#hoshiai no sora musings

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I’m suddenly reminded of Sangatsu no Lion’s Hayashida-sensei

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Sports Anime and DRAMA

Sports Anime and DRAMA

Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to Otaku Thursday! Can you believe it’s already the second week of March and this is the real first Otaku Thursday I’m doing this month? No? ME TOO! Instead of bringing you an anime review I thought we could talk about something else–something that’s been on my mind (thanks a lot SK8) — and that is drama and sports anime. Or rather, drama in sports anime. You…

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Maki Katsuragi needs to be protected. 

Nuff said. 

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They’re actually called Riku and Sora lololol

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Can I just say how cute it is to see Sakurai Takahiro voicing a character named Sakurai Takayuki and is called Taka-chin by his students in Hoshiai no Sora :3

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Wait... much like how Shingo’s strained relationship with his mother stems from the fact that she is his step-mother, I have always wanted to know just why Touma’s mother hates him so much. She doesn’t have an ounce of love toward him. The way she keeps saying he’s not Ryouma, and how she said, I never wanted to be your mother - it’s always been bugging me. And then there was her conversation with Ryouma

His line just doesn’t sit right with me.

I never wanted to be your mother.

I had wondered if Touma was a child born out of wedlock, but it didn’t make much sense if he were his mother’s son with someone else. And then we have the conversation between her and Ryouma where she tells him that she’s going to have a divorce, because, in a way, she does realize that all she has done is torture Touma, and she wants to stop it, so she could save Touma from herself, and save herself from whatever situation is happening within the Shinjo household. 

Ryouma respects his mother’s decision, but he is still going to see Touma as his brother, which makes me think... Is Touma the son of his father and a mistress? That would make sense, considering how his mother behaves around him from the beginning of the series. She is forced to take care of the child her husband had with another woman. She doesn’t even know how to feel about it. She’s supposed to love him, but every time she sees him, all she can think about is the time her husband cheated on her. 

And then we have Ryouma saying “they’re my precious little brothers, so I’m going to protect those two no matter what.”

I mean...does this mean Ryouma has two little brothers? That Touma has another brother? And the only one I can think of is Maki, since Ryouma seems to be overly fond of him, and he keeps talking about him with Touma to the point Touma says to him, “do you realize you’ve been talking about Maki all this while?”, and he also gives Maki soft tennis lessons on the side. 

If that’s true then...is Maki’s mother Touma’s father’s mistress? Are Touma and Maki twins?? And that’s why Maki’s father never loved him. And why he seemed to always put some emphasis on being Maki’s father. You’re my son. You have my blood. So you’re just as a society scum as I am. 

Because, when Touma had that fight with his mother, it was as though his mother never even saw herself as his mother. If only Ryouma had stayed out of it. Stayed out of what? Was Ryouma the one who had brought Touma into the house?

Or maybe, Maki could be like Rintaro and that Maki’s mother is actually someone else and he’s actually adopted by his current mother. Because if Maki and Touma really are brothers and that Maki’s mother is his biological mother, then wouldn’t that mean she is also Touma’s mother?? So when Touma had those dinners in Maki’s house, shouldn’t Maki’s mother recognize him if she were his real mother? (though...they were apart for 14 years and she never saw him grow up). 

Or! Touma’s mother really is his mother. Well, I don’t know what happened. Maybe she got pregnant with someone else, I don’t know, and she wanted to have abortion, but Ryouma told her not to. Or maybe once she gave birth to these twins, she was about to dump them somewhere, but Ryouma saved them somehow (honestly, I have a hard time grasping this idea of small Ryouma saving baby Touma, because, they’re probably - what? - 8 years or so apart?) And that’s also one of the reasons why Touma’s father is never present at the house. 

LOL yeah I’m just throwing ideas out there xD don’t mind me. I am just very intrigued by Ryouma’s line. What does he mean by “they’re my brothers”. And I just skimmed through the first episodes and there’s a scene in episode 2 where Maki’s mom was talking with Shou but the scene faded away to black and we never know what they were talking about, just that Shou looked really surprised and worried. 

The story feels incomplete. But it’s like they meant to make it incomplete, because the adults’ problems don’t matter. The story’s about what these problems then do to their children. Everyone has a problem. Every parents has a problem. But none of that justify their abusive behavior. 

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Well, that’s one more anime ticked off my 2019 watch list. I still have...I don’t know how many I have left ^^; Maybe I’ll finish those spring leftovers first haha, then maybe I’ll finally watch the part 2 of Shingeki no Kyojin Season 3 (for which I would need to rewatch part 1) and Vinland Saga. Well, anyway, let’s get into it.

Hoshiai no Sora - Thoughts and Musings

This anime was...one hell of a ride. Okay, maybe not as much as Beastars was (though, Beastars wasn’t really emotional per se, but rather an anime that tackles really heavy topics), but the emotional roller coaster throughout its 12 episodes was really something to reckon with. Honestly, I wish this was a two-cour anime instead of a one-cour, because the 12-episode run doesn’t give it enough time to really flesh out all their characters and give everyone a satisfying ending. 

