Review of Stars Align

I don't want to write a long review, but I wanted to mention that a lot of the lower scoring reviews for this show all seem to rag on it's 'lack of realism' or 'melodrama', with some going so far as to call it a train wreck. It is not a train wreck. It isn't realistic and it is very dramatic. All things I would argue were intential and are strengths of the show. The sports anime can either be funny, realistic, serious or very dramatic. This show is definitely more serious and dramatic but the way they play the game, the ambitions of theteam and achievements they make in the time the anime covers are much more realistic than many of the shows peers.

Stars Align focuses on misfits who find respite in a dysfunction club that mirrors their dysfunctional home lives.

The show takes a unique approach to the training and tournament arcs of traditional sports anime and splices the fun, colourful coming of age sports scenes with the dark gritty reality of their selfish and depressed parents. How the two overlap is interesting to watch and the main team cast are flawed while maintaining a likeable humanity.

The downsides to the show are it's edge-lord open ending and the lack of development for the home-life scenarious as dividing screen time between both the home, school and soft-tennis courts for a whole sports team was definitely a push for 12 episodes.

That said, the character development is meaningful and the show leaves me with a weighted sense of awareness that what can seem simple on the serface isn't always what it seems and life gets really complicated, really fast, especially when you're just a kid.

I recommend this anime if you like teen drama and sports anime. The art style is also beautiful and the whole execution of the show; sound design, VA, pacing (except for noted issues), artistic direction, are all of a very high standard.