SPOILERS FROM THE ANIME AND MANGA 4000https://64.media.tumblr.com/9b7faf31c59b1f99d663099908161cca/553d3efcccc23b8d0a/s2048x3072/682be7e9fec0eedae4ee76ecd3df879e161c1865.jpg 4000https://i.ur.com/T9s1eO7.gif OPENING THOUGHTS ill preface this by saying it was my mistake watching romance + shoujo anime where the female leads are communicative and confident in themselves. because this is not that story. its been a while since i picked up the manga but i remembered liking it which is why i was surprised by my feelings towards it in the anime. no they didnt cut or change around scenes not to my knowledge and they didnt add anything to ruin the overall plot. however as mentioned i was watching other stories where all female leads were very confident in themselves even if they werent fully sure of their character the girls would always communicate with their crush. i personally find that communication is the most important aspect in any relationship which is why i get pretty annoyed by stories filled with miscommunications/misunderstandings. this story is certainly one of those cases. the basic plot is iwata and kamishiro being childhood friends but drifting apart as the years pass. iwata has always had feelings for kamishiro but with someone whose confidence is as minimal as a rock she believes he doesnt feel the same. thats the crust of it so to speak. as mentioned before there is almost no communication between these two characters. i would love points where i felt like she would take two steps forward only for her to take ten steps back the next episode. if both people are stagnant in their efforts to move forward then its like watching something being moved on a conveyor belt. they dont move but the plot forces them to move along. i could apply color theory to this and say its my rarity to enjoy characters with blonde hair. this is nothing against blonde/yellowhaired characters but depending on their personality they dont move me the same way since stories like to have hair color be the extension of a characters persona. however when you have two characters who barely hold a proper conversation it becomes frustrating as a viewer. even as a romance enthusiast i was being irked by how many misunderstandings there were. and the majority of it being on iwatas end. naturally this is because the story is being told through her perspective so we dont see anything beyond i wonder what hes thinking type of monologues from her. while i understand the decisions of the characters that doesnt dismay it from its outcome to how they make me feel. however it should be noted that this anime does follow the typical shoujo romance storylines so there are no surprises there. but with such a saturated genre of the high school setting something needs to separate stories from each other. i cant say that this is super similar to other stories but what stands out are the appearances of the characters rather than their personalities. ill go more indepth as we examine each of the characters. 4000https://i.ur.com/bUkNmqn.gif 4000https://64.media.tumblr.com/0aa11f14f627f9aa8a989c23d9e94dd7/c7b3cb54a70617dcbe/s2048x3072/e73e547c3d7b97f6aae63d28d7649312b880254b.jpg SAE IWATA the tall strong and not like other girls sae iwata. that last description isnt to bash on sae but its a constant thought she carries throughout the season. everything is told through her perspective and i could definitely feel her insecurity through the screen. sae admires kamishiro to the point where i couldnt pinpoint if she had a protective instinct towards him or was amazed by his earnestness. however what irked me about sae was her personality. throughout the story we learn shes tall smart and strong all traits shes not proud of. thats fine. but beyond those qualities all she does is chase after kamishiro. honestly im not usually one to criticize characters who are shown to have a onetrack goal. but those characters make up for it by building other relationships that help their character grow or they COMMUNICATE their thoughts thus building on the overall relationship. sure shes friends with sui and kagawa but i find them more compelling in some cases because they give great advice to sae which she doesnt take half the time. sae is so focused on not being the petite one or the cutesy girl that she makes the audience feel her insecurity. when sui entered the picture she was so quick to become jealous being like oh of course a girl like her would get guys. while i understand on one hand not being confident in ones looks it gets to a certain point when this feeling is passed to any girl she deems as better than herself. this is also the same reason why kamishiros very OBVIOUS hints fly over her head. because whenever he tries so hard to say its her hes thinking about she doesnt equate the adjectives he uses to herbecause SHE HAS NO CONFIDENCE IN HERSELF. towards the end the goal becomes trying to confess her feelings to kamishiro but i hated the execution. til the end she keeps missing her chance or says its not the right time this gets prolonged to a moment theyre finally alone and wowshe doesnt confess her feelings till kamishiro says hes going to. meaning a misunderstanding is what caused her to blurt out her feelings not out of her own heart. now i know she was going to confess regardless on the same day but i cant even imagine how that would go down because i would think she would bail out again. i wont say that this is toxic theres worse out there. i understand her fear stems from the fact that if she gets rejected it could sour their decadeslong friendship and thats her biggest fear beyond getting turned down. butthere have to be bigger issues i swear. especially if that feeling is carried on to other girls who are living their lives and shes over here like