#shinjou touma

[2constate]

i finished watching hoshiai no sora yesterday and i love it so, so much

here are some study drawings based on anime’s scenes

god bless hoshiai no sora and kazuki akane, i really hope that we’ll be able to see the continuation of this great story someday

and all in one!

[aretheyqueer]

Is he gay?

disclaimer: this is a hc, not speculating on what the writers intentions were.

[basetani]

otome masterlist

Warning: May have spoilers.

🌕 - Routes I have finished. 🌑 - Routes I need to finish. 🌗 - Routes I have started but not finished. 🌟 - Games I have finished. 🕒 - Games' Developers/Publishers

-> Mystic Destinies : Serendipity Of Aeons 🌟

🌕 Shou Hatori 🌕 Shinji Hirayama 🌕 Takumi Arai 🌕 Tatsuya Yukimura 🌕 Hikaru Kazama

-> Amnesia : Memories 🌟

🌕 Toma 🌕 Ikki 🌕 Shin 🌕 Kent 🌕 Ukyo

-> Nightshade 🌟

🌕 Kuroyuki 🌕 Gekkamaru 🌕 Goemon 🌕 Chojiro 🌕 Hanzo

-> Seduce Me

🌕 Sam 🌕 Damien 🌕 Matthew 🌕 Erik 🌕 James 🌑 Suzu 🌑 Naomi 🌕 Andrew 🌕 Diana

-> Seduce Me 2 - The Demon War

🌕 Sam 🌕 Matthew 🌕 Erik 🌑 James 🌑 Damien 🌑 Diana

-> Demon Crashers

🌕 Kael 🌕 Orias 🌕 Akki 🌑 Mirari

-> The Men Of Yoshiwara: Kikuya

🌕 Hayabusa 🌕 Takao 🌑 Kagura 🌕 Kagerou 🌕 Iroha 🌗 Iroha 2nd Season 🌑 Tokiwa

-> The Men Of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya 🌟

🌕 Ageha 🌕 Utsusemi 🌕 Takigawa 🌕 Gakuto 🌕 Asagiri

-> Seven Boys 2 🌟

🌕 Vincent 🌕 Randle 🌕 Bevis 🌕 Kevin 🌕 Aaron 🌕 Clement 🌕 Rock 🌕 Julian

-> Soulset 🌟

🌕 Yvonne 🌕 Shira 🌕 Apris 🌕 Verin 🌕 Shirr 🌕 Marco 🌕 Feathor 🌕 'Secret'

-> Hustle Cat

🌕 Reese 🌑 Finley 🌑 Hayes 🌑 Landry 🌑 Mason 🌑 'Secret'

-> This World Unknown

🌕 Asa 🌗 Luca 🌑 Garett 🌑 Val

-> The Royal Trap: Confines Of The Crown

🌕 Callum 🌕 Oscar 🌗 Nazagi 🌑 Gaston

-> Let's Not Stay Friends

🌕 Frenz 🌕 Taf 🌑 Burain

-> Nameless: The One Thing You Must Recall

🌕 Red 🌕 Lance 🌕 Yuri 🌕 Tei 🌑 Yeonho 🌑 ???

-> Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds

🌕 Souji Okita 🌑 Toshizo Hijikata 🌕 Hajime Saito 🌕 Heisuke Toudou 🌕 Sanosuke Harada 🌑 Shinpachi Nagakura 🌕 Keisuke Sanan 🌑 Susumu Yamazaki 🌕 Hachiro Iba 🌑 Kazue Souma 🌑 Ryouma Sakamoto 🌕 Chikage Kazama 🌑 Independant

-> Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms

🌕 Souji Okita 🌑 Toshizo Hijikata 🌕 Hajime Saito 🌕 Heisuke Toudou 🌕 Sanosuke Harada 🌑 Shinpachi Nagakura 🌕 Keisuke Sanan 🌑 Susumu Yamazaki 🌗 Hachiro Iba 🌑 Kazue Souma 🌑 Ryouma Sakamoto 🌕 Chikage Kazama

