Voices of a Distant Star

Mikako is recruited as a Special Agent to fight against the Tarsians, an alien race that has begun attacking humanity. She makes the difficult decision to leave Noboru behind and enlist in the interstellar war effort. Her motivation stems from a sense of duty to protect Earth, though the choice means sacrificing her relationship with Noboru.

The opening scene showing Mikako desperately trying to connect with others through her phone hints at her deep need for human connection, which makes her sacrifice to leave even more poignant.

As the Lysithea carrier travels deeper into space toward the Sirius system, the distance between Mikako and Earth increases dramatically. This causes radio signals to take progressively longer to reach Noboru. Initially taking days, the delay grows to weeks, then months, and eventually years. By the time Mikako sends a message from Agartha, it will take eight years to reach Noboru on Earth.

Agartha is the fictional fourth planet of the Sirius Solar System where Mikako and the Lysithea expeditionary force arrive. It serves as the setting for the climactic battle against the Tarsians. The planet name draws from the mythological concept of a hidden underground realm, adding a mystical quality to the sci-fi setting.

The Tarsians are the alien enemy forces in the story, named after the Tharsis region on Mars where they were first encountered. They are the opposing force that the UN Space Army fights throughout the film. They attack humanity and pursue the Lysithea across space, culminating in the battle near Agartha.

After the climactic battle where Mikako helps save the Lysithea from destruction, she allows her damaged Tracer to drift in space. On Earth, Noboru receives Mikako's email dated from eight years prior. The manga continuation shows that Noboru joins a UN rescue mission, and when Mikako learns he is among the rescuers, she believes they will meet again. The movie leaves their reunion hopeful but unresolved.

The delayed message arriving nearly nine years later fulfills the setup of the eight-year delivery time mentioned when Mikako sends the email.

Mikako sends the email with subject "I am here" from Agartha to inform Noboru of her arrival at their destination. The message carries deep emotional significance because she knows the delivery will take eight years, making it a final declaration of her presence and love despite the enormous distance separating them.

The film opens in 2047 with Mikako alone in a hauntingly empty city, desperately trying to contact others through her mobile phone. This establishes both the theme of desperate connection and foreshadows her isolation throughout the film. The scene uses memory flashes and appears non-linear, showing her pleading with a doppelganger to let her see Noboru again.

Noboru receives Mikako's 2047 email approximately nine years later, around 2055-2056. Since the story begins in 2047 when Mikako is a teenager, Noboru would be in his mid-twenties by the time the message arrives. In the manga, he is 25 years old when he finally reads her message.

The Tracer is a giant robotic mecha (mechanical suit) that Mikako pilots as a Special Agent in the UN Space Army. She operates it as part of a fighting squadron attached to the Lysithea spacecraft carrier. The Tracer serves as both her weapon in the battle against Tarsians and her personal space in the vast emptiness of interstellar travel.

The Lysithea departs Earth to pursue and engage the Tarsians in deep space. As a spacecraft carrier housing the Tracer squadrons, it carries Mikako and other pilots into the interstellar theater of war. This departure is what forces Mikako and Noboru apart, beginning the years of delayed communication that defines their relationship.

The film opens with Mikako pleading with her own doppelganger (double), begging to see Noboru again so she can tell him she loves him. This vision represents her inner emotional state, her longing, loneliness, and the psychological toll of separation. It occurs as memory flashes, suggesting it may reflect her mental state during the time dilation or serve as a mystical element connecting past and future.

The manga continues beyond the movie's ending and shows a more explicit hopeful reunion. Sixteen-year-old Mikako messages 25-year-old Noboru, and she learns that he has joined the UN rescue mission. When she finds his name on the mission roster, she declares they will definitely meet again, providing a more conclusive sense of their future reunion compared to the movie's ambiguous open ending.