Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl follows Makoto, a high school sophomore who is sent to live with his Aunt Meme after his parents are sent overseas for work. Aunt Meme is a fun-loving gal and that suits Makoto just right. According to Aunt Meme, her town has also hosted a number of UFO sightings in recent years, though Makoto isn’t interested in that nugget of info – at least until he meets Erio, the aforementioned, "futon-wearing girl who believes she is an alien."
Makoto is initially confused by Erio’s behavior, but Aunt Meme doesn’t seem to mind, so neither does he. Besides, he’s more interested in settling into his new home, meeting new friends at school, and enjoying a life without many restrictions. Although a decent portion of the series focuses on Makoto’s new life, Erio’s "condition" becomes a greater focus, creating the series’ overall story arc.
Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl earns a lot of credit for how it manages to combine these two elements. When I first researched the series, I figured I was in for something beyond the normal definition of weird. I got that, but not to the extreme I was expecting. There’s a definite "sci-fi" element to the series, though the real heart of the entire story is Makoto and Erio’s growing relationship. Both characters carry a lot of baggage and it is interesting to see how the two manage to help each other out. Erio is especially tragic. As details of her background materialize, it is hard to not feel for her. Nothing about Erio’s story will drive you to cutting and listening to "My Chemical Romance," but you sometimes feel bad for laughing when a joke is at her expense.
A few minutes into the first episode, you’ll be happy Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl is a Blu-ray release (DVD copies are also included). Everything about the show’s style shines; character designs are simple, yet incredibly detailed while backgrounds seem to "pop" with depth and detail. Audio is nice too. There isn’t much to the package other than conversation, though everything just seems complete.
Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl ships with clean opening and closing animations, as well as a short commercial for the series. As always, Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl comes with a beautiful art book with creator interviews, episode summaries and character artwork. Although the book doesn’t share thematic ties with the series, it is still fun to go through. Aspiring artists will especially like the included pencil sketches.
Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl is not what I expected. By description, it looks like the most "out there" release in NISA’s collection. Even the box art kind of gives the series a hinky vibe. But, as usual, looks can be deceiving.
