Anime Review: Starry Sky

Starry Sky - 26 episodes

Tsukiko is the only female student in the formerly all-boy astronomy school, Seigetsu Academy. She meets different boys (and men) who represent each of the constellations. There's no major goal or conflict in the anime. Can I say it's a slice of life? It's practically how the year went by with background stories and flashbacks of how they all meet and how they are related to each other.    

I've been posting monthly wallpapers of Starry Sky for years now and all this time I had no idea of who they all are. I watched only three episodes back then and placed it on hold after finding it boring. But before I know it four springs, four summers, four autumns and three winters have passed. This is the most classic example of procrastination. Gomen! But now that I have finally finished watching it. I actually liked it. It's simple yet deep. Some arcs are fun, yet some arcs evoke sadness. 

One of the major characteristics of Starry Sky is that they always have this poetry that looked like they used Google Translate because half the time it seems gibberish to me. But it reminds me of the cute stationary or letters, I used to collect when I was a kid. They’re colorful, glittery and sometimes scented. And then it hit me that the anime itself reminds me of these letters. It's beautiful to look at, delicate, dreamy and melancholic at times.

If my memory serves me right, Starry Sky is the very first reverse harem original net animation (ONA). Then came Diabolik Lovers and now Bonjour Koiaji Patissierie. Given its ONA which are generally short, there still some questions that were left hanging. I don't understand why she was crying, was it because of the forgotten memories? And what happened with the fake relationship with the teacher? It was never explored. And what's up with her hair bangs? Uh oops Please strike the last question. Irrelevant. Haha.  

Starry Sky is also the first reverse harem anime to present the highest total count of official bishies in one go. But out of all the beautiful boys, I find my heart gravitating to childhood friend, Tohzuki (Cancer). His feelings for her is so sweet in a dark way and heartbreaking. When I revisited the poll which I ran before, he was the one who won! My next favorites are Nanami (Pisces) and Kazuki (Aries). I fancied them based on their background stories which do play a great part. Gemini arc is so sad. I was indifferent at first but after Libra's side was shown, it was so painful. I'm a Virgo and I hated that Hayato's personality is stoic.

Is there some special significance with the seasons? I liked the neat subsets or the groupings according to the seasons. If you think about it there are four tropes under the umbrella of all-boy school trope. And even though she's the only girl, I liked it that their feelings for her are not all over the place. There's no sense of being rushed or cornered with all the attention. I think the groupings solved the dilemma of how to build each boys individually. They're just so many! It also made the relationships more personal.

Do not be deceived by all the happy images that the anime conjures for first impressions. The fluffy cotton-candy exterior is actually a bittersweet dark chocolate.