Stars Align

About Stars Align

Stars Align is a Japanese drama television series that aired between October and December of 2019. It was directed by Kazuki Akane, who is also responsible for the series's composition. The show revolves around the life of junior high school students and their struggles dealing with their personal problems through their passion for soft tennis.

Making / Production

"Stars Align" was created by Kazuki Akane and animated by studio Eight Bit. The series was first announced in March 2019 and began broadcasting on TBS, BS-TBS, and other channels in October of the same year. Kentaro Akiyama was in-charge of the art direction, while Miki Takeshita did the character designs and Jin Aketagawa served as the sound director.

Actors

• Tasuku Hatanaka as Itsuki Ameno - He perfectly captured the character's intense passion for soft tennis.
• Natsuki Hanae as Maki Katsuragi - He brought Maki's calm, intellectual demeanor to life, balancing his intense focus on tennis and his personal struggles.
• Gen Satou as Tsubasa Soga - He effectively portrayed the character's journey from being a reserved team member to a determined leader.

Trivia / Interesting Facts

• Stars Align is also known as "Hoshi no Sora" in Japanese, which translates to the same English title.
• The series is unique because it showcases issues such as parental abuse and questions about identity, which are not commonly seen in anime series.
• The anime was meant to be a 24 episode story, but it was cut down to 12 episodes due to undisclosed reasons.

Musical Score

The musical score of Stars Align is composed by JIN. It perfectly sets the tone for the series, adding another layer of depth to the storytelling. The opening theme, "Suiso" is performed by Megumi Nakajima, and the ending theme "Kago no Naka no Bokura wa" is by AIKI from bless4.

Quotes

• "In the grand scheme of things, our problems seem trivial, and it's hard to keep you head above water."
• "The trick to overcoming adversity is to keep a cool head and never let them see you struggle."
• "If we keep worrying about what others think of us, we'll never be able to move forward."