A Star Brighter than the Sun
Tall girl meets short boy, years later that short boy is now the tall and popular boy in high school
Disclaimer: This copy of A Star Brighter than the Sun was sent by Viz Media and Bookinfluencers for a promotional TikTok video, all thoughts in this post are completely my own.
I feel like so many of us grew up loving classic 2000’s shoujo series and wished some modern day shoujo series had the same feel-good vibes, well A Star Brighter than the Sun is precisely that! It has everything you could want in a shoujo: childhood friends, an awkward female lead to root for, and a sunshine boy that everyone loves. This series is also created by beloved shoujo mangaka Kazune Kawahara, the creator of My Love Story!! and High School Debut. So knowing this, we should be in good hands… right?
Genre: Romance, slice of life
Age Rating: Teen
Publisher: Viz Shojo Beat
Synopsis:
Tall girl Sae has always been much taller and also stronger than the rest of the girls at school. Koki, on the other hand, was the short and scrawny boy who needed protecting and someone to help him finish his school lunches. These two met in elementary school and became very close. Sae would often help Koki in P.E. by shielding him so he wouldn’t get hurt, and Koki in return would brighten Sae’s day with his innocent wide smile that show off his upper canine tooth and by giving her his food that he didn’t want to eat.
As they grew up, Koki ended up catching up with Sae in terms of height but the two became distant as Koki hit puberty and became more popular in school. Despite them growing more distant, Sae’s adoration towards her childhood friend only increased now that she realized that her friend was now a handsome but unattainable boy. We first meet the two when they reconnect as middle schoolers, and then follow them as they enter a new high school where they don’t know anyone else but each other. Will these two childhood friends become more than just friends?
Favorite Things:
Sae: I love that our female lead is someone who looks different from other girls at school and other shoujo girls. Although sometimes it’s hard to see how much larger she is compared to other girls because she looks average to me, I did appreciate the occasional panel where you can clearly see how much taller and physically stronger she is. I think she provides some good rep for tall and sporty girls who don’t typically see themselves represented by the dainty shoujo girls.
Thick 1st volume: This first volume is 200+ pages which feels like your getting your money’s worth.
Feels familiar: Since this is written by Kazune Kawahara the creator of My Love Story!! and High School Debut, it very much feels like early 2000’s shoujo.
Things I Disliked:
Koki Kamishiro: I didn’t feel charmed by our male lead in this story. I really wanted to root for the childhood friend who’s designed to be a ray of sunshine, but he felt so boring and dry. I just didn’t see the amazing and caring qualities that have Sae feeling so in love with the guy. I am hoping that we get a chapter from his point of view in the next volume because the few times we saw him in this volume from Sae’s perspective made me dislike the guy. It really did seem like he would only rely on Sae as a last option or when he would get tired of being with his other friends.
Thick 1st volume: Back to this being a thick first volume… it was great except for the fact that I felt like nothing much happened. We got some cute elementary school flashbacks, a chapter in middle school, and then a few more chapters a few months into the future as high schoolers. I know usually the first volume doesn’t have too much going on in terms of character development, but I was kind of expecting something more. It seemed like we didn’t get much buildup or backstory. I think a chapter from Koki’s point of view would have been nice to include in this first volume just to balance things out a little.
Rating: ★★ / 5
I really wanted to love it but I ended up just thinking it was okay. I know high school slice of life stories tend to be quite simple in nature, but personally speaking I do want to grow attached to the leads and root for them to become better people and also fall in love. I especially wanted to root for these childhood friends but so far I’m just rooting for Sae. Despite not loving this first volume I will be buying volume 2 and see where this story goes. Koki better prove himself to be worthy of being a “best boy” because so far I am wishing for a second love interest to pop up.
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