Review of Stars Align

For starters, this is NOT a sports anime. This is an abused - kid anime masquerading as a sports anime. I'm not sure why the sports aspect is even in it unless its creator threw that in in hopes of getting more viewers due to how popular sports animes are, because the sports aspect is cursory at best. They cover forehand and backhand strokes and follow - through and ... that's pretty much it?? And though a couple of the characters make the expected declaration about how they love "soft tennis" (regular tennis except played with a soft, squishy ball) more than anything, the amountof time spent on actual games is far less than most sports animes.

But the lazily covered sports stuff takes time away from fully exploring the abused - kid aspect of the show, which seems to be what the creator really wanted to cover. Aside from the 2 main characters, each member of the team's abusive family situation is introduced sufficient to get the gist and that's it; nothing is ever resolved ... and it ends on a quite shocking related cliff - hanger. There will be no more of the show; it didn't get a second season, although the creator said he would like to put online what he planned to have happen in season two. So if you do decide to watch, be aware there will be no resolution whatsoever for any of the upsetting abusive situations any of the characters find themselves in.

The creator of this show also made Noein, of which I am a huge fan, and though Noein has lots going for it, the main descriptor I've always used for it is "deep." It's metaphorical, it works on multiple levels, it beautifully and thoroughly explores many themes. And ... the same cannot be said for Stars Align. It is not deep. What you see is what you get. There is no deeper meaning to anything that happens; they play tennis, they hang out together, and they get abused. That's it.

Yet despite all of that, I kept watching, and I missed getting to watch it when it was over. It's not a show I would recommend to anyone since nothing happens and nothing is resolved, so what was it that kept me coming back?

The main thing is the characters, particularly the main character, Maki. He seems like a jerk when you first meet him, and then when you see what his home life is like, he suddenly makes perfect sense. I still take inspiration from the main character in Noein, Haruka, who - faced with an impossible situation and almost certain death - nevertheless bravely does what can be done, keeps on going, and never lets her heart grow cold; she feels fully and loves freely. Well, Maki is pretty inspiring, too. Despite his own impossible situation, he pours energy into everything he can affect. He thinks outside the box. He has many skills, which he fully utilizes. He is undeterred by rejection and hatred. He is not susceptible to the kind of us vs them thinking that limits others. It is always interesting watching him interact with others. Most of the other characters are fairly one - dimensional, but he is fascinating and unexpected. There are a few other interesting characters, too, especially a rival from another team whom Maki befriends, and their only fan, a tsundere girl.

The animation is ugly and uninspiring. The games played are unrealistic and predictable, such as a new player miraculously winning every point right up until the final point of the game; it feels like it was taken right out of the boilerplate sports anime playbook. This is no Haikyuu, making you vitally interested in the minutiae of a sport you don't care about through its creators' obvious passion for the sport; even the characters that make up the soft tennis team hardly seem to care about soft tennis. (The initial premise is that they're an embarrassingly bad team who don't seem to care at all about improving.) The whole show seems to be a clumsy mishmash of vague concepts tossed together randomly, like a bad fanfic by someone who romanticizes child abuse and just keeps adding abused characters without any plot or resolution. (There is definitely a LOT of shipping baked in.) But you know, I kinda enjoyed watching it, so I'll give it 6 stars.