-> Re Alistair 🌟

🌕 Derek 🌕 Travis 🌕 Shiro

-> Backstage Pass

🌕 John 🌕 Benito 🌕 Adam 🌕 Matthew 🌑 Lloyd 🌑 Independant 🌑 Nicole 🌑 Alvin

-> Dream Daddy

🌕 Joseph 🌕 Robert 🌕 Craig 🌑 Mat 🌑 Brian 🌑 Hugo 🌑 Damien 🌑 Joseph Secret Ending

-> Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome

🌕 Saito Shinjou 🌑 Miki Hiraizumi

-> Monochrome Heaven 🌟

🌕 Kamishiro Akito 🌕 Kamishiro Asuka 🌕 Kamishiro Riku 🌕 Touma 🌕 Misaki Ryuuto

-> Dandelion: Wishes Brought To You 🌟

🌕 Jisoo 🌕 Jiwoo 🌕 Jihae 🌕 Jiyeon 🌕 Jieun 🌕 Wizard

-> Amplitude

Katy's Route 🌕 Jon 🌕 Ari 🌕 Simon and Bunny 🌕 ??? Jon's Route 🌑 Michelle 🌑 Katy 🌑 Liz 🌑 Luna 🌑 Grace 🌑 Eric

-> Cinderella Phenomenon

🌕 Rod 🌕 Karma 🌕 Fritz 🌕 Waltz 🌑 Rumpel

-> Home For The Heart

🌕 Joshua 🌑 Philippe

-> The Letter

🌕 Luke x Rebecca 🌕 Luke x Hannah 🌑 Luke x Marianne 🌕 Hannah x Zachary 🌑 Hannah x Marianne 🌕 Ashton x Rebecca 🌕 Ashton x Isabella

-> Crossroad

🌕 Wolf 🌕 Hunter 🌑 Fox 🌑 Wizard 🌑 Main Route

-> Night Class: A Vampire Story

🌕 Rowan 🌕 Aaron 🌑 Both? I think?

-> Miraclr

🌕 Lucifer 🌑 Michael 🌑 Gabriel 🌑 Uriel 🌑 Raphael

-> Heart No Kuni No Alice

🌗 Boris Airay 🌑 Peter White 🌑 Blood Dupre 🌑 Julius Monre 🌑 Twins 🌑 Ace 🌑 Elliot 🌑 Gowland 🌑 Vivaldi

-> 7'Scarlet 🌟

🌕 Isora Amari 🌕 Hino Kagatsuchi 🌕 Toa Kushinada 🌕 Sosuke Tatehira 🌕 Yuzuki Murakumo 🌕 True Route (Toa Kushinada) 🌕 Bonus Character Route (Hanate Yatsukami)

-> Steam Prison 🌟

🌕 Eltcreed 🌕 Ulrik 🌕 Adage 🌕 Ines 🌕 Yune 🌕 Grand Ending 🌕 Fin

-> Destiny's Princess

🌕 Sanada Yukimura - The Twin Brother 🌕 Takenada Hanbei - The Fiance 🌕 Fuma Kotaro - The Ninja Reinforcement 🌕 Oda Nobunaga - The Father 🌑 Date Masamune - The Commander

-> London Detective Mysteria

🌕 Holmes 🌗 Watson 🌑 Akechi 🌑 Jack 🌑 Lupin 🌑 Kobayashi 🌑 Baker Street Boys 🌑 Grand End

-> Psychedelica Of The Black Butterfly 🌟

🌕 Real World Ending 🌕 Bud Ending 🌕 Happy Ending 🌕 Bad Ending 🌕 Kagiha Ending 🌕 Hikage Ending 🌕 Yamato Ending 🌕 Monshiro Ending 🌕 Karasuba Ending 🌕 Karasuba Good Ending 🌕 Kazuya Ending 🌕 Yamato Good Ending

-> Red Embrace: Hollywood

🌕 Common 1 🌕 Common 2 🌕 Randal 1 🌑 Randal 2 🌑 Randal 3 🌕 Randal 4 🌑 Randal 4 (Leader) 🌕 Randal 5 (S.E.) 🌑 Heath 1 🌑 Heath 1 (Leader) 🌕 Heath 2 🌕 Heath 3 🌕 Heath 4 (S.E.) 🌑 Markus 1 🌑 Markus 1 (Leader) 🌑 Markus 2 🌕 Markus 3 🌕 Markus 4 (S.E.)

-> Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk 🌟

🌕 People 🌕 Heroes 🌕 Bad 🌕 Lord 🌕 Lavan 🌕 Heroine 🌕 Levi 🌕 Lugus 🌕 Hugh 🌕 Traveler 🌕 Links 🌕 Wolf

-> Dark Nights

🌗 Zeikun 🌑 Junoru 🌑 Sachiro 🌑 Kurato

-> Gods Of Love 🌟

🌕 Lysander 🌕 Helder 🌕 Exinious 🌕 Rhane

-> Re:Birthday Song 🌟

🌕 Yoru 🌕 Kairi 🌕 Syun 🌕 Ame 🌕 Nami

-> Ayakashi Gohan

🌕 Inushima Yomi 🌕 Serigano Manatsu 🌕 Hana Suou 🌕 Inushima Uta 🌗 Ibuki Haginosuke 🌑 Kimura Asagi

-> Bad Medicine ~Infectious Teachers~

🌗 Kuzuha Kakeru 🌑 Shido Kaname 🌑 Yanagi Ryota

-> Taisho x Alice I 🌟 🌕 Red Riding Hood 🌕 Cinderella

-> Taisho x Alice II 🌟 🌕 Gretel 🌕 Kaguya

-> Taisho x Alice III 🌟 🌕 Wizard 🌕 Snow White

-> Taisho x Alice Epilogue 🌟 🌕 Alice

-> Taisho x Alice Heads & Tails 🌑 Cinderella 🌑 Red Riding Hood 🌑 Kaguya 🌑 Gretel 🌑 Snow White 🌑 Wizard 🌑 Alice 🌕 Ryouishi

-> Ozmafia 🌕 Caramia 🌑 Kyrie 🌑 Axel 🌑 Scarlet 🌑 Caesar 🌑 Soh 🌑 Pashet 🌑 Robin Hood 🌑 Brothel 🌑 Hamelin

-> Fxxx Me Royally!! 🌑 Kaoru 🌑 Ryuusei

🕒 Cheritz

-> Mystic Messenger 🌟

🌕 Jumin [valentines confession|http://aminoapps.com/p/200ytad] 🌕 Yoosung 🌕 707 🌕 Zen 🌕 V 🌕 Ray 🌕 Jaehee

🕒 Voltage

-> Love 365

🌕 Yamato - My Forged Wedding 🌕 Yuma - Buter Until Midnight 🌕 Genji - In Your Arms Tonight 🌕 Sosuke - Finally In Love Again 🌕 Subaru - My Sweet Boyfriend 🌕 Eisuke - Kissed By The Baddest Bidder

🕒 Visual Wordplay

-> Locked Heart

🌗 Sol D'Lockes (Mama Bear) 🌑 Royal LeBlanc (Papa Bear) 🌑 Deon D'Lockes (Baby Bear)

🕒 Hunex Co. Ltd.

-> Ephemeral

🌕 Shiba The Werewolf (R) 🌗 Shiba The Werewolf (L) 🌑 Nagi The Invisible Man (R) 🌑 Nagi The Invisible Man (L) 🌕 Ray The Vampire (R) 🌗 Ray The Vampire (L) 🌕 Natsume The Mummy (R) 🌕 Natsume The Mummy (L)

-> On The QT 🌟

🌕 Hibiki 🌕 Keima 🌕 Akira

-> Ephemeral - Miniature Garden 🌟

🌕 Hisui 🌕 Rion 🌕 Yugu

-> My Lovey

(Secret Crush) 🌟 🌕 Soshi Kujo 🌕 Masaki Kirigaya 🌕 Kotaro Kurumi 🌕 Reo Takatsuki

(Fantasy Of The Mind) 🌟 🌕 Julius 🌕 Kay 🌕 Lucian 🌕 Diorca

(Shinobi Kakuran Musou) 🌗 Hayate 🌑 Mikage 🌑 Kugumo 🌑 Yukinojo

🕒 NTT Solmare Corp. Games

-> Story Jar

🌕 (Deluxe Ver. The Last Sacrifice | The Demon King's Desire) 🌕 (The Last Sacrifice | Forbidden Ties)

(The World Or You)

-> Ninja Love

🌕 Sasuke Sarutobi 🌑 Goemon Ishikawa 🌑 Saizo Kirigakure 🌑 Kotaro Fuma 🌑 Musashi Miyamoto 🌑 Munenori Yagyu 🌑 Rennoshin 🌑 Hanzo Hattori 🌑 Nobunaga Oda