im too tall i eat too much or im not cute like her. constantly hearing these thoughts it made me wonder does she love kamishiro more than she loves herself? which i dont think is healthy. i think even kamishiro points out how quick she is to praise others but looks down on herself. regarding her relationship with kamishiro most of the time it feels like hes the one doing all the talking. which wouldnt be a bad thing except that Sae keeps the majority of her thoughts to herself and doesnt progress the relationship on an equal footing with him. i cant say this will get better in the manga after they get together if i remember she gets even more self conscious about maintaining the relationship than easing into a new chapter of romance. as a viewer i can definitely see why sae likes kamishiro but with her jumping to conclusions i cant sit well to enjoy the small moments. 4000https://i.ur.com/T9s1eO7.gif 4000https://64.media.tumblr.com/11d10b7ebcfd3a185b34d587d4f18539/c7b3cb54a70617dcc5/s2048x3072/10e5f2d83bf89fc944109b746e2fdf9ddf93e378.jpg KOUKI KAMISHIRO the star that supposedly shines so bright. kouki goes from a small school boy to a boy whos the same height as sae. i will say this about kamishiro he went to the academy of yearning. even through iwatas skewed perspective i could tell this boy was a yearner. literally its not his fault that all his massive hints fly right over iwatas head. although this doesnt dismay him from being an overthinker as well. kamishiro is just as scared as sae about losing their friendship if he were to make the first move. but he was entertaining for me to see because i could see him put in the effort to express his feelings. like in episode two he says the girl he likes is someone who he considers as the star in his life all while looking directly at her. naturally as i mentioned before it doesnt click to sae that the person hes referring to is her because she doesnt see herself in the way he describes her. also all the other times where he doesnt allow anyone to belittle her due to her strength or height. he basically sees her from the perspective shes always wished to be seen. its without a doubt that kouki loves sae the way she is the problem is that she doesnt see herself in the same light. i dont know how much a girl needs to be thrown obvious hints. such as the time in middle school he wasnt even the smartest and he tried so hard to get into the top high school just because she was going. theres literally another sign of hesitation before he answered her question about where he was going to high school. if were talking about moments in high school he would always defend her from people like izawa whenever he made fun of her or if it seemed like sae was carrying to much responsibility. again she probably couldnt see that he was doing this all for her because she didnt think she was dating material. but oh my goodness is it so obvious. saying all this doesnt excuse some of koukis way of handling certain situations. with sae already holding back so much of her own feelings his adding more weight is causing more unrest. like the sudden change from calling her sae to iwata. i thought he did this because sae mightve asked him to turns out he changed the way he called her because he leaned into the rumors where his classmates said that calling people by their first name is childish. kamishiro does so much that he can seem like an adult in saes eyes that he forgets the most important thing about having a relationship is talking with them. then again she isnt any better by not asking him directly but he also couldnt have been more obvious with his actions. it was nice to see in towards the end all the moments through his perspective. all the yearning in the attempts to be with sae. forcing himself to drink milk to grow tall the work to become better at football soccer or studying really hard to even be at iwatas level. thats why i feel like kamishiros arc feels more full circle than iwatas. even though the majority of the series is seen through her perspective we end up learning more about kamishiro and his subtle actions than we do about her. kouki realizes in the end he cant wait in fear and needs to be straightforward about his feelings for sae. thats what gives him the courage to ask her during the fireworks scene. while hes always been the center of iwatas affections his moment to shine comes forward from his actions. i have to admire the fact hes always seen iwata as his life never wavering. since he was a kid this boy had his goals on lock and never looked back. now before people tell me saes progress is similar i cant fully agree because of how they went about it. when kamishiro has a misunderstanding i felt like he tried to do something about it or gave VERY obvious hints. like he was actively trying and i could see his efforts. sae on the other hand created misunderstandings without even trying to do anything. its like oh xyz happened so it must be true instead of breaking the boundaries. i felt bad every time he tried to open up a conversation because sae was barely giving anything due to her nervousness or overthinking. 