Asumi Kamogawa has dreamed of going to space since she was very young. Now she is applying to take a test to get into Space School. She hasn't told her father yet. Beyond studying, she also cooks the meals, does laundry, and does most, if not all, of the housework. Asumi really wants to go to Space School but she knows that it's too expensive and they can't afford it.

The book is divided into Missions. Each one tells part of the story. Since we start with Asumi studying extra hard for the Space School exam, we get lots of information in flashbacks. Some of which tell us how she met her invisible friend, Lion, which is a man with a lion's head. Lion was on the spacecraft that crashed years ago.

There are a several plot threads that get started in Volume 1. For example, part of the testing involves locking the applicants into self-contained rooms with three to a room and they will have to live and work together on a challenge for 7 days. We learn little about the other two girls who share the room with Asumi. We also follow three boys in another room.

The artwork is all black and white with a color cover. It was probably just me, but I had a bit of trouble at first when we went into the flashbacks since then Asumi was much younger and it took a while to twig to the fact that it was a flashback. Other than that, the characters are differentiated enough that they can be recognized in the art work, thus helping to keep the story lines straight.

There are several shorts that fill in backstory and help the reader to understand the family history of Asumi and her father. All in all it's a great start and an interesting story line. Who doesn't dream of living and working in space?