-> Obey Me 🌟

🌕 Lucifer 🌕 Mammon 🌕 Leviathon 🌕 Satan 🌕 Asmodeus 🌕 Beelzebub 🌕 Belphegor

🕒 Hanabi Media Games

-> Love Magic 🌟

🌕 Minuet 🌕 Paris

-> Love Magic 2

🌕 Minuet 🌑 Paris

-> High School Love

🌕 Tetsuya 🌑 Naoki

-> Love Triangle 🌟

🌕 Tsukasa 🌕 Kazuya

-> Ghost Love Story

🌕 Kyle 🌑 Vincent

-> Vampire Love

🌑 Tom 🌕 Sam

🕒 Ciagram Co. ltd.

-> Princess Closet

🌕 Reo 🌑 Shuu 🌑 Kai 🌗 Akito

-> Nightmare Harem

🌕 Lucia 🌕 Kaim 🌕 Levy 🌕 Mikael 🌗 Noel 🌕 Ricardo 🌑 Mefy 🌑 Oswald 🌑 Lucas

-> Dateless Love 🌟

🌕 Soji Okita 🌕 Toshizo Hijikata 🌕 Shota Yuki 🌕 Yoshinobu Tokugawa 🌕 Akinara Aiya 🌕 Shinsaku Takasugi 🌕 Ryoma Sakamoto 🌕 Shuntaro Furutaka

🕒 Genius Inc.

-> My Twin Romance

🌗 Haru 🌑 Yuki 🌑 Both 🌑 Shizuki

🕒 Seec Inc.

-> Jimi-Kare My Quiet Boyfriend 🌟

🌕 Prince Ending 🌕 Arrogant Ending 🌕 Dark-Side Ending 🌕 Princess Ending

-> In Search Of Haru 🌟

🌕 Haruka 🌕 Takaharu 🌕 Bad Ending 🌕 Haruto

🕒 Day7

-> Miss Detective's Undercover

🌕 Sean 🌗 Jeremy 🌑 Walter 🌑 Mystic Thief

-> Love Signal: D-Mate

🌑 Simon Lane 🌑 Richard Upton 🌑 David Mason 🌗 P:Ure 🌕 Greg Odell 🌑 Tay Caden

-> Marked By King Bs 🌟

🌕 Ashton Griffin 🌕 Nicholas Rosada 🌕 William Kal 🌕 Zack Snyder 🌕 Joel Barret

-> Loved By King Bs

🌑 Ashton Griffin 🌑 Nicholas Rosada 🌗 William Kal 🌑 Zack Snyder 🌑 Joel Barret 🌑 Erick Blanche

-> Sleeping Delivery

🌗 Damian Kraus 🌕 Luke Morris 🌕 Julian Parker 🌑 Leo Reinhardt 🌑 Sebastian Weiss

-> Beauty Rental Shop

🌑 Toby Lowell 🌑 Lucian Vasilis 🌗 Soren Rayne 🌑 Kylar Xander

-> SECRET Fan Crush

🌑 Leon 🌑 Woobin 🌑 Haejin 🌑 Dohwon 🌑 Taehee 🌕 Parang Ki

-> Proposed by A Demon Lord

🌑 Penn 🌑 Hael 🌗 Laika 🌑 Riley 🌑 Vernius 🌑 Ren 🌑 Cornell 🌑 Isaac

🕒 Avocado Entertainment

-> Vampire Idol

🌑 Edgar 🌑 Kang Tae Jun 🌑 Ian 🌑 Lee Sun Woo 🌑 Baek Do Ha

🕒 DeareaD Inc.

-> Monster's First Love

🌗 Achille 🌑 Ibuki 🌑 King

🕒 StoryTaco.inc

-> Dangerous Fellows - Romantic Thrillers

🌕 Zion 🌕 Eugene 🌑 Lawrence 🌕 Harry 🌕 Ethan

-> Queen's Number - Jackpot is not my concern 🌟

🌕 Aaron 🌕 Freyr 🌕 Gon 🌕 Mo-wan

🕒 Nix Hydra

-> The Arcana : A Mystic Romance

🌗 Julian 🌗 Asra 🌑 Nadia 🌑 Lucio 🌑 Muriel 🌑 Portia

-> Storm Lover Kai!!