4000https://i.ur.com/SrD6SCb.gif 4000https://i.ur.com/83Zzqcv.png YOUTA AYUKAWA the quiet intellect. oh boy im not one for second male leads but ayukawa had me in my thoughts. first i will say i have a bit more bias toward ayukawa. the reason being his personality usually leans towards the type i look for when i consume romancebased stories. also like i said kamishiro already had a weak start with my color theory lens. however i believe ayukawas strength for me was his style of communication as well as his connection with sae. starting with the connection with sae the two of them shared the most conversations about each other. iwata even mentions she learned more about his lifestyle and comes to find they have a couple of similarities. now i wouldnt say the two of them are entirely compatible after all i dont think the interests of iwata fully align with ayukawa. except when looking into the line thats where the conversations differ. i was able to see sae hold a natural conversation without stumbling when she was with ayukawa. though it can be said that she didnt have a reason to be nervous when she didnt have feelings for him. at first I was going to say that he knew Iwata had a crush on kamishiro but from how many times he asked Kamishiro about Iwata. i somehow think that trait of his made me like him even more. waiti just realized this boy could be a kuudere . well if thats the case that would explain why i prefer his character more. thats beside the point circling back i thought it was sweet/cute how he would approach kamishiro to ask about iwata. he even asked if they were just friends. thats where kamishiro ruined his chance he was the one who said they were just friends. now do i think that ayukawa wouldve backed off if he knew of kamishiros true feelings? no. i dont think so but i feel like hes the type to be prepared with the knowledge he has in mind. additonally i know this isnt a competition of acts of service but i found ayukawas actions to be the right balance of cute and straightforward. for example when he overheard that sae went to pick up all the cardboard by herself he didnt hesitate to run the distance to help her. which is crazy because we know from the previous gym class hes not one to have the strongest endurance. but he went all that way just to help her not even thinking for a second most people see her for her strength . then the slight smile he gives whenever he meets iwata is so cute . theres also the dichotomy that the story portrays for a while with her character. ive mentioned before that sae is insecure about her appearance and personal traits. when she looks at hisui there are a lot of moments where she wishes she could be like hisui. bubbly cute outgoing and a people person. however the story makes sure to showcase the drawbacks of carrying such a personality. for one there are many scenes where shes whisked away by her classmates because they think so highly of her and she feels pressured into giving in to their wishes. the other time was when izawa confessed his feelings for her and turned into a manchild when she rejected him. knowing hisuis personality i could only imagine she thought it was her fault when shes not obligated in any way to return his affections when izawa became overtly dramatic and didnt return to school after the event. so sae might say that she wishes she were more girly like hisui but the reality settles in that other girls face their own set of problems outside of hers. her friendship with kagawa is another aspect i enjoyed watching. the two of them are the opposite sides of the same coin but they couldnt complement each other more. hisui has her head up in the clouds most of the time while kagawa is more grounded in reality. the same is their approach to situations. hisui gets really pumped and encourages facing situations headon compared to kagawa who always reels hisui in to think two steps ahead before jumping into the mix. speaking of relationships were going a bit into manga spoiler territory here. yes hisui does end up having feelings for ayukawa. she makes her stance quite known unsurprisingly. its been a while since i read the certain chapters but i think she has no ill will towards ayukawa for still harboring feelings for sae. she isnt jealous either at least not in the traditional sense. i think she understands his situation since he really did care about her its not like his feelings would suddenly vanish overnight. moreover sae is one of her closest friends and she knows shes over the stars about kamishiro so theres no reason for her to be jealous in that regard. but the two of them go out only for ayukawa to admit at the end of the chapter the last one i read off on that he still isnt fully over sae. this does hurt hisui as it would but she does understand his feelings. thats the reason i brought the pair of them together. i would also like to thank my romance radar as usual for going off when i saw these two. i had a feeling theyd be paired off together. i truly do hope the two of them get together and for ayukawa to figure out his feelings soon. 4000https://i.ur.com/qQQ4xxA.gif 4000https://64.media.tumblr.com/ace7bc4b4a1575fe6c6a3e7aae0a4c14/af244a440a69fd23d8/s2048x3072/b513b4b084594deb4ce36e70270ef9dc8f94e3de.jpg SIDE CHARACTERS truly made this section to talk about kamishiros cousin subaru. surprisingly or unsurprisingly subaru is designed to be a love rival for Iwata. remember the point about sae being insecure? well it gets circled back to subaru. no matter how much kamishiro described sae the way he views her it goes over her head because she doesnt see herself in the way he sees her. thats why when subaru comes onto the scene iwata thinks that kamishiro is talking about her. even THOUGH subaru is his cousin . this wasnt as weird for me to think about ive seen all sorts of things at this point. what got me when i saw this play out was wowiwata is REALLY insecure . however what i love about subaru is her straightforwardness. girl does NOT mess around and she even calls out others for it which i LOVE. i think she might be me in a romance story whenever the characters have trouble like this . people might wonder why shes so harsh or blunt when speaking to kamishiro or sometimes iwata. and no its not because she has feelings for him too. its because shes sick of their behavior. however she knows the line between pushing them without meddling too much. the reason why