Stars Align (Hoshiai no Sora) has been trending for the past few hours (around 12 now! And it was above BTS for a while!!!). For those who don't watch it, it might be a new thing under their radar, one they haven't seen trending yet. I say, in my personal opinion, it's a must watch!
It's a sports anime, yes, but it's not really about the sport. On My Anime List, the synopsis goes like this:
"Constantly outperformed by the girls' club, the boys' soft tennis club faces disbandment due to their poor skills and lack of positive results in matches. In desperate need of members, Toma Shinjou is looking to recruit capable players, but he fails to scout anyone. Enter Maki Katsuragi, a new transfer student who demonstrates great reflexes when he catches a stray cat in his classroom, instantly capturing Toma's attention. With his interest piqued, Toma ambitiously asks Maki to join the boys' team but is quickly rejected, as Maki doesn't wish to join any clubs. Toma refuses to back down and ends up persuading Maki—only under the condition that Toma will pay him for his participation and cover other club expenses.
As Maki joins the team, his incredible form and quick learning allow him to immediately outshine the rest of the team. Although this gives rise to conflict among the boys, Maki challenges and pushes his fellow team members to not only keep up with his seemingly natural talent, but also drive them to devote themselves to the game they once neglected.
This story focuses on the potential of the boys' soft tennis club and their discovery of their own capability, while also enduring personal hardships and dealing with the darker side of growing up in middle school."
So, without going into spoiler territory, why should you watch it?
For one, the scenes are incredibly storyboarded and craftfully animated. While using standard 2D animation for the foreground characters,
they use 3D animation for the background characters and objects, keeping them moving despite their distance in the scene!
Not to mention the incredible scenery.
The characters are drawn and colored with care, the lines looking painter-ly with their fluidness, and the colors a pastel color, contrasting with the show's heavy themes.
Which brings me to the second point as to why you should watch this.
This show tackles many themes that have been relatively unexplored in anime. Without going into depth, they tackle themes such as child abuse and LGBTQ representation, and many more. It may appear to be a sports anime, but it does not focus on its sports, only in a handful of episodes does the soft tennis place forefront ahead of the issues the characters face.
Lastly, I beg you to watch it because of how it was treated. In short, the creator, Akane Kazuki, wanted to tell an unconventional story, and had originally planned for this anime to be 24 episodes. However, it was axed down to 12 episodes in the spring of last year, and therefore, they could only air the first half of the series. Akane wants to finish the story, but it's up to fans like us who are willing to go the extra mile to advertise it and buy merch to show the company that we want more. If you watch it on legal streaming sites (which it can be abundantly found on) the company will see interest, and want to televise it more!
So, you may be asking, where can I watch it? (Or not, that's fine too.)
Well, its available on Funimation (where there's a dub coming out of it, it's on episode 9 currently) and Hulu (where all the subbed episodes are located)! And, I believe you can find it on Amazon Instant Video as well.
Though, despite all I talk it up, I must issue some content warnings before it starts. This anime is very, very heavy thematically, and I don't want anyone to be surprised when they watch it.
-Child abuse is brought up time and time again throughout the show, with most of its cast having problematic parents who abuse their children, in many ways, not only physical.
-Bullying/cyberbullying is a major theme throughout the show as well, especially in episode three, and throughout one of the character's arcs.
-sadly, alongside the LGBTQ representation, there is transphobia/homophobia.
-furthermore, there are themes of violence, murder, and mild suicide implications sprinkled throughout the show.
EDIT: I've been informed to also include further cws, so these are a few I forgot in the original post!
-existentialism is talked about often throughout the show, by the main character and others!
-in the dub, funimation changed one of the lines to be fatphobic, likely by accident, but still a thing.
So despite the fact this is an incredible show which talks about tooics that deserve to be talked about in today's media, I do acknowledge it isn't for everyone. Which is okay! I just wish for everyone to promote the show as it deserves to be played out in its entirity, instead of being cut short.
Thank you for reading, if you made it this far! I hope you'll give this show a chance!
annaxmalina
dededos
stormborns
