Some more great stuff with our fish-out-of-water super tall protagonist and her protective crush on the boy who is always smiling behind a false smile.

What a cute series.

Kamishiro and Iwata's relationship is so adorable. It's so fun to watch Iwata grow into a person and try to navigate her love life. The plot of this one, especially surrounding the notes and the texts was enjoyable. Their friends are endearing and the dynamic between the characters feels real. I can't wait to read the next in the series.

Lack of communication in romance can be frustrating, and A STAR BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN hinges all its drama on that exact issue. However, it does so in a way that includes the audience rather than underestimating us. Because while Sae and Koki may be missing each other's intent by a mile, we can read it with ease.

The first volume established the childhood friendship of Sae Iwata and Koki Kamishiro, now blossoming into the insecurities of adolescent love. We as the readers follow Sae through her revelation that Koki has grown up: he's handsome, charismatic, and (in Sae's own opinion) far too good for her. As Volume 1 closed, Koki said he had his eyes on someone—"a star brighter than the sun," in his eyes—and it doesn't take much reading between the lines to know that Koki only has eyes for Sae. But given her less than stellar view of herself, Sae assumes she has been shut out of his heart forever.

The miscommunication grows further in Volume 2 as Sae, at least somewhat easy to read, inadvertently reveals to Koki that she has a crush that's troubling her. Now our romantic leads are in a deadlock: both are in love with each other, both are convinced they aren't good enough for the other, and both believe there is some nebulous other party who has won their crush's heart. In another writer's hands, this could be frustrating. But Kawahara opens the windows to both players' souls to us. We are now the secret keepers of both characters, watching as they slowly come to terms with their own self-worth so they can see themselves as the other sees them.

Between this carefully penned shoujo plot and the lovely art, it's no wonder A STAR BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN is on course for an anime adaptation. While FUUTO PI makers Studio Kai will almost certainly do a great job with it, it's a story that deserves to be ready quietly as well as seen brought to life.

I love these low-stakes shoujos. I've missed a good slow burn and I missed manga where the two main characters are genuinely kind and adore one another, and I love the pining in this. It's a sweet slice-of-life story about two childhood friends who don't know how to tell the other how they feel and I love that they are genuinely friends and there are stakes to this.
The art is fun, the characters are all so unique in their design and personality, and I am so excited to see this adapted to anime.

Last book Kamishiro talked to Iwata about a girl he has been crushing on, not cluing her in to who he was talking to, so the opening is Iwata doing pushups, perhaps in an attempt to tired herself out and physically work through thoughts and feelings. Fortunately, she has some supportive friends in the room too. She tries to distance herself from Kamishiro, but he doesn’t clue in to what she is doing and keeps approaching her. Classic lack of communication going on. Kamishiro notices and asks her if she is avoiding him and Iwata confesses she has, if only not to give his crush the impression that they are together…

Classic shoujo action is afoot, from miscommunication, attempting to ignore blossoming feelings, to helping classmates improve skills <i>(for a jump rope contest no less)</i>, a festival that throws them all into a play…it’s all here. Eventually they both tell each other that they will confess to their crushes…which does not happen in this book so there is no true confirmation that Kamishiro likes Iwata.

To be honest, the amount of ‘stuff’ that happens is very much going on in the school environment around them, but their actual progression in their relationship goes pretty much nowhere. I’m hoping that the end of this volume sets up the next. As usual the art was pretty great.

I liked this volume as much as I liked the first one. A lot of the standard shoujo tropes and scenarios show up in this series, but the characters are surprisingly refreshing and makes the read still feel new and enjoyable.