subaru never found kamishiro cool outside the fact hes her cousin is because shes seen how submissive he is with his actions. shes seen him secondguessing or keeping to himself which she deems uncool because her mindset is regret after not before. this is backed up when she apologizes to sae about her previous statement about kouki not being cool after he went into action with no hesitation. as for what she said to iwata about her being weaker than she was led to believe it was due to her being caught holding back. subaru could see that from a mile away and called iwata out on it. the plot has to thank her for moving the story along because i dont think it wouldve occurred with these two alone maybe but it would take another million episodes. id say thats why she looks at the end of the festival subaru is finally able to breathe after all the necessary pushing. her personality can be seen in how she approaches situations. even after passing out subaru insists on getting back into work despite the protests of those around. it could be that she doesnt want to let people down but i do think its an entirely different aspect to wanting to push herself. so that when she looks back on her previous events or tasks she can say with her heart she has no regrets since she pushed herself to the absolute limit. i guess most people would say subaru is an example of tough love. shes blunt by nature not as to mean any harm in her words. she cares about the two of them which is what frustrates her when interacting with the pair of them. speaking of someone who speaks their mind i carry a similar sentiment for mio kagawa. she holds great care for her friends and always works hard to live up to the pressure people give her. sometimes its quite overwhelming for her to hold it all together but she knows how to hold her ground when the time calls for her to defend herself or her friends. i find her just as interesting as hisui and believe the two of them have the cutest interactions. i hope to see more of her next season with the group. the same for subaru coming in to save the day as usual. 4000https://i.ur.com/aTJPCsk.gif 4000https://64.media.tumblr.com/ebc6bd58f7188128e531dd613685501e/515698cab68aa125c5/s2048x3072/bbdf6ae90c72c562aeda3c7907eacf176d903e48.jpg CLOSING THOUGHTS the story of a star brighter than the sun can be seen in most shoujo romances. however because of such similarities it lacks the nuance recent stories have shown to present themselves as. this isnt to say to change what works but in a wide variety that other stories have to offer this one feels as though its a blast from the past. if the people reading dont mind a traditional layout of a shoujo romance then this story surely wont disappoint and i would highly recommend it for those interested. the main aspect i find to be bothersome is how much potential i could see from certain scenes. wasted opportunity might as well be up there with one of the things i hate when i read a story. ill take iwatas execution of confession. the whole rising action of the plot is for iwata to confess her feelings to kamishiro. there are episodes where she builds courage or is given a slight push by her friends. she doesnt end up following the plan but the setup for the resolution is present. which is why i wish she confessed to kamishiro on her own terms. granted she planned to tell kamishiro her feelings for him during the fireworks and he went ahead and revealed his own plan which faltered her resolve but i wonder if she wouldve gone through confessing to him properly during the fireworks if it wasnt for kamishiros disruption. now this could be a half chance however the way i view it i could picture iwata not saying or messing up her words in her initial plan. then this would be played out even longer. perhaps its because i see the story through saes perspective i can see kamishiro at least try to make an effort since the beginning compared to iwatas that was gradual. i didnt need to see the years of yearning from kamishiro since they were kids because i could feel it in the present time. of course its always a nice touch to see a second perspective. i dont wish to downgrade iwatas efforts however thats the only conclusion i can come to. what i worry about her character is what shell have to endure when dating kamishiro in the latter half. were going into a bit of spoiler territory for next season but as usual with shoujo romances there will be another love rival. i really dont know what it is with romance stories these days and adding a love rival type character in a story. especially well after the main couple gets together and it was already annoying to deal with then they arrive predating. but yes there are love rivals for iwata to face while shes dating kamishiro. the arc is always brushed off to be that kamishiro will only love iwata not a surprise but this doesnt wash away any of iwatas insecurities. she might act like shes alright on the surface but not internally. the reason i bring up these love rivals if we can call them that is that i feel like we dont know much about iwata besides her appreciation for kamishiro. if anything the audience learns more about kamishiro than they do iwata. now like i said this isnt my first story where the female leads personality is reduced to being centered around the male lead but what the other characters had in those stories is that they were sure in themselves. even if they werent they always attempted or straightup communicated those thoughts. what saddens me about iwata is i feel like even at this point shes not secure in her own character without someone having to tell her shes fine the way she is whether it be kamishiro or her friends. i hope she learns to accept herself on her own terms. 4000https://i.ur.com/Vcn9WnH.gif