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{{quote|''[[Gratuitous English|This is Tanpopo commander Yukari Morita. I'll enter the transfer orbit, now.]]''}}
It's summer vacation. High schooler Yukari Morita is visiting the Solomon Islands to try and find out what happened to her father, who disappeared there seventeen years ago while her parents were on their honeymoon. Meanwhile, the Solomon Space Association -- a Japanese corporation trying to corner a market in satellite repair by developing low-cost manned spacecraft -- suffers a serious setback when its newest rocket design explodes during testing... for the sixth time. Desperate to ensure a successful flight before the company's financial assistance from the Japanese government is cut off, they decide to dust off an older, proven, but less powerful rocket design. The only problem is, using it would require their astronaut to lose a rather unhealthy amount of weight. And height. Already at his limit due to the launch failures and the sadistic tendencies of the company's doctor, the spooked astronaut steals a vehicle and flees the base, almost running down the now stranded Yukari in the process.
A wild chase ensues, and before long, the SSA has their man back in custody -- but it's clear to them he's just not going to work out. The chase has however brought them into contact with Yukari, who happens to weigh in at a very petite thirty-eight kilograms. Recognising an opportunity, the SSA's unscrupulous Director offers to use the company's supposed connections with the local police to help Yukari find her father... if she agrees to do a job for them. It's just a simple job... one so easy "even a monkey could do it."
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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!
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 at first glance ranks very highly on [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness]] but ends up being just another anime about space. (An entertaining anime, granted, but not a realistic one.) It aired on Japanese TV in 2007 and was released for the American market as a sub-only DVD in 2008.
For those interested in the original books, the [http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Girls-Housuke-Nojiri/dp/1421536420/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286888081&sr=1-1 first] [http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Girls-Last-Planet-Novel-Paperback/dp/1421537656/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1286888081&sr=1-3 two] of the ''Rocket Girls'' light novels are now available in English.
Not to be confused with ''[[Racket Girls]]''.
{{tropelist}}▼
▲{{tropelist}}
== Plot, Premise, Setting, and Theme tropes ==
* [[All There in the Manual]]: The anime doesn't explain why Yukari's father wandered off on his honeymoon. It is explained in the novel, though; {{spoiler|Matsuri's tribe}} needed men, so the women used their [[Magical Native American|Magical Native Islander]] powers to summon one.
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler|Matsuri}}, during the SSA's first manned mission.
* [[Blown Across the Room]]: Colt .45 + 38 kg girl = wacky result. See [[Small Girl, Big Gun]] under characterization tropes.
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** There is nothing that would prevent such a space-suit to be actually used for short-time missions - but only short-time, because of the missing plumbing. The ironic thing is that [[All There in the Manual|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.
* [[Literal Metaphor]]: Yukari is offered a job that even a monkey can do... why, yes, there ''have'' been [[wikipedia:Monkeys and apes in space|monkeys that have gone into space]].
* [[Loophole Abuse]]: Ain't No Rule that says a high
* [[Lovable Traitor]]: Director Nasuda. He may be funny, but he has a bad habit of keeping secrets from the girls.
* [[Older Is Better]]: A realistic version of this trope is shown when Mukai explains to Yukari that older technology has had all the bugs worked out and is therefore preferable to new, untested technology. This comes back to bite him when he wants to use a new fuel in the rocket that Yukari is slated to crew.
* [[Parental Abandonment]]: More neglectful than actually absent in Yukari's case (which she lampshades after receiving a call from her mother). Subverted in the case of Akane
* [[Red Herring]]: {{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 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.)}}
* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: Mostly the premise, although a few bits such as the chase scene in the first episode probably qualify as well.
* [[Techno Babble]]: Averted; practically all the tech jargon used in the show is ''real''.
* [[Training
== Characterization tropes ==
* [[Beauty, Brains, and Brawn]]: Yukari, Akane and Matsuri. (Yes, Matsuri is as beautiful as Yukari, but she's much stronger and substantially more able to handle physical stress.)
* [[Butt Monkey]]: 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.
* [[The Chief's Daughter]]: Matsuri is technically one, although she doesn't fall into the traditional role of being the main character's love interest
* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Most of the SSA staff. Also, once we finally see him, Yukari's father.
* [[Determinator]]: Akane, who flat-out refused any help in order to become an astronaut.
* [[Einstein Hair]]: How we know that the minor character Professor O'Reilly is an important person but not a rocket specialist.
* [[Fur Bikini]]: 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 [[Latex Space Suit]] right before her first press conference appearance.
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* [[Jumped At the Call]]: Matsuri, Later, Akane turns Jumping at the Call [[Up to Eleven]].
* [[Les Yay]]: 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.)
* [[Long
* [[Mad Scientist]]: 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!
* [[Magical Native American|Magical Native Islander]]: Matsuri can charm fishes to the shore by singing to them, uses the [[Jedi Mind Trick]] on a guard and survives 38
** In the backstory detailed in the novel, the [[Jedi Mind Trick]] is the cause of Yukari's father abandoning his bride during their honeymoon.
* [[Nubile Savage]]: Matsuri.
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== Metacontext and Presentation tropes ==
* [[As Himself|As Herself]], [[The Cameo]] and [[Ink Suit Actor]]: Real life JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki
* [[Conspicuous CG]]: Most prominently with ground vehicles and rockets. The actual space capsules are often animated, though they don't avoid this treatment entirely.
* [[Male Gaze]]: In the obligatory [[Beach Episode]], 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.
* [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness]]:
* [[Shout-Out]]: Mihara may be one to Mihara "Icchan" Ichiro from ''[[Angelic Layer]]''.
* [[Shown Their Work]]: More like "Shown that they had advice from the Japanese Space Agency," but the effect is much the same.
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