I understand and respect fans of this anime. I am no stranger to readers or viewers disliking a story I like. However, I must be honest with this review. This anime, excuse my language, pissed me off.
Let's break this into 5 sections:
- Animation:
- Passion:
- Story:
- Pacing:
- Execution:
ANIMATION: To start, Star's Align (Hoshiai no Sora) animation is good. It was the main reason why I chose to watch it in the first place. Its animation created an overall vibe of Serene and Peace. It's so calming and peaceful to look at. I feel that this animation had the potential
...
for more. The story wanted to go into a darker route (this will be explained later) and because of its fluffy and calming look, they could have used it to create a more chaotic and disturbed look. A popular example would be Madoka Magical, but Miracle Man is even more fitting. Outside of its wasted potential, I think that ANIMATION gets a...
Animation gets 8.0-star rating!
STORY: What is this anime about? The synopsis explains the plot of most great Sports anime. An underdog fighting for their place in the world. Junior High kids struggling with the darker side of Junior High. Teenagers and bonding! I can't say they didn't deliver on that promise. They introduced us to most of their problems in 12 episodes. Within those 12 episodes, I can tell you that it was meaningless. Terrible parents, abuse, mental illnesses, or being adopted. These are all things that can weigh on the youth. Being a teenager means you're in the most hormonal, dramatic time of your life, and having these issues with their characters is not the "bad" part of the story... the execution is.
Don't get me wrong, everyone has troubles at home or school they have to deal with. Not everyone has to deal with abuse from an absent father or a mother who simply doesn't love them. The problem is that the anime shoves everyone's issues down your throat, proceeds to overdramatize all of their issues, creates psychological drama and illnesses for these characters, and pushes aside the one thing that can liberate these characters. Soft Tennis. I had to ask myself, how come everyone has a terrible life? How come all of these characters are in oh-so-terrible (I can't live with myself) predicaments? One of them acted as if their entire life revolved around the fact they were adopted. It's one thing for a teenager to react negatively to finding this out. It's one thing for a teenager to be so dramatic about it. But the anime paints everyone's life as shitty and is actively trying to invoke our sympathy. This anime is the equivalent of people on the internet spreading dark rumors about a meme to make everyone feel bad.
The story gets a 5.0-star rating!
PASSION: This. Passion is the one thing that could have held this story together. This anime does not care for the sport this story claims to revolve around. Soft Tennis is a little-known sport, the same as Racquetball. You can recognize it, but not very many would choose Soft Tennis over regular Tennis. Ping Pong (Table Tennis) is a more well-known sport. And this is the biggest problem I have with this story. There's no passion in the sport. Reactions, their feelings surrounding the sport, and what the sport can do for them. Maybe it's because I've been spoiled by series like Slam Dunk, Ping Pong the Animation, Real, Haikyuu, or even Robot x Laserbeam.
Why did I have to watch one of the main characters get extorted by his father in more detail than watching the sport the story claims to revolve around? Seriously, they play music in the background, show close-ups of the character's frames, use impact frames, and expect us to cheer or get into it. I felt nothing. They don't focus on any of the other characters. They're not good enough to win, so let's focus on Maki and Toma and give them actual gameplay, everyone else can stick with slideshows and losses. Even Maki officially joining the team lacked any substance. Build up to it more! Not only that but maybe the club should've been a little bigger. It doesn't have to be a large club, and you don't have to focus on all of them, but more of a sports setting and more time dedicated to Maki being an unwanted member would have taken this anime further.
Passion gets a 4.0-star rating! Unless it's about abuse storylines, then it becomes a 10.0-star rating! They're passionate about abuse!
CHARACTERS: It would be a crime to say Maki doesn't have potential. Out of everyone, I accepted his family issues the easiest. He was the first introduced, and they drove his feelings of fear and abuse. I think it would have benefited the sports aspect the most, too. Well, his drama and Toma's. Kinako, Yuta, and Shinjo were among my favorite characters in this series. Most of the characters, however, could be removed and replaced and it wouldn't affect me, it may even drive the story further. Ameno is a one-off jerk with a murderous tendency. I watched the entire anime, and I still don't understand what his problem with Maki was about. Outside of that, he isn't memorable in the slightest. Soga is a character I like in hindsight but hated while watching. He's loud and is played as too violent. His dark home life plotline comes into play, and then he's sidelined. Shingo was irrelevant and a poor man's Soga who wasn't interesting one bit.
I liked Kinako, her problems were the most realistic, and her character was as awkward as her issue. But man, aside from them forcing her into the plot, she was unneeded for most of the scenes. For some reason, Yuta, the character with the greatest social issue and who would have benefited the most from character development, was ignored for most of the plot. In love with one of the members of the soft tennis team, hiding his sexuality, and being in-charge of the Soft Tennis team (while being an easy target for bullying), you would think his character would be explored more, right? After all, Stars Align has this undeserved narrative of being LGBT-friendly despite sidelining that narrative for lesser plotlines. Shinjo is one of the few characters, maybe the only character, who benefitted the sport. Living in the shadow of his legendary brother. Possibly being on the spectrum. And being the ONLY character in the entire series with a passion for the sport. I liked him the most... outside of Kinako. She's, my favorite.
Characters get a 6.0-star rating! (Mostly because of four or five good characters)
PACING: Not good. 12 episodes and 1 season. 11 characters, all with problematic backstories. The anime should have sold everything to reach a season 2 SO they can tell these stories. It's clear that was the plan, but... the execution was terrible. For one, Soft Tennis should have been the focal point. You sell your story to your audience with these three things: Animation and Art Style, which is stunning. Introduction of Soft Tennis and how it would change Maki and Toma's life. Writing the darker plots in the background. Drop hints to it, but don't make it the focal point. A majority of the story was cramming in their mental issues and exploring their backstory too early. Maki and Toma's backstories are fine to reveal. But leave some of their backstories to season 2. And for Christ's sake, all of them did not need a tragic story. Just make them engaging characters.
Pacing gets a 5.0-star rating!
EXECUTION: 4.0-star rating!
I believe this anime had potential. It drew from nothing, so it needed a promising first season to tell the story they wanted to tell. I want to become a writer, and I understand this. As an outsider, I see their flaws, but I wouldn't be surprised if I made the same mistakes. They disguised a tortured coming-of-age story as a "Sports" story. And because of that, the two would clash because one of them would have to be the dominant genre. If I had to say... Real by Inoue Takehiko is a good story to learn this technique from. His story is similar, but the two bounce off each other, and his underlying message plays into the theme of the sport.
Mar 4, 2024
Hoshiai no Sora
(Anime)
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I understand and respect fans of this anime. I am no stranger to readers or viewers disliking a story I like. However, I must be honest with this review. This anime, excuse my language, pissed me off.
Let's break this into 5 sections: - Animation: - Passion: - Story: - Pacing: - Execution: ANIMATION: To start, Star's Align (Hoshiai no Sora) animation is good. It was the main reason why I chose to watch it in the first place. Its animation created an overall vibe of Serene and Peace. It's so calming and peaceful to look at. I feel that this animation had the potential ... |
