Review of Stars Align

The promotional poster of Hoshiai no Sora (Stars Align) caught my eye even before the show began airing. “Even in an ever-changing world, only the starlit sky will not change”. As a coming of age story, Hoshiai Sora teaches an important lesson about how we humans change, how we evolve, and how we grow up in an ever changing life. We live in a society dubbed as a modern era of controversy, where we communicate through our feelings but often causing trouble unknowingly. It’s part of growing up. Everyone makes mistakes in some way or another. It’s what makes us human. In this original anime, youcan say that making mistakes is part of the common norm, a very common fact that needs to be accepted.

We all have to start off somewhere. Rome wasn’t built in a day after all and for someone like Maki Katsuragi, he enters the show as a transfer student and tennis beginner. Transferring to a school presents challenge on its own as he is the new kid in the neighborhood. Shijou Minami is a school where there’s a population of complex teenagers, driven by social anxiety while trying to forge a future for themselves. Maki faces a similar situation as he tries to build a future for himself in a seemingly stressful life. After reuniting with his childhood friend Touma Shinjou, he joins his school’s soft tennis club. This is where his daily adventure begins. But before we look into his school life, one shouldn’t forget about how he lives at home.

Hoshiai no Sora may be a coming of age story but it adamantly adds a bold amount of drama. The first few episodes tells a harsh reality as we see the behavior of abusive parents. It’s actually a common norm in this show, so much that you’d think adults in their world are socially incapable of building a lasting relationship with their children. Watching this show tells how harsh reality can really be, especially for those who suffered physical or mental abuse. It’s a sensible subject that makes Hoshiai no Sora feel so real. But back to Maki’s situation, he faces abuse from his own father. An early example includes his father taking his savings while inflicting abuse on him. Maki’s fear is evident as he doesn’t report his situation to authorities but actually resorts to lies. By showing such a reality, we can definitely feel sympathetic. No one should have to come home and fear their own father. Abuse also extends to other characters such as Itsuki Ameno. The physical burn scar is a symbol of abuse by his own mother when he was an infant. Life is really tough when reality hits such way, isn’t it?

Luckily, characters in the show are able to get back up when life knocks them down. The soft tennis club serves as a way for them to escape reality and build their character. Maki and Touma grows as part of their daily life activities and begins to show more signs of confidence. United by their common goal to win, the soft tennis club serves also serves a social hub for our characters. Daily issues may be common but they strive to resolve them together. At first, trouble seems difficult but as time goes on, the club becomes a unity of trust, commitment, and value. It’s so important to see how characters connects with each other in order to accomplish goals. As the captain, Toma leads the team with his commanding presence and takes soft tennis seriously, more than anyone else. It’s a difficult task for him as many of the other members slacks off that puts the club into tight budget. But on their way of success, the members begins to show more commitment. Watching this group grow will feel stressful at first because of how imperfect they are. But the more I watched the club, the more I realize how relatable these characters are. Hoshiai no Sora has characters fall into life stressful quagmires, but the soft tennis club serves as a beacon of light.

And thanks to the soft tennis club, you can bet that characters begins to grow out of their shells. Maki is the most evident example as he finds the courage to stand up against his abusive father when Touma is threatened by him. It’s a powerful example of a boy who is able to overcome his personal demons to protect what he treasures, the important relationship he has built with his friend. Touma’s own problem at home traces its roots to his mother, a person who seems emotionally abusive towards his son. It’s like a stomping on his confidence until he begins to prove himself as a capable captain of the tennis club. However, not everyone suffers from parental abuse. Rintarou Futsu is a rare case of having loving parents despite being adopted. In sharp contrast compared to the main characters, he lives a happy life with them. And because of this, Rintarou is fundamentally a nice person and serves as someone who others can easily trust in. When you see the anime showcase characters this way, it’s also easy to tell how parents can have influence on their kids.

By the time you’ve watched a decent portion of the show, it’s easy to see the amount of sensible subjects. The anime explores issues dealing with adult fear, parental abuse, and even sexual orientation. Yu, the manager of the club, is the most prominent example. Because he is homosexual, Yu attracts bullies and abuse, even from his own mother. It’s situations in the show that can be hard to watch if you find his circumstances relatable. And as I’ve said before, this anime isn’t shy about being controversial.

But despite all this drama, we do have light comedy that has shifts its mood tone. A few examples includes Maki’s brutal honesty who sometimes says things that can be unintentionally ludicrious. There are also running gags about how certain characters looks feminine, so much that there’s even an episode with crossdressing. On the tennis field, competition may be tense but some of the strategies employed by the club are laughable. When you add more of the cherry character personalities of other club members, it can be quite a lighthearted anime. And the more you watch Hoshiai no Sora, the more you’ll realize that the show isn’t truly about sports competition. It’s about characters growing up.

Director Kazuki Akane’s early work has little to no similarities with this anime so it’s rather refreshing to see him take on this project with his tone of storytelling. The character designs takes on a soft touch with simple art style. Most noticeably however, it’s the character expressions that stands out the most. Between the main characters and various abusive parents, it show how real the anime can really get. Watching the characters' speech mannerism is important as it allows us to judge on their character personalities. Finally, I do want to mention that this show has one of the most catchiest and stylish ED theme song of the year. The dance movements and choreography is exceptionally eye catchy despite some characters out of synch. It’s hard not to dance with them.

At a pace of 12 episodes, this show dealt with drama on a level that I wasn’t prepared for. I came to watch this show for soft tennis but got treated with doses of drama in an emotional coming age of life. But that’s what makes this anime stand out so much. The daily adventures of the soft tennis club reminds us the reality of life, where we all have to face problems at one way or another.