The new anime series “A Galaxy Next Door” revolves around the life of a young princess from another world whose life intersects with that of a manga artist who is trying to raise his siblings alone.
Episode 1: Crunch Time With Princess
The episode begins by showing us the Princess’s farewell. A man in a wheelchair is seen holding the portrait of an old woman. He asks the woman standing beside him whether she should have tried stopping the Princess. The woman looks stern and predicts the Princess’s return in a short time. The Princess steps onto a boat and begins her voyage.
Next, we see a funeral. A young man named Ichiro is seen comforting two young kids. Ichiro wakes up and realises he hasn’t sketched the manga, and the deadline is near. We see his young brother and sister getting ready for school, along with his cousin. They have breakfast and take some to Ichiro’s room. He is seen worrying that he will not meet the deadline unless he gets an assistant. His success as a manga artist is what will finance the kids’ education. He receives a call from his superior, who asks Ichiro to go meet a possible candidate who is willing to work as his assistant.
He rushes off to the meeting place and finds the Princess waiting on the side, looking completely out of place. He asks her to make sure she is the one who applied for the position of assistant. She meets him gracefully and tells him that, indeed, it was she who applied. She addresses Ichiro by his pen name. Ichiro hesitates, as it is the name he uses in his manga. He doesn’t want people to know his real identity in order to keep his siblings protected from bullying at school. He takes her to his apartment and offers her an overcoat, as he thinks her clothes are too expensive and might get dirty.
Ichiro begins sketching and gives the Princess a task. She completes it quickly and skillfully. Ichiro is thrilled with her artistry and speed. Ichiro asks her the duration for which she has been in the business. The Princess, having no experience, replies that Ichiro’s project is her first ever. Ichiro is taken aback by her response. He is amazed to see such precision from a novice. She shows an old manga from which she learned how to draw well. Ichiro inspects the manga and notices it’s from an old master.
Ichiro begins to complete the project. He gives the princess tasks one after another, and she doesn’t disappoint. Ichiro begins rejoicing, thinking that at that pace, the deadline will be easily met.
Ichiro and the Princess work nonstop until they are disrupted by the kids who come back from school. They are amazed to see a beautiful young girl as Ichiro’s assistant. They make him take a break and show her around the apartment. They show the Princess her room as the assistant if she is made permanent. She is delighted to see the place.
Ichiro works with the Princess till the evening. He takes a break and asks her if she wants tea. The Princess insists that she make the tea herself, as her latest task has just been completed. She meets the kids in the kitchen, who tell her about Ichiro’s responsibility of sending them to college. She is surprised to see the level of understanding among them.
With the work remaining, they try to avoid dozing off. The Princess begins telling Ichiro about her life. She tells him that she is 19 years old and that her parents didn’t let her read any manga until her beloved grandmother lent her some books. She confesses that it was one of Ichiro’s mangas that inspired her to become an artist. The day passes by, and they work the entire next day as well, but the project remains unfinished.
Ichiro finally finishes his work but finds one page missing in the manuscript and freaks out. He searches for it and finds it under his desk, but it is incomplete. Ichiro is disturbed by the fact that it may take the entire night to finish the job and meet the deadline. Since the assistant isn’t permanent just yet, he hesitates to ask her to pull an all-nighter with him. The Princess asks him to be honest with her and just tell her if he needs help. After much deliberation, Ichiro blurts out the fact that he indeed needs help. She assists him the entire night in completing the project.
Ichiro is seen exhausted in the morning. The Princess dozes off, and Ichiro packs his manuscript for delivery. He begins to move out but nods off himself. He gets up after a short while and panics. He sees a pointy object coming out of the Princess’s back. Terrified that she fell on a sharp pen, he goes near her to remove it. He gets pricked by it and starts hallucinating, waking up the Princess. The Princess seems furious, thinking Ichiro tried to touch her inappropriately while she slept. Ichiro tries to explain himself, and the Princess calms down. She imagines her life with Ichiro as her spouse. Ichiro sees her sharp and pointy tail and is terrified. He asks for her true identity. She reveals she is the Princess of the Star People and proposes that she and Ichiro fall in love and get married.
Episode 1: Ending – Why Does The Princess Ask Ichiro To Get Married?
Ichiro touched the Princess in her sleep and got pricked by her point tail. This joins Ichiro’s destiny with the Princess’s. At first, she becomes furious but later calms down, thinking Ichiro fits the custom as her spouse because he touched her in her sleep, which is a right reserved only for husbands in her world, which is why she asks Ichiro to marry her.
The first episode of “A Galaxy Next Door” is now streaming on Crunchyroll.