🌕 Kyosuke Mikoshiba 🌕 Yuto Uzuki 🌑 Mio Ikari 🌑 Rikka Toratani 🌑 Soya Tatsuhara 🌕 Takumi Mishiro 🌑 Tsukasa Sugai 🌑 Chihiro

-> Collar x Malice 🌟

🌕 Kei Okazaki 🌕 Mineo Enomoto 🌕 Takeru Sasazuka 🌕 Kageyuki Shiraishi 🌕 Aiji Yanagi

-> Code Realize ~Guardian Of Rebirth~ 🌟

🌕 Arsène Lupin 🌕 Abraham Van Helsing 🌕 Victor Frankenstein 🌕 Impey Barbicane 🌕 Saint-Germain

-> Piofore: Fated Memories

🌗 Nicola Francesca 🌕 Dante Falzone 🌑 Gilbert Redford 🌕 Yang 🌑 Orlok 🌑 Finale Route

-> Birushana 🌕 Noritsune Taira 🌕 Shungen 🌑 Benkai Mukashibo 🌕 Yoritomo Minamoto 🌕 Tomomori Taira

-> Cupid Parasite 🌑 Allan Melville 🌑 Raul Aconite 🌑 Gill Lovecraft 🌑 Shelby Snail 🌑 Ryuki Keisaiin -> Virche Evermore 🌟 🌕 Lucas  🌕 Mathis  🌕 Scien  🌕 Yves  🌕 Le Salut (Adolphe/Ankou)

-> Hana Awase New Moon Here I am considering each game as a single route. 🌕 Iroha Volume 🌕 Mizuchi Volume 🌑 Karakurenai/Utsutsu Volume 🌑 Himeutsugi Volume

-> even if TEMPEST 🌟 🌕 Crius Castlerock 🌕 Tyril I Lister 🌕 Zenn Sorfield 🌕 Lucien Neuschburn 🌕 Ish

To Play 1. Olympic Soiree 2. Butterfly’s Poison; Blood Chains

[x0401x]

Hoshiai no Sora >> Concept Art from the Official Twitter

[enbyboiwonder]

Touma: It's weird how British people say "lift" instead of "elevator" and how my mother says "you're a disappointment" instead of "I love you."

[kiwistrashcache]

Yaaay sports anime yaaaaaay

[tistellas]

[transterry]

some hoshiai no sora kids (and adult)

[kukki-candy]

Hoshiai no Sora x Haikyuu!! The Dinosaurs with glasses club

I think Kuroo actualy bougth this for Tsukki so he can be Nekoma's mascott

[darksushimoon-moved]

Stars Align (Hoshiai no Sora) has been trending for the past few hours (around 12 now! And it was above BTS for a while!!!). For those who don't watch it, it might be a new thing under their radar, one they haven't seen trending yet. I say, in my personal opinion, it's a must watch!

It's a sports anime, yes, but it's not really about the sport. On My Anime List, the synopsis goes like this:

"Constantly outperformed by the girls' club, the boys' soft tennis club faces disbandment due to their poor skills and lack of positive results in matches. In desperate need of members, Toma Shinjou is looking to recruit capable players, but he fails to scout anyone. Enter Maki Katsuragi, a new transfer student who demonstrates great reflexes when he catches a stray cat in his classroom, instantly capturing Toma's attention. With his interest piqued, Toma ambitiously asks Maki to join the boys' team but is quickly rejected, as Maki doesn't wish to join any clubs. Toma refuses to back down and ends up persuading Maki—only under the condition that Toma will pay him for his participation and cover other club expenses.

As Maki joins the team, his incredible form and quick learning allow him to immediately outshine the rest of the team. Although this gives rise to conflict among the boys, Maki challenges and pushes his fellow team members to not only keep up with his seemingly natural talent, but also drive them to devote themselves to the game they once neglected.

This story focuses on the potential of the boys' soft tennis club and their discovery of their own capability, while also enduring personal hardships and dealing with the darker side of growing up in middle school."

So, without going into spoiler territory, why should you watch it?

For one, the scenes are incredibly storyboarded and craftfully animated. While using standard 2D animation for the foreground characters,

they use 3D animation for the background characters and objects, keeping them moving despite their distance in the scene!