I mean

As long as he’s alive, we will never be free. I’m ending this.

What kind of ending is that??? *flips table* (beware of spoilers)

In its heart, this is a story about trying to find your place in a world that is trying to box you in. It’s not just your average sports anime about a weak sports club trying to gain its reputation back. It’s more than that. We have this cast of seemingly stereotypical characters, but right from the very first episode, we’re immediately given a tease of a dysfunctional family in our two main leads: Maki with his single mother as a parent and his abusive father still terrorizing them from time to time for money, and Touma who doesn’t have a good relationship with his mother for unknown reasons. And it turns out, the rest of the team member has their own issues to deal with. 

Rintaro, being a child born out of teen pregnancy and was then put up for adoption. Though he has loving parents, it still doesn’t erase the confusion and incompetence he had felt because of it. (I kind of have issues with how his parents told him he was adopted when he was still only 10? 11? I think that’s a bit too young for him to know he was adopted. I mean, an elementary school kid is suddenly being told that the parents he has always known has never been his real parents. It would get him thinking: why was he adopted? Why didn’t his mother take him? Was he unwanted? Was he a mistake? Huh, I guess that’s why I can’t do anything right. I’m a failure. I was a mistake. I shouldn’t have been born.)

Itsuki’s mother, in, probably, a bout of depression, poured hot water all over his body when he was only 1 year old.

Shingo, who doesn’t seem to have any problems, lives with a step-mother who is only protective over her daughter while dismissive over him. He doesn’t seem to be overly bothered by it. In fact, he adores his little sister. He’s probably learned to deal with his step-mother’s behavior. 

Taiyo’s parents are quite overprotective and overbearing, but at least I don’t think they’re doing any real, permanent damage to him. 

Tsubasa, though has wonderful relationship with his brothers, has a father with high expectations and will not settle for less, who won’t try to understand why he dropped soccer and took up soft tennis. Who won’t get off his case, saying that it’s stupid, that it doesn’t do him any good, that you’re better off studying instead of joining such a stupid club. And he actually slaps him, right across the face, causing Tsubasa to fall off the stairs and break his wrist, one month before his big game. And yes he looked shocked at what he had done, but he didn’t do anything; he just stood there, he didn’t even chase after him, as if he was justifying his actions to himself. Like, dammit! Don’t you know what you’re doing to your kid? You’re already hurting him emotionally and you slapped him?! I will say that Tsubasa’s story hurts me the most, because this kid, this happy-go-lucky kid who always smiles and laughs when he’s with his friends, cries as he runs out of the house. And can I just say that Toshii’s voice acting was just...spot on? To the point that I think I cried harder because of Toshii’s voice breaking when Shingo found him outside the house, when the doctor at the hospital asked him if he wasn’t pushed off the stairs, when they were talking in that park and Tsubasa hates how his father kept bragging about his time with his soccer team and never listens to a word he says, never sees him for who he is, because he’s not his brothers and he wanted so badly to play in their game. 

But then we have Nao, with that kind of negative overprotective, overbearing, emotionally abusive mother and an indifferent father. It hurts. Hearing his mother talk hurts. Imagining myself in Nao’s shoes hurts. There are the kinds like Maki’s father, who knows they’re a jerk by abusing their own kid. Then there are the kinds like Nao’s mother, who, as Maki said, doesn’t even realize they’re abusing their children, justifying their actions by saying it’s for their kids. She’s blind to Nao’s feelings. All she cares about is what she wants. It doesn’t matter what Nao wants, because I’m her mother and I know what’s best for my son. What she doesn’t know, however, is the permanent damage it’s doing to Nao. Sure at the “conclusion” to Nao’s arc, Nao seems to have find the strength and will in him to shut out his mother’s words, but we also see something different. Nao’s mother is only going to let him off the hook this time. Which means she will probably be worse than she had ever been once Nao comes home from the match. 

And finally, one of the most important of all: Yuuta’s arc, where he questions about himself, his gender, the role that is expected of him, and how he feels as if he doesn’t quite fit in with the boxes already laid down by the world. Also his desire to find an answer but also the fear of coming to terms with it, not wanting to disappoint his parents but all the while wanting to find a place he feels like he belongs in. Very realistic. Very relatable. I’m not entirely sure how it is seen in Japan, but in my country, due to strong religious beliefs and traditional values, people with “questionable” gender identities are seen as a sin, a violation, improper behavior - some might even call them a shame to the family. So, I really appreciate the director and his team writing quite a realistic portrayal of the lgbt+. I don’t hold anything against his mother, however, as I understand her feelings exactly, even as I would like Yuuta to have the freedom to learn and discover who he is and what he wants to be. 

