty well-rounded anime series. Collectors looking to add Space Patrol Luluco to their collection can purchase it here from Funimation.