Not to mention the incredible scenery.

The characters are drawn and colored with care, the lines looking painter-ly with their fluidness, and the colors a pastel color, contrasting with the show's heavy themes.

Which brings me to the second point as to why you should watch this.

This show tackles many themes that have been relatively unexplored in anime. Without going into depth, they tackle themes such as child abuse and LGBTQ representation, and many more. It may appear to be a sports anime, but it does not focus on its sports, only in a handful of episodes does the soft tennis place forefront ahead of the issues the characters face.

Lastly, I beg you to watch it because of how it was treated. In short, the creator, Akane Kazuki, wanted to tell an unconventional story, and had originally planned for this anime to be 24 episodes. However, it was axed down to 12 episodes in the spring of last year, and therefore, they could only air the first half of the series. Akane wants to finish the story, but it's up to fans like us who are willing to go the extra mile to advertise it and buy merch to show the company that we want more. If you watch it on legal streaming sites (which it can be abundantly found on) the company will see interest, and want to televise it more!

So, you may be asking, where can I watch it? (Or not, that's fine too.)

Well, its available on Funimation (where there's a dub coming out of it, it's on episode 9 currently) and Hulu (where all the subbed episodes are located)! And, I believe you can find it on Amazon Instant Video as well.

Though, despite all I talk it up, I must issue some content warnings before it starts. This anime is very, very heavy thematically, and I don't want anyone to be surprised when they watch it.

-Child abuse is brought up time and time again throughout the show, with most of its cast having problematic parents who abuse their children, in many ways, not only physical.

-Bullying/cyberbullying is a major theme throughout the show as well, especially in episode three, and throughout one of the character's arcs.

-sadly, alongside the LGBTQ representation, there is transphobia/homophobia.

-furthermore, there are themes of violence, murder, and mild suicide implications sprinkled throughout the show.

EDIT: I've been informed to also include further cws, so these are a few I forgot in the original post!

-existentialism is talked about often throughout the show, by the main character and others!

-in the dub, funimation changed one of the lines to be fatphobic, likely by accident, but still a thing.

So despite the fact this is an incredible show which talks about tooics that deserve to be talked about in today's media, I do acknowledge it isn't for everyone. Which is okay! I just wish for everyone to promote the show as it deserves to be played out in its entirity, instead of being cut short.

Thank you for reading, if you made it this far! I hope you'll give this show a chance!

[eiichiro]

— Thank you, Maki.

[sweetmoons]

The boys soft tennis club also doubles as Shijo Minami Junior High's GSA

[thenon-fictiondays]

I cope with stress by ignoring the 1340913 things I should be doing and making dumb memes

Edit: I fixed the egregious error I made in regards to Itsuki and his “plays by the rules” alignment, please carry on reblogging this post

[dennou-translations]

Hoshiai no Sora Translations Index

Cast Comments:

Main Cast Q&A

Mantan Web: Hanae Natsuki and Hatanaka Tasuku

Mantan Web: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu and Satou Gen

Mantan Web: Toyonaga Toshiyuki and Satou Keisuke

Mantan Web: Kobayashi Yuusuke and Amasaki Kouhei

Mantan Web: Yamaya Yoshitaka

Mantan Web: Mineda Mayu

Mantan Web: Akane Kazuki

Post-Broadcast Twitter Thread

Interviews:

TBS Anime Festa Pamphlet (Akane Kazuki)

Asahi (Akane Kazuki)

Cookpad Volume 1

Cookpad Volume 2

Cookpad Volume 3

Cookpad Volume 4

LisAni (AIKI from Bless4)

Music Natalie (Akane Kazuki)

WHAT’s IN? Tokyo (Jizue)

Akiba Souken (Jizue)

Extras:

Q&A with Akane Kazuki

Production Notes

[x0401x]

'Hoshiai no Sora' ended its TV broadcasting today with episode 12. But the story has a continuation, and the drama of the characters will move even further from this point onward. It was originally a 24-episode story, so it was scheduled to have one more cour and complete itself three months later, thus there is a 13th episode with direct connection to it. There was a sudden change of plans this spring that made it a 12-episode broadcast, but there is the fact that we have taken over two years to make it, and the animation work of the main story was on-going, so we decided that making it into a 12-episode composition at that point was impossible, thus we made 12 episodes of it while keeping it a 24-episode composition. I had the desire to make this series into something unlike average animes, so this might also be a 'Hoshiai no Sora'-like way of ending the broadcast. I want to make the story of the remaining 12 episodes and be granted an opportunity to show everyone Maki and Touma's future. I think now is a time in which the media itself is in the height of change as well, so I believe it might be interesting to see how 'Hoshiai no Sora' will turn out. I would be happy if the people who have watched 'Hoshiai no Sora' until now could cheer us on so that we can make a sequel.