Even Mitsue, whose family wasn’t shown much, says that her parents don’t approve of her drawing. But that’s what she wants to do. That’s what she wants to be good at. She’s not good at studying. She doesn’t have passion for it. She likes to draw, but even people on the internet says her drawing isn’t good (when in fact it’s quite good). She’s not good with people and her classmates make fun of her. She’s haunted by an inferiority complex, social anxiety, frustration that she doesn’t fit in this world. 

This entire show is like a How Not To Be A Parent 101. I do think some are stretching it a bit too far, but I understand what the director’s trying to say. A parental figure is important in a child’s life. Even if you have a crappy life, even if you’re bent on pushing your dreams and expectations to your children, even if your spouse doesn’t appreciate you any longer, that’s no reason or justification to “push the blame on your child”, to abuse them, both emotionally and/or physically. 

When you don’t have a good parental figure, a good family environment, it will scar your children for life, and these children will start looking for a place they can belong to outside of their families. Whereas Nao’s mother said that the soft tennis club is a bad influence for Nao, I’d say it’s a good thing Nao found his place inside it. With a mother like that, and a father who doesn’t care much about what happens to him, Nao could have done a lot worse. And yet there’s this sports club made up of misfit children, who are hiding all their pain behind their smile and laughter, because this club is the only place where they can be themselves. Where they don’t have to worry about overbearing/indifferent/abusive parents. In this club of misfits, everyone has everyone else’s backs. When one’s down on the low, someone else will try to lift them up. 

This club is their refuge, but in a way, I also think this is their sort of escapism. Because once they’re back in their homes, their lives return to being pressured and trapped under the expectations of their parents. Why I think it is an escape is because, neither of them really grow from it, aside from, I guess, Shingo, Rintaro, Itsuki, and Taiyo. They have either learned to live with their families or showed positive development. Nao’s mother is still a problem, Yuuta’s journey of self-discovery is still long and winding, while Tsubasa still has yet to make amends with his father. Not to mention we have Touma, whose mother just basically told him over the phone that she despises him and is getting a divorce, and Maki, who’s bent on killing his father. 

This is not a story of self-healing. This is a slice-of-life story that is trying to tell how bad parenting affects children, especially children in those early adolescence years, when they’re just beginning to learn who they are and what they want to be. It’s not a story of how these children can overcome it. The club acts as their refuge, but not a place of healing. And if their psychosocial development took on a negative turn (see Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development), especially like Maki’s case, well you can imagine what will happen next if he’s not given the proper treatment. 

As a final note, I would like to say the sports aspect is a bit weak. The soft tennis matches were too easy, too straightforward, as if the staff didn’t really care what happened in the matches. Well, the main story isn’t in the matches, so there’s that. Also, I would like to say that how they dealt with Maki’s father in episode 5 was also weak. I mean, what’s with Touma yelling at him? To me, it was a bit out of character for Maki to let Touma meet his father (I’d thought he was the type to say, no, that’s all right, I’ll deal with him myself, though I think Touma would have forced himself inside Maki’s house nonetheless). And that spontaneous outbursts about killing him? It was very cringe-worthy when I saw it, but now that I think about it, though it was probably Toma’s heat-of-the-moment outburst then, Maki certainly took it seriously with how he was holding that knife in the end. 

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One voice I will never get tired of hearing is Takahiro Sakurai

and oooh I just realized this is another anime with both Sakurai and Maaya :3

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Uwaaaa Toshiii I miss your voice!!! Feels like it’s been so long! and I forgot I just heard it in Kazetsuyo

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I’m really liking this girl

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OK this is not sport. This is drama. With sport in it. (Based on the first episode anyway). I really like the art. My interest is piqued

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Oh wait. Maaya Sakamoto has been frequently appearing in Kazuki Akane’s anime since she voiced Hitomi in Escaflowne

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Oh man. You are in for a whirlwind of various emotions with the rest of hoshiai no Sora. Hope you enjoy as much as I did! and good luck. ✌🏾

Yes! I did enjoy it a lot and I have just finished it!! It had its flaws but still one of the best of last fall season imo (though i haven’t seen that many haha). I will write my thoughts on it in a while :D

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There were some weak moments, especially the ones in episode 5, but really, I didn’t sign up for a show packed with so much feels in Hoshiai no Sora! I know it’s rife with family drama behind all the sport premise, but I didn’t think every one of the team members has some kind of family issue, and if Nao hadn’t broken my heart to pieces, then Tsubasa just did it (and just when I was thinking I haven’t seen Tsubasa or Taiyo’s families and was wondering that maybe they’re just normal families with no issues at all). To top it off, Toyonaga Toshiyuki’s voice acting as Tsubasa was just...heart-breakingly amazing. I couldn’t stop myself from crying 

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AND MAAYA!!! OMGGG There have been A LOT of Maaya anime this year! (ok well she’s mostly just guest stars in some of them)

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I am so loving the ED animation!