Sekai Seifuku Bouryaku no Zvezda - Natasha looks just perfect!

Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku no Zvezda is an action/comedy anime series produced by A-1 Pictures that aired back in 2014. This is an original anime series, which means it is not based on any other material but written directly for the screen. That is something that feels increasingly rare these days.

The story follows the adventures of Asuta Jimon, a middle school boy who runs away from home due to issues with his parents. While roaming the streets, he encounters Kate Hoshimiya, a small child who takes a liking to him, and they talk a bit together.

The issue is that she is really not just a child, but the leader of an underground organization called Zvezda (which includes various members with superpowers), where she goes by the name of Lady Venera. This organization is plotting "World Conquest" and is searching for new candidates to join the group. Naturally, they decide to recruit Asuta.

In order to conquer the world, however, they first need to defeat the organization protecting the government called White Light. This group is composed of three masked girls with superpowers who go by the names of White Robin, White Egret, and White Falcon.

To summarize, it is sort of the typical old-school story of an organization protecting the world from an evil underground group, but with the roles reversed so the protagonist is part of the "evil" organization instead. Of course, things aren't as clear-cut, and you learn more about the motivations of each character and the whole World Conquest plot as the story progresses.

Each character gets enough time to shine in some small personal arcs, even though I feel that the short length of the anime (12 episodes) makes it hard to actually develop the characters in a way that makes them memorable. The only two that truly stand out are Kate and Asuta. Maybe a little bit of Natasha, I guess...

The Zvezda group is composed of these characters:

Kate Hoshimiya (Lady Venera)

A young girl of an undisclosed age, even though she looks 8 or 9 years old. She is the leader of Zvezda and has a power that allows her to persuade every being with a human heart to do her bidding.

Asuta Jimon (Dva)

A second-year middle school student. He has no fighting power whatsoever but becomes useful to Zvezda thanks to his cooking skills.

Itsuka Shikabane (Lady Plamya)

An eye-patch-wearing girl. She is one of the vanguards of the group, fighting with a sword and possessing superhuman strength. She is easy to anger but is extremely fond of Kate.

Natalia "Natasha" Vasylchenko (Professor Um)

A blonde girl wearing glasses who works as the scientist of the group. She is often seen with very few clothes aside from a lab coat.

Yasubee "Yasu" Morozumi (Odin)

The self-proclaimed "Chief Soldier," though he is really just another low-rank soldier like Asuta. He is scared of Kate.

Goro Shikabane (General Pepel)

Itsuka's father. He uses explosives to fight enemies. He was a gangster in the past but actually loves sweets a lot (sometimes he even ends up eating dessert in the middle of battle).

Roboko

A robotic girl powered by the mysterious Udo power source. She seems to be a remnant of an ancient civilization.

The series has quite a hit-or-miss comedy in my opinion. Some of the scenes are hilarious (I really loved the stop-smoking segment), while in others, you may end up just staring at the screen wondering if you missed something that should have made the scene funny.

My favorite character is definitely Natasha, both for her looks (she is gorgeous and the long blonde hair really suits her) and her generally drowsy/calm personality. That is also helped by her backstory, which fits perfectly during one of the story arcs and sheds light on why she joined the Zvezda group.

Despite these faults, I still suggest giving the series a chance. While it has some weird moments and failed comedy, it is still a solid anime and a highlight of that era.