Akane Kazuki on Twitter

[enbyboiwonder]

My theory about the referenced third Shinjou brother (whom I’m calling Souma, spelled with 瀧 [waterfall]—to go with the 柊 [holly olive] and 涼 [cool breeze] in Touma’s and Ryouma’s names respectively, both thematically and pronunciation-wise—and the same 真 [truth] as in his brothers’) is that he’s Touma’s twin.

He can’t be older because when you have a child but can’t take care of them (and if Souma and Touma are different ages, then the younger was probably unplanned), you give up the one who was just born, not the one who’s already a year or two old. It would fit with Touma’s being unaware of his existence, but it makes the least sense.

It’s possible he could be younger, then, since their mother says that the one she wanted to keep was Souma. I’m pretty sure you have to be 6 or older to be diagnosed with autism (although, that’s in the U.S.; idk how or if things are different in Japan), but I don’t know how young signs of neurodivergence become apparent, but for Touma to not remember Souma, to not be aware of his existence, he had to have been pretty young, no more than a couple years old, when Souma was born. (Though, well, I don’t think it actually matters whether she knew Touma was different at the time, but more on that in a bit.) It’s certainly not unlikely that Souma’s younger, but I think it’s more likely that they’re twins.

I don’t know if they’re identical (Souma’s definitely also autistic) or fraternal (Souma may or may not also be autistic), but, frankly, it doesn’t matter. Identical twins, particularly when raised together, are extremely similar since they share the same DNA as well as many of the same formative experiences, so it may seem like it would matter, but this is about idealization. This is about their mother idealizing the son she couldn’t have.

I firmly believe that a big part of why their mother hates Touma is that he’s autistic. But they were so young when she gave up Souma that she couldn’t have known then that Touma was different. It’s a case of her idealizing the unknown. At the time, they could only take care of one more child, but she gave birth to twins but she still wanted one and so they had to choose one to give up for adoption, and now, years later, she looks at Touma, who’s different from other children—and from the neurotypical Ryouma—and causes her so much trouble because she doesn’t know how (nor does she want) to deal with him, and thinks, “Ah, things would be different if only I’d kept Souma instead. I wish I had given up Touma back then.” It could be that Souma’s also autistic, and he ended up in a supportive household and he’s more well-adjusted than Touma because he’s actually getting the help and support he needs, and if she met him now it would only reaffirm her wish that she’d kept him instead. But if she had, then it would be the same thing with him, and now she’d be thinking, “Ah, things would be different if only I’d kept Touma instead. I wish I had given up Souma back then.” Because when you get down to it, it’s not really that she wants Souma, it’s that she doesn’t want an autistic child.

But ah, yes, I did say that him being autistic was only “a big part” of why she hates him, not all of it. That’s because what she really wants is a second Ryouma, and Touma’s autism is the most obvious difference between them, the biggest way Touma doesn’t live up to her ideal image of him. If he weren’t, or if Souma isn’t and she’d kept him like she thinks she wishes, I don’t know that it would be “better” per se, but the abuse would look a little different. With how much she’s always comparing him to Ryouma, Souma’s situation would be like Tsubasa’s with his father and older brothers. All three brothers are good at soccer, but since his brothers did it first, Tsubasa being as good as them isn’t good enough for their father. In the same vein, Ryouma is the favored child, and Touma/Souma is living in his shadow, so nothing he does is never going to be good enough for their mother (autistic or not). Souma might not be the autistic child of a parent who views any sign of neurodivergence as undesirable and something to be punished—even as something that he’s doing on purpose specifically to spite her—but he’d still have to deal with never being seen as good enough by a parent who has a specific image of who she wants her child to be and won’t let him be anything else.