Episodes 1-3 – A Star Brighter Than the Sun

This is a universally recognized truth girl The romance must feature two characters who are unaware that their crush is mutual. This truism only becomes doubly true when the two were childhood friends, somewhat estranged in middle school, and not reunited until high school. When you add visual elements like floating bubbles, soft filters, and soft static images, stars brighter than the sunThe first three episodes look like a winner for The Ultimates girl Challenge – the most girl girl Romance is always there. It might be a bit ridiculous if it wasn’t also very good. But luckily for all of us, this adaptation Kawara HarmonyThe comic favors its decorations because it knows how to use them. It may not be a new story, but it doesn’t have to be – all it does is make good use of its tropes to provide the audience with a story that’s half comforting, half depressing, like all good love stories.

The heroine Sae Iwata (called “Iwa” by her friends) has been secretly in love with Kamijo Hiroshi since they were friends in elementary school. At the time, she was the tallest kid in the class and he was one of the youngest. By middle school, she was still a giant 5’4″, but he towered over her…and since they weren’t in the same class and the whole “twins will never meet” gender vibe in middle school, they more or less lost touch. But Sae never stopped watching Koki and strongly hinted that the same could be said for him. In the first episode, he almost jumps at the chance to rekindle their friendship – if you pay attention, it looks like he announced his choice of high school right after Sae finished talking about her choice of high school. His body language and expressions indicate that North High School No This was his plan, but after hearing that it was Sae’s, he suddenly made a change.

This series seems to be all about the small moments. Koki’s brief hesitation before saying “Kitao,” even though they weren’t close to each other, the way he searched for Sae with his eyes, and how he went out of his way to get closer to her, said it all, even if Sae couldn’t understand them. Her sense of social inferiority towards him is so ingrained that she is unable to recognize her own behavior in his. In the third episode, when he says the girl he likes shines brighter than the sun, she immediately thinks that means it can’t be she Because no one would describe her that way. But from what Koki said, it seemed like he thought so too – no one as good as Sae would think of him that way.

This is a very basic approach to romance. Everyone believes there is something wrong with them. Just as Sae falls into the giant girl mentality, Koki is acutely aware of her own flaws, which they both believe are just as important to others as they are to themselves. Yes, Sae’s height is unavoidable, but once people get used to the fact that she’s tall, they don’t seem to care; her kindness shines through in everyone. Sui, one of her new friends in high school, doesn’t think of Sae as the big girl who saved her when she fell; She is a nice girl I met on the first day of school. And when someone No The heights beyond Sae can be seen, and Koki is there to let them have it: the obnoxious Izawa sees it with his own eyes.

At any rate, we can assume so. On the “show it, don’t tell it” point, no one ever said that Izawa was teasing Sae when Koki pushed her down the ramp. We can guess this from Koki’s body language and the fact that he’s resumed calling Sae by her first name, but it’s not spelled out. Likewise, Izawa later stated that making fun of Sae was out of the question. It’s obvious he was also referring to the incident on the mountain…or possibly another attempt to do the same thing, since he doesn’t seem like the type to learn his lesson easily. (how dare He then tries to take advantage of Sae during the school trip. )

My favorite thing about these episodes, aside from the slowly unfolding romantic plot, is Sae’s circle of friends. When Sui finds out about Sae’s crush, she could easily be a fake friend, but instead, she goes out of her way to be a good friend – turning it off when she thinks Sae doesn’t like “girl talk”; Kagawa is the third of their trio and also really strives to be a good friend. She’s cold and serious, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy spending time with Sae and Sui. The scene in episode three where Sui blow-dries her hair is a beautiful little snapshot of their relationship.

In another story, it could be annoying that Sae and Koki don’t really communicate. But the details here are well done – from lines to body language – so it works. I really want to see them work things out and figure out how they feel (he better do not like others). in a girl Romance, that’s all that matters, and this show is ready to do that.

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stars brighter than the sun Currently live broadcast
Amazon Prime.