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Satellite Girl and Milk Cow
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Unique Korean anime has violence, scary imagery.

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Satellite Girl and Milk Cow
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What's the Story?
KITSAT-1 is an out-of-commission satellite orbiting Earth. One night, she picks up a transmission of a young man singing a ballad at a cafe's open-mic event. Smitten, she decides to return to Earth to find him. Along the way, she magically transforms into Satellite Girl, a girl with rocket shoes and limbs that can fire weapons. At the same time, the heartbroken young man who sang the song that enthralled her turns into a Holstein milk cow. When they meet, they are joined by Merlin, a "blood heir of fairies" that is now a talking roll of toilet paper. In their new bodies, these three must fight Mr. Oh: a man who steals livers for The Incinerator, revealed to be the source of the world's current imbalances. If these three can defeat The Incinerator, not only will the balance of the world be restored, but the SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW will also find the love that has proven to be so elusive.
Is It Any Good?
This is an unusually creative movie, even by the high standards of the best anime. A lonely out-of-commission satellite comes back to Earth and turns into a girl. A down-on-his-luck sensitive balladeer turns into a cow. And then a "blood heir of fairies" named Merlin has turned into a talking roll of toilet paper. It's all quite unconventional and eccentric, but at its core is a theme that's common to a lot of anime: the ups and downs of young love.
There are times when the story feels a little too complicated. The antagonists include an Incinerator, a harvester of organs, and a pig witch. When paired with absurd scenes like the Milk Cow sitting on the toilet passing gas and defecating while the talking roll of toilet paper hovers nearby lamenting what he inevitably has to do to help in the bathroom, it's a little bizarre. Satellite Girl and Milk Cow occasionally gets lost in its own eccentricities. Nonetheless, the central thread of the story is clear enough that fans of the genre will enjoy this unique tale of transformation and metamorphosis.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about anime. How does Satellite Girl and Milk Cow compare to other anime movies you've seen?
What do you think the unusual transformations of the characters symbolize?
How does the violence compare to that of other animated features you've watched?
Movie Details
- In theaters: February 20, 2014
- On DVD or streaming: June 6, 2018
- Cast: Daniel J. Edwards , Ryan Bartley , Kirk Thornton
- Director: Hyung-yung Chang
- Studio: GKIDS
- Genre: Anime
- Run time: 80 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: August 2, 2023
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