Review of Stars Align

This anime was so outside of my expectations that I couldn't help but get hooked on it, and yet, I still have no idea how to review it. Starting with the art style, I thought it was quite eloquent and a bit unique. It was able to use a lot of softer tones while still keeping a rich palate overall. The character designs were charming as well, and I thought it fit the anime very nicely. All of that sounded really boring, so I'll get to the good stuff now. I think the thing that drew me to this anime more than anything were the characters.Their stories individually were so, so interesting. I thought the structure of focusing on each character's personal lives at some point or another was fascinating because it made it all feel authentic to how it can feel to be in middle school and the effects that has on you and your family. I did think that maybe it was a bit much to have each character experiencing a problematic home situation, but at the same time, it does carry its own type of realism in it.

The story as well as everything else in this anime was a bit weird to watch, but not at all terrible. I enjoyed that sports anime side of things because the plot used those situations very well to contrast the darker themes that can be found elsewhere in the anime. That being said, it was difficult to figure out where the focus was supposed to be for the story. Don't get me wrong, the idea of focusing so heavily on the characters individually while also bringing them together through a collective activity like soft tennis was really interesting to watch. However, it could've been done a lot better. The season could've been extended to really pay the proper attention to each element rather than giving many of them an episode or two each. As I said, the sport aspect did provide light moments, but it also wasn't balanced all that well within the rest of the plot. I felt like I could understand the weight of these boys' home lives and how difficult some of them were, and I was hoping that I could also find importance in soft tennis as well. Typically, sports anime will do a really good job of making the sport feel like it has stakes and weight so that it's more tense and ultimately fun to watch, but Hoshiai no Sora didn't quite hit that mark.

Despite those issues that I had with the anime, I still truly enjoyed watching it, and I love the characters. It wasn't afraid to bring up heavy topics and discuss them, it didn't shy away from the darker parts of parenting, and it showcased strong friendships really well. It didn't develop itself as well as it could've, but it's still really fun and heartwarming to hang out with these guys. I'd definitely recommend this if you're interested because it didn't